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?
Ali Allawi was Minister of Trade and Minister of Defense in the Interim Iraqi Governing Council in 2003 and 2004. He resigned his position as Minister of Finance in the Iraqi Transitional Government because he was frustrated by the political infighting.
Doug Dorst talks about "S.," the novel-within-another-novel that he wrote based on a concept by producer and director J.J. Abrams.
Andreas Viestad tells Jim Fleming some of his adventures shooting the “New Scandinavian Cooking” series that aired last year on PBS.
A. J. Jacobs decided to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. He tells Steve Paulson why and some of the peculiar facts he picked up along the way.
Pages
