Arts & Life

Science fiction is literature that asks “what if?” What if time travel was possible? What if robots took over? What if climate change made Earth uninhabitable? Nancy Pearl joins us with recommendations for science-fiction titles (including  “Angelmaker” by Nick Harkaway) and a conversation about the genre. What sci-fi are you reading? Share your picks with us at 206.543.5869 or weekday@kuow.org.

Wayne Kramer was the guitarist of the protopunk 60s band, the MC5. When the band broke up, Kramer drifted into addiction and drug dealing which landed him in a federal prison with a four-year term. Today he works on a program called Jail Guitar Doors, working to get music into prisons.  Ross Reynolds talks with Wayne Kramer about music programs in prison.

This Halloween Ross Reynolds hears from listeners about their best costumes, best scares and favorite parts of Halloween.

Last year we spoke with author Jason Zinoman who wrote, "Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror," and took some calls. To celebrate Halloween we've decided to bring you some highlights from that interview and a little more.

Gene Robinson was the first openly gay bishop in a major Christian denomination. We’ll hear his personal story and find out why he thinks Christian critics of same-sex marriage are misreading the Bible.

Just in time for Halloween and this year's election, The Truth offers a special hour of horror stories that take place within the world of electoral politics. The Truth is a podcast that makes movies for your ears. The stories are entirely fictional, created with rich sound and professional-level acting, from Peabody-award winning producers Jonathan Michell and Kerrie Hillman.

The new documentary "Hellbound" looks at the emerging debate among evangelical Christians about whether hell exists.  Filmmaker Kevin Miller interviews a variety of people for the movie including Seattle evangelical pastor Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill Church.

The pink ribbon has been an incredibly successful piece of marketing for breast cancer research. But for new media artist and cancer survivor Leonor Caraballo, that pink ribbon is supremely annoying. She always hated the color pink, and Caraballo wanted to come up with a symbol that she didn't find infantilizing.

As an artist, Caraballo collaborates with her husband, Abou Farman, under the name caraballo-farman. And the couple came up with a new approach to representing breast cancer that's very different from pink ribbons. They started making bronze models of real tumors, created from MRI scans, that you can wear around your neck or put on your desk.

In his story, Object Breast Cancer, Independent Producer Eric Molinsky also discovered that this artwork is creating buzz among cancer researchers.

Other stories from KUOW Presents:

Vancouver Sun political correspondent Vaughn Palmer brings us the latest news from Canada. Film critic Robert Horton talks zombie movies and zombie metaphors. Then, we’ll get a look at what's happening in tech with Geekwire’s Todd Bishop.