He Felt He Could No Longer Be Funny, Says Robin Williams Biographer
Dave Itzkoff examines Williams' life and death in a new biography. Williams took his own life in 2014; an autopsy later revealed he had Lewy body dementia.
Books
Reality TV And Murder In 'The Favorite Sister'
Jessica Knoll's new book The Favorite Sister combines murder with a reality TV show about powerful, ambitious women. She tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro reality TV is her guilty pleasure.
'Little Women' Gets Another Adaptation
Heidi Thomas adapted Little Women for the new PBS take on the beloved story. She tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro that both men and women will identify with the story of the family.
'Heroic, But He's No Hero': Revisiting Football Great Jim Brown
Dave Zirin's new biography portrays a black liberation activist with a conservative streak, a man with an alleged history of violence against women and maybe the greatest running back in NFL history.
April Showers Bring These 3 May Romances
Love is in the air, and romance is blossoming like May flowers — so we've gathered a bouquet of the month's best, from a Bollywood-esque confection set in New Jersey to a transatlantic royal romp.
Bloody-Scepter'd 'Tyrant' Explores Shakespeare's Take On Politics
Scholar Stephen Greenblatt says Shakespeare wrote his histories as a commentary on the era he lived in — and those plays still have important things to say about our current political climate.
You Can't Solve This 'Rubik,' But It'll Still Make You Feel Smart
Elizabeth Tan's novel jumps between different characters and timelines, beginning with the death of the main character and only getting weirder — but there's a true heart underneath the cleverness.
How Black Leaders Unwittingly Contributed To The Era Of Mass Incarceration
In Locking Up Our Own, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Forman Jr. argues that African-American leaders helped shape policies that harmed black communities. Originally broadcast July 17, 2017.
Brilliant But Devastating, 'The Mars Room' Chronicles Life Behind Bars
Rachel Kushner's heartbreaking, nearly flawless third novel centers on Romy Hall, a young woman who's just been sentenced to two life sentences for beating her stalker to death.
'Free Woman' Is An Uncompromising Look At An Unconventional Writer
Lara Feigel's new book is a combination memoir and celebration of the writer Doris Lessing — whose famous distaste for convention led her to exclaim "Oh, Christ," upon winning the Nobel Prize.