For Her First Trilogy, Jane Smiley Returns To Iowa, 'Where The Roots Are'
Smiley used to live in Iowa and says something about the place still pulls on her imagination. Her new book, Some Luck, begins on a family farm in 1920.
Arts
'Outpost': Stories Of Diplomacy In The World's Most Harrowing Places
Former Ambassador Christopher Hill has written his memoir, Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks to Hill about his tenure as a diplomat in Iraq.
Seeing Neurological Patients As Characters, Not Case Studies
Legendary theater director Peter Brook is working on a new play centered on people with unusual conditions — like synesthesia, extraordinary memory or the inability to sense their own bodies.
Showtime's 'Homeland' Now Depends On Carrie Mathison As Flawed Hero
As Showtime's Emmy-winning terrorism drama starts its fourth season Sunday, NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans says the show struggles to continue without a key character.
Q&A: Plumbing The Mysteries Of The Teenage Brain
In Age of Opportunity, psychologist Larry Steinberg applies neuroscience to risk-taking, peer influence, the boredom of high school and other adolescent conundrums.
Affleck: 'Gone Girl' Was Freeing, And 'Batman' Will Be No 'Daredevil'
Ben Affleck says playing a character shrouded in suspicion was liberating, because "likability was sort of thrown out of the window." He also looks back on where his career began: Voyage of the Mimi.
One Military Family, Two Lost Sons: One To Combat, One To Suicide
In The Invisible Front, journalist Yochi Dreazen tells the story of the Grahams, a close-knit family that lost two sons in the span of a year and then took up the fight against military suicide.
Horror Of Horrors: Is H.P. Lovecraft's Legacy Tainted?
Lovecraft, the author who famously invented Cthulhu, was also known for his highly racist opinions. This has created some controversy around the World Fantasy Award statue that bears his likeness.
Does Television Spanglish Need A Rewrite?
More Hollywood writers are having Latino characters speak a mix of English and Spanish. But if Latinos themselves are divided over Spanglish, how can the entertainment industry get it right?
Art Project Opens Long-Closed Ellis Island Hospital
The dilapidated hospital on Ellis Island has been shuttered since 1954. But now it's opening to the public. The occasion? An art exhibition. NPR's Scott Simon talks to the head of Save Ellis Island.