Kurt Andersen, author of *Turn of the Century*, a cofounder of *Spy* magazine and former columnist for *Time* and *The New Yorker*, discusses his new novel, *Heyday*. Set in the midst of the 19th century, the book explores America's coming of age with a handful of memorable characters discovering the nature of freedom and true love. Andersen hosts the award-winning public radio program, *Studio 360*.
Kurt Andersen is the author of the novels *Heyday* and *Turn of the Century*. *Heyday* was included on several best-books-of-the-year lists, and won the Langum Prize as the best American historical novel of 2007. *Turn of the Century* was a national bestseller. He has also written for film, television and the stage. He has written screenplays for Walt Disney Pictures and Village Roadshow. Currently, GreeneStreet Films is developing *Turn of the Century* as a film, for which he is serving as an executive producer. He is also developing a series for HBO. During the 1990s he was executive producer and head writer of two prime-time specials for NBC, *How to Be Famous* and *Hit List*. He was co-author of *Loose Lips*, a satirical off-Broadway revue. He is also host and co-creator of *Studio 360*, the Peabody Award-winning cultural magazine show produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. From 2001 through 2004 he served as a creative consultant to Universal Television, helping to create the Trio cable channel and to shape Universal's TV programming. From 2004 through 2008 he wrote a column called "The Imperial City" for *New York* (one of which is included in The Best American Magazine Writing 2008), and contributes to *Vanity Fair* (where piece of his won a 2009 Deadline Club Award). He was previously a columnist for *The New Yorker* ("The Culture Industry") and Time ("Spectator"). He began his career in journalism at *Time*, where during the 1980s he was an award-winning writer on politics and criminal justice before becoming, for eight years, the magazine's architecture and design critic. As an editor, he co-founded the legendary *Spy*, which transformed journalism and became profitable after three years. He also served as editor-in-chief of *New York* magazine during the mid-90s, presiding over its editorial reinvigoration and record profitability. In 1999 he co-founded *Inside*, an online and print publication covering the media and entertainment industries, and in 2004 and 2005 he oversaw a relaunch of *Colors* magazine. And he is editor-at-large for Random House, responsible for finding, conceiving, and overseeing non-fiction books.