books

Raise Taxes Or Cut Education In Illinois, Legislating Screening For Postpartum Depression, Why Russian Hackers Are So Successful, Ken Starr On ‘The Al Qaeda 7,’ Listener Letters, ‘Wimpy Kid’ Author

Financial Industry Bonuses, A Who’s Who of Insurgents in Pakistan, Rush Limbaugh and the St. Louis Rams, Five Farms, Part Three, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel, “On The Road” made him a literary rock star, but the fame led to his unraveling. So three years later he headed to a friend’s cabin in California to battle his demons and his alcoholism. The result was a second novel, “Big Sur.” We take a look at the real life events behind the book, documented in a new film and CD, both called “One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur.”

Health Insurers Say Reform Will Cost More, What does Starbucks Say about America?, Five Farms Preview, Five Farms, Part One, Jack Kerouac’s ‘Big Sur’

From Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln to the creators of Superman- best-selling author Bruce Feiler traces those who Moses inspired in his new book, “America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story.”

President Obama Goes to Africa, Beowulf on the Beach, Letters, Cyber Attack, Is President Obama Morphing into President Bush?, Satchel Paige

Saddam Interrogations, An Iran Primer, Prank Calls in Alabama, How Texting Affects Teenagers’ Development, ‘Tween Books, Part 2

Mystery (Partly) Solved, The Rating Companies, Whaling, N.O.W.’s New President, Summer Reading for Tweens

Sorting Out the Stimulus, Three Cups of Tea, Mayors on the Stimulus Bill, Finding a New Job, Lark and Termite

Jayne Anne Phillips joins us to speak about her new novel “Lark and Termite”; she also offers some reading recommendations.

Bank Lending, Darwin at 200, Campaign Against Digital Dating Violence, Meals on Wheels, Blindspot

The Nudges, Iraqi Election Recap, Not Bowled Over By Super Bowl Ads, Recession Manners, Forgotten Ellis Island

Iraq & Afghanistan, The Narcotic Farm, Bolivia’s New Constitution, Haggling in the U.S., The Pluto Kerfuffle

In 2006, Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status. We speak with Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of the new book “The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet.”

Journalist David Cay Johnston says it’s time to rework tax law to keep large corporations and public utilities from evading taxes.

Your Tax Dollars at Work, Ted Haggard, Gaza Truce Breach, Road ‘Smahts’, Brandeis Closing Art Museum, Andras Schiff

Economic Stimulus, Penelope Leach on Daycare, Second Hand Clothing, Utah Wilderness, The End of an Era

Listen to more of Penelope Leach on the importance of loving relationships for children.

Peter Feldstein photographed the residents of his small town of Oxford, Iowa in 1984, then again in 2005. The side-by-side then and now photos are the subject of a new book.

John Thain, The Oxford Project, Kids’ Anxiety, Letters, Inauguration Stew, What Puts the Crash in The Clash?

Guantanamo, Stories of an Abortion Doctor, White House Redecoration, First Kids, Slumdog Millionaire

Hillary Clinton Confirmation Hearing, Annals of Gullibility, 2009 Outdoor Stories, The Guy Who Announces the Inaugural Parade, Digital Music and the Record Industry

The story behind Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”

Labor in America, Bush in Iraq, Senator Grassley on College Affordability, Palestinian Charity, The Great Books