Author Interviews

Books

How A Humble Bookseller Helped Give Rise To The Renaissance

12:43am April 15, 2021

Mary Louise Kelly talks with author Ross King about his new book The Bookseller of Florence, inspired by the history of the "Street of Booksellers" found in Florence, Italy.

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Tufts University became the first major university to strip the Sackler name from its buildings in 2019.

Journalist Investigates 'Crime Story' Of The Sackler Family And The Opioid Crisis

5:23pm April 14, 2021

by Terry Gross

Empire of Pain author Patrick Radden Keefe says the Sackler family has "thrown a lot of energy" into trying to thwart his reporting about the family's involvement in the opioid crisis.

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Books

'Empire Of Pain: The Secret History Of The Sackler Dynasty' Profiles Pharma Family

5:18pm April 13, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Patrick Radden Keefe about his book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. The book profiles the family that founded oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma.

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. On 'The Black Church' And His Own Bargain With Jesus

1:44pm April 13, 2021

by Terry Gross

When he was 12, Gates made a bargain with Jesus in an attempt to save his mother's life. He talks about how that altered his own life, and his new book and PBS series, The Black Church.

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John Boehner, pictured in 2016, was speaker of the House during the Obama presidency. He says he sometimes went along with things he personally opposed because it was what members of his party wanted.

John Boehner On The 'Noisemakers' Of The Republican Party

9:44am April 12, 2021

Boehner was the Republican speaker of the House during much of the Obama presidency. His new memoir recounts his time leading House Republicans — even if that meant doing things he personally opposed.

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Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz includes a child's account of crossing the Rio Grande. (Excerpted from Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz. Foreword by Michael Garcia Bochenek; Compiled by Warren Binford; Workman Publishing. Copyright 2021.)

A Picture Book About Children At The Border Aims To Spark Family Conversations

7:00am April 12, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

The new children's book Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz pulls from the author's interviews with migrant children detained in U.S. facilities in 2019.

Arts

#NPRPoetry: Mark Doty

4:57pm April 11, 2021

Poet Mark Doty, winner of the 2008 National Book Award for poetry, discusses his favorite listener-submitted poems with NPR's Michel Martin.

Books

Gold Diggers' Is A Magical Look At What It Means To Be Indian-American

8:00am April 11, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with author Sanjena Sathian about her new book, Gold Diggers, that explores Indian-American identity in a fictional suburb of Atlanta.

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Books

Kirstin Valdez Quade's Debut Novel 'The Five Wounds' Is A Highly Anticipated Release

11:20am April 10, 2021

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Kirstin Valdez Quade about her new book, The Five Wounds.

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Books

Hunter Biden Opens Up About Drug Addiction, Being A Biden In New Memoir

7:55am April 10, 2021

In part two of his conversation with Hunter Biden, NPR's Scott Simon asks about his unlikley friendship with a woman who provided him drugs during the depths of his addiction to crack.