Health Dec 08 A childhood accident didn’t impair James Thurber’s comic vision This minor genius of mirth lost his left eye at the age of 6. By Dr. Howard Markel
Arts Jan 09 Buck Henry, writer-actor who helped pen ‘The Graduate,’ dies at 89 Henry was an established film and television writer who became widely recognizable during the early years of “Saturday Night Live.”… By Associated Press
Health Apr 23 Why Shakespeare’s own finale remains a closed book In "Hamlet," William Shakespeare contemplated the fact that once a person dies, no living person knows where that departed soul goes. That same uncertainty hovers around the final hours of the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon. By Dr. Howard Markel
Arts Nov 07 ‘Reading is part of my job,’ and more writing advice from author Katie Kitamura Kitamura, author of the November book club pick "A Separation," says reading "should be taken as seriously as the act of writing itself."… By Elizabeth Flock
May 15 Watch 8:14 Remembering Tom Wolfe, American writer with an ‘anthropologist’s delight’ New Journalism pioneer Tom Wolfe captured American culture in groundbreaking nonfiction like "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and novels like "The Bonfire of the Vanities." Journalist Susan Orlean joins Judy Woodruff to remember Wolfe, who died Tuesday at the age… Continue watching
Mar 12 Watch 3:05 How to retrain your shrinking attention span By PBS NewsHour What’s the secret to writing novels? Or baking a perfect cake? Or even being a good friend? Author Ann Patchett says it’s all about the ability to stay focused and stop multitasking. Patchett gives her humble opinion on stretching your… Continue watching
Aug 17 Watch 3:39 What Calvin Trillin learned from his college writing course By PBS NewsHour As a longtime writer for The New Yorker, Calvin Trillin was less interested in directly explaining why what he was writing was important than in just telling a good story. Trillin offers his Brief but Spectacular take on some of… Continue watching
Apr 04 Watch 5:56 Giving advice to young writers, Colum McCann wants to see the fire in their eyes By PBS NewsHour It's the sort of thing that Colum McCann says he would have liked to have had when he was younger. In his new book "Letters To A Young Writer," McCann says he writes advice about plot and characterization, as well… Continue watching
Feb 18 Watch 3:09 When Danai Gurira couldn’t find complex stories about African women, she wrote her own By PBS NewsHour Danai Gurira is a playwright and performer who wants to make sure women of color don’t search in vain for stories they can relate to. Her latest play, "Eclipsed," is premiering on Broadway, and she also has a starring role… Continue watching