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Are you top notch at code-cracking? If not, listen closely to this week's guest, a former C.I.A. agent, for tips on how to stay mysterious. We quiz his intelligence about fellow spy James Bond.

Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems to cultivate creativity.

Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. He says choice has paralyzed rather than freed us, leaving us dissatisfied instead of happy.

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious and unexpected public scenes with his group, Improv Everywhere — like 70 synchronized dancers in storefront windows, and the annual no-pants subway ride.

Robert Neuwirth, author of Shadow Cities, finds the world's squatter sites — where a billion people now make their homes — to be thriving centers of ingenuity and innovation. He takes us on a tour.

When gold was discovered in Alaska and Canada in the 1890s, thousands packed their bags and headed north, knowing little of the troubles they would face. Howard Blum writes about their adventures in The Floor Of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush.

Ever wonder why supermarket tomatoes taste like nothing? Food writer Barry Estabrook's new book traces the troubled history of the modern commercial tomato.

Author George R. R. Martin's latest epic fantasy, A Dance With Dragons, is finally in bookstores after a six-year delay. Now, fans of his work can finally find out whether their favorite characters will survive — not always a given in Martin's work.

Sapphire's follow-up to her dark, poetic 1996 debut novel Push lacks the brilliant indignation of its literary parent. Rather than being revelatory, the tone of The Kid is unrelentingly grim.

No two countries are experiencing the global financial crisis in the same way. And author Michael Lewis says you can tell a lot about each country by looking at its problems. To research for his new book, Boomerang, Lewis visited some of the most financially challenged countries in the world.