The 7th Avenue Project

Filmmaker John Waters and composer Philip Glass are both performing (separately) in our area this summer, which gave me an opportunity to talk to them about their lives and work. John discussed his journey from troublemaker to beloved elder, his own role models and his fascination with cults and brainwashing. Philip talked about the new Days and Nights performing arts festival he's launching in Big Sur and vicinity, about writing music for film and the dialogue between modernity and tradition in classical music.

Harry Noller has been doing molecular biology since before it was even called that, and he's been doing it very well. His work has helped illumine some of the fundamental processes on which all life (at least all earthly life) depends. He speaks about his fascinating career and research on today's show. We'll hear about his meetings with remarkable scientists, his own brush with Nobel laureate-hood and the dizzying intricacies of his pet research subject, the microscopic machines known as ribosomes.

The soul-stirring Portuguese music known as Fado. Robert discusses and listens to the art of Fado with Donald Cohen, author of "Fado Portuges." Featuring music by Mariza, Caminé, Amalia Rodrigues and more.

Stories about becoming American: where we come from, how we got here, the connections we make and the connections we keep, at home and abroad. In part 1, KUSP's Sean Rameswaram joins Team America and swears some oaths. In part 2, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi attends naturalization ceremonies in all 50 states, meeting new US citizens. In part 3, Mwende Hahesy, also of KUSP, pays a visit to her mother's homeland and reflects on the relationship of family and nationality.

How one mathophobe conquered her fears, and others can, too. For years, science journalist Jennifer Ouellette made a living writing about subjects like physics, while avoiding the mathematics. Finally, she resolved to shed the dread and confront calculus, as she relates in her recent book "The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse." We talked about her reconciliation with math, the history and uses of calculus (e.g., predicting rates of zombification), the sources of math anxiety and techniques for getting over it.

Historian Peter Kenez has wrtten about some of the pivotal events of the the 20th century, and he's lived some of those events, too. We talk about his very interesting life: growing up Jewish in Nazi- and Soviet-controlled Hungary, fleeing the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and coming to America. We also discussed his new book on the Holocaust.

Viruses have had a huge impact on human history, the evolution of life on Earth, even global climate. Science writer Carl Zimmer discusses his new book "A Planet of Viruses."

Brooke Gladstone has been keeping tabs on the news media for the past decade and a half, first as NPR's media correspondent and then with On the Media, the nationally distrubuted radio show she co-hosts with the redoubtable Bob Garfield. Her new illustrated history, The Influencing Machine, traces the rise (and failings) of modern journalism.

A musical journey to North Africa with Fattah Abbou and Mohamed Aoualou of the band Aza. The versatile singer/instrumentalists are from Morocco and play a variety of styles, with special emphasis on their own Imazighen (Berber) roots. They visited our studio to perform some lovely tunes and talk about their music and culture.

The celebrated "sound sculptor" Trimpin has long been haunted by the story of the Gurs prison camp in southern France, where thousands of Jews were held during World War II. Now he's commemorating this little-known chapter of the Holocaust with a major new multimedia performance. We discussed the Gurs Cycle with Trimpin, director Rinde Eckert, Gurs survivor Manfred Wildman, and Victor Rosenberg, whose family letters are used in the performance.