Books

Genius does its best to make the editing process between Max Perkins (Colin Firth) and Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law) kinetic.

Books
Arts

'Genius' Is, As The Saying Has It, 10% Inspiration, 90% Perspiration

5:09pm June 10, 2016

by Bob Mondello

The editor Maxwell Perkins discovered and nurtured authors like Hemingway and Fitzgerald. The new movie Genius has him wrangling thousands of pages from the writer Thomas Wolfe.

"There are these great patterns to life — and we all go through them." — Joshua Prager

What Can Great Writers Teach Us About Growing Up and Getting Old?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

We all stumble across similar ideas as we age, and some of these revelations have passed into the books we love. Journalist Joshua Prager explores the stages of life through quotes from great writers.

Queue Listen Now

"In nature everything is so uniquely itself ... and there is a pace to the natural world and a genius to the natural world that arises out of that state of being." — Boyd Varty

What Wisdom Can We Gain From Nature?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

South African writer and conservationist Boyd Varty has spent his entire life among wild animals. He describes how he discovers "new old ways" by observing the natural world.

Queue Listen Now

"We don't end conversations with any of my children without 'I love you, I care about you, I miss you, I need you, I have to see you.'" — Tony Porter

What Can One Generation Teach The Next About Manhood?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

Advocate Tony Porter's wisdom focuses on masculinity and ending violence against women. He explains how he draws on his own upbringing to help the next generation of men redefine manhood.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Escapology' Gets Weird Fast. And Did We Mention The Sharks?

1:35pm June 09, 2016

by Jason Sheehan

Ren Warom's tale of AIs, genius hackers, corporate crime and the occasional sea creature uses familiar building blocks to create a wild, loud, corkscrewing story that builds to a bloody conclusion.

Books
Arts

'The Hatred Of Poetry' Feels Personal

7:00am June 09, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

Novelist Ben Lerner takes on poetry in his new book, an academic dissection of the ways we love and hate that ancient art. But sometimes he seems like he's talking about his own thinly-veiled hatred.

Books

'Invention Of Russia' Chronicles The Fall Of The USSR To Today

5:04am June 09, 2016

Arkady Ostrovsky talks to Mary Louise Kelly about his new book, The Invention of Russia, which looks back on the 25 years from the fall of the Soviet Union to Putin's Russia today.

Books
Arts

'Infomocracy' Is A Sci-Fi Thriller With Election-Year Chills

4:15pm June 08, 2016

by Jason Heller

Malka Older's new book takes place at the end of the 21st century, in a future where the game of politics has become more streamlined — but infinitely more complex and terrifying.

They May Not Mean To But They Do by Cathleen Schine

Books
Arts

'They May Not Mean To' Is A Wry, Warm Look At The Indignities Of Aging

10:24am June 08, 2016

by Heller McAlpin

Cathleen Schine's new novel stars that literary rarity: a functional family. But matriarch Joy is struggling; her husband is ailing and her worried children don't like seeing their parents' decline.

In her new book, neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt tackles why traditional diets don't work for many people, and often leave the dieter worse off than before.

A Neuroscientist Tackles 'Why Diets Make Us Fat'

4:42pm June 07, 2016

by Jean Fain

Why don't traditional diets work for many people? Blame your brain, suggests Sandra Aamodt. Her new book delves into the science of why eating and weight have become such a sizable problem.