Writer and critic Alberto Manguel has assembled a personal library of some thirty thousand volumes which he houses in an old converted stone barn in a village in France.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Here's an Anishinaabe poem and creation story by Kimberly Blaeser, the Poet Laureate of Wisconsin. It's the story of the lowly muskrat, and it reminds us that we are constantly building new worlds - and have been doing so since before the beginning of time.
Jon Stravers — also known as "Hawk" — is an ornithologist, a musician, and a Vietnam veteran. To say that he's obsessed with birds might be putting it mildly. Since he came back from Vietnam he's spent most of his springs and summers along the Mississippi keeping an eye and ear out for birds. His latest obsession is the Cerulean Warbler, a species once thought to be in decline in the Upper Mississippi.
Amy Tan talks with Anne Strainchamps and recalls how her mother used to believe the spirits of their ancestors dwelled inside the computer. How else could Amy know all the family secrets?
Ann Patchett's new book chronicles her long friendship with poet Lucy Grealy who became famous after the publication oh her acclaimed memoir “Autobiography of a Face.”
French film-maker Agnes Varda has made a documentary called “The Gleaners and I.” The film is a portrait of people who make their living picking over stuff other people have thrown away.
Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, tells Anne Strainchamps about heirloom apples, persimmons and pomegranates and talks about the many ways she uses fruit at the restaurant.
Have you every actually read Thoreau's "Walden"? If not, you've really missed something. Here's the next best thing: excerpts from the book, set to music.
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