Historian Mary Beard says many of our popular notions about the empire are based on culture rather than fact. Her new book is called SPQR. Originally broadcast Nov. 30, 2015.
Transportation expert Daniel Sperling estimates that the world's car population — which currently stands at 1 billion vehicles — is likely to double in the next 20 years. Sperling is the co-author (with Deborah Gordon) of Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability.
The actor stars in Aaron Sorkin's new HBO drama The Newsroom, playing an anchorman inspired to give up fluff pieces and return to hard-hitting journalism.
Vatican reporter John Allen's new book is Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church. The book is billed as the first serious journalistic investigation of the highly secretive organization Opus Dei, an international association of Catholics.
Journalist Steven Brill's latest book critiques the Affordable Care Act, which he call "unsustainable." In the next few years, "something is going to snap," he says. "We cannot pay for this."
Andrew Greely is a priest, sociologist and writer. He has written a book with his sister, theologian Mary G. Durkin, about how Vatican II dispensed with traditions which they believed were essential to Catholic identity. In order to stay vital, they believe the Church should adopt more positive attitudes toward sexuality and the role of women.
The title of Maile Meloy's new novel is misleading: Do Not Become Alarmed sounds like a suspense story. Granted, I did read it in two nights; but, while I'm a unapologetic fan of thrillers, Meloy's novel is something else, something trickier to characterize. I'd call it a very smart work of literary fiction that exposes how very thin the layer of good luck is that keeps most of us from falling into the abyss.
We remember singer June Carter Cash, who died Thursday at the age of 73. She was a Grammy-award winning singer, a songwriter, musician, actress and author. She was married to the legendary Johnny Cash, and she came from the Carter Family, the country music pioneers. June Carter Cash died of complications from heart surgery. (Original airdate: June 18, 1987.)
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says critical darling's piano music is often considered dark and heavy. But Blake's new album, Painted Rhythms Volume II, also has a sharp wit.
In her new book The Case for God, the author — a former nun — argues that religion is a practical discipline that can teach us to discover new capacities of the mind and heart.
Author Aljean Harmetz's new book, Round Up the Usual Suspects, tells the inside story of the making of the film Casablanca. Harmetz is also the author of The Making of the Wizard of Oz. She was the Hollywood film correspondent for The New York Times for 12 years, and is now a contributing editor for Esquire.
A new book explores the ways melting Arctic ice yield new shipping channels, new oil and gas resources — and potential profits. Journalist McKenzie Funk delves into the "booming business of global warming" in Windfall.
Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey. June 14th will be the first anniversary of his "return from the dead." Last year when he was close to death from a fatal liver disease that was destroying his heart, Casey received a heart and liver transplant. The donor was a young African American man who was savagely beaten by drug dealers. Casey talks about his second chance at life. And he discusses his views--pre and post-surgery--on political issues of life and death such as abortion and the death penalty.
Food science writer Harold McGee's new book Nose Dive is about how smell is essential to our sense of taste, why things smell the way they do and the ways different chemicals combine to create surprising (and sometimes distasteful) odors.
In The Oil and the Glory: The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea, veteran journalist Steve LeVine writes about the high-stakes political gamesmanship over control of the rich oil resources in that region.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two new books involving mysteries: one a biography of crime writer Agatha Christie; the other about The Golden State Killer.
Seven years after the death of Johnny Cash, producer Rick Rubin has selected 10 more songs among the many he produced for Cash late in the singer's life. Rock critic Ken Tucker examines the end result, the album American VI: Ain't No Grave.
