wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Canadian writers Wayne Grady and Merilyn Simonds, one the descendent of an American slave, the other educated at an American school in Brazil, write about their trip around the perimeter of the U.S. and discuss their new book, Breakfast at the Exit Cafe: Travels Through America.

Brooke Allen describes her experiences traveling in Syria. The Other Side of the Mirror: An American Travels through Syria is an account of Syria's rich historical and archaeological treasures: the ancient cities of Aleppo and Damascus, the great Crusader castles, the Bronze Age ruins of Ebla and Mari, the Greco-Roman cities of Palmyra and Apamea, and it looks at Syria's people, culture, and history.

Travel writer Sara Wheeler uncovers the beautiful, brutal reality of the Arctic in her latest book, The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle. Wheeler travels with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, herds reindeer across the tundra with the Lapps, and shadows the Trans-Atlantic pipeline with truckers, all in an effort to understand the role of the Arctic in public and in private life.