Oct 7th, 2004 · Austrian novelist and playwright Elfriede Jelinek wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Swedish Academy cited her ability to reveal "the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power." Since the prize was first awarded in 1901, only nine women have won it. NPR's Renee Montagne talks to NPR's Neda Ulaby.
Sep 14th, 2004 · The Abu Ghraib prison scandal, clergy sex abuse, corporate corruption. Are such abuses forms of discrimination -- based on distinctions of rank in business or society -- even more severe than racism? NPR's Tavis Smiley talks with Robert Fuller, author of Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank.
Sep 5th, 2004 · NPR's Liane Hansen speaks with Mike Rose, author of The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker. On this Labor Day weekend, Rose discusses how society should rethink the value placed on the intelligence of so-called "blue collar workers."
Jun 27th, 2004 · A society's heroes represent its strengths, its ideals -- and its fears. Danny Fingeroth has been studying comic-book super heroes for more than 25 years -- he has collected his ideas about why super heroes appeal to people in his book, Superman on the Couch. NPR's Andrea Seabrook talks with Fingeroth.