New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's maternal grandmother, Nellie Shine Callaghan, was 16 or 17 years old when she came to America from Cobh, Ireland, 100 years ago. She booked passage on a brand new ocean liner: The Titanic.

Joan Didion's latest book, "Blue Nights," explores the death of her 39-year old adopted daughter Quintana. It's an event, “I hadn't dealt with it at any level, and I needed to,” she told WNYC's Leonard Lopate on Wednesday.

Meatballs, macaroni and cheese, and bacon have all had their makeovers in the kitchens of top chefs. It was the humble grilled cheese sandwich's turn this weekend at a community garden fundraiser in Brooklyn.

Artist Jason Polan wants to draw every person in New York—literally every person in New York—so he started a project to document his efforts. To see Polan in action, we invited him to WNYC to sketch behind-the-scenes. 

Gary Shteyngart says the characters in his new novel "Super Sad True Love Story" are the first ones he has written that he has really loved. The novel is set in the near future, which for Shteyngart is the easiest thing to write about. "To write about the present now is impossible," he says. 

Our selection of road trip–themed stories, books, and shows to get you started on your own soul-searching adventure.

During author Salman Rushdie's visit to The Leonard Lopate Show to talk up the PEN World Voices Festival, we asked him a couple of questions. Here's what he told us:

Alan Alda has straddled art and science through his work as an actor and as host of science programs over the years. He's says the worlds aren't so far apart. Watch the video for more.

Wild game is showing up on more and more restaurant menus these days. The editor-in-chief of Field and Stream had some cabin-to-condo tips on preparing venison.