National Book Award winner M.T. Anderson has written his first novel for adults. Nicked is set in 1087 and follows a monk and treasure hunter looking to steal the bones of Saint Nicholas this is based on true events in hopes it will miraculously cure a plague raging through the Italian city of Bari. In today's episode, Anderson speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about why he considers the comic novel a 'medieval noir' and what it means to believe or not believe in miracles. To listen to Book of the D...
Aug 08, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast At the start of Juli Min's debut novel, it's 2040 in Shanghai, and a wealthy real estate developer is parting ways with his wife and adult daughters at the airport. But as the story progresses, Shanghailanders moves back in time, slowly unraveling the dreams, decisions and mistakes of the members of this family all the way back to 2014. In today's episode, Min speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about why she decided to write the events of the book in this order, and how the city of Shanghai is a char...
Aug 07, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cory Richards made a name for himself taking photographs across the globe for National Geographic . His new memoir, The Color of Everything , grapples with the harsh realities of high-end climbing, fame, mortality and some of the not-so-great things he's done. In today's episode, Richards speaks with NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer about why he jokes the book is a bit of 'memoir, mountains, mea culpa' and what it means for public figures to open up about their pitfalls. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor...
Aug 06, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sarah Perry's novel, Enlightenment, recently received a Booker Prize nomination. It follows the relationship between two friends, with a 30 year age difference, as they confront the role of the church, the outside world and the cosmos in their lives over the course of two decades. In today's episode, Perry speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about her religious upbringing, her pandemic telescope and the role it played in her writing. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book cov...
Aug 05, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode highlights two books that deal with what it means to be a mom, a wife and a multi-faceted, complicated woman. First, NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben speaks with Claire Lombardo about her novel Same As It Ever Was , which jumps through different phases of protagonist Julia's life to understand her relationship with her son, her husband and an ex-best friend. Then, Danielle Kurtzleben asks Catherine Newman about Sandwich , which takes place during a family's summer vacation in Cape Cod a...
Aug 02, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Matt Pottinger used to cover China for Reuters and The Wall Street Journal before working as a deputy national security advisor for the Trump administration. Now, he's edited a new book called The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan . In today's episode, Pottinger speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the global fallout that could result from China annexing Taiwan and the military strategy he thinks the U.S., Australia and other countries should implement to prevent a larger conflict fro...
Aug 01, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Before he was the director behind films like Crazy Rich Asians , In the Heights and Wicked , Jon M. Chu was a teenager in Los Altos, California, playing around with a camera and working at his parents' Chinese restaurant. That's the journey behind his new memoir, Viewfinder . And in today's episode, he speaks with another kid from Los Altos NPR's Ailsa Chang about how his parents' attitude towards assimilation shaped his upbringing and how they ended up supporting his dreams of making movies. To...
Jul 31, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast When author Sarah Manguso was going through a divorce a few years ago, she says she put her rage into writing her novel Liars . It's about the dissolution of a marriage, and a woman reckoning with the failures of her relationship on a personal and societal level. In today's episode, Manguso tells NPR's Andrew Limbong how her protagonist's experiences differ from her own, and why different characters are to blame for the lying mentioned in the title. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and ...
Jul 30, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast A small Texas town in the late 1980s, two teenagers on the outside of the social scene, and a curse for revenge. That's the setup for Stephen Graham Jones' new novel, I Was a Teenage Slasher . But as he tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, the classic slasher tale at the heart of Jones' book comes with a twist for both the reader and Jones himself as the writer. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday Learn more a...
Jul 29, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features two page-turners full of suspense. First, NPR's Don Gonyea speaks with Todd Ritter who publishes as Riley Sager about Middle of the Night , a coming-of-age meets ghost story in which protagonist Ethan Marsh returns to his childhood home and is faced with the decades-old disappearance of his best friend. Then, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks Johanna Copeland about Our Kind of Game , and how real-life neighborhood gossip about domestic violence sparked the dark novel about po...
Jul 26, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is packed with recipes from Khushbu Shah's new cookbook, Amrikan . But beyond that, it's also a conversation with the author and Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about how Indian cuisine has changed with new generations living in diaspora, and how that has led to the introduction of some unlikely ingredients cream cheese, pickled jalapeos, shokupan to shake up traditional dishes. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ a...
Jul 25, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Sunday, President Joe Biden announced he was stepping down from his campaign for reelection this November. Soon after, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who is poised to become the new Democratic nominee by next month's convention. Today on the podcast, we revisit a 2019 interview between NPR's Rachel Martin and then Sen. Harris about her memoir, The Truths We Hold , her analysis of Donald Trump's popularity and her decision to become a prosecutor. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor...
Jul 24, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Joyce Maynard's new book, How the Light Gets In , is a sequel to her 2021 novel Count the Ways , both following a family grappling with a tragic accident, its aftermath and the expectations they have for one another. In today's episode, Maynard speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about some of the big questions behind both books "What is a typical family? What is a good mother? Is there such a thing?" and why she feels it's imperative for her characters to live fully in the world, which means bringing...
Jul 23, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Actor, producer and director Griffin Dunne grew up during a fascinating time in Hollywood history. In today's episode, he tells Here & Now's Emiko Tamagawa he remembers bowing goodnight to his parents' black-tie party guests, like his aunt Joan Didion and his father's friend, Billy Wilder. His new memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club , captures his family's story in a bygone era of the entertainment industry including his sister Dominique Dunne's death at the hands of her boyfriend in 1982, and the...
Jul 22, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode focuses on two summer reads trying to piece together some pretty big questions. First, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with J. Courtney Sullivan about The Cliffs , which follows an archivist digging through the history of a seaside Victorian house in Maine and the generations of women who lived there at the owner's concern that it's haunted. Then, NPR's Scott Simon asks Liz Moore about The God of the Woods , which grapples with the disappearance of a wealthy family's daughter from...
Jul 19, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2018, Jennifer and Sarah Hart drove off a cliff in California, killing themselves and their six adopted children. While much of the media attention focused on the two women, reporter Roxanna Asgarian set off to investigate what had happened to the children's birth families, and why they'd been removed from their care. In today's episode, Asgarian speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about her book, We Were Once a Family , and the ways the foster care and child welfare system in the United...
Jul 18, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, former President Donald Trump announced that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance will be his running mate in the 2024 election. Vance rose to prominence with his bestselling 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy , which captured his upbringing in Appalachia and his family's intergenerational struggle with poverty, substance abuse and trauma. In today's episode, we revisit a conversation between Vance and NPR's Steve Inskeep about the book, in which he says there are ways politicians misunderstand white, work...
Jul 17, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aida Salazar's new book, Ultraviolet , has a lot in common with Judy Blume's Forever, but from the point of view of an eighth grade boy; it's all about Elio Solis grappling with his changing body, his first girlfriend and his family life. In today's episode, Salazar tells Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes how watching her own son grow up inspired the events of the middle grade book, and they discuss how conversations of consent, masculinity and sex education are just as important for young men as the...
Jul 16, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Zach Williams' collection of short stories, Beautiful Days , has earned high praise for the unsettling way it examines mundane, everyday life. In today's episode, Williams tells NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer how becoming a dad inspired the anxiety and wonder of parenthood that shows up throughout Beautiful Days , and the two get to talking about why he chose to focus on the "quickness and musicality" of short stories over writing a novel. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book c...
Jul 15, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is about two emblematic musicians who take us to very different parts of the globe, from the London punk scene to the Laurel Canyon utopia of the 1960s and 70s. First, Stewart Copeland speaks to NPR's Leila Fadel about his memoir, Stewart Copeland's Police Diaries , which chronicles his time as a drummer for the legendary band. Then, Here & Now's Robin Young is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers, who's written a biography of Joni Mitchell's expansive career called Traveling . To li...
Jul 12, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Foreign correspondent Peter Hessler taught in China during the country's economic boom in the 1990s, which he wrote about in his book River Town . Now, in Other Rivers , Hessler breaks down what it was like to teach there again more than two decades later. In today's episode, he and NPR international correspondent Emily Feng talk about what changed and what stayed the same with a new generation of students in China and how covering the country remains a challenge for so many writers and journali...
Jul 11, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a new memoir out it's about the people and experiences that shaped her version of leadership. Whitmer has led her state through a pandemic, natural disasters and the battle over reproductive rights, among many other issues. In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between , her steadfast support for President Biden during his bid for reelection, and how she sees her fu...
Jul 10, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Devil Is Fine, the new novel by John Vercher, follows an unnamed protagonist banging out a book pitch in a fugue state that mirrors what's happening in his own life: after the death of his son, a biracial writer inherits a plantation from the white side of his family, which has the remains of both his slave-owning ancestors and the people they enslaved. In today's episode, Vercher speaks with NPR's Lauren Frayer about why he felt magical realism made the story about American history and loss and...
Jul 09, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast The central character of New York Times correspondent Ed Wong's memoir, At the Edge of Empire, is not Wong himself it's his father, who studied in Beijing in the 1950s and staunchly supported the Chinese Communist Revolution. Wong's book traces his father's disillusionment with Mao's government and eventual move to the U.S. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about intertwining his family's personal story with the greater history of his parents' home country, and what Amer...
Jul 08, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features two interviews with Kevin Kwan, author of the Crazy Rich Asians series. First, former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro spoke to the writer in 2020 about Sex and Vanity , exploring identity through the lens of a biracial character and setting a new trilogy between Europe and the U.S. Then, Here & Now's Robin Young asks Kwan about his newest novel, Lies and Weddings , and his thoughts on the fascination with wealth and power in literature. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-...
Jul 05, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, is somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon thanks to a hit musical about his life. But a new book called The Hamilton Scheme dives into a less-known part of Hamilton's legacy his vision for public debt. In today's interview, author and historian William Hogeland speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about why Hamilton considered higher loans to be paid by the federal government a good thing, and how that can be traced to today's relationship b...
Jul 04, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast When science reporter Sadie Dingfelder mistakes a complete stranger in the supermarket for her own husband, she realizes something's up. The tests and research that follow result in a face blindness diagnosis and her new book, Do I Know You? . In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about the different experiences of consciousness everyone has, and how understanding the brain's capacities opens up a whole new world of neurodiversity. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and ...
Jul 03, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Yangsze Choo says she doesn't thoroughly plan out her novels her newest, The Fox Wife , blossomed from that core idea behind the title, of a woman who also happens to be a fox. But beyond that, it's a story about a mother avenging her child, about a murder investigation in early 20th century China, and about family curses. As the author tells NPR's Scott Simon, foxes hold a wide range of intrigue and mystery in Chinese, Korean and Japanese legends and it's these traits that broke open a whole wo...
Jul 02, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Kara Swisher, who's been covering the internet and the tech industry for decades, says she's not surprised when people like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk lie to her but what she says they sometimes don't realize is how much they lie to themselves. Her new memoir, Burn Book , recounts what she's learned in conversation with some of the brightest minds in Silicon Valley. In today's episode, Swisher tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that as disillusioned as she is with how much harm the industry has c...
Jul 01, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features two interviews with author Morgan Talty. First, a conversation with NPR's Melissa Block about his 2022 collection of short stories, Night of the Living Rez , and how he navigates the weight of representation for the Penobscot Nation. Then, NPR's Andrew Limbong asks Talty about his new novel, Fire Exit , which takes place in the same cinematic universe as his former book but follows a white man trying to make sense of his place within an Indigenous community. To listen to...
Jun 28, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
