With all its idiosyncrasies, some might argue it’s a wonder that the English language actually exists as a working language. But how did the language develop? We’ll spend this hour with bestselling author, linguist, and Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow, John McWhorter. His new book is “Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English” (Gotham, 2008).
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Is genetic testing and pre-assessment of risk an effective weapon in the current fight against breast cancer? We’ll explore advances in risk assessment, prevention, diagnosis and treatment this hour with Dr. David Euhus, professor of surgical oncology and Linda Robinson, head genetic counselor at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
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Is there empirical evidence for Extra Sensory Perception? We’ll spend this hour with Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell, a Johns Hopkins-trained neuroscientist and author of the new book “The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena” (Walker and Company, 2009).
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What role did Texas play in the history of the U.S. oil business? Bryan Burrough chronicles the lives of the Texas oil industry’s biggest figures in his new book “The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes” (The Penguin Press, 2009). Burrough will be our guest this hour.
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What is Snark? According to New Yorker film critic David Denby, it weakens our public discourse, our intellectual pursuits and even the traditions of American humor. He’ll join us this hour to discuss the rise of the phenomenon and his new book of the same name “Snark” (Simon and Schuster, 2009).
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What happens when a Dallas journalist with an interest in wine moves to France? We’ll talk this hour with Robert V. Camuto, author of the new book “Corkscrewed: Adventures in the New French Wine Country” (Nebraska, 2008).
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What makes a character great? Can an author know or exert control over how a reader will respond to that character? We’ll talk this hour with best-selling author Wally Lamb, whose new novel is “The Hour I First Believed” (Harper Collins, 2008). He speaks to Arts and Letters Live this evening.
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Can landscape architecture and urban design create public spaces that meet the needs of a diverse population? We’ll explore the possibilities this hour with Karen Walz, Project Manager for Vision North Texas and Don Gatzke, Dean of UTA’s School of Architecture.
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Why are people rude and what’s the best way to stop the cycle of bad social behavior? We’ll talk this hour with P.M. Forni, professor of Italian Literature at Johns Hopkins University and author of “The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude” (St. Martin’s Press, 2008).
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How does one’s memory color history? What if that personal history took place in pre-revolutionary Iran? We’ll spend this hour with bestselling author Azar Nafisi, who gained international acclaim in 2003 with “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books.” Her new book is “Things I’ve Been Silent About: Memories” (Random House, 2008).
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Did the Supreme Court fail to protect civil liberties and rights under Chief Justice William Rehnquist? Contributors to the new anthology “We Dissent: Talking Back to the Rehnquist Court” (NYU Press, 2008) think so. We’ll spend the hour with Suffolk University Law Professor Michael Avery, who edited the collection.
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Was the man who led the Manhattan Project really a security risk? Why did the U.S. Government lose faith in him in the years after World War II? We’ll talk this hour with acclaimed filmmaker David Grubin, whose new film “The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer” airs on PBS’ American Experience tonight. You can see it at 8pm on KERA 13.
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