Reader's Corner

The grizzly bear is one of North America’s few remaining large predators. With a diminished range, grizzlies are again spreading across the West. But in the valleys where once they were king, grizzlies are finding the landscape they’d known for eons utterly changed by this millennia’s most dominant animal: humans.

This interview originally aired in November, 2018.

This Reader's Corner interview was originally broadcast in November, 2018.

America’s constitutional system of checks and balances has endured for more than two centuries. This is due, in part, to two unwritten political norms: respectful tolerance between opposing political parties, and a measure of restraint by the administration in power. Yet at contentious times in our history, those guardrails of democracy have been put to the test.

For decades, North Korea has operated as a prime example of a “hermit kingdom” – a nation ruled by a despotic family regime, where propaganda and historical, political, and economic theatre are a daily ritual for the country’s 25 million citizens.

This encore interview originally aired in October, 2018.

Jonathan Evison is a writer whose work frequently appears on the New York Times bestseller list.

This encore Reader's Corner interview first aired in September, 2018.

What if you could take a road trip and visit all your heroes, door-to-door? What if you could share a meal? And what if you could do it right in their own homes? Our guest today embarked on just such a pilgrimage.

This interview was first broadcast in August, 2018.

This encore program originally aired in September, 2018.

This encore interview originally aired in July, 2018.

This encore program was originally broadcast in November, 2016.

This encore Reader's Corner interview originally broadcast in June, 2018.

This interview originally aired in August, 2010.

This encore program originally aired in June, 2018.

The state of public education is a constant concern these days -- for families, for legislators, for teachers and experts. Many are questioning methods embraced by American school systems as we see other countries besting us, particularly in math and science.

When it comes to getting cash to make ends meet, many Americans don’t take their business to the local bank. Instead, they rely on alternative financial systems such as check cashing stores and payday lenders. Despite high interest rates and sometimes exorbitant fees, these services fill a vital need for those living paycheck to paycheck, and who, for a variety of reasons, distrust banks.

Tara Westover grew up in far southeastern Idaho in a landscape familiar to many in the Gem State, a valley dominated by ranches and ringed by mountains. Her daily life, though, was anything but normal.

This encore interview with Nancy Koehn was originally broadcast in March, 2018.

Today we’re continuing our conversation with Scott Eyman about his book Hank & Jim. The book chronicles the long friendship between two Hollywood icons, Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart. Unlike many friendships, theirs wasn’t based on shared beliefs about things like religion or politics. In fact, Stewart was a church-going Republican married to the same woman for 45 years. Fonda was a liberal De...

Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart are beloved icons of Hollywood’s Golden Age, with careers that spanned decades and movies that still hold up today. They also were best friends who enjoyed spending time together, away from the glitter of their very public lives. With each other, they were simply Hank and Jim, two guys who flew kites, built model airplanes, played elaborate practical jokes on occasion...

This encore interview was first broadcast in February, 2018

Today’s mountaineers tackle the world’s tallest peaks with the latest in technical gear – from down suits to nylon ropes and even cell phones. It is a far cry from the 1920s, when the first mountaineers to attempt Mount Everest climbed in hobnail boots, hauled canvas tents and were literally facing the unknown.

A daily battle is raging along the 10th Parallel – the line of latitude 700 miles north of the equator in Africa and Southeast Asia where Islam and Christianity intersect. In this critical geographical band, religious ideologies clash, often erupting into deadly violence as more than half the world’s Muslims and 60 percent of the world’s Christians compete for the souls of the region’s burgeoning...