Frances Haugen came forward as the Facebook whistleblower in 2021, shortly after she exposed more than 20,000 documents proving that the company's algorithm boosted misinformation and extremism on the platform. In her new memoir, The Power of One , Haugen details how her life trajectory, from high school debate to Silicon Valley, poised her to speak up about what she saw during her time as an employee at Facebook. In today's episode, she tells Here & Now's Robin Young about losing her childhood ...
Jun 26, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features two novels intertwining family and wartime history. First, Anne Berest speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about The Postcard , based on the real-life holiday card her family received of relatives who'd been killed at Auschwitz years prior, and the journey that unfurled more than decade later to determine where the image came from. Then, Simon is joined by Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Good Night, Irene , who explains how his mother's real-life experience feeding and cheering ...
Jun 23, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast As an NPR critic, Pop Culture Happy Hour host Aisha Harris helps make sense of how movies, music and TV inform our everyday lives. In her new book of essays, Wannabe , Harris applies that practice inward, reflecting on the impact Stevie Wonder and Sex and the City have had on her own upbringing. In today's episode, Harris speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about how relating her name to a certain pop song forced her to tackle some of her own discomforts with Black identity, and the challenges that ...
Jun 22, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Greg Marshall grew up with parents battling health issues: cancer and ALS. Marshall had his own health scares – he struggled with his leg and mobility his whole life, which his mom and dad said was a result of tight tendons. As an adult, he found out he'd actually been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. His memoir, Leg:The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It , is an intimate, funny and honest look at Marshall's journey with his body and sexuality. He tells NPR's Scott Simon why he ...
Jun 21, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In her new novel Loot , Tania James writes of a 17-year-old woodworker who's commissioned to build a tiger automaton for the Indian ruler Tipu Sultan in the 18th century. The story is inspired by the real-life Tippoo's Tiger, one of the most famous sculptures in London's Victoria and Albert Museum. James' tale of colonization, war, love and art stretches across India and Europe – and as she tells NPR's Ari Shapiro, it continues to raise questions about historical artifacts and who should own the...
Jun 20, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Between 1963 and 1964, The Beatles blew up to become one of the most internationally renowned bands in history. Though images of the screaming fans and the four musicians' swooping haircuts are part of pop culture, a new book shows that time period through Paul McCartney's perspective. 1964: Eyes of the Storm features photographs the guitarist took through many of those international performances. As McCartney tells NPR's Steve Inskeep, the band's first visit to the U.S. came amidst a period of ...
Jun 19, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features interviews with two authors who are very invested in the English language. First, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Hana Videen about her new book, The Wordhord , which collects words and phrases from Old English – like Beowulf – to examine and understand life during medieval times. Then, Here & Now's Robin Young is joined by linguist Valerie Fridland to discuss Like, Literally, Dude , which makes the case for how "like" and "um" are leading the charge of modernizing our l...
Jun 16, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Darrin Bell was six years old, he had an encounter with a police officer. That event, which he kept secret for much of his life, reaffirmed "the talk" he'd just had with his mother about the way white people and systems of power can cast hostility and harm onto Black children. That conversation – the way it shaped his own childhood, schooling and adulthood – is at the heart of Bell's new graphic memoir, The Talk . He spoke with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about his...
Jun 15, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast When P-22 – the puma that lived in LA's Griffith Park – died in December, Angelenos mourned the loss of one of their wildest celebrities. In his new book, Open Throat , Henry Hoke pays homage to the late cat in a different way; he takes on the voice of a mountain lion living beneath the Hollywood sign, pondering community and climate change and gender identity. In today's episode, Hoke speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about what P-22 represented for Los Angeles residents, and why writing from his p...
Jun 14, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast The summer after high school graduation is full of promise. But for twin sisters Amira and Lina, the return of their brother from prison complicates some of those teenage plans. In Aisha Abdel Gawad's new novel, Between Two Moons , the sisters' family finds it's struggling with tensions in and outside of the home during the holy month of Ramadan. In today's episode, Gawad speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about why she wanted to paint a nuanced portrait of the Muslim-American experience and how real...
Jun 13, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin is a descendant of survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The racist violence, which killed hundreds of Black Tulsans and burned the city's Greenwood District – known as Black Wall Street – is the subject of journalist Victor Luckerson's new book, Built from the Fire. In today's episode, both Goodwin and Luckerson join NPR's Michel Martin to discuss how for more than a century, Greenwood residents have rebuilt their community time and time again, even in th...
Jun 12, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features interviews with two very high-profile officials who have written thrillers. First, voting rights activist and former Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about her new thriller, Rogue Justice , which follows Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene as she uncovers how surveillance, blackmail and a murder reveal concerning truths about America's "secret court." Then, former FBI director James Comey discusses his novel Central Park West , which...
Jun 09, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jennifer De Leon's new YA novel, Borderless , tells the story of a Guatemalan teenager named Maya. Though she has a rich and fulfilling life in her home country, circumstances arise that push Maya and her mother towards the U.S. border, where they're separated by immigration officials. In today's episode, De Leon speaks with Here & Now 's Deepa Fernandes about complicating the image of what a migrant looks like and why she wanted to write the real life zero-tolerance policy into this story. Lear...
Jun 08, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Elise Hu moved to Seoul, South Korea to set up an NPR bureau and report on the geopolitical tensions of the mid-2010s. But her new book, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital , focuses on a different, albeit inescapable, part of life there – beauty standards and the industry driving them. In today's episode, Hu speaks with NPR's Brittany Luse about the consumerism, gender politics and technological advances that drive the booming beauty culture, and explains why the re...
Jun 07, 2023•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Nicole Cuffy's novel, Dances , CeCe Cordell becomes the first Black woman to be named principal dancer at a major ballet company; but this big break also comes with big expectations. In today's episode, Cuffy speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about how CeCe navigates the world of ballet's preoccupation with white bodies, how it affects her relationship with her mother and brother, and how Misty Copeland's very real accomplishments informed CeCe's story. Learn more about sponsor message choices:...
Jun 06, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Journalist Rachel Louise Snyder has covered gender-based violence around the world for a number of media outlets and in her widely-acclaimed book, No Visible Bruises . But in her new memoir, Women We Buried, Women We Burned , she examines the role it played in her own life. After the loss of her mother early in life, Snyder was raised in a strict evangelical household, where corporal punishment was the norm. In today's episode, she tells NPR's Scott Simon about how that upbringing eventually pus...
Jun 05, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features interviews with two poets who revealed different sides of themselves through memoirs. First, Maggie Smith speaks with NPR's Miles Parks about You Could Make This Place Beautiful , and how virality and the dissolution of her marriage impacted her writing. Then, Kwame Alexander discusses Why Fathers Cry at Night with NPR's Michel Martin, which highlights the different kinds of love that have informed his life. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/ad...
Jun 02, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kennedy Ryan's The Kingmaker portrays two seemingly opposite characters – a Yavapai-Apache activist and the heir to an oil fortune – falling in love, and dealing with the complicated fallout of their differences. In today's episode, Ryan speaks with NPR's Chloe Veltman about how she approached writing an indigenous character and community she herself is not a part of, and how powerful storytellers like Shonda Rhimes and Ava DuVernay inspire her own work. Learn more about sponsor message choices:...
Jun 01, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast For decades, male editors told women they couldn't be reporters because of congenital inaccuracies, or because they required having a male escort to report at night. In her new book, Undaunted: How Women Changed American Journalism , Brooke Kroeger provides a historical record of reporters like Ida B. Wells, Nellie Bly, and Gloria Steinem, who went ahead and did it anyway. Kroeger spoke with NPR's Scott Simon about how these journalists changed the industry forever, and how their legacy lives on...
May 31, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alex is 22 years old and staying with a much older, wealthy man in the Hamptons. She's the protagonist of Emma Cline's new novel, an outsider looking in at the perfectly pruned life people of a certain social status lead in these towns. In today's episode, Cline speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about how her heroine navigates the unfamiliar world she finds herself in, and how power is so unequally wielded in those spaces. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices ...
May 30, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's been three years since George Floyd's murder. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the former police officers who killed Floyd, but accountability and justice is not always found in state-sponsored violence against Black Americans. In his new book, Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence , Ellison retraces the case. As he tells NPR's Leila Fadel, the book – and his experience – is also proof that systems can change to prevent future tragedies. Learn more about sp...
May 29, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode features interviews with two monumental performers. First, Jerry Seinfeld chats with Here & Now's Robin Young about his new book, inspired by his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee series, and the kinship between performers in that industry. Then, Tom Hanks speaks with NPR's A Martinez about his new novel, The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece , an ode to all the people and effort required to keep the Hollywood gears turning. Learn more about sponsor message choices: pod...
May 26, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Before author Cassandra Jackson was even born, her father's family suffered a major loss – a car accident that resulted in the deaths of five people, including Jackson's aunt and grandmother. In her new memoir, The Wreck , Jackson attempts to understand the tragedy that shaped her upbringing and dives into the grief she's carried with her for as long as she can remember. In today's episode, she tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe how struggling with infertility triggered her search for answers about her o...
May 25, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast As a certified personal trainer, Justice Roe Williams knows the benefits of exercising regularly– but as a Black trans man, he's also experienced how the gym can be far from welcoming. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Juana Summers – also a certified trainer – about the new anthology he co-edited, Deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex: How to Resist, Disrupt, and Reclaim What it Means to Be Fit in American Culture . Williams and Summers get to talking about how to reimagine acces...
May 24, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Early in the novel Yellowface , a prominent Asian-American writer, Athena Liu, dies. Her white friend, who is struggling to break through in publishing and witnesses Athena's accident, then seizes on an opportunity: to pass off Athena's words – and identity – as her own. In today's episode, real life author R.F. Kuang speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about her new book, and how it unravels the messiness of cultural appropriation, the ethics of friendship and the complexities of imperfect char...
May 23, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast King:A Life , the new biography by Jonathan Eig, provides a fresh perspective into the life of one of America's most important activists. From his upbringing in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood to his path through university and the frontlines of the Montgomery bus boycott, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s career and impact is explained through his faith and relationships. In today's episode, Eig speaks to NPR's Steve Inskeep about how Dr. King rose to prominence at such a young age, and how he m...
May 22, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is about untangling and understanding untold family stories. First, Burkhard Bilger speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about his memoir, Fatherland , which explores his grandfather's role in the Nazi party in Europe. Then, Aaron Hamburger tells NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer about his novel Hotel Cuba , inspired by his grandmother's immigration story from Russia to Cuba on her quest to get to the US. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 19, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Suitcases symbolize a lot for three-time Grammy winner Lucinda Williams. She tells NPR's Juana Summers she keeps a briefcase of musical references to help with her songwriting. In her new memoir, Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You , she also writes about moving from place to place as a child – she'd lived in 12 places by age 18 – because of her father's work. In today's episode, Williams recounts a career full of ups and downs in the music industry, and speaks about how she's returning to...
May 18, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dating can be difficult and confusing at any age – but especially after the end of a 36-year arranged marriage. The characters of Deepa Varadarajan's debut novel, Late Bloomers , are experiencing that second chance firsthand. Parents Suresh and Lata have just split and are learning to navigate dating online and IRL; their kids are fielding relationship troubles of their own. In today's episode, the author talks to NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer about what it means to find love later in life, and how writi...
May 17, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Matika Wilbur is from the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes in Washington state. In 2012, she left Seattle with one goal: to photograph and interview members of all 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. The result, Project 562 , weaves together nuanced and detailed portraits of Indigenous cultures, both visually and narratively. Wilbur tells NPR's Melissa Block about why she wanted to break away from stereotypical representations of Native Americans, and how she thinks about an Ind...
May 16, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
