For decades, urbanists have been thinking about cities as organisms. They take in resources, eject waste, spread and grow. Theoretical physicist Geoffrey West decided to put the idea through the mathematical ringer. So, are cities like organisms? Yes. And no.
You can also hear the uncut interview with West.
Last summer's sleeper hit was a book by David Wroblewski called "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle." Wroblewski reads from his novel and talks with Jim Fleming about his life in Wisconsin as the child of a family who raised dogs.
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Anthony Shadid died on assignment in Syria on February 16. In this UNCUT 2010 interview Shadid told Steve Paulson about covering war and its aftermath.
Alissa Quart Recommends Elena Ferrante's "Days of Abandonment" and Elizabeth Hardwick's "Sleepless Nights."
What if Crack Babies were a myth?
To see the NYTimes video on Crack Babies click here.
Azar Nafisi is the author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran." Her book tells the story of how this English professor met with her students to discuss Western literature in Revolutionary Iran.
Erin Gruwell and two of her former students talk with Judith Strasser. They describe the hostile situation in their school in Long Beach, California, and Miss Gruwell’s solution.
Princeton historian Anthony Grafton explains how learning conversational Latin inspired his students.
