Master storyteller Pat Conroy’s novel “South of Broad” is his first in more than 14 years. It’s set in his beloved Charleston, SC. And everything is on the table again: love, lust, race, religion.

“Vagina Monologues” playwright Eve Ensler is now looking at the lives of teenage girls, from American suburbia to the Congo.

From the ’40s to the ’70s and beyond, the myth of legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk nearly overshadowed the man. We speak with biographer Robin Kelley about Monk’s life and music.

Comedian Sandra Tsing Loh and her friend, essayist Caitlin Flanagan, have very different takes on the institution of marriage. We hear their views.

We speak with Irish novelist Edna O’Brien about Lord Byron in love.

A decade ago, Maya Lin announced she was out of the memorial business. But she’s done one more, to vanishing species. And this one you can hear.

We look at the country American combat troops are leaving behind. Top reporters Anthony Shadid and Liz Sly join us live from Baghdad to talk about the road ahead now for Iraq.

Another round of Middle East peace talks begins, this time under Pres. Obama. It’s a good time to listen back to NYTimes correspondent Neil MacFarquhar reflect on his time in the region.

A world of music, between Mahler and Schoenberg, was blacked out by the Nazis. Now, James Conlon of the Los Angeles Opera is bringing that music back for American audiences.

Tom Ashbrook mentioned on Friday that Phil Krone, a longtime friend and sometime On Point guest, passed away recently. Hear the full show with Phil, Kris Carr, and Judith Freedman – all of whom battled cancer.

Renegade philosophers Pat and Paul Churchland say consciousness itself is straight biology, a machine. We hear their case.

The new movie starring Julia Roberts is out. Listen to an original interview with author Elizabeth Gilbert. We talk with her about soul seeking, resetting her compass, and her book “Eat, Pray, Love.”