Author Interviews

Books

How The Culture Of Black Pain Can Both Hurt And Help Black Americans

4:29pm April 23, 2021

NPR's Mary Louse Kelly talks with African Americans and the Culture of Pain author Debra Walker King about how Black pain can be a double-edged sword, used to both benefit and hurt Black Americans.

Nora McInerny: How Can We Face Life's Rough Edges?

8:59am April 23, 2021

When experiencing grief or hardship, how can we move forward? This hour, writer Nora McInerny shares ideas on navigating the most difficult parts of life... and living life fully in the face of loss.

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Books

In 'Crying In H Mart' Michelle Zauner Grapples With Food, Grief And Identity

4:26pm April 22, 2021

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Michelle Zauner, a musician who performs under the name Japanese Breakfast, about her memoir, Crying in H Mart. It's an exploration of grief, food and identity.

Books
Arts

Nigella Lawson On How To Find Peace While Cooking

4:43pm April 21, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with cookbook writer Nigella Lawson about her latest book Cook, Eat, Repeat and how to stop viewing cooking as tedious and, instead, find peace in the kitchen.

A portrait of Roya Mahboob, by former President George W. Bush

George W. Bush Lends His Voice To Immigrants In 'Out Of Many, One'

1:18pm April 21, 2021

by Rachel Martin

The former president's book features his portraits of 43 immigrants — athletes, public servants, business leaders, educators — in an effort to join those saying, "The system's broken. Let's fix it."

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Lauren Hough struggled to adjust after escaping a doomsday cult. "There's an aspect of trauma that's hard to explain," she says. "It's exhausting to be scared all of the time. That anxiety just starts to weigh on you."

Books
Arts

After Growing Up In A Cult, Lauren Hough Freed Herself By Writing The Truth

1:57pm April 20, 2021

by Terry Gross

Hough was 15 when her family left the Children of God cult. Afterward, she struggled to face the trauma of her past. Her new collection of personal essays is Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing.

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Books
Arts

'Open Water' Explores Blackness and the Vulnerability of Falling In Love

4:14pm April 19, 2021

Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water is built on a familiar premise: two young people meet and fall in love. Nelson's debut novel is brimming with references to Black art, music, poetry and photography.

Books
Arts

Author's Advice To Millennials: Manage Your Money And Stop Pleasing Others

1:37pm April 19, 2021

by Dave Davies

Julie Lythcott-Haims's new book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, is a handbook on adulthood. Her 2017 memoir, Real American, is the story of her coming to terms with her biracial identity.

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Books

Journalist Rose Eveleth Imagines Future Worlds In New Book

5:05am April 19, 2021

Noel King speaks with Rose Eveleth about her illustrated book: Flash Forward.

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Books

Lauren Hough On Growing Up In A Cult, New Memoir

7:58am April 18, 2021

Lauren Hough tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about her memoir Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing. Hough spent part of her childhood in a cult, which affected her later life.