Author Interviews

Books

Hakeem Oluseyi Publishes Memoir: 'A Quantum Life'

7:57am June 14, 2021

NPR's Noel King speaks with astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi about his memoir: A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey From The Street To The Stars. He writes about being different from his family.

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Books

Dan Glickman On His Career And 'Laughing At Myself'

9:18pm June 13, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin talks with former agriculture secretary Dan Glickman about his book, Laughing at Myself: My Education in Congress, on the Farm, and at the Movies.

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Books

The Story Of A Denver Neighborhood In 'The Holly'

9:10pm June 13, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin talks with author Julian Rubinstein about his book The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun, and the Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood.

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Books

Kevin Cook's New Book Re-Examines The Life Of Christa McAuliffe

8:05am June 12, 2021

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Kevin Cook, the author of The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster. The space shuttle exploded after launch 35 years ago.

Books
Arts

Yusef Komunyakaa Shares Poems From His New Collection

8:05am June 12, 2021

NPR host Scott Simon speaks to Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa about his new collection of poems.

Books
Arts

'Mercury Rising' Explores The U.S.'s Treacherous Attempts to Control Space

3:30pm June 09, 2021

by Dave Davies

In Mercury Rising, historian Jeff Shesol recalls the early days of the U.S. space program, when Cold War fears ruled, and no one was sure Glenn would survive America's first orbital flight.

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'Kissing Bug' Tells A Personal Story About Race, Sexuality And A Deadly Insect

2:25pm June 08, 2021

by Terry Gross

When Daisy Hernández was 5, her aunt in Colombia came down with a mysterious illness that caused her large intestine to swell. Hernández details her aunt's story — and her own — in a new memoir.

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Books
Arts

4 Books To Broaden Your Pride Month Reading List

6:34am June 08, 2021

by Noel King

There are a lot of Pride Month reading lists out there — so we thought we'd get away from the classics everyone knows. We asked author Akwaeke Emezi to recommend some of their favorite reads.

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The book jacket for The Great Dissenter by Peter Canellos

Books

The Supreme Court Justice Who Made History By Voting No on Racial Segregation

4:33pm June 07, 2021

by Steve Inskeep

A new book explores the life of Justice John Marshall Harlan, who wrote the dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case that upheld the principle of racial segregation.

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Books

John Paul Brammer, The Advice Columnist Behind 'Hola Papi,' Releases His Memoir

7:53am June 06, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with John Paul Brammer about his new memoir, Hola Papi.