The Octavian 2021 Book List

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Our picks for the books you need to read in 2022, featuring Fareed Zakaria, Dara Horn, BHL, Mario Vargas Llosa, and many others.

How to Fight Vaccine Hesitancy

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As the government pauses Johnson and Johnson doses, we spoke with Johns Hopkins professor Tara Kirk Sell about why vaccines are safe and how to beat vaccine hesitancy.

What It Means to Be American

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The author of A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO AMERICA talks about history, identity, and place and what they mean to her and in our current cultural moment.

  Ethan Stiefel on modern ballet and choreography

Dance First, Think Afterwards

An Interview with Ethan Stiefel

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A renowned dancer and artistic director talks about his unconventional career.

  Andrew Blauner on the genius of <em>Peanuts</em>

Good Old Charlie Brown

An Interview with Andrew Blauner

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Charles Schulz's Peanuts can still delight, sadden, and fascinate us seven decades after it premiered in newspapers. We spoke with the editor of a Peanuts writing anthology about why.

Naples In the Time of Cholera

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Our latest episode features Frank Snowden, author of Naples in the Time of Cholera, on what we can learn from a late-19th century pandemic.