Emily Dickinson's Gardens

Guest: Marta McDowell, gardener and author, "Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Iconic Poet"

The archetypal, reclusive, and brilliant poet Emily Dickinson was inspired by the rich biodiversity contained in her gardens.

Emily Dickinson: Plants and Poetry

Guest: Cynthia L. Hallen, Associate Professor, Linguistics, Brigham Young University

Emily Dickinson saw flowers as poems and poems as flowers. 

Why Poetry Still Matters

Guest: Rachel Wadham, Education and Juvenile Literature Librarian and regular contributor to The Lisa Show, which airs weekdays at 8 am ET/7 am PT

You obviously have heard of Emily Dickinson, but how often do you read her, or other poets, for that matter? Rachel Wadham weighs in on the importance of poetry today. 

The One, the Only, the Magnificent Harry Houdini!

Guest: Joe Posnanski, author, "The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini"

What do we really know about Harry Houdini, a man who invented almost everything about himself? We talk with Joe Posnanski about the man behind the myth, and the wonder he inspired in us all.

Why We Love to Be Fooled by Magic

Guest: Gustav Kuhn, Reader, MAGIC lab and Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University, London, and author, “Experiencing the Impossible: The Science of Magic”

The bad news is that Hogwarts does not exist. The good news is that the MAGIC lab at Goldsmiths University in London does. A surprising new area of study in psychology: the science of magic.