On this edition of Conversations, Rob Harrell talks with host Dan Skinner about his latest book, “Wink – Surviving Middle School With One Eye Open.” His previous books include the “Life of Zarf” series and the graphic novel “Monster on the Hill.”

On this edition of Conversations, Dan Zevin shares Very Modern Mantras: Daily Affirmations for Daily Aggravations. Zevin is a Thurber Prize-winning humorist whose books include Dan Gets a Minivan and The Day I Turned Uncool. He’s been an award-winning humor columnist for the New York Times, and a contributor to print and digital editions of The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Salon, The Wall Street Journal and others.

On this edition of Conversations, A. B. Jewell talks about his humorous tech/noir debut novel, The Man Who Wouldn’t Die. A. B. Jewell is the pseudonym for a Pulitzer Prize-winning technology reporter. The author behind the author has written numerous books including fiction and non-fiction, but using a pseudonym allows him to enter a new genre without readers having preconceived notions of what they will find.

Al Gini is a professor of business ethics and the author of numerous books on issues in contemporary American culture. For over 27-years he has been the “Resident Philosopher” on Chicago’s public radio station, WBEZ and he can also be heard on WGN in Chicago. On this edition of Conversations, he joins me to talk about his latest book, The Importance of Being Funny: Why We Need More Jokes in our Lives.

Have you discovered the secret to happiness? If not, Paula Poundstone might be able to help with her audio book, The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness. On this edition of Conversations I talk with Paula Poundstone about searching for happiness, her love of audio books, her new podcast, and being a panelist on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Paula's new podcast Live from the Poundstone Institute, produced in association with NPR, will premier in July.