Books

Phoebe Robinson is a stand-up comic, writer and actor. She is the creator and co-host of the podcast 2 Dope Queens and the host of the podcast Sooo Many White Guys.

Books
Arts

No, 'You Can't Touch My Hair' And Other Lessons From Comic Phoebe Robinson

8:38am October 02, 2016

by NPR Staff

In her new book, the stand-up comic and podcast host writes about what it's like to be black and female in America. "Black hair seems to raise a lot of nonblack people's blood pressure," she writes.

Books
Arts

Overwhelmed Mom Seeks 'A Basic Amount Of Dignity' In 'Today Will Be Different'

8:38am October 02, 2016

by NPR Staff

Today, Eleanor Flood will only wear yoga clothes for yoga — which today she will actually attend. Novelist Maria Semple says her frazzled heroine "has decided ... to set the bar very low for herself."

Books
Arts

'Wall Of Storms' Sweeps Away Your Expectations, Brilliantly

7:00am October 02, 2016

by Amal El-Mohtar

Ken Liu's even more epic followup to last year's epic fantasy The Grace of Kings picks up several years after the first book, with a completely new and fascinating set of characters and conflicts.

Sports
Books

Former NFL Player Nate Jackson Wades Into The 'Brutality' Of Fantasy Football

5:12pm October 01, 2016

Former NFL player Nate Jackson's new book Fantasy Man explores the growing business and competitiveness behind fantasy football.

Books
Arts

'Cruel Beautiful World' Was Inspired By Two Haunting Relationships

8:28am October 01, 2016

by NPR Staff

Before novelist Caroline Leavitt started dating a controlling boyfriend, she had tragically lost a friend to one. She says writing her new book was "a way for me to forgive myself."

Books
Arts

Magic In The Air: 3 Young Adult Fantasy Reads For Fall

7:00am October 01, 2016

by Caitlyn Paxson

You may be back in school, but your bookshelf doesn't have to reflect that — we've got three YA fantasy novels for fall starring three girls grappling with the impact of magic on their lives.

Fred Armisen performs as Candace and Carrie Brownstein as Toni in a Portlandia sketch about two feminist bookstore owners in Portland.

Feminist Bookstore Slams 'Portlandia' And Says Show Can No Longer Film There

4:22pm September 30, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The staff of In Other Words says the TV comedy is "diametrically opposed to our politics and the vision of society we're organizing to realize."

Lutheran Minister Preaches A Gospel Of Love To Junkies, Drag Queens And Outsiders

1:44pm September 30, 2016

Nadia Bolz-Weber was a standup comic who opened up a church with a mission to "remind people that they're absolutely loved." Her memoir is Accidental Saints. Originally published Sept. 17, 2015.

Queue Listen Now

Rolf Lassgård, left, stars as a grouchy widower in A Man Called Ove, which opens Friday in U.S. theaters.

Books
Arts

A Swedish Curmudgeon Wins Hearts, On The Page, And Now On Screen

11:35am September 30, 2016

by Lynn Neary

Move over, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — a grumpy man may soon take your place as America's favorite fictional Swede. The film adaptation of the best-seller A Man Called Ove is now coming to the U.S.

Queue Listen Now

Workers unload bananas in New Orleans. Bananas Foster, one of New Orleans' favorite desserts, is a lasting legacy of an oft-forgotten chapter in the city's history: the banana trade, which spawned banana republics.

The Sweet Success Of Bananas Foster Has An Unsavory Past

11:16am September 30, 2016

by Meredith Bethune

One of New Orleans' favorite desserts is a lasting legacy of an oft-forgotten chapter in the city's history: the banana trade, and its infamous practices.