As 2013 approaches, join us for a look back at the landmark cultural year of 1913 – when shock was the norm. See the images and hear the sounds of Modernism in this sneak preview of a new radio special produced and hosted by WNYC’s Sara Fishko. 

Culture Shock 1913 has a Tumblr with 1913-related tidbits. Take a look!

Listen to our 1913 podcast series!

A.E. Hotchner, a friend of Ernest Hemingway during the last 14 years of the writer's life, reminisces about their relationship in this Books and Authors Luncheon appearance promoting his memoir, Papa Hemingway (1966). 

Irshad Manji, author of the book Allah, Liberty and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom, talks about her ongoing efforts to "modernize" Islam from within.

In a curious exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art, curators Itala Schmelz and Ernesto Peñaloza of the National Automomous University in Mexico City have put together a highly intriguing visual chronicle of the 1939 World's Fair (and New York) as seen through the lens of one of Mexico's more unusual lensmen: Luis Márquez.

In the middle of the last century, almost all the important painters were working big. Canvasses grew too big for even some of the rich patrons’ walls. Matt Holzman of KCRW tried to find out why, and how, modern painters went monumental.

You might know the Jetsons-like curvy concrete and glass structure of TWA’s Terminal 5 at JFK from the movie Catch Me If You Can. When the abandoned terminal was recently declared a landmark building, Kurt Andersen and architecture critic Alastair Gordon took a trip to the airport ...

Kurt Andersen and historian Simon Schama talk about the explosive year of 1848 and the birth of modern culture.

Simon Schama is University Professor at Columbia University. He is a writer/presenter of documentaries for BBC Television and his books include Landscape and Memory, The Citizens, and the History of Britain.