Emily Dickinson died a recluse. Today, her poetry towers. Top scholar Helen Vendler joins us for a deep look at Dickinson.

We talk with Vanity Fair reporter Michael Joseph Gross, about his big new—and controversial — profile of Tea Party powerbroker Sarah Palin. Plus, we hear a new gospel of thrift, from a young megachurch pastor.

We talk with sci-fi visionary and cyberpunk godfather William Gibson about his new novel, “Zero History” –and about what happens when the future is now.

The big stage-setter for the mid-term elections. Democrats on why they should be rehired. Republicans on why Dems should be fired.

We talk with filmmaker Werner Herzog about a bad lieutenant, a matricidal son – and his own lifelong search for the “ecstatic truth.”

Novelist John Irving – of “Garp,” “Cider House Rules” fame – is at it again. He talks with us about his latest tale, “Last Night at Twisted River,” takes on Tom Wolfe, and explains the secrets of his own art.

The two-time U.S. Open champion is making a bid right now at a third title. Listen back to our conversation with tennis superstar Venus Williams.

Sperm banks are suddenly big in the movies. We look at the real life debate over test-tube daddies.

Alcoholics Anonymous at 75. We look at its legacy and its 12 steps through the lens of the latest science.

We get inside Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” with high-humored “Daily Show” correspondent Samantha Bee.

Deconstructing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with its monumental “Ode to Joy.” We get inside the music, and the world that inspired it.

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.