Susanna Clarke is the author of “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.” It’s a huge novel that’s being called “Harry Potter for grown-ups.”
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Most of us are hungry for light. We crave sunny days and clear skies, we like big windows and well-lit rooms. But some people have a more complicated relationship with light. John Merfeld, a physics student at Tufts University, has a genetic condition called albinism that renders his body unable to properly absorb light. It's made him acutely aware of its unique power, beauty, and danger.
Scott Jennings provides an essay on Kurt Cobain, the effects of heroin on Cobain’s music, and his legacy for a whole generation.
By now, it's almost commonplace to worry that the amount of time you spend on the Internet is actually rewiring your brain. But the first person to really put the issue on the cultural map was the writer Nicholas Carr -- in a book that's become a contemporary classic: "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains."
Sherron Watkins is the whistle-blower who tried to tell Ken Lay what was going on at Enron. With co-author, journalist Mimi Schwartz, Watkins lays out the story in her book “Power Failure.”
Self-described former jihadist Mubin Shaikh recounts his journey into, and out of, extremism.
Stephen Barber is a surrealism expert who provides the commentary for a new DVD release of “Un Chien Andalou.” This was a short silent film made in 1929 by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali which still shocks viewers.
Journalist Ross Gelbspan tells Steve Paulson that the reality of global warming is widely accepted by the international scientific community and cites examples of the effects already being felt.
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