Sean Cole

The New York City Parks Department would probably want me to start this way: North Brother Island is a ruin. It hasn’t been occupied, nor used for anything by anyone except nesting herons, since the early 70’s. Thus, it’s dangerous.

Typhoid, a disease forever associated with one woman: Typhoid Mary. You think you know this story, but the details reveal a troubling, very human story behind the anecdote.

How did Emily Dickinson's unusual poem about death become standard high school curriculum? Studio 360 takes a closer reading at a literary masterpiece.

Emily Dickinson's fantasy of getting picked up by the grim reaper is a very strange work of art to be standard fare in high school English classes. For our American Icons series, Sean Cole — a poet himself — examines Dickinson's legendary work, "Because ...

American poetry is due for a new movement. The frontrunner is “Flarf.” Google and the internet overload make Flarf possible, because the poem's content must be a collage of search returns. It’s experimental, but also a pretty good way to liven up a poetry reading. Sean Cole has ...

After Emily Dickinson died, her sister found nearly 2,000 poems in her bureau -- and in many, she imagined herself already dead. Sean Cole took a closer look at Dickinson's legendary poem, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death."

It's got nudity, sex and love triangles, but Young American Bodies isn’t porn. It’s a soap opera posted on Nerve.com, complete with strong characters and twisty plot-lines. And it paints a pretty bright future for the video entertainment on the web, according to its newest fan, Sean ...

We consume paper by the ton, but most of us never think about where all that paper really comes from. Just how do trees turn into printer paper? We sent reporter Sean Cole on a mission to find out.

What separates humans from animals? It used to be tools - and then we found out some animals are pretty handy. But what about art? There may be nothing prettier than birdsong, but each species sings pretty much the same tune. Are animals ever really creative? WBUR's

After Emily Dickinson died, her sister found nearly two thousand poems in her bureau, all ready for publication. In a surprising number of those poems, Emily Dickinson was writing from beyond the grave. For our series on American Icons, WBUR’s Sean Cole took a closer look at ...

There may be nothing prettier than birdsong, but birds don't make art - each species sings pretty much the same tune. Are animals ever really creative? WBUR's Sean Cole met a dog painter and an orchestra of elephants.

Artist Marina Abramovic encourages you not only to touch her art installation piece, "Dream Bed," she wants you to lie right down inside it and record what happens next.

We consume paper by the ton, but most of us never think about where it really comes from. Just how do trees turn into paper towels and junk mail? We sent WBUR's Sean Cole on a messy mission.

If you go into the Rose Museum outside Boston, not only can you touch the newest art installation, you can lie right down inside it. Marina Abramovich, the artist behind “Dream Bed,” encourages you to record and share what happens next. WBUR’s Sean Cole recently stopped in for a ...

We've gone a little Christmas crazy.

At a time when our leaders seem unable to provide any guidance - spiritual, tactical, or otherwise - we turn to others for guruship... from a tow truck operator to a legendary blues musician. Plus a new round of sounds, for this month's Five Sounds in Search of an Author ...