So-called silent films were anything but silent. As with today's films, they had music accompanying the images, often frame for frame for the entire film. A leading latter-day practitioner of silent film music, Jelani Eddington, will tell us how he performs the score he composed for "The Flying Ace," a remarkable 1926 action movie with an all-black cast. How well does a silent film work on radio? Find out as we experience the Art of Silent Film Music.

What are the indicators of life and how will we look for them as we continue to explore Mars and beyond?

Some aspects of the supernatural are universal, but the long traditions of Chinese supernatural writings have some traits all their own. In this hour of University of the Air, Rania Huntington will introduce us to a gallery of ghosts, shape-shifters, divinities, superhumans, and dragons. Along the way, she'll tell us several stories that date back as far as the 12th century.

Jazz has been called "the coolest, freest, and yet deepest music humans have ever made," an indigenous art form that seems to defy categorization. We explore the definition of jazz with the help of numerous musical examples.

"My dad's in jail and I don't like to talk about it," says Alex, a character on Sesame Street. In this hour, UW Professor of Human Ecology Julie Poehlmann discusses her research and her work with Sesame Street on its initiative designed for millions of children with incarcerated parents.

The Caribbean triangle trade of sugar, molasses, and rum was a big part of the colonial economy. Not so well known was the salt industry, which flourished in large measure because of slave labor. Mary Prince was one of the slaves who worked in the salt ponds of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Cherene Sherrard-Johnson will give us the background of the Caribbean salt trade and tell us about the remarkable account that Mary Prince left about her experiences as a slave working and traveling through the Caribbean in the early years of the nineteenth century.

Why do so many people hate grammar? Find out which grammar "rules" are prescriptive gobbledygook with the Chair of the UW English Department

From an escaped slave to one of America's great orators and political activists, Frederick Douglass was a major force at a turning point in American history. What were the factors that enabled Douglass to prevail in violent times? Biographer Greg Lampe will take us into the life and times of a man who became the conscience of America.

Dexter Gordon’s widow, Maxine Gordon, explores her award-winning biography Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon.

His upbringing was unlikely to produce a writer with an international reputation. His education was limited and traumatic. But Hans Christian Andersen became known throughout Europe for stories such as The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Snow Queen. How was he able to turn simple ideas into stories for the ages? And were those stories, so popular in Disney films, really for children? Andersen expert Scott Mellor will tell us about the breaks, good and bad, that elevated Andersen to the ranks of celebrated authors.