Allegorical fiction can take very complex realities and convey them in powerful, emotional, psychologically accurate way.

A conversation with the Man Booker Prize-winning novelist.

Josh Ritter can’t complain about today’s recording industry: the concerts are improving and some lesser-known artists are doing great work.

The developer of the first portable cellular telephone discovered that he wanted to be an engineer when he was just four years old. His homemade magnifying glass sparked a career […]

The pioneering HIV/AIDS researcher used high school math in creating a drug “cocktail” to combat the worldwide epidemic.

The mathematical physicist reflects upon his untraditional math and science education in Belize, and talks about how Einstein’s theory of relativity is a “profound connection” that can inspire young people.

The U.S. is now incarcerating on a level so out of sync with it’s own history—and with what other industrial democracies are doing—that the system is bound to change.

Sexual victimization in prison now has come to constitute a significant portion of that in society as a whole.

The massive rise in the prison population isn’t one of the primary reasons that crime has decreased.

We once hoped criminals would come out of prison better than they had entered. Not anymore.

Looking carefully at the history of Texas makes us rethink the history of crime and punishment and incarceration in the country as a whole.

Our skyrocketing incarceration rates are less related to crime than to racial politics, tough-on-crime rhetoric and for-profit prisons.

African-Americans are imprisoned at seven times the rate of whites. Intentional discrimination is a factor in this—as are poverty, educational attainment, urban density, and white flight from urban centers.

A conversation with the author of “Texas Tough: The Rise of a Prison Empire.”

Both are hard, but for the musician and author, one was “terrifying.”

Musical genres are almost impossible to classify.

Connecting with fans is an amazing experience. But do musicians really need to maintain that connection 24/7 online?

From the politically charged songs of “The Animal Years” to the more playful narrative style of his new album, the singer has consciously avoided repeating the “same old act.”

Avoiding the dreaded “girl/world” rhyme, and other songwriting tips.

Guitar isn’t “stuck in a canon”: it lets each musician express a unique voice. Succeeding at it means insisting on that voice with absolute confidence.

Josh Ritter had an epiphany while studying organic chemistry in college: he was meant to be a musician, not a scientist.

A conversation with the singer, songwriter, and musician.

Lois realized in high school that every design and communications problem presented an opportunity to do something unusual, exciting, dramatic, and unique.

Brian Henson talks about growing up with stuffed siblings.

Puppetry is one of the oldest art forms, and its effect can’t be replicated with 3D digital animation.

A look at the process of bringing a puppet to life.

Jim Henson knew the value of letting people make mistakes.

A science background helped Brian Henson create his first scene ever in “The Great Muppet Caper.”

Brian Henson’s latest show is derived from early memories of watching his dad off-set with the Muppets.