Lots of folks complain that the movies aren't what they used to be, but not many people can tell you why. Our man of the north has a fascinating talk with film critic and writer David Thomson about the start of the art, Million Dollar Baby, and how Nicole Kidman went from bimbo to genius.
Few writers have all their books in print; extremely few have almost a hundred in circulation. A conversation with Robert McCrum about his recent definitive biography of P.G. Wodehouse and the difficulties in pinning down a man who liked to blend in.
What would a 1950s family near Niagra Falls say about an episode of The Sopranos? Why does America so easily forget its ordinary heroes? A conversation with the prolific Joyce Carol Oates about her most recent novel, why she loves to teach, and how many other books are gestating in her desk.
Our man in Boston talks with author Louis de Bernières about his most recent book, Birds Without Wings, during a fascinating discussion about the Ottoman Empire, how good people go astray in crowds, and the richness of Arab proverbs.
If we spend so much of our lives thinking and worrying about sex, is it any surprise the involved emotions are tied to chemicals? A conversation with maverick author T.C. Boyle in a lively back-and-forth about Dr. Alfred Kinsey, contemporary fiction, and the role of the husband in the kitchen.
No one can escape their past, and everyone once had parents who made mistakes. Our New Hampshire correspondent chats with the wonderful Cynthia Ozick about the underpinnings of her new novel, the rewards of touring, and exactly how do publishers think.
All parents want their children to do well; not all parents want their children to become writers. Author Lan Samantha Chang chats with our man in Boston about her new novel that was 10 years in the writing, and her slide from upstanding daughter to rebel with a clause.
Grave mistakes have been made in Iraq, but there's still room for hope. A conversation with New Yorker correspondent Jon Lee Anderson for a fascinating, frank talk about life in Baghdad, U.S. policies as viewed from the street, and how Iraq's insurgency could possibly be quelled.
Our Boston correspondent chats with novelist Jennifer Finney Boylan about going on Oprah, the differences between being a female writer versus a male writer, and her best-selling book about becoming the woman she always was.
Our New Hampshire correspondent catches up with veteran writer Renata Adler to survey today's journalism (when it seems like a PR agency for the government) and learn exactly why you don't diss the Times book review chief.
