Book Pays Tribute to the Much Maligned Pigeon December 29, 2006 A new book tells the story of the most common urban bird: pigeons. Author Andrew Blechman talks about Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird. Book Pays Tribute to the Much Maligned Pigeon Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6696472/6696473" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Book Pays Tribute to the Much Maligned Pigeon Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6696472/6696473" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Before Harry, the Most Popular Potter Was Beatrix December 28, 2006 Children's author Beatrix Potter is the subject of a new movie starring Renee Zellweger. But the film covers only a small chapter in the life of an accomplished woman, whose obsessions included the reproductive habits of mushrooms as well as the life of Peter Rabbit. Before Harry, the Most Popular Potter Was Beatrix Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6687027/6689593" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Before Harry, the Most Popular Potter Was Beatrix Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6687027/6689593" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
A President's Legacy Writer Changed His Tune on Ford's Place in History December 27, 2006 Robert Siegel talks with journalist Richard Reeves, author of the book A Ford, not a Lincoln: Or Why There are No Leaders in Washington, in which he was critical of Ford's presidency. Reeves says he later reassessed Ford's time in office and offered him an apology. Reeves says Ford was an ordinary man and a good man, and had a lot of common sense. Writer Changed His Tune on Ford's Place in History Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6687043/6687044" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Writer Changed His Tune on Ford's Place in History Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6687043/6687044" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Culture Writer Bruce Tucker Fresh Air December 26, 2006 The ghostwriter for James Brown's autobiography, The Godfather of Soul, Tucker is a contributing editor for The Black Music Research Journal. Writer Bruce Tucker Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6676987/6676988" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Writer Bruce Tucker Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6676987/6676988" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Author Chris Offutt Reads 'A Good Pine' December 25, 2006 Author Chris Offutt will read "A Good Pine," a short story set in his native Kentucky. In it, an old man raising his granddaughter alone is determined to get her a Christmas tree from the woods. But he has a problem — his axe is broken. Author Chris Offutt Reads 'A Good Pine' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6674276/6674277" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Author Chris Offutt Reads 'A Good Pine' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6674276/6674277" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Race Covert, Michigan: A History in Black and White December 24, 2006 Shortly after the Civil War, blacks and whites came together in Covert, Mich., building a town that defied most of the social conventions of the next 100 years. Historian Anna-Lisa Cox and descendants of the town's pioneers help tell its story. Covert, Michigan: A History in Black and White Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6670689/6670921" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Covert, Michigan: A History in Black and White Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6670689/6670921" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Exposing 'The Secret Life of Houdini' December 23, 2006 A new biography suggests that the legendary escape artist known as Harry Houdini also served as a spy for the U.S. and British governments before World War I. Exposing 'The Secret Life of Houdini' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6668263/6668272" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Exposing 'The Secret Life of Houdini' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6668263/6668272" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Books The Saga of a Sulfa Drug Pioneer December 23, 2006 In The Demon Under the Microscope, author Thomas Hager tells the story of the first antibiotics and the German scientist most responsible for developing them, Gerhard Domagk. The Saga of a Sulfa Drug Pioneer Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6667754/6667755" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
The Saga of a Sulfa Drug Pioneer Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6667754/6667755" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Clement Moore, Anti-Jefferson Pamphleteer December 23, 2006 Before he gave us the modern notion of Santa Claus in his poem A Visit from St. Nicklaus, Clement Moore was a bit of an attack-ad specialist. He wrote an 1804 pamphlet calling President Thomas Jefferson a racist. Clement Moore, Anti-Jefferson Pamphleteer Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6667736/6667737" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Clement Moore, Anti-Jefferson Pamphleteer Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6667736/6667737" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Books Curious George's Trip to Hell December 18, 2006 - Somewhere between the Wizard of Oz and Dante's Inferno is "Curious George Goes to Hell" by storyteller Kevin Kling; it's the adventures of Curious George in the Way Down Under. Curious George's Trip to Hell Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6642914/6642915" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Curious George's Trip to Hell Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6642914/6642915" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Books The History of America's Black Settlements December 18, 2006 Historian Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, author of America's First Black Town, Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915, talks about black settlements throughout American history. The History of America's Black Settlements Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6640867/6640868" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
The History of America's Black Settlements Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6640867/6640868" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Books France Honors American Novelist with Book Awards December 17, 2006 Two of France's most prestigious book awards have gone to American Jonathan Littell for his first serious novel. Written in French, Les Bienveillantes or The Kindly Ones, is in the form of a memoir by a former SS officer who leads a hidden life in a French town. The novel is a huge hit in France. France Honors American Novelist with Book Awards Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6637700/6637701" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
France Honors American Novelist with Book Awards Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6637700/6637701" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Children's Literature with Daniel Pinkwater Books for Kids, for Every Winter Holiday December 16, 2006 Children's author Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon read The Secret Science Project that ALMOST Ate the School by Judy Sierra and Stephen Gammel. Pinkwater also offers a list of books to give, get or simply read and enjoy this winter. Books for Kids, for Every Winter Holiday Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6631429/6631923" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Books for Kids, for Every Winter Holiday Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6631429/6631923" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Religion David Plotz, Blogging the Bible December 16, 2006 An offhand encounter with a dramatic Bible story inspired David Plotz to take a new look at the Old Testament for the online magazine Slate. David Plotz, Blogging the Bible Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6635153/6635154" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
David Plotz, Blogging the Bible Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6635153/6635154" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Shanghai Builds for the Future Dream World to Cosmopolis: Authors' Shanghai December 15, 2006 Shanghai is changing at breakneck speed. That transformation, along with the hope, fear, greed and nostalgia that it engenders, is the stuff of novels. Three authors talk about the inspiration that China's most exciting city provides them. Dream World to Cosmopolis: Authors' Shanghai Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6626147/6626540" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Dream World to Cosmopolis: Authors' Shanghai Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6626147/6626540" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript