Renowned poet and professor Nikki Giovanni died earlier this week at age 81, following a third cancer diagnosis. She was a prolific writer and leader in the Black Arts Movement, publishing poetry collections such as Black Feeling Black Talk and Those Who Ride the Night Winds . She also taught English at Virginia Tech. In today's episode, we revisit a 2013 conversation between Giovanni and NPR's Michel Martin that followed the release of Chasing Utopia , which featured a combination of essays and...
Dec 11, 2024•12 min
Colonization and the Wampanoag Story is a 2023 history book for middle school readers about the tribe's first encounters with English settlers. In the early 17th century, European contact set off years of destruction for the Wampanoag Nation, including a disease that killed an estimated two-thirds of the population. Earlier this year, the nonfiction work was recategorized as fiction at a library in Montgomery, Texas, following complaints by an anonymous cardholder. But last month, a judge ruled ...
Dec 10, 2024•10 min
Tensions are running high for married couple Keru and Nate, who decide to rent a house in Cape Cod, sharing it with each set of parents at different points of a month-long trip. Their vacation seems to have stoked the fires of family dysfunction, eventually pushing Keru to a breaking point. Author Weike Wang believes in putting one's characters through trial by fire, which she does quite literally in her latest novel, Rental House . In today's episode, Wang speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about so...
Dec 09, 2024•7 min
Two new nonfiction books explore the impact of cultural forces in the world of music. First, a number of musicians, including B.B. King, Ed Sheeran, Jewel and Tracy Chapman, began their careers as street musicians. Cary Baker's new book Down on the Corner explores the history and influence of busking through interviews with performers of all kinds. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's A Martinez about some lesser-known musical street legends, like oil drum player Bongo Joe and neo-Dixieland ...
Dec 06, 2024•16 min
Lexy Bloom first read Haruki Murakami in the '90s, when she picked up A Wild Sheep Chase . At that point, not much of the Japanese author's work had been published in English. But Bloom often read his stories in The New Yorker , trying to guess which of his three translators had worked on each one. Bloom, who is now a senior editor at Knopf, began to edit Murakami's English translations years later, starting with 1Q84 . Now, Murakami has a new novel out, The City and Its Uncertain Walls , a revi...
Dec 05, 2024•14 min
Angela Merkel served as Chancellor of Germany through a number of global challenges: a pandemic, a migrant crisis and military aggression. But she also had to consider dilemmas that were specific to being the first and only woman to hold her position. The former chancellor reflects on this experience, her rise to power and her political record in a new memoir, Freedom . In today's episode, Merkel speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelley through a translator. They discuss going toe-to-toe with leader...
Dec 04, 2024•12 min
Author Marisha Pessl has always loved puzzles and board games. She's intrigued by the feeling of forced companionship that comes from solving a puzzle together. Her new novel, Darkly , follows a teen named Arcadia and six others as they embark on an internship with the renowned game design company Darkly. Working on the mysterious island that houses the Darkly headquarters, they come across mysteries of the company and its owner. In today's episode, Pessl speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about th...
Dec 03, 2024•8 min
Comedian, writer and podcast host Youngmi Mayer was raised in Korea and Saipan with a Korean mom and a white American father. Their relationship was strained at times as Mayer navigated her family's generational trauma and often took on a parental role. She pushed through these struggles, and others, through humor–and that strategy frames her new memoir, I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying . Mayer speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about her family story in today's episode. They also discuss Mayer's or...
Dec 02, 2024•8 min
Today's books take readers into the secret lives of farm animals. The first, Pig Years , is a memoir by the writer Ellen Gaydos, who began working as a farmhand at 18 years old. In Pig Years , she writes lyrically about working with, raising and admiring pigs–all while knowing they'll one day be slaughtered. In today's episode, we revisit a conversation between Gaydos and NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben about the intimacy of working with people and animals on the farm. Next, author Sy Montgomery has w...
Nov 29, 2024•19 min
Cooking with young kids can be a mess, but embracing this idea is the point of Mark Bittman's new cookbook. In How to Cook Everything Kids , the journalist and author makes the case that inviting young chefs into the kitchen is the best way to get them curious about food. The book is filled with child-friendly recipes for dishes like baked ziti, pizza and blueberry muffins that make use of playful ingredients, including Corn Flakes. In today's episode, Bittman joins NPR's Ayesha Rascoe at home t...
Nov 28, 2024•8 min
Steve Urkel, the nerdy, bespectacled neighbor in Family Matters , is one of '90s television's most iconic characters. Urkel's nasally voice, oversized glasses and signature catchphrases made the character nearly inescapable in pop culture – and also made a star out of Jaleel White, the actor who played him. In a new memoir, Growing Up Urkel , White reflects on how the role catapulted his career while permanently shaping the way others see him. In today's episode, he joins NPR's Ailsa Chang for a...
Nov 27, 2024•9 min
The 2024 edition of Books We Love is here. Each year, NPR staffers and critics submit their favorite reads of the year across genres. Those selections are compiled into a reading guide, where you can sort by filters, including Book Club Ideas, The States We're In, Rather Short or Rather Long. In today's episode, NPR's Andrew Limbong and Steve Inskeep discuss some of the 350+ books chosen by staff this year, including their own picks. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's bo...
Nov 26, 2024•4 min
Kate's new husband, who she reunites with 50 years after they were high school sweethearts, has just confessed that he was behind the Tylenol murders — a real, unsolved series of deaths in 1982 from poison-laced Tylenol pills in the Chicago area. When Kate tries to report him, the killer convinces everyone around her that her age, 70, is deteriorating her memory. This is the beginning of Bonnie Kistler's new thriller, Shell Games. In today's episode, Kistler speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about p...
Nov 25, 2024•7 min
Two nonfiction books question the efficacy of financial systems that are meant to help lift people out of poverty. In Unjust Debts , law professor Melissa Jacoby argues that bankruptcy in the United States exacerbates existing racial and economic inequalities. While filing for bankruptcy is supposed to offer individuals and families a fresh start, Jacoby suggests that the system often benefits corporations instead. In today's episode, she speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the fa...
Nov 22, 2024•23 min
In the late 1900s, Protestants and Catholics were in conflict over who should rule Northern Ireland, the British or the Irish. The time was dubbed "The Troubles." Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe's Say Nothing tells the story of this conflict through the disappearance of a woman, Jean McConville. His nonfiction book has now been adapted into an FX show by the same name. In today's episode, we revisit a 2019 conversation between Keefe and NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about the conflict, McConville, and...
Nov 21, 2024•9 min
Since leaving the White House more than two decades ago, Bill Clinton has remained a leader in the Democratic Party, but has mostly focused on philanthropy and public service. He has aimed to address the HIV/AIDS crisis globally and he worked to help free two American journalists incarcerated in North Korea. Clinton's new memoir, Citizen , takes stock of these post-presidential years – but also serves as a vehicle for the former president to address past controversies. In today's episode, Clinto...
Nov 20, 2024•8 min
When Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible was first published in 1988, it took the baking world by storm. It was the first cake book to list ingredients by weight instead of volume and also introduced the technique of reverse creaming. Now, 35 years later, Beranbaum has released a new version of The Cake Bible . The update includes altered recipes that keep pace with changes to ingredients and equipment over the past few decades, like taller cake pans and smaller egg yolks. In today's episode, B...
Nov 19, 2024•10 min
Pony Confidential , a new novel by author Christina Lynch, is about an unlikely detective: a crime-solving pony who sets off to find his long-lost first owner. Penny, who was just a little girl when separated from Pony, is now an adult who has been accused of murder–and Pony is ready to clear her name. The book was inspired by a combination of tales from The Odyssey and Lynch's curiosity about the inner world of her own real-life pony, Flora. In today's episode, Lynch joins NPR's Scott Simon to ...
Nov 18, 2024•9 min
New books focused on Johnny Carson and Shirley MacLaine offer intimate portraits of two of television and Hollywood's biggest stars. Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years, becoming an unparalleled nighttime staple and unifying force within American culture. His life is the subject of Carson the Magnificent , a new biography co-written by Bill Zehme and Mike Thomas, who took over the decades-long research project after Zehme died in 2023. In today's episode, Thomas joins NPR's Scott ...
Nov 15, 2024•20 min
We live in a time where it can be difficult to maintain good relationships with people with opposing views. While writing her new book, Do You Still Talk to Grandma?, Brit Barron saw everyone around her struggling to hold this tension while connecting with the people they love. Her book is a guide to navigating those relationships with our loved ones – even when we disagree with them. In today's episode, she talks with NPR's Deepa Fernandes about binary thinking, the issue of social media, and o...
Nov 14, 2024•11 min
Author Yvette Montoya didn't grow up playing Lotería, but she discovered the classic Latino party game in college. There, she fell in love with Lotería itself, but also the vibrant art and imagery of its boards and card decks. Now, Montoya has reinvented her own version of the bingo-like game with Mystical Lotería , a game set and book that give the traditional version a spiritual twist. In today's episode, Montoya talks with NPR's A Martínez about incorporating brujería–her witchcraft practice–...
Nov 13, 2024•8 min
Parents of disabled children are responsible for navigating a number of complex systems, from educational services and accommodation to medical care. Author Kelley Coleman, whose son has an undiagnosed genetic syndrome, says that parenting a disabled child can be hard–but hard is not bad. That's the central framework of her book, Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child , which came out earlier this year. In today's episode, Coleman speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernande...
Nov 12, 2024•10 min
Author Paula Hawkins is best known for her 2015 novel The Girl on the Train . Her new book, The Blue Hour , is also a thriller, this time set on a remote but idyllic Scottish island. The novel focuses on the death of artist Vanessa Chapman, who leaves behind her diaries and a piece of art that sets off a shocking discovery. The story that follows involves secrets, lies and murder. In today's episode, Hawkins speaks with Here & Now's Deborah Becker about how the ownership and interpretation o...
Nov 11, 2024•11 min
Two new nonfiction books blend research and memoir to explore ideas of family, language and culture. Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez's Tías and Primas draws on her experience being raised in a large Nicaraguan family, one that she describes as messier than the typical nuclear model. Her relationships with her mother, cousins, and aunts shaped her view of the world and the female archetypes that exist within Latin American culture. In today's episode, Rodríguez speaks with NPR's A Martínez about h...
Nov 08, 2024•17 min
Since its publication in 1885, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been celebrated as one of the great American works of literature. But the novel has also been criticized for how Mark Twain stereotyped Black characters like Jim, the enslaved man who befriends Huck Finn. Now, author David Walker and illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson have reimagined this story with Jim at its center. Their new graphic novel, Big Jim and the White Boy , is an action story filled with adventures, fight sequences and...
Nov 07, 2024•8 min
Stanley Tucci of Searching for Italy and The Devil Wears Prada fame loves food—especially the comforting taste of home-cooked Italian cuisine. But in 2017, when Tucci was diagnosed with oral cancer, he temporarily lost his sense of taste. A year later, following treatment that included six months on a feeding tube, he became cancer-free. Since then, Tucci has thought and written a lot about death and his desire to freeze time. In today's episode, Tucci joins NPR's A Martinez to talk about what m...
Nov 06, 2024•8 min
Author Winsome Bingham was raised in a community that gathered together to vote. But as a kid, she didn't realize how important this practice was to her life. Illustrator E.B. Lewis had a different childhood experience with elections. His parents voted but would do so almost in secret. As a result, Lewis didn't become a voter until his late 20s. In their children's book, The Walk (A Stroll to the Poll) , published in 2023, Bingham and Lewis hope to give kids insight into this democratic process....
Nov 05, 2024•8 min
It's been 50 years since the publication of All the President's Men , but journalist Bob Woodward says he hasn't changed his approach to political reporting. His new book, War , aims to bring readers as close as possible to the rooms where globally consequential diplomacy takes place. War focuses on three major conflicts and has already made headlines, detailing new information about the continued relationship between former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In today's...
Nov 04, 2024•12 min
Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, died in a Siberian prison this past February–and in his diary entries, Navalny wrote that he knew he might not make it out alive. Those diaries are part of Navalny's new memoir, Patriot , published posthumously with help from his widow, Yulia Navalnaya. The book details some of Navalny's darkest moments in his fight for a more democratic Russia, but also showcases the leader's characteristic humor. In today's episode, Navalnaya joins NPR's Ari Shapi...
Nov 01, 2024•15 min
Horror and scary stories are part of a long American tradition that dates back to the Salem witch trials. Columbia professor and cultural historian Jeremy Dauber traces this legacy in a new book, American Scary , from the fears of early English settlers to contemporary horror media like the films of Jordan Peele. The book draws surprising connections between the way collective fears are represented in seemingly disparate literature, like in the works of authors like Frederick Douglass and Edgar ...
Oct 31, 2024•11 min
