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Two thrillers raise questions about writing from a particular race and identity
Today's episode focuses on two thrillers that our host, Andrew Limbong, read while on parental leave. First, R.F. Kuang speaks with NPR's Mary Louise…
2 years, 7 months ago
'Queer Career' chronicles the history of LGBTQ workers in the U.S.
In her new book, Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America, historian Margot Canaday sets out to discover the experiences of LGBTQ people in…
2 years, 7 months ago
'Of White Ashes' follows a Japanese-American love story after the WWII internment
Author Kent Matsumoto's parents both lived through traumatic experiences during WWII: his mother was forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Amer…
2 years, 7 months ago
In 'Losing Our Religion,' Russell Moore tackles a crisis in evangelical Christianity
Russell Moore resigned from his position in the Southern Baptist Convention after finding himself at odds with other top evangelical leaders – for cr…
2 years, 7 months ago
'Mobility' examines wealth and climate change through the eyes of a teenage girl
Elizabeth "Bunny" Glenn likes reading Cosmopolitan and watching soap operas – but the teenager is blithely aware of how power and wealth operate arou…
2 years, 7 months ago
Short story collections by Steven Millhauser and Jamel Brinkley focus on the uncanny
Today's episode features interviews with two authors of short story collections. First, NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Steven Millhauser about Disr…
2 years, 7 months ago
Pidgeon Pagonis' memoir 'Nobody Needs to Know' reclaims intersex identity
Pidgeon Pagonis grew up thinking they'd survived cancer as a child, and the disease was the reason their body didn't develop quite like the other gir…
2 years, 7 months ago
In 'The Apology,' a South Korean grandmother makes amends from the afterlife
There are lots of secrets that 105-year-old Hak Jeonga has carried with her throughout her life. But even after she dies, there's still one big one –…
2 years, 7 months ago
James McBride's new murder mystery digs into Black and Jewish communities in the '30s
In James McBride's new novel – the titular shop at its heart – The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store – can be found in a neighborhood in Pottstown,Penn…
2 years, 8 months ago
'War and Punishment' chronicles the history of Russian oppression of Ukraine
Journalist Mikhail Zygar says a lot of Russian historians were actually propagandists – they worked for people in power and wrote recorded events the…
2 years, 8 months ago