Author Interviews

Books

A parable about motherhood, 'Chouette' begins with a human birth to an owl baby

8:25am November 14, 2021

A woman gives birth to an owl-baby in the novel "Chouette." Danielle Kurzleban talks with author Claire Oshetsky about why magical realism was a good vehicle to explore motherhood.

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Books

Author interview: 'New York, My Village'

5:04pm November 13, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with author Uwem Akpan about his new book.

Books

'Design To Live' details refugees' ingenuity in creating life in camps

8:55am November 13, 2021

Scott Simon speaks with Azra Aksamija about the new book, "Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp," about the ingenuity born in a Jordanian camp.

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Books

Laird Hunt proves life lays in the seemingly-mundane through the life of 'Zorrie'

8:55am November 13, 2021

Scott Simon speaks to novelist Laird Hunt about his latest book, "Zorrie."

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Encore: Dapper Dan, telling stories in leather, fur and logos

4:24pm November 12, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with fashion designer Dapper Dan about his memoir, Dapper Dan: Made In Harlem.

Elliot Ackerman was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Bronze Medal for Valor and the Purple Heart for his military service.

A Marine veteran says the contradictions of war can make you feel insane

12:41pm November 12, 2021

by Terry Gross

Elliot Ackerman served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, during which time, he says, he witnessed the absolute worst — as well as the absolute best — that human beings are capable of.

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Teafua Tanu is an islet of Tokelau used by residents of Fakaofo atoll as a Catholic cemetery. Over the past two decades, the territory of Tokelau has proved extremely vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels owing, partly, to its being a small l

Their lands are oceans apart but are linked by rising, warming seas of climate change

8:09am November 12, 2021

Photographer Vlad Sokhin's latest work, Warm Waters, is an exploration of climate change traveling across 18 countries and off-the-map territories seen by seldom few.

Books
Arts

Children's book 'Calvin' shows how a community can embrace a trans child's identity

8:35am November 11, 2021

Authors JR and Vanessa Ford's experience with their own child coming out inspired the story of the young transgender protagonist in their new children's book.

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Will Smith looks back on his life in the memoir, Will. "Those difficulties and those traumas and the mental anguish that I had to overcome was a big part of me growing into the person I am today," he says.

Books
Arts

Will Smith says he crafted a joyful image to cover the pain of the past

3:35pm November 10, 2021

by Tonya Mosley

As a child, Smith watched helplessly as his father beat his mother. The experience shaped him: "The mental anguish that I had to overcome was a big part of me growing into the person I am today."

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Children's book 'Calvin' shows how a community can embrace a trans child's identity

5:12pm November 09, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with authors and parents Vanessa and JR Ford about their new book Calvin, which explores one child's experience of coming out as transgender.