Growing Up With Undiagnosed Asperger's

Tim Page was a weird kid. In grammar school he seemed to have a photographic memory, yet was always on the verge of failing most of his classes. He could memorize large portions of the World Book Encyclopedia as a very young child but would still wet his pants long into middle school. One beacon through which Page would connect with the world was music.

Eventually, his obsession with music would lead him to a career writing about it for the New York Times and Washington Post. He won a Pulitzer Prize for music criticism in 1997 .

In his memoir PARALLEL PLAY, Page writes out growing up in his own world and how he eventually learned that the name for his way of thinking had a name: Asperger's Syndrome.

LISTEN: TIM PAGE - "PARALLEL PLAY"

Getting a Picture of Lincoln

There is perhaps no more recognizable American face than that of Abraham Lincoln. And yet Philip Kunhardt III thinks there is more to be learned from looking at the 16th President's image.

Kunhardt and his family have collected and curated historical photographs for five generations. The Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation contains a massive collection of pictures from the 19th and 20th centuries. Over the years Philip Kunhardt has studied photographs of Lincoln in the collection and outside of it in great detail. The new book LINCOLN, LIFE SIZE, edited by the Kundhardts, takes photographs of Lincoln, familiar and more obscure, and blows them up for life-sized detail.

LISTEN: PHILIP KUNHARDT III - LINCOLN IN PHOTOS

When "Breaking News" Gets It Wrong

The bread and butter of CNN and the other cable news networks is breaking news. The problem with the "breaking news" model of broadcasting is that the amount of information immediately gathered does not equal the amount of airtime that needs to be filled. The result: inaccurate reporting, speculation, and a general lax in the application of the journalistic standards applied to the "old media" age.

Coverage of the recent Ft. Hood shooting included all of these unfortunate elements.

But are these problems new ones or old ones? Does new technology like Twitter make the problem of inaccurate reporting worse? Should we even worry about it?

Robert Thompson, Director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University discusses these issues as and more.

LISTEN: ROBERT THOMPSON - BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE

Old Rules and New Rules for Recovery

With a Wall Street recovery making some feel better about the economy, are jobs soon to follow?

Traditional wisdom might suggest that a boost in production by American companies would ease the swelling of unemployment figures. Yet, although many economists are saying the recession ended in the summer, still others are predicting double-digit unemployment to stick around for awhile. New York times national economics correspondent Peter S. Goodman says that the old rules might not apply to the current situation.

Goodman discusses concerns over the GDP in relation to the federal debt, the concept of a "jobless recovery" and suggests some ways American manufacturing can look for a more sustainable type of growth.

LISTEN: PETER S. GOODMAN - THE END OF EASY MONEY

Daily Show Writers Get Bookish

Two of the men behind the razor-sharp comedy of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart have produced some work without pictures... at least not moving ones.

Current Daily Show Executive Producer Josh Lieb used the 2007 screenwriter's strike to pen the young adult novel I AM A GENIUS OF UNSPEAKABLE EVIL AND I WANT TO BE YOUR CLASS PRESIDENT.

David Javerbaum has a long list of comedy credits including working for The Onion, The Late Show with David Letterman and last year he wrote the lyrics for Stephen Colbert's musical Christmas special. Javerbaum formerly served as Exec. Producer for The Daily Show. He still works with the staff as writer emeritus. His venture into paperback comedy is faux-advice book WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTED: A Fetus' Guide to the First Three Trimesters.

Both Lieb and Javerbaum talk about their comedic approach to news, media criticism and analysis on television as well as the work they have on book shelves.

LISTEN: JOSH LIEB - UNSPEAKABLE EVIL AND THE DAILY SHOW

LISTEN: DAVID JAVERBAUM - ADVICE FROM A FORMER FETUS

Cheating on the Free Market

New York Times business journalist and columnist Gretchen Morgenson has written about the influence of the banking and investment industry during the financial crisis and the behind-the-scenes discussions made by major players.

Morgenson talks about "creative destruction," the level of "freedom" in the American free market and a lack of reform for the financial industry.

LISTEN: GRETCHEN MORGENSON - READING THE CAPITALIST'S BIBLE