Who was the real George Carlin? Aside from his “dirty words” routine, Carlin pushed the boundaries of performance with his comedy. We’ll remember him and his work this hour with James Sullivan, author of “Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin” (Da Capo, 2010).
What was the future like in 1939? We’ll revisit a world perched between the Great Depression and Word War II this hour with James Mauro, author of “Twilight at the World of Tomorrow: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World’s Fair on the Brink of War” (Ballantine Books, 2010).
Is an unlimited life expectancy really possible? We’ll explore the current thinking this hour with Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Weiner. His new book is “Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality” (Ecco, 2010).
How will public libraries in North Texas redefine themselves in an age of Google and civic budget cuts? We’ll talk with Corinne Hill, Interim Director of Libraries at Dallas Public Library, and Cathy Ziegler, Director of Libraries at Plano Public Library, about challenging new realities for the library system. What elevates video to the level […]
Are ubiquitous technology and constant connectedness stressing you out? We’ll talk this hour with journalist William Powers who finds antidotes to the screen within the work of a few literary and philosophical greats in his new book “Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age” (Harper, 2010).
What does it take to survive capture and imprisonment at the hands of the Taliban? We’ll spend this hour with journalist Jere Van Dyk who writes about his harrowing 45-day ordeal in the new book “Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban” (Times Books, 2010).
What can be learned from the recent economic downturn and how will it change our lives for the good? We’ll find out this hour with bestselling author Richard Florida, whose new book is “The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity” (Harper, 2010).
Is the sustainability movement genuine and do “green” products and choices ultimately help or harm the environment? Heather Rogers, journalist and Demos senior fellow, investigates the issue in her new book “Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution” (Scribner, 2010). We’ll talk with her this hour.
What happens to writers who achieve astonishing fame largely on the success of a single book? We’ll examine the life of one such novelist this hour with John Carey, Emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature at Oxford University and author of the new biography “William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies” (Free […]
Why do we record the last words of convicted killers sentenced to die? Why do we care what they have to say? We’ll talk this hour with Robert K. Elder, journalist and regional editor for AOL’s Patch.com in Chicago, who has compiled a remarkable collection of these statements for his new book “Last Words of […]
