Books

Books

Douglas Boin Wants To 'Think Differently About Marginalized People' In New Book On Ancient Rome

8:01am June 07, 2020

NRR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to historian Douglas Boin about his book, Alaric the Goth: An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome.

Sen. Tim Kaine, left, and then-Charlottesville mayor Michael Signer visit a temporary memorial Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, where Heather Heyer was killed when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally Charlottesville, Va.

In 'Cry Havoc,' Former Charlottesville Mayor Details A Tragic Day

6:45pm June 06, 2020

by Michel Martin

"The value of having fought for things and standing at the end, having the experience of having fought for them in the real world, there's nothing like it," Michael Signer tells NPR.

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This List Of Books, Films And Podcasts About Racism Is A Start, Not A Panacea

10:19am June 06, 2020

by Isabella Rosario

We've compiled a list of places you can go to learn more about systemic racism — acknowledging that, while it's important to have information, this list is not a prescription.

Books
Arts

Your Bookshelf May Be Part Of The Problem

8:50am June 06, 2020

by Juan Vidal

Anti-racist reading lists are making the rounds right now — and they can be useful if people do the work of reading. But critic Juan Vidal suggests you look closer to home, to your own bookshelf.

Books

Connie Schultz On Her Debut Novel And The Story Of American Women

8:01am June 06, 2020

NPR's Scott Simon talks to author Connie Schultz about her debut novel, "The Daughters of Erietown."

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Arts

In 'A Burning,' Striving, Dreaming And Joking In The Face Of Oppression

8:01am June 06, 2020

by Scott Simon

Megha Majumdar's new novel is set during the aftermath of a terror attack in India, and examines the intersecting lives of three people affected by the events and the government's response.

Brit Bennett says it has been "surreal" to publish her post-civil rights era book this week. She is also the author of The Mothers.

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Arts

Brit Bennett Set Her Novel 50 Years Ago — She Didn't Expect It To Be 'Timely'

7:54pm June 05, 2020

by Mary Louise Kelly

The Vanishing Half is about African American twins — one lives as a black woman, the other "passes" as white. Passing is "an act of self-creation and also an act of self-destruction," Bennett says.

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Historian Eric Foner On The 'Unresolved Legacy Of Reconstruction'

1:42pm June 05, 2020

by Terry Gross

After the Civil War, the federal government promised former slaves equality and citizenship. Historian Eric Foner says the failed promises reverberate today. Originally broadcast Jan. 9, 2006.

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Arts

Remembering Award-Winning Author Robb Forman Dew

1:42pm June 05, 2020

by Terry Gross

Dew, who died May 22, wrote intimately about family relationships in both fiction and nonfiction. She spoke to Terry Gross in 1994 about The Family Heart, her memoir about learning her son was gay.

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John Ridley Finds Inspiration From Young Protesters Demanding To Be Heard

6:27am June 05, 2020

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to screenwriter, show producer and novelist John Ridley about the unrest in America over the killing of George Floyd, a black man in police custody in Minneapolis.

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