My admiration for Dr. Oliver Sacks is no secret. He was just on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night talking about the effects of music on the brain. I am thrilled that he was discussing this on mainstream TV as more people watch The Daily Show than have read his excellent book, Musicophilia. [...]

People get under my skin. Sarajevo got in my veins. Boston doesn’t escape my thoughts.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been wandering in the North End, the old Italian neighborhood in Boston. I actually visited the North End on June 11th, fifteen days ago. I’ve spent more time since I left Boston mentally walking [...]

Music must be one of the most powerful forces of nostalgia!
Yesterday, I had a lot of fun dancing to the gypsy music of Goran Bregović, a Sarajevo-born musician and composer. He has collaborated with Iggy Pop and Cesaria Evora and created the soundtracks for Emir Kusturica’s films (Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream, Underground).
While listening [...]

Last week, at Book Expo America in New York, I had some extra time and went to the Latino Book Awards, not knowing anything about the event.
I walked in on Bill Santiago’s stand-up comedy routine in Spanglish, the mixture of Spanish and English by Spanish speakers in the US. He’s written a book in [...]

There’s proof that music leads to learning!
Last week, I was helping my friend David Mathison at his booth at Book Expo America. David was selling his book, Be the Media, a guidebook for authors, musicians, film makers, radio hosts and other creative people to create their own media companies. David’s aim is for people to [...]