The first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is almost universally recognized. A music critic examines what might have influenced Beethoven's writing of the symphony and its widespread influence on others.

Diane talks with legendary entertainer, Andy Williams, about his seven decades in show business, his Emmy-winning variety show, and performing live at the age of 82.

Laurie Rubin is a mezzo-soprano opera singer, an author and a jewelry designer. She is also blind. She gives the answer to the question people ask her most: Do you dream in color?

Domingo Martinez is the only author without a Pulitzer Prize to be nominated for this year's National Book Award. He joins Diane to discuss his memoir about growing up between two cultures on the border of Texas and Mexico.

Charles Dickens created some of the most famous child characters in fiction: Little Nell, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. Dickens was also the father of 10, possibly 11, sons and daughters. Author Robert Gottlieb explores their lives and what Dickens was like as a father and a man.

An economist explains the perfect storm of conditions that led to the recent global financial crisis, the actions that kept it from getting worse and how to reduce the likelihood of a similar event in the future.

A historian places Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb in the context of a period of intense technological creativity in the U.S. More than any other invention, he argues, electric light ushered in modernity.

Our region's early history through a new book featuring the most extensive map collection of Virginia's first 300 years.

An award-winning journalist presents a revelatory portrait of Winston Churchill as a brilliant, flawed and dynamic leader in the last 25 years of his life.

Domingo Martinez is the only author without a Pulitzer Prize to be nominated for this year's National Book Award. He joins Diane to discuss his memoir about growing up between two cultures on the border of Texas and Mexico.