When Rules Ruled Society and Mrs. Astor Was Queen Guest: Cecelia Tichi, Professor of English and American Studies, Vanderbilt University, Author of “What Would Mrs. Astor Do?” Mark Twain called it the “Gilded Age,” a time when strict rules ruled, and manners really mattered. From 1870 to 1900, the US population doubled, industry expanded, and wealth exploded. New York City was the center of it all and Caroline Astor was its queen. A True Story About Schizophrenia Guest: Sandy Allen, Author of “A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise: A True Story about Schizophrenia” Schizophrenia is a devastating disorder. There’s no test to diagnose it, no cure for it and no clear idea what even causes it. Sandy Allen didn’t know any of this when a manuscript arrived in the mail from Uncle Bob. There were whispers in the family that Uncle Bob was crazy. Over nearly a decade, Sandy Allen struggled to make sense of the story Bob told in the strange, typewritten pages he’d sent. The result is a fascinating look inside the mind of a man who describes himself as “unable to identify with reality.” Sandy Allen’s book is called, “A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise: A True Story About Schizophrenia.”