Karen Armstrong is the author of nearly 20 books on religion. She tells Steve Paulson that traditions from Confucianism to Judaism emerged as responses to the rampant violence of their time. And she says our own time has a lot in common with that age.
Why do certain foods fall out of favor? Aaron Bobrow-Strain tracked the rise and fall of white bread for a book on the subject. He believes our anxieties about food often reflect larger social questions.
Azby Brown talks with Jim Fleming about the Japanese ideal of the very small house – sometimes 500 square feet for a family of four.
Bennett Alan Weinberg walks Anne Strainchamps through the science of caffeine. Sure it’s an addictive drug, but it has its good points!
Bryan Palmer tells Steve Paulson how some population groups, from enslaved Africans to religious heretics, jazz musicians, and homosexuals have found refuge and freedom in the night.
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.
When life gives you lemons, sometimes you make lemonade. And sometimes you write, and bake and play piano at three 3 am. That's what Dominique Browning did after she and her staff were let go when the magazine, "House and Garden" folded. She writes about getting to know herself in the book "Slow Love."
