Author Interviews

Hilma Wolitzer On Writing The Short Story That Helped Her Process Her Husband's Death

4:35pm September 07, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Hilma Wolitzer about her collection of short stories, Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket, which illuminates the complexity of motherhood and marriage.

Books
Arts

How A Cotton Sack, Passed Down Over Generations, Tells A Larger Story About Slavery

1:42pm September 07, 2021

by Arun Venugopal

In her new book, All That She Carried, historian Tiya Miles tells the story of an enslaved woman who, upon hearing her child was to be sold off, hastily packed her a bag with a few personal items.

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Joy Harjo's memoir is Poet Warrior. She plays saxophone and recites poetry on her new album, I Pray for My Enemies.

'Poet Warrior' Joy Harjo Wants Native Peoples To Be Seen As Human

12:46pm September 07, 2021

by Terry Gross

The nation's first Native American poet laureate has a new memoir in which she tells her own story — as well as the story of her sixth-generation grandfather, who was forced from his ancestral land.

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Books

As The TV Industry Praised Michaela Coel, She Says She Felt Like A Misfit

6:14am September 07, 2021

by Sam Sanders

Michaela Coel has earned acclaim for her show: I May Destroy You, which explored sexual assault and consent. Her book, Misfits: A Personal Manifesto, details her experiences in TV.

Books

'Red Roulette' Reveals The Inside Of China's Wealth-Making Machine

5:46am September 06, 2021

In his new book Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China, Desmond Shum writes about the disappearance of his ex-wife in China.

Books

In 'Loteria,' Life And Death Battle For A Girl's Fate

9:11am September 05, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Karla Valenti about her middle-grade novel, Loteria. Life and Death meet to play a game, choosing a girl who'll either live or die depending on who wins.

Books

Lauren Groff Delves Into The World Of The Nunnery In New Book

10:07am September 04, 2021

NPR's Scott Simon talks to author Lauren Groff about her new novel, Matrix, set in 12th century Europe, based on the life of the poet Marie de France.

Books

Cass Sunstein Explores The Bureaucratic Sludge That Slows Us Down In Latest Book

7:49am September 04, 2021

Red tape: it's everywhere. Public policy expert Cass Sunstein offers insight with his new book, Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do About It.

Shugri Said Salh recounts her journey from a goat- and camel-herding nomad in Somalia to a nurse and mom of three in California in her memoir, The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert.

A Onetime Nomad Reflects On The Beauty And Harshness Of Life In The Somali Desert

7:00am September 04, 2021

by Lucy Sherriff

Shugri Said Salh recounts her journey from goat- and camel-herding nomad in Somalia to nurse and mom of three in California in her memoir, The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert.

Books

The Story Of J.P. Morgan's 'Personal Librarian' — And Why She Chose To Pass As White

6:16pm August 31, 2021

by Karen Grigsby Bates

For the Code Switch podcast, we talked to authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray to discuss The Personal Librarian — the fictionalized account of the very real Belle da Costa Greene.