Jonathan Bastian

Kiki Petrosino is poet to watch. In her early 30s, she's already published a highly-acclaimed first collection, "Fort Red Border" (Sarabande) and a chapbook, "The Dark is Here" (Forkift Ink).

A professor the University of Louisville, her poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in The New York Times, Tin House, Jubilat, Gulf Coast, Harvard Review, and elsewhere. Her latest collection of poems will be released from Sarabande in 2013.

She spoke about the art of poetry — reading it, writing it, loving it — with WFPL's Jonathan Bastian.

Breaking Bad. Homeland. The Sopranos. Madmen. Friday Night Lights. The Walking Dead.

Chances are you've lost weeks — if not months — of your life to one of these shows. I know I have. But where on earth did they come from? Why has there been this explosion of high-quality TV dramas?

Saudi Arabia remains one of the last absolute monarchies in world. The royal family maintains control over the religion — and the billions of dollars in oil reserves.

This, coupled with a culture weary of outsiders, made reporting on the country tough for Karen Elliot. But after years of on-the-ground-research she produced a landmark book entitled, “On Saudi Arabia: It’s people, past, religion, fault-lines — and future.”

The New York Times called it one of the best 100 books of the year.

Through books like “The Mind's Eye,”  “Awakenings” and “The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat,” Oliver Sacks has achieved world-wide recognition for his work as a neurologist.

In his latest book, he examines one of the greatest mysteries of the mind: Hallucinations.

He explores this topic from medical, historical and cultural perspectives. But, as I found out, his interest in hallucinations comes from a very personal place. Throughout his life, Sacks suffered from hallucinations from the result of migraine headaches.

Barbara Kingsolver's love and knowledge of Appalachia is on display in her latest novel, "Flight Behavior." So is her passion for investigating climate change:

"It's the biggest un-talked about issue of our times," she said. "What I wanted to write about was the culture war — the difficulty of this conversation and why it is that we can all look at the same set of facts and walk away believing different things."

With the election season finally over, you may have stumbled upon a few phrases a  few (or a thousand) times. One of those is America being called or compared to “The City on a Hill.”

But where exactly does this phrase come from? And how has it woven itself so powerfully into our political rhetoric?

Dr. Richard Gamble of Hillsdale College  sought to answer these new questions in his new book, “In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American Myth.”

  There are no statewide races on the ballot in Kentucky this year: no Senate contests, no constitutional offices. But there are tight contests peppered throughout the commonwealth. Republicans are trying to take control of the state House this year. They need 10 seats to do so.

Nate Silver has become a hot commodity — especially during the election season. He’s the whiz kid who predicted how 49 out of 50 states would vote in the 2008 election.

Four years ago he founded the website fivethirtyeight.com, which has since been incorporated into The New York Times website.

There's plenty of books about military history and strategy out there, but what about an in-depth, personalized account of just experiencing war?

This is exactly what Karl Marlantes created with, "What it is Like to Go to War." However, in many chapters, his story bends beyond the personal. He explores the psychological and cultural roots of war: Jung, myth, Indian Epics, etc..

I caught up with Marlantes during his recent trip to Louisville to discuss this book. Many readers might be familiar with his first book, the novel, "Matterhorn."

Few books have been more discussed this year than Hanna Rosin's, "The End of Men: And the Rise of Women." Through reams of data and cultural arguments, she argues that women have been eclipsing men in the workplace because they're more adaptable and communicative in a changing, information-based economy.

But is this ultimately a good thing for women? Has it made them happier?  Have they finally achieved an equal status with men in the workplace? And....what about the future of men?