Terry Gross

Growing up as a first-generation Chinese-American in Northern California, novelist Amy Tan found herself pulled by two different notions of fate: Her mother was guided by beliefs in curses and luck, while her father, a Baptist minister, was guided by Christian faith.

Religion scholar Karen Armstrong on Islamic fundamentalism. Shes the author of the bestselling books The Battle for God, Jerusalem, and The History of God. Shes also the author of Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles).

The National Sleep Foundation recommends an average of eight hours of sleep per night for adults, but sleep scientist Matthew Walker says that too many people are falling short of the mark.