When Héctor Tobar was born to Guatemalan parents in Los Angeles in the 1960s, his race was described as "caucasian" on his birth certificate. In his new book, Our Migrant Souls , the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter examines how Latino identity is constructed and defined. He speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the ways whiteness and colorism operate in the Latino community, how class plays into that understanding, and why media depictions of Latino communities still have a long way to ...
Sep 18, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is an in-length conversation with National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff. She met up with NPR's Andrew Limbong at a library at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where they chatted about Mary Rowlandson, the colonial woman captured and held ransom by Native Americans in the 1600s, and how she influenced Groff's new book, The Vaster Wilds . Groff also talked about how she found a new affinity for historical fiction, and why she always has "a go bag" ready. Learn m...
Sep 15, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alice Carrière grew up in Manhattan under the care – and absence – of two extraordinarily creative parents: artist Jennifer Bartlett and actor Mathieu Carrière. But her mother's trauma, her father's transgressions, and her own dissociative disorder broke Alice's ties to her own identity and humanity. In her memoir, Everything/Nothing/Someone , she recounts some of the most difficult moments of her life – but as she tells NPR's Ailsa Chang, she also used writing, her mother's dementia and a recon...
Sep 14, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast From Walt "Clyde" Frazier to Russell Westbrook, a new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Mitchell S. Jackson chronicles the relationship between style and basketball over decades. Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion features photos and analysis of how the Civil Rights movement, the infamous dress code, and Instagram have all played a role in the evolution of NBA players' modes of expression. In today's episode, Jackson tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe how race and activism also intersect with the percep...
Sep 13, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the 19th century, a butcher living in Australia claimed to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. The Tichborne trial, which sparked much controversy and even more attention in Victorian England, is at the center of Zadie Smith's new novel, The Fraud . In today's episode, the author tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly how she became captivated by the outrageous lies the man told in court, and how the way his believers still dug their heels and supported him echoes the state of politics in the ...
Sep 12, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Abdulrazak Gurnah's Afterlives , the characters centered in the novel offer different perspectives of ordinary people under German colonization in East Africa. In an interview with NPR's Scott Simon, the author goes into detail about how the "power and attraction of the victor" can lead to the conquered joining the conqueror and the impact it has on one's identity. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Sep 11, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is rooted in how the expectations of immigrant fathers affect their children. First, Khashayar J. Khabushani speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about his novel I Will Greet the Sun Again , which follows a young Iranian-American boy trying to make sense of his identity and sexuality under a strict, sometimes violent, dad's care. Then, Prachi Gupta tells NPR's Leila Fadel about her memoir, They Called Us Exceptional , and how the intersection of racism and patriarchy contribu...
Sep 08, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ben Purkert's novel, The Men Can't Be Saved , follows a junior copywriter with a viral tagline for adult diapers. Is it a modern take on Mad Men ? Or its very antithesis? Purkert tells NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer how his own days in the advertising industry – at the same time the TV drama starring Jon Hamm had just premiered – shaped his understanding of ego, drive and manhood in the workplace....and how maybe making partner at a firm is more about finding connection than a fancy title, though his prot...
Sep 07, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Abby Stern is very much looking forward to leading a biking trip from NYC to Niagara Falls – until her mom, an old one-night-stand, and some uneasy memories are added to the mix. In Jennifer Weiner's new novel, The Breakaway , that two-week trip becomes filled with tension: sexual, political, and familial. Weiner tells NPR's Juana Summers how different women manage their mothers' expectations, and how she learned to see "almond moms" quite differently while writing this novel. Learn more about s...
Sep 06, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Adam Parson goes on a morning hike with his son, Eugene, and the boy returns home alone. Eugene is autistic and nonverbal, so he can't explain what happened. This is how Angie Kim sets up Happiness Falls , which chronicles how the Korean-American family tries to make sense of Adam's disappearance. Kim tells NPR's Scott Simon about the complicated relationship between Eugene and his siblings, and why she wanted to emphasize that a lack of verbal communication does not equal a lack of thought and ...
Sep 05, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the face of record temperatures and dry conditions, wildfires are becoming more and more common. This is Wildfire , a new book by Nick Mott and Justin Angle, provides a historical analysis of the role flames have played in both human and natural ecosystems – and seeks to inform readers how to best protect themselves, their homes, and their communities. As the authors tell Here & Now's Scott Tong, solutions are as far-ranging as keeping gutters clean of debris and actually encouraging more con...
Sep 04, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Kelly about her novel Yellowface and the complicated nuances of writing about friendship and cultural appropriation. Then, Japanese-American author Joe Ide takes a walk with Karen Grigsby Bates, formerly of NPR's Code Switch team, to explain how his upbringing in South Central L.A. informed his series I.Q . and his choice to write from the perspect...
Sep 01, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 the American workplace. From the Lavender Scare that sought to remove gay and lesbian employees from government jobs, through the abuse and exploitation that outed workers often faced when they didn't get fired, Canaday's book recounts how sexuality and gender shaped the careers of countless Americans. Canaday tells NPR's Stacey Vanek Smith that d...
Aug 31, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Author Kent Matsumoto's parents both lived through traumatic experiences during WWII: his mother was forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans in the U.S., and his father survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In a new novel, Of White Ashes , Matsumoto and his wife and co-writer Constance Hays Matsumoto explore a romance between two Japanese-Americans based on Matsumoto's parents. They spoke with Here & Now 's Celeste Headlee about choosing to fictionalize true events, and how wri...
Aug 30, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russell Moore resigned from his position in the Southern Baptist Convention after finding himself at odds with other top evangelical leaders – for criticizing Donald Trump, condemning a sexual abuse scandal in the church, and calling out white nationalism within the institution. In his new book, Losing Our Religion , the Christianity Today editor-in-chief examines how the evangelical faith became inundated with politics and culture wars. He tells NPR's Scott Detrow about how despite today's pola...
Aug 29, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Elizabeth "Bunny" Glenn likes reading Cosmopolitan and watching soap operas – but the teenager is blithely aware of how power and wealth operate around her. She's the daughter of a diplomat in Azerbaijan tasked with ensuring oil pipeline access in Lydia Kiesling's new novel, Mobility . In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about how her protagonist feigns oblivion to pave her own career in the fossil fuel industry, and how her complicity in climate change makes her a compl...
Aug 28, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features interviews with two authors of short story collections. First, NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Steven Millhauser about Disruptions , and why he likes to write stories that start off in the normal world and slowly become more and more unsettling until he feels he's pushed the limits as far as he can. Then, NPR's Juana Summers asks Jamel Brinkley about Witness , and how he incorporated gentrification in New York, masculinity and Blackness into his larger themes of obsessi...
Aug 25, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 girls at school. It wasn't until college that they realized they were actually born intersex, and all the surgeries, secrets and confusion came into focus. In their new memoir, Nobody Needs to Know , Pagonis reckons with how they came to understand and accept the truth about their body. They tell NPR's Leila Fadel about that journey and about how they'...
Aug 24, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 – generational curse included – that she must resolve. Jimin Han's new novel, The Apology , follows the family from South Korea to Chicago to right some of the wrongs that have happened over time. Han tells NPR's Eyder Peralta how she was influenced by her own family's experience of longing and separation following the Korean War, and why Korean sham...
Aug 23, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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,Pennsylvania, where working-class Jewish immigrants and African-Americans live side by side, forming a community of protection and respect for one another. In today's episode, McBride speaks with NPR's Scott Detrow about the murder mystery that unfolds in the novel, the inspiration he took from his own grandmother, and the allure of writing about Pennsyl...
Aug 22, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Mikhail Zygar says a lot of Russian historians were actually propagandists – they worked for people in power and wrote recorded events the way politicians and elites wanted. In his new book, War and Punishment , he breaks down the historical myths he says are part of the Russian psyche, one he says Putin uses to defend the invasion of Ukraine. Zygar tells NPR's Leila Fadel that he doesn't think everyone believes the propaganda, but that it's essential to uncover the truth about the Ru...
Aug 21, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode focuses on very different experiences of the teenage years. First, NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Christine Suggs about their new graphic novel, ¡Ay, Mija!, inspired by Suggs' formative trip to Mexico to understand their parents' upbringing and reconnect with their family and culture. Then, NPR's Rachel Martin sits down with psychologist Lisa Damour to discuss her new book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers. They discuss the stresses and anxieties young people deal with – especiall...
Aug 18, 2023•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Writing is a practice – especially for MacArthur Genius Grant and National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes. His new collection of poems, So to Speak , comes out of that practice during turbulent times: COVID quarantine, the 2020 protests after the killing of George Floyd. And they reach further back, too, to the Jim Crow South and his mother's youth. In today's episode, Hayes speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about engaging with language and reimagining family members in a new light. Learn mo...
Aug 17, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast In C.K. Chau's new novel, Good Fortune , Elizabeth Chen is highly wary of the Wong brothers who have swooped in to buy a New York City community center. But where Elizabeth sees a threat to her neighborhood, her mother sees an opportunity – and not just for their block. In today's episode, Chau speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about reframing Pride and Prejudice as an early aughts story about love and aspiration in a Cantonese American family, and how reframing certain characters as immigrants brin...
Aug 16, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Filthy Rich Politicians , conservative columnist Matt Lewis presents some startling figures. Senator Rick Scott: net worth of approximately $200 million. Representative Michael McCaul: $125 million. Nancy Pelosi: $46 million. In his book, Lewis takes a close look at how people get richer after they're elected to office, and what this wealth means for our political systems. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about how politicians amass money not just for themselves, but their families – and ho...
Aug 15, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lara, the protagonist of Ann Patchett's Tom Lake , finds a silver lining during the frightening first few months of the COVID pandemic: her three adult daughters return home to the family orchard in Northern Michigan. In today's episode, Patchett tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly how they bond while Lara tells them of a romance from her youth, and how looking back to the past brings up all kinds of questions about love and relationships for all the women in the family. Learn more about sponsor messa...
Aug 14, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features two novels with two very different protagonists, though their journeys might have more in common than appears at first glance. First, Stephen Buoro discusses The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa with NPR's Camila Domonoske, which follows a young Nigerian man's obsession with whiteness. Then, NPR's Scott Simon asks Max Porter about Shy , a short novel depicting a British teen's escape from his boarding school for troubled kids. Learn more about sponsor message choi...
Aug 11, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Actor Rainn Wilson says he's "always identified as being a dork and a misfit and an outsider." In fact, he says that's probably why he found so much success playing Dwight Schrute in The Office . But in real life, Wilson attributes his dorkiness to how uncool it was to be "the God guy" in the New York acting scene, causing him to shy away from it. In his new book, Soul Boom , he details the monumental role spirituality now plays in his life. He tells NPR's Rachel Martin about his journey back to...
Aug 10, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Miles Morales, the beloved protagonist of Jason Reynolds' Spider-Man novel, is back. And this time, he's dealing with in-school suspension for challenging his history teacher at an elite Brooklyn private school. But between writing poetry about his new crush and saving the world, the young, Black and Puerto Rican superhero also stumbles into some major themes about racism and censorship. Reynolds tells NPR's A Martinez how his newest novel is a response to the book bans taking place across the c...
Aug 09, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast For poet Camille Dungy, environmental justice, community interdependence and political engagement go hand in hand. She explores those relationships in her new book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden . In it, she details how her experience trying to diversify the species growing in her yard, in a predominantly white town in Colorado, reflects larger themes of how we talk about land and race in the U.S. In today's episode, she tells NPR's Melissa Block about the journey that gardening put...
Aug 08, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
