The Diane Rehm Show

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford is best known for his Bascombe trilogy of novels, which center on a middle-aged man from middle America. Ford's first novel in three years is about a 15-year-old American boy who is taken to Canada taken to start a new life after his parents rob a bank and are sent to prison. Richard Ford joins Diane to discuss what Canada means to him.

It affects everything we eat, yet it isn't getting much attention. Reauthorization of the 2012 Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act, or the farm bill, passed a Senate committee with bipartisan support. It awaits a full Senate vote, a House bill and conference before reaching President Barack Obama's desk. The proposal eliminates $23 billion in spending. But not everyone is happy. Critics say it should do more to address environmental and nutritional concerns. Diane speaks with Senator Debbie Stabenow, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Congressman Michael Conaway, chair of the House Agriculture General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee, and a panel of experts about the changes ahead in U.S. agricultural policy.

For the May Readers Review, we chose a work that was shortlisted for this year's Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It's a novella by Denis Johnson titled "Train Dreams." It begins in 1917 in the Idaho panhandle. The central character works the railroads and virgin forests that fueled America's push for economic progress. He experiences tragedy and wonder, and his life echoes the hardship and beauty of a nation on the cusp of radical change. He's quietly heroic, simply by surviving. Diane and her guests discuss this portrait of a man and a place, by the author of "Tree of Smoke," winner of the 2007 National Book Award.

Parents are increasingly allowing their very young children to play with iPads, iPhones and other touch-screen devices. Please join us for a conversation about interactive applications and brain development.

"Knowledge is a big subject. Ignorance is bigger...and it is more interesting." These are the words of neuroscientist Stuart Firestein, the chair of Columbia University's biology department. Firestein claims that exploring the unknown is the true engine of science, and says ignorance helps scientists concentrate their research. He compares science to searching for a black cat in a dark room, even though the cat may or may not be in there. Firestein's laboratory investigates the mysteries of the sense of smell and its relation to other brain functions. A discussion of the scientific benefits of ignorance.