Character Building | WBUR and NPR - On Point with Tom Ashbrook

TODAY IS SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2009

Friday, January 2, 2004 at 11:00 AM EST

Character Building

An author in search of character or plot may look to dreams, a scotch, or a clerk at the drugstore to stir the muse. The origins of literature’s most enduring characters, from Holly Golightly to Jay Gatsby.

Guests:

Andre Bernard, Vice President and Publisher of Harcourt Brace, author of “Madame Bovary, C’est Moi And Other Excursions into the Origins of Famous Literary Characters “

Listener comments

Nobody seems to get the new financial picture even though I have been espousing it for ever after the crash and even before. People are going to save money and not blow it from now on as they learned there lesson well.
They are going to be like there parents and grandparents and save, save save! So forget about the old ways they are not coming back. It is going to be a big shift backwards.
Posted by Christian Blake, on February 27th, 2009 at 2:55 pm EST

Rick Bass and the Montana Wild
Thursday, July 2, 2009

Author Rick Bass walks us through the changing seasons of the Montana wilderness, in his new book, “The Wild Marsh.”

Comments [8]

Controlling the American Appetite
Thursday, July 2, 2009

Former FDA chief David Kessler took on Big Tobacco. Now he tells us how the food industry plays with our brain chemistry, and turns us into hyper-eaters.

Comments [73]

India, China and the Climate

The passage of the House climate bill – discussed in our first hour today – has been greeted with enthusiasm in many quarters. But in some ways, the real question is whether a global framework can be established in Copenhagen in December, when countries will negotiate a new international treaty to curb greenhouse gases. After all, America emits only [...]

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Michael, Ed, and Farrah

The week-in-the-news roundtable always involves tough choices on sound clips – what to include, what to leave out. Amid all the pressing hard news, we often give a nod to a notable person who’s passed away. But this week brought, well, a ridiculous range of choices. So we gave a nod to them all in the roundtable today. And [...]

Planet Money, On Point — Your Questions!

On Wednesday night, June 24, On Point will tape a show before an audience in Boston with two stars of NPR’s “Planet Money,” Adam Davidson and David Kestenbaum. We need your online questions to put to them — about anything from the roots of the economic crisis to NPR’s coverage.
What’s your question about the [...]

More » | Comments [18]