Author Oliver Roeder says that games are a “slice of life.” This hour we look at three games: chess, Scrabble, and Monopoly. We investigate why these games have endured in popularity through history, and we discuss what each one of them can teach us about life.

GUESTS:

• Oliver Roeder: journalist and author of Seven Games: A Human History
• Jenny Adams: Associate Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the author of Power Play: The Literature and Politics of Chess in the Late Middle Ages, among other books
• Lindsay Shin: A competitive Scrabble player who’s been playing competitively for around 20 years; she organizes an annual Scrabble tournament in New Orleans
• Mary Pilon: A journalist, screenwriter, and the author of The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game, among other books 

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Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

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