Creativity and Your Brain
Eric Kandel, a Nobel Prize-winning neuropsychiatrist describes the "aha phenomenon" and speculates on ways that individuals and groups can think more creatively.
A curated selection of videos, including book trailers, brief interviews, and other literary curiosities updated daily.
Mohsin Hamid
The author reads an excerpt from his latest novel, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, published last month by Riverhead Books, on PBS NewsHour.
George Saunders
The master of the short story, whose first collection in six years, Tenth of December, was published in January by Random House, reads from his new book and talks about his writing process in this recent installment of the Talks at Google series.
For the Bullied and Beautiful
Poet Shane Koyczan delivers a performance of "To This Day," his spoken-word poem about bullying that went viral as a video project with eighty different animators earlier this year.
The Heroin Chronicles
The third installment of Akashic's Drug Chronicles series, The Heroin Chronicles, edited by Jerry Stahl, includes stories by Eric Bogosian, Lydia Lunch, Nathan Larson, Ava Stander, and many others. In this video from Open Road Media, Stahl talks about William Burroughs, the difference between an alcoholic and a junkie, and how he selected the pieces for the anthology.
Owen King
The author (and, yes, son of Stephen King) talks about the process of writing his first novel, Double Feature (Scribner, 2013), about a young man coming to terms with his life in the process and aftermath of making his first film. King's first book, We’re All in This Together: A Novella and Stories, was published by Bloomsbury in 2005.
Chinua Achebe
The acclaimed Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe died earlier today at the age of eighty-two. A statement released on behalf of his family described the author as one of the great literary voices of his time, whose wisdom was an inspiration to all who knew him. The Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan said Professor Achebe would live forever in the hearts and minds of present and future generations. BBC's Bilkisu discusses his legacy with Stephen Sackur.
Sonali Deraniyagala
The author talks about her memoir, Wave (Knopf), in which she writes about losing her parents, her husband, and her two young sons in the devastating tsunami that struck Southeast Asia in 2004.
Toni Morrison
Torrene Boone talks with the Nobel Prize winner whose latest novel, Home, was published last year by Knopf (the paperback was published by Vintage International in January), at the New York City offices of Google.
Nick Hornby
Award-winning novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter Nick Hornby visits Columbia University's Heyman Center to talk with poet and Barnard professor Saskia Hamilton.