Books

Some people claim a late cup of coffee won't keep them up and that alcohol helps them sleep. But research shows both drugs mess with sleep's depth and restorative quality, says scientist and Why We Sleep author Matthew Walker.

Sleep Scientist Warns Against Walking Through Life 'In An Underslept State'

4:51pm October 16, 2017

by Terry Gross

"Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent gain," says sleep scientist Matthew Walker. His new book is Why We Sleep.

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Amy Tan (pictured with her family in 1959) found startling information about her parents while sifting through a treasure trove of family papers.

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Arts

Amy Tan Revisits The Roots Of Her Writing Career In 'Where The Past Begins'

4:44pm October 16, 2017

by Lynn Neary

In a new memoir, the Joy Luck Club author searches her past for the sources of her creativity. She says, "I certainly think that the bad experiences ... shaped me as a writer."

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Arts

From Hamilton To Grant: Ron Chernow Paints A 'Farsighted' President in New Biography

12:24pm October 16, 2017

by Michel Martin

After the massive success of his last book, which inspired an award-winning Broadway musical, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ron Chernow is back with a new biography of President Ulysses S. Grant.

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Zingerman's Bakehouse, A Michigan Icon, Rolls Out A New Cookbook

11:42am October 16, 2017

by Tove Danovich

A visit to Ann Arbor wouldn't be complete without a trip to an eatery that bears the famous name. And the mouthwatering, no-nonsense recipes are designed to entice even novice bakers into the kitchen.

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Arts

Tom Hanks Is Obsessed With Typewriters (So He Wrote A Book About Them)

8:13am October 16, 2017

by David Greene

The actor's new collection of short fiction — his debut book as an author — is called Uncommon Type, and each story has something to do with the machine close to his heart.

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CANADA - OCTOBER 01: Author - Kazuo Ishiguro (Photo by Rick Eglinton/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

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Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro Once Wrote A Screenplay About Eating A Ghost

10:48pm October 15, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Written in the '80s, The Gourmet is an absurdist satire exploring the politics of food and the hedonistic culture of consumerism that treats it as a recreational drug. It's still strikingly relevant.

Mortician Caitlin Doughty has traveled around the world exploring the ways other cultures approach death.

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Mortician Explores Cultures' Many Paths For 'Sacred Transition' Of Death

2:31pm October 15, 2017

Caitlin Doughty, whose Los Angeles funeral home specializes in alternative ceremonies, traveled the world to collect stories about how different peoples send loved ones off to the great beyond.

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Tape worm pills were once advertised as a way to stay thin.

'Quackery' Chronicles How Our Love Of Miracle Cures Leads Us Astray

8:04am October 15, 2017

by April Fulton

Tobacco enemas? Mercury pills? Ice pick lobotomies? A new book explains how throughout history, miracle "cures" often didn't just fail to improve people's health, they maimed and killed.

'A Skinful of Shadows' By Frances Hardinge

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'Skinful Of Shadows' Delights Without Reservation

7:00am October 15, 2017

by Caitlyn Paxson

Frances Hardinge's captivating tale follows a girl during the English Civil War who discovers she has the power to invite ghosts into herself — a power that puts her in danger, but can also save her.

'Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History' By Tori Telfer

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'Lady Killers:' Cherchez La Femme Fatale

10:00am October 14, 2017

by Jean Zimmerman

An FBI investigator once famously said "There are no female serial killers," but Tori Telfer sets out to prove him wrong with this gruesome new account of multiply-murderous women throughout history.