Poet MK Asante recounts his tough childhood in Philadelphia and the sad story of his beloved older brother, and also how the rhythms of hip hop evoke the sensibility of his generation.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Haggai Matar is an eighteen year old Israeli “refusenik.” He tells Steve Paulson why he’ll go to prison rather than serve in the Israeli army in the Occupied Territories.
Medievalist Bruce Holsinger writes historical fiction starring some names familiar to English majors -- Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower. They were poets but in Holsinger's novels they also deal in secrets.
Emma Gatewood had 11 children and 23 grandchildren when she became the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail, at age 67. She became a folk hero and helped save the Trail. Ben Montgomery brings us her story.
Helen Benedict spent 3 years interviewing women soldiers in Iraq. She was one of the first people to document the appallingly high rate of sexual assault American women soldiers were experiencing, from their fellow American soldiers. Now she's written a novel, called Sand Queen, based on those interviews.
Geraldine Hughes wrote and stars in the one-woman play “Belfast Blues.” It’s based on her childhood in Troubles-plagued Belfast.
Herman Gollob is the author of “Me and Shakespeare: Adventures with the Bard.” He talks about how he became addicted to Shakespeare’s plays in his later life and why he teaches them to senior citizens.
From his home in Mexico City, Guillermo Arriaga tells Steve Paulson where the story idea for “21 Grams” came from, and why it was so interesting to have a religious man direct a film written by an atheist that deals with topics like the meaning of life and the afterlife.
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