Fracking, sex trafficking & genetic engineering are among the thorny contemporary issues DR. KELLY OLIVER explores in riveting murder mysteries.

Curiosity about the world we live in inspired Dr. Oliver's 20 scholarly books (Example: CARCERAL HUMANITARIANISM: LOGICS OF REFUGEE DETENTION) and also generated her mysteries, WOLF, COYOTE, and F.O.X.

All three feature JESSICA JAMES, a young philosophical cowgirl detective. To learn how Dr. Oliver garnered the courage to tackle challenging topics via noir millennial mysteries, tune in to The Studio with Cheryl and Kelly Oliver 1 PM Monday & 7AM Wednesday on KRUU.

Today on Writers' Voices we delve into two of my favorite subjects- happiness and philosophy, with a delightful author who has spent a lot of time thinking about both.  FRÉDÉRIC LENOIR is a philosopher, sociologist, and religious historian, and the author of numerous essays, books, and novels, including historical thrillers such as "Oracle of the Moon" and the transformative fable "The Soul of the World." He is a professor at L’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, one of France’s elite universities, and is the editor of the bimonthly Le Monde des religions. Lenoir is host and producer of a weekly program about religion and philosophy on France Culture radio.

"Happiness: A Philosopher's Guide" was a bestseller in Europe and has now been translated into English. In this book, Lenoir examines how history’s greatest philosophers and religious figures have answered life’s most fundamental question:What is happiness and how do I achieve it?

At the end of today's show, we will announce details of the Inkfingerz 2015 Creative Prose Contest, co-sponsored by 1st World Publishing. Grand prize is a publishing contract!  Tune in for details, or go to writersvoices.com for details.

Click here to listen to interview archive

Barry Spector, a Harvard grauduate who writes about American history and politics from the perspectives of myth and archetypal psychology, is the author of Madness At The Gates Of The City: The Myth Of American Innocence (2011, Regent Press).

The book dissects America's belief in innocence and how that has allowed us to re-enact old patterns that cause us to subvert our goals and miss the deeper meaning in events.

Through his book, Mr. Spector uses Greek mythology, indigenous wisdom and archetypal psychology to discover new ways of looking at our present situation and finding healing solutions.