Books

The Dalai Lama Offers A Warning On Climate Change

7:31am November 11, 2020

NPR's Noel King speaks with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, about his vision for addressing climate change. He has co-authored a book about climate change called: Our Only Home.

Queue Listen Now

Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, by Kathleen Rooney

Books
Arts

Rediscovering 'Cher Ami' And The Lost Battalion: Questions For Kathleen Rooney

6:00am November 11, 2020

by Petra Mayer

Kathleen Rooney's new novel follows an unlikely subject: Cher Ami, the once-famous homing pigeon who helped save a trapped battalion during World War I, and the officer who owed his life to her.

"One of the greatest gifts is to feel alive while you are alive," Katherine Standefer says. She writes about her experiences living with an implantable cardiac defibrillator in Lightning Flowers.

Author Details 'Living With Death' In Her 20s And Scrambling For Life-Saving Care

1:55pm November 10, 2020

by Dave Davies

Katherine Standefer was uninsured and working as a hiking guide when diagnosed with a genetic heart condition. She chronicles her experience with an implanted heart device in Lightning Flowers.

Queue Listen Now

First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country, by Thomas Ricks

Author And Journalist Tom Ricks: Founding Fathers Expected Today's Political State

11:00am November 10, 2020

by Steve Inskeep

"I think Madison, especially, would be very proud to see that when America deeply disagrees, as it does now, that things grind to a halt," Ricks, author of a new book, First Principles, tells NPR.

Queue Listen Now

The Aspen Words Literary Prize honors fiction that "illuminates a vital contemporary issue."

Books
Arts

Exclusive: Brit Bennett, Yaa Gyasi Among Contenders For Aspen Words Literary Prize

9:49am November 10, 2020

by Petra Mayer

Aspen Words — part of the Aspen Institute — has announced the longlist for this year's Aspen Words Literary Prize. The $35,000 award recognizes fiction that "illuminates a vital contemporary issue."

Books

Each Story In Danielle Evans' New Collection Is About Getting To The Truth

7:20am November 10, 2020

NPR's Noel King speaks with Danielle Evans about her book of short stories — The Office of Historical Corrections — which is out Tuesday.

Queue Listen Now

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, by Katherine May

In 'Wintering,' Katherine May Encourages 'The Active Acceptance Of Sadness'

7:13am November 10, 2020

by Heller McAlpin

The British author writes beautifully of her own recent bout with a personal winter, a period when she felt low and overwhelmed — and aims to help others to embrace their winters.

Music for the Dead and Resurrected: Poems, by Valzhyna Mort

Books

'I Was Drafted Into Music,' Says Poet Valzhyna Mort

4:36pm November 09, 2020

by Noel King

NPR's Noel King speaks with Valzhyna Mort about her poetry amid the political crisis in Belarus. Her new book of poems is called Music for the Dead and Resurrected.

Queue Listen Now

Megan Rapinoe celebrates scoring her team's first goal during the 2019 Women's World Cup quarter-final match between France and the United States.

Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe On Equal Pay, And What The U.S. Flag Means To Her

2:08pm November 09, 2020

by Terry Gross

Rapinoe has also been an outspoken advocate for pay equity and the Black Lives Matter movement. "I see patriotism as constantly demanding better of ourselves," she says. Her new book is One Life.

Queue Listen Now

We Keep the Dead Close, by Becky Cooper'

Books

How A 1969 Murder At Harvard Turned Into A Cold Case And A 'Cautionary Tale'

12:11pm November 09, 2020

by Maureen Corrigan

In We Keep the Dead Close, author Becky Cooper revisits the killing of Harvard graduate student Jane Britton. The 440+ page book is overstuffed with suspects, motives, red herrings and interviews.