Program 611: Pico in Lockdown; Socrates Express; Fiji

Writer Pico Iyer looks for silver linings to the pandemic lockdowns. Eric Weiner explores the life lessons he gained by visiting the home turf of the world's great thinkers and philosophers. And the author of a guidebook to Fiji shares the tourism highlights of the South Pacific nation where her family has lived for generations.

• Writer Pico Iyer, author of "Autumn Light" (Knopf) and "The Art of Stillness" (TED Books)
• Eric Weiner, author of "The Socrates Express" (Avid Reader Press-Simon & Schuster)
• Minal Hajratwala, author of the Moon Fiji guidebook

• The two books Pico Iyer released in 2019 are about Japan: "A Beginner's Guide to Japan," and a memoir about his life near Nara called "Autumn Light."
• Pico Iyer spoke with Rick about his experiences living in Japan on Travel with Rick Steves program #586 in December  2019 and on program #576 in September 2019.  Pico discusses what he wrote about in his books "The Art of Stillness" and "Nowhere Places" on program #400 in 2015, and program #305A in 2014.
• Eric Weiner writes about his travels to the homes of major philosophers in his book "The Socrates Express."  Most years, Eric hosts the Himalayan Writers Workshop in the fall.
• Eric Weiner explains his theory about places that were ripe for fostering innovation, which he writes about in "The Geography of Genius," on Travel with Rick Steves program #430 in 2016.
• Minal Hajratwala is the author of the Moon Fiji guidebook.
• Tourism Fiji describes the country's latest coronavirus policies on its website.
• Trip Advisor describes the Coral Coast resort district on Fiji's Viti Levu island.