Books

The Making of Biblical Womanhood, by Beth Allison Barr

'The Making Of Biblical Womanhood' Tackles Contradictions In Religious Practice

3:35pm April 15, 2021

by Rachel Martin

Biblical womanhood is a pervasive concept among evangelicals. A new book by historian Beth Allison Barr argues those ideas may be more secular than scriptural.

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Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing: Essays, Lauren Hough

Books
Arts

'Leaving Isn't The Hardest Thing' Isn't Just A Cult Memoir

9:41am April 15, 2021

by Ilana Masad

Essay after essay, it becomes clear that writer Lauren Hough is drawing parallels between the Family and good ol' fashioned American Exceptionalism in all its various facets.

Books

How A Humble Bookseller Helped Give Rise To The Renaissance

12:43am April 15, 2021

Mary Louise Kelly talks with author Ross King about his new book The Bookseller of Florence, inspired by the history of the "Street of Booksellers" found in Florence, Italy.

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Books
Arts

2021 Whiting Awards Honor 10 Soon-To-Be-Big Writers

7:45pm April 14, 2021

by Petra Mayer

The winners of this year's Whiting Awards have been announced; the $50,000 prize honors emerging writers, with the aim of enabling them to concentrate full-time on their work.

Tufts University became the first major university to strip the Sackler name from its buildings in 2019.

Journalist Investigates 'Crime Story' Of The Sackler Family And The Opioid Crisis

5:23pm April 14, 2021

by Terry Gross

Empire of Pain author Patrick Radden Keefe says the Sackler family has "thrown a lot of energy" into trying to thwart his reporting about the family's involvement in the opioid crisis.

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Books

'Empire Of Pain: The Secret History Of The Sackler Dynasty' Profiles Pharma Family

5:18pm April 13, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Patrick Radden Keefe about his book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. The book profiles the family that founded oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma.

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. On 'The Black Church' And His Own Bargain With Jesus

1:44pm April 13, 2021

by Terry Gross

When he was 12, Gates made a bargain with Jesus in an attempt to save his mother's life. He talks about how that altered his own life, and his new book and PBS series, The Black Church.

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The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Walton

Books
Arts

'The Final Revival Of Opal & Nev' Is A Faux Music History That Rocks

11:39am April 13, 2021

by Maureen Corrigan

Dawnie Walton's sly narrative is a story about music, race and family secrets that spans five decades, centering on an interracial rock duo who strike it big in the early '70s.

The Souvenir Museum, by Elizabeth McCracken

Books
Arts

'The Souvenir Museum' Is An Exhibit To Savor

7:00am April 13, 2021

by Heller McAlpin

Elizabeth McCracken's new story collection dazzles with verbal flexibility, insight and feeling, capturing the oddities and mixed bags, the loves and losses that make up most people's lives.

I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope, by Valerie Gilpeer and Emily Grodin.

Books
Arts

Mother-Daughter Memoir Of Autism Exemplifies The Power Of Language

4:33am April 13, 2021

by Jason Heller

Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust is a chronicle of not only finding one's voice, but of learning to make others understand that voice.