Penn got his start in stoner comedies, then took a hiatus from acting to work for the Obama administration. He shares stories from his life and career in the memoir You Can't Be Serious.
Scott Simon interviews celebrated novelist Hanya Yanagihara about her newest work, "To Paradise," an epic tale spanning 200 years in a fictionalized New York City.
Baby Izzie howls, Rayhan's parrot screeches, Benny and his friends play flashlight tag, and Natalia launches her rocket in the new children's book by author Anne Wynter and illustrator Oge Mora.
Didion, who died Dec. 23, was known her cool, unsentimental observations. Her books include Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The Year of Magical Thinking. Originally broadcast in 1987 and 2005.
Over the last two years, many have experienced a kind of ambiguous loss as we have lived with isolation and uncertainty in the pandemic. Author and therapist Pauline Boss explains how to move forward.
"Americans went on a shopping spree as soon as lockdown started, and we haven't really stopped," journalist Christopher Mims says. His book, Arriving Today, goes inside the global supply chain.
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Jean Chen Ho about her new book, Fiona and Jane. It describes how two Taiwanese American women who grew up in Los Angeles grow apart and find their way back to each other.
Raskin's son died just days before the Capitol insurrection. Now Raskin serves on the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack. His new memoir is Unthinkable.