The protagonist of Celine Saintclare's Sugar, Baby is pretty disillusioned with her life: She's 21 and still at home, she has few friends and she feels like she'll never live up to her religious mother's expectations. But when she crosses paths with a London socialite, Agnes is introduced to a glamorous lifestyle bankrolled mostly by sex work and social media posts. In today's episode, NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento speaks with Saintclare about how the novel explores power dynamics, female frien...
Jan 10, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast When she was only a teenager, South African runner Caster Semenya won gold at the 2009 World Championships. But she was soon faced with intense scrutiny over her gender and testosterone levels and forced to endure intrusive questions and tests about her eligibility to compete. In her new memoir, The Race to Be Myself , Semenya opens up about having her skill and merit challenged on a global stage and choosing self-love over it all. She speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about breaking down...
Jan 09, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Early on in today's interview with author Paul Lynch, he says he was careful not to specify whether his dystopian novel Prophet Song is set in the future. Instead, the gripping tale of an Irish family sticking together through the fall of democracy focuses on the present moment and the personal relationships affected by it. In today's episode, Lynch speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the power of fiction to break through the noise of news and social media and the weight of his own platform afte...
Jan 08, 2024•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is all about two books that find parallels across long stretches of time. First, an interview with Barbara Kingsolver and former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro about Kingsolver's novel Unsheltered , which finds striking similarities between an 18th century "utopian" community and 2016 America. Then, NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Daniel Mason about his novel North Woods , which follows the inhabitants of a plot of land across hundreds of years. Learn more about sponsor message choic...
Jan 05, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast The new novel by Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors , is a project of historical fiction immersed in the culturally rich island of Penang in the 1920s. A once revered, now flailing British writer arrives to visit a friend and find inspiration for a new book. What he uncovers secret affairs, a murder trial, and deeply complicated relationships proves to be more than he expected. In today's episode, NPR's Ari Shapiro asks the author about using the real writer W. Somerset Maugham as his protagonist,...
Jan 04, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hugo Contreras, the protagonist of Raul Palma's new novel, is a babalwo ; he can cleanse evil spirits. Except he doesn't really believe in the whole thing. So when he's able to strike up a deal with a debt collector get rid of the ghosts in his house in exchange for a clean slate he assumes he can mostly fake it. In today's episode, Palma joins NPR's Scott Simon to discuss A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens , and how the concept of debt not just financial, but personal, too stirs up a lot of trauma f...
Jan 03, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Phil McDaragh is a great Irish poet; he was also a lousy husband and father, abandoning his family to pursue his writing. In Anne Enright's new novel, The Wren, The Wren , three generations of women in the McDaragh family contend with the absent patriarch's complicated legacy. Enright spoke with NPR's Scott Simon about writing fiction about a great writer, and how the poet's bad behavior in his personal life impacts the McDaragh women's own passions, years down the road. Learn more about sponsor...
Jan 02, 2024•8 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 ...
Jan 01, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast After wars, natural disasters and all kinds of emergencies, the World Central Kitchen the organization founded by chef Jos Andrs flies in to help feed people. A new cookbook now brings forth some of the recipes the nonprofit relies on to comfort and nourish those affected. In today's episode, Andrs speaks with Here & Now's Scott Tong about the importance of working in community with local restaurants and chefs when serving an area, prioritizing the familiar flavors and cuisine, and making delici...
Dec 30, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode focuses on two books that go deep on two culinary traditions: curry and chai. First, famed chef and author Raghavan Iyer spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro about On The Curry Trail , which traces the origins and impact of curry around the world. Iyer, who died shortly after the interview, gets candid about his career making Indian food accessible to Americans. Then, Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes speaks with Kevin Wilson known online as CrossCultureKev about The Way of Chai and the spiri...
Dec 29, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast For chef Erin French, a meal is about a lot more than the food on the table. Her new cookbook, Big Heart Little Stove , provides not only recipes from her family and famed Maine restaurant The Lost Kitchen, but also her philosophy for sprucing up a table setting or presenting a particular dish in a way that elevates the meaning of the entire experience. In today's episode, French speaks with Here & Now's Robin Young about the rocky road that led her to open her hit dining destination, and how th...
Dec 28, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Kurlansky's new book The Core of an Onion is part cookbook, part culinary history. Kurlansky gives readers dozens of facts about this rich vegetable that is able to grow in nearly every climate. In today's episode, Kurlansky gives Here and Now's Scott Tong a few onion fun facts and context about the onion's rich history. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 27, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Chef and Food Network personality Marcela Valladolid combines her joy of cooking, appreciation of community, and love of Mexican cuisine in her new cookbook Familia: 125 Foolproof Mexican Recipes to Feed Your People . In today's episode, Valladolid speaks with Here and Now's Deepa Fernandes about the online cooking class she and her sister started during the pandemic. This pandemic cooking class offered a way to connect with others and a way to show appreciation of her Mexican roots, which inspi...
Dec 26, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast The new cookbook The Everlasting Meal Cookbook: Leftovers A-Z shows home chefs how to transform their forgotten leftovers into beloved meals. In today's episode, chef Tamar Adler talks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about how replenishing leftovers helps reduce food waste and she shows her how to use an empty nut butter jar to create a delectable noodle dish. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 25, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Cookie That Changed My Life is a new cookbook by world-renowned baker Nancy Silverton (written with Carolynn Carreo). Silverton is the founder of LaBrea Bakery and has been a professional baker for more than 50 years; now she's sharing some recipes of baking perfection. In today's episode, Silverton talks with Here and Now's Robin Young about how to perfect not only peanut butter cookie recipes but also pies and cakes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NP...
Dec 23, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's the most wonderful time of the year: Books We Love season! In today's episode, Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes and our own Andrew Limbong sit down to chat about some of the best books they read in 2023. From Ringmaster a biography of former WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon to Prom Mom , a thriller about teenage exes looking back on their very dangerous past, Linda and Andrew find unexpected common ground in the bigger themes behind their respective selections. Learn more about sp...
Dec 22, 2023•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the new book Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education , author Stephanie Land juggles single parenthood and going to college. Land is the author of the Netflix miniseries hit Maid , a story where a single mother cleans homes to make ends meet. In today's episode, Land speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about this next challenge of going to college as a single parent to fulfill her dream of becoming a writer. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoice...
Dec 21, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America re-tells American history from the experiences of Black people. In today's episode, political commentator and author Michael Harriot speaks with Here & Now's Celeste Headlee about how revisiting American history in the context of the Black perspective shows the country's story as one of triumph and survival. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 20, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast When author Caitlin Shetterly saw an influx of license plates from Massachusetts and New York arrive in her home state of Maine during the pandemic, inspiration struck for her debut novel. Pete and Alice in Maine follows a couple that moves the family out of New York City during the initial COVID-19 scare but finds the baggage from Pete's affair and Alice's questions about her purpose follow them. In today's episode, Shetterly speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the very complicated idea of forg...
Dec 19, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Vauhini Vara started writing some of the stories in This Is Salvaged when she was still in her 20s, two decades ago. From the complicated tension between two sisters to the way one mother chooses to selectively share information with her daughter, the stories in the book focus on the way people primarily women can struggle to connect with one another despite their best efforts. In today's episode, Vara tells Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes how time away provided perspective on her characters, and h...
Dec 18, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast The novel The Rachel Incident is rooted around a wonderful, messy friendship. Rachel and James live together, party, and get themselves into a peculiar situation with an older married couple. In today's episode, author Caroline O'Donoghue speaks with NPR's Miles Parks about how abortion and sexual repression in Irish society play a large role in Rachel's early adulthood. O'Donoghue also shares why it was important to her that the novel be told from an older Rachel's perspective, reflecting on he...
Dec 16, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast This year, the novel Fear of Flying which broke all sorts of unwritten rules around marriage, sex, and women's bodily autonomy when first published turned 50 years old. So for today's episode, we dug up a 1973 interview with author Erica Jong and NPR's Steven Banker where Jong speaks frankly about the constraints women felt at the time about making art, and how their husbands would be perceived as a result. Then, NPR's Sarah McCammon speaks with Jong's daughter, Molly Jong-Fast, about the legacy...
Dec 15, 2023•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode takes us inside the kitchen of Washington, D.C. Michelin-star restaurant Maydn. There, owner Rose Previte walks NPR's Asma Khalid through several recipes in her new cookbook, Maydn , which focuses on family dishes from a diverse array of influences. Previte and Khalid get to talking about how growing up in a Lebanese-Italian home in a small Ohio town and later traveling across Russia and the Middle East with her husband, former NPR host David Greene shaped her understanding of br...
Dec 14, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Risk It Takes To Bloom is a new memoir by journalist and activist Raquel Willis. In 2014, Willis navigated post-college life as she grappled with the "dehumanization" of Blackness and the importance of transgender visibility. Willis examined how to support the Black trans community and helped organize one of the largest marches for Black trans lives in 2020. In today's episode, Willis speaks with NPR's Brittany Luse about her journey as a Black trans woman emerging into adulthood and the int...
Dec 13, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror is a collection of scary stories curated by horror filmmaker Jordan Peele. In today's episode, Peele speaks with NPR's Brittany Luse about the Black horror stories in this collection and the unique motif of eyes in this genre, including in his own 2017 film Get Out . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 12, 2023•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast As this year's United Nations Climate Summit wraps up, today's episode examines what people often get wrong about climate change. David Wallace-Wells' 2019 book The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming outlines three major misunderstandings: the speed, scope, and severity of climate change. Here, Wallace-Wells speaks with NPR's Rachel Martin back in 2019 about the worst-case scenario for human life in 2050 and the optimistic outcome we could expect if we take immediate action. Learn more abou...
Dec 11, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, two teenagers form a tight bond at their Quaker high school in Manhattan. That's the premise for Idlewild , the debut novel by James Frankie Thomas. But while the girls share an intense common interest in gay culture and fan fiction, their friendship blows up in unexpected ways something they must reckon with years later. In today's episode, Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes speaks with Thomas about his take on the prep school novel and discovering some giant truth...
Dec 09, 2023•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode finds two renowned authors who found solace in writing characters navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. First, NPR's Leila Fadel spoke with Sigrid Nunez about The Vulnerables, which follows a woman, a parrot, and a Gen Z college student unexpectedly taking care of another during lockdown in New York. Then, Michael Cunningham tells NPR's Scott Simon about Day , which chronicles three days spread out over three years in the life of a Brooklyn family, and how isolation and companionship...
Dec 08, 2023•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista traces the aftermath of the Philippines' war on drugs. After Rodrigo Duterte was elected in 2016, thousands of people were killed in extrajudicial killings. In today's episode, NPR's Juana Summers listens to journalist Evangelista reflect on her country's news coverage during this time and the importance of language in honoring humanity. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 07, 2023•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast TV writer and producer, Norman Lear, died this week. He was 101 years old. In today's episode, we revisit Lear's 2014 interview with NPR's Arun Rath about his memoir, Even This I Get to Experience . From Lear's upbringing with a father incarcerated for white collar crime to his struggle to get All In the Family on air, the two discussed some of the biggest challenges Lear overcame on the path to becoming a television visionary. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoic...
Dec 06, 2023•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
