NPR's Liane Hansen talks with Karen Armstrong, author of The Spiral Staircase about leaving the convent, her diagnosis with epilepsy, and her self-described "climb out of darkness."
Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.
We're offering examples of our work right now, including this sampler of HPR All Things Considered host Dave Lawrence speaking with Third World's late vocalist, Bunny "Rugs" Clarke, in 2012. Find lots of interviews on our website!
Jordan Ellenberg is a mathematics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the New York Times Best-selling author of two books: “How Not to be Wrong” and “Shape.” He has been visiting the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa this week as part of the school's 2025 distinguished lecture series in mathematics.