Readings

On an undefeated star of a controversial sport.

The author of Rise of the Necrofauna on cloning departed pets, important beetles, and the power of the northern white rhino. 

Discovering the balance between grace and effort in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. 

For a decade, the BDSM site Kink.com has filmed scenes for its more than 50,000 members in a hundred-year-old armory in downtown San Francisco. This year, the final erotic frames were shot on the premises.

The author of Collected Tarts and Other Indelicacies on The Simpsons, pranks, and saying hello to puppies. 

On turtlenecks. 

The author of Augustown on belief, class and racism in Jamaica, and unhappy endings. 

Beneath the ubiquitous posters for the Shen Yun ballet is a battle between dissidents and the state over the soul of a nation, both at home and across the diaspora.

The As It Happens host and author of All We Leave Behind on fighting to cover conflict as a female journalist in the '80s, Canada's refugee system, and maintaining a moral compass.