Experts Or Censors? The Debate Over Authors' Use Of Sensitivity Readers
One author sees them as an extension of the research she does for all her books; another worries they're being used as a risk management tool.
Books
'River On Fire' Explores Genius, Madness And The Poetry Of Robert Lowell
Kay Redfield Jamison's new book describes how Lowell's manic-depressive illness influenced his life and work. "His manias tended to lead him into writing a fresh kind of poetry," she says.
To This Scholar, For-Profit Colleges Are 'Lower Ed'
Tressie McMillan Cottom delves into the hopes and dreams of students outside the traditional college path.
'To Be A Machine' Digs Into The Meaning Of Humanity
Mark O'Connell's new book is a lucid, soulful look at the transhumanist movement — a group who believe that direct interface between humans and machines is the only way forward for our species.
Photographer Builds A 'Photo Ark' For 6,500 Animal Species And Counting
National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore is on a mission to document every captive animal species in the world. He talks about getting an arctic fox to hold still, and Photoshopping out poop.
'The Hate U Give' Explores Racism And Police Violence
In Angie Thomas' novel, Starr Carter lives in a gang-ravaged area and goes to a school where she's one of only a few black students. She talks with Lulu Garcia-Navarro about her book The Hate U Give.
New Book Focuses On The 'Humanity Of Syria' Lost In The War
Writer Alia Malek's new book is The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria. She talks about why she chose to tell the story of Syria through her grandmother's apartment in Damascus.
'Harmless Like You' Is A Story Of How Hurts Are Inherited
NPR's Scott Simon talks to author Rowan Hisayo Buchanan about her debut novel, Harmless Like You, a story of how we inherit pain from our parents, and inevitably pass it to our descendants.
Author Lionel Shriver On Cultural Appropriation And The 'Sensitivity Police'
NPR's Scott Simon talks with author Lionel Shriver about her outspoken views on cultural appropriation and what she feels is oversensitivity of the left.
Remembering Frank Delaney's 'Irish Gift Of Gab'
Scott Simon remembers Irish writer, broadcaster and critic Frank Delaney, who died this week at age 74.