Kurt Andersen surveys the cultural politics of John Ashcroft, the Attorney General nominee. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma talks about playing baroque music on a baroque cello, Michael Bierut explains how he learned to be a graphic designer at the record store, and Kurt and his special guest, The New Yorker critic Adam Gopnik, discuss why artists, musicians, and people from all walks of life choose to re-create artifacts from the past — on canvas, in the concert hall, and on the battlefield.
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