A Conversation With Author Julie Otsuka

American history is full of stories of disenfranchised women who assert their rightful role in society and in so doing, open up the culture. Author Julie Otsuka’s family was interned following the bombing of Pearl Harbor; her father was arrested as a potential spy. She told that story in her award-winning first novel, “When the Emperor Was Divine.” Her second novel, “The Buddha in the Attic,” reaches farther back to explore the lives of brides sent from Japan to America between the wars, and the strain of traditional values in a nation that promised opportunity for all. The writer Julie Otsuka joins us.Also this hour: most of us are spending our winter days inside, far away from the rhythms of light and shadow. What does it do to us to work, day in, day out, under artificial light? We talk with a University of Washington daylighting specialist about new buildings that use daylight to help people inside feel more relaxed, attentive and productive. Plus, Michael Fagin joins us with a hike to match the week's weather forecast.