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'Booth' looks at the family life of President Lincoln's notorious assassin
Author Karen Joy Fowler thinks John Wilkes Booth craved attention – and that he's gotten his fair share of it. So her new novel, Booth, instead focuses on his family. Their history might surprise you…
Published on 3 years ago
Author NoViolet Bulawayo's novel 'Glory' draws inspiration from the Orwellian
Author NoViolet Bulawayo's new novel Glory is quite openly based on Orwell's Animal Farm and the 2017 coup in Zimbabwe that ousted then president Robert Mugabe. Horses rule the country, dogs are the …
Published on 3 years ago
Two poetry collections find beauty in unexpected places
Poet Franny Choi knows that marginalized communities have been facing apocalypses forever. But in her new book, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, she uses their survival as a way to look…
Published on 3 years ago
In 'Sweet Land of Liberty,' pie recipes show how American values transform over time
A lot of holiday tables will undoubtedly feature some kind of pie this year. But for food writer Rossi Anastopoulo, pies aren't just a baked dish – they're a throughline of how American society and v…
Published on 3 years ago
Sci-fi elements help a family's story before and after warfare
Displacement, identity and the aftermath of warfare are themes running through today's episode on The Haunting of Hajji Hotak. Author Jamil Jan Kochai talks with Ari Shapiro about why he used element…
Published on 3 years ago
'Control' chronicles the dark history of eugenics and its ongoing impact
Adam Rutherford is a geneticist and author who just wrote a new book about the history of eugenics, and he tells NPR's Rebecca Ramirez that the political ideology is not just a relic of the past, but…
Published on 3 years ago
In 'The Book of Jose,' Fat Joe remembers his rise in hip-hop
Fat Joe's career spans three decades – but before he was performing on stages around the world, he was a little kid getting bullied in the Bronx. His new memoir, The Book of Jose, goes back to his ch…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
Two books cover the Russia-Ukraine war from opposite perspectives
In this episode, two nonfiction books explore the Russian invasion of Ukraine from two completely different experiences. First, 12-year-old Yeva Skalietska from Kharkiv reads one of her diary entries…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
'Gods of Soccer' celebrates 100 of the world's best players
Men in Blazers' Roger Bennett knows football – or soccer, as Americans call it. His new book, Gods of Soccer, lists 100 players who've made their mark on the sport one way or another. He tells Mary L…
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago
Michelle Obama talks marriage, motherhood and 'going high' in 'The Light We Carry'
Michelle Obama wants young people to know "going high" isn't about being complacent – it's about being strategic while pushing for change. In this episode, the former first lady sits down with NPR's …
Published on 3 years, 1 month ago