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Are Americans getting dumber or smarter? Author Steven Johnson discusses his book Everything Bad Is Good for You. He argues that the complexity of modern TV shows and video games might make today's media consumer sharper than those of 30 years ago.

Scott Simon talks with Martin Dugard, author of The Last Voyage of Columbus. Dugard delves into the rarely portrayed final journey of the famous explorer.

Amos Oz's latest is A Tale Of Love And Darkness, a memoir of growing up in Jerusalem in the turbulent 1940s and '50s, when a war-torn Israel was achieving statehood. Oz's home life was as intense as the world outside. The book follows Oz through his mother's suicide to a growing interest in politics and writing.

Over the past two years, Howard Dully, 56, has embarked on a quest to discover the story behind the procedure he received as a 12-year-old boy: a transorbital or "ice-pick" lobotomy.

In Genius Factory, author and Slate columnist David Plotz traces the history of a so-called "Nobel Prize" sperm bank. Plotz tells Jennifer Ludden of his quest to find the bank's "genius" donors — most weren't what they were represented to be — and their offspring.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with founding members of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis and Flea, about their new album, Unlimited Love.

NPR's Debbie Elliott speaks with actor Karan Soni about his new movie, "Seven Days," about what happens when two people get stuck in the same apartment during a COVID-19 lockdown.

Jack Kerouac was a central figure in what historians call the Beat movement – a cultural renaissance that celebrated poetry, jazz and a rejection of materialism. Had he lived, Kerouac would have been 100 years old this month. His fans plan to mark the occasion with – among other things – a presentation live and online from the Arts Center in Orange. Sandy Hausman talked with two Virginia scholars who are taking part.

The 28-year-old rapper opens up about her two Grammy nominations, and how meditation helps her stay centered amid an increasingly busy career.

The Apple series 'Severance' is about a group of office workers who have undergone brain surgery that completely separates their memories of work from their memories of their regular lives.