David Mitchell talks about his latest novel, "The Bone Clocks," why he likes to jump between different literary genres, and how he became obsessed with questions about death and immortality.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
This is Charles. This interview was recorded near the end of the presidential race when everyone and their brother was trying to figure out what was happening in the minds of poor, white voters. I grew up in poverty under the shadows of Northeast Ohio steel mills. And it struck me that many of the insight everyone was looking for was right there in the music of where I grew up. In my opinion, the best example of that voice in 2016 was country music singer-songwriter Brandy Clark. Her album, "Big Day in a Small Town," had the answers, if anyone dared to listen.
What makes Cuban music so distinctive? Radio host Jonathan Overby describes its history, which blends African rhythms with Spanish elegance.
Deborah Treisman is fiction editor of The New Yorker magazine. George Saunders is one of her star writers. Treisman and Saunders join Steve Paulson to talk about writing and publishing short stories.
Writer Junot Diaz tells us why he's a big fan of Samuel R. Delany's novel, "Dark Reflections".
Brad Hirschfield was once a religious fanatic. He was one of a small number of Jewish settlers living in Hebron, in the middle of thousands of Palestinians.
Doug Peacock's Dangerous Idea? We need to save the planet before it's too late.
Cecil Brown has researched the true story that gave rise to the Stagolee myth, and explains what the song has meant to various groups, especially within the African-American community.
Pages
