Books

Books
Arts

Giving Autism Some Love In 'A Room Called Earth'

7:57am August 15, 2020

by Scott Simon

Author Madeleine Ryan was diagnosed with autism while she was writing her new novel — she says creating her main character helped her embrace the way she process her own thoughts and feelings.

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Sister Helen Prejean On Witnessing Executions: 'I Couldn't Let Them Die Alone'

1:38pm August 14, 2020

by Terry Gross

The Catholic nun became an opponent of the death penalty following the events in her book Dead Man Walking. She details her spiritual journey in River of Fire. Originally broadcast Aug. 12, 2019.

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Books
Arts

Bukowski At 100: Remembering A Literary Icon

6:57am August 14, 2020

by Tom Vitale

Poet and novelist Charles Bukowski was notorious for his drinking and womanizing. Some called him a misogynist. But his work could also be tender and reveal truths about the human condition.

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A man walks past a mural of Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. in London.

Books
Arts

Black Power Scholar Illustrates How MLK And Malcolm X Influenced Each Other

4:05pm August 12, 2020

by Terry Gross

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are frequently seen as opposing forces in the struggle for civil rights but Peniel Joseph, author of The Sword and the Shield, says the truth is more nuanced.

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Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast, by Marjoleine Kars

In 'Blood On The River,' The Berbice Rebellion Foreshadows Later Insurgencies

7:59am August 12, 2020

by Martha Anne Toll

Marjoleine Kars recounts a tale of oppression, bloodshed, and some triumph in her previously untold account of the 1763-64 slave rebellion in Dutch Berbice, modern day Guyana.

Unemployed people gather outside City Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, on Oct. 9, 1930 during the Great Depression.

Books
Arts

Fifty Years After Studs Terkel Published 'Hard Times' ... Here We Are Again

5:35pm August 11, 2020

by Neda Ulaby

Studs Terkel's bestselling oral history of the Great Depression came out in 1970. Who could've guessed it would feel so relevant half a century later?

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"I've never heard any Republican officeholder speak of President Trump as if he should be president," says GOP strategist Stuart Stevens.

Veteran GOP Strategist Takes On Trump — And His Party — In 'It Was All A Lie'

3:34pm August 11, 2020

by Dave Davies

Political consultant Stuart Stevens says the Republican Party's support for Trump reflects the abandonment of principles it claimed to embrace, such as fiscal restraint and personal responsibility.

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Then-Rep. Katie Hill answers questions from reporters at the U.S. Capitol following her final speech on the floor of the House of Representatives Oct. 31, 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Former Rep. Katie Hill Aims To Encourage Women To Run For Office In 'She Will Rise'

12:21pm August 11, 2020

by Annalisa Quinn

Hill's election to Congress in 2018 seemed like a sign of progress. A year later, she resigned after admitting to an affair with a young staffer, documented by her husband, and leaked to the press.

Books

Sarah Chayes' New Book Examines 'Corruption In America'

7:43am August 11, 2020

Author Sarah Chayes has investigated corruption in places like Afghanistan and Nigeria. She wondered if the U.S. was corrupt. NPR's Noel King talks to her about her book: "On Corruption in America."

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Books

Molly Wizenberg Shares Her Story Of Changing Identity In New Book, 'The Fixed Stars'

4:00pm August 10, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Molly Wizenberg about her new memoir, The Fixed Stars.

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