Author Interviews

Books

'Why We Act': What Makes People Decide To Speak Up Or Stay Silent

4:35pm October 21, 2020

NPR's Tonya Mosley talks with Catherine Sanderson, author of the book Why We Act: Turning Bystanders Into Moral Rebels, about how willingness to stand up to wrongdoing affects political decisions.

Books
Arts

Novelist Sigrid Nunez On Climate Change, Mortality And Life In A Pandemic

1:39pm October 21, 2020

by Terry Gross

Nunez's latest novel, What Are You Going Through, is about facing the possible death of our planet from climate change — while also dealing with our mortality as individuals.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

John Brown And Abraham Lincoln: Divergent Paths In The Fight To End Slavery

1:43pm October 19, 2020

by Dave Davies

In The Zealot and the Emancipator, historian H.W. Brands reflects on two 19th century leaders who fought the institution of slavery in different ways: one radical and the other reformist.

Queue Listen Now

Books

Author Sarah Smarsh Discusses Her New Book On 'The Great Unifier:' Dolly Parton

7:54am October 18, 2020

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Sarah Smarsh about her new book on an enduring country star, Dolly Parton, titled She Come By it Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'I Longed To See Something Different, So I Wrote It': Questions For Rebecca Roanhorse

1:22pm October 17, 2020

by Petra Mayer

Roanhorse's new novel Black Sun is set in a world influenced by the Pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica — plus, there's crow magic, jewel-eyed sea women, and an epic road trip.

Books

Ann Patchet, Robin Preiss Glasser Collaborate In Children's Book About A Wiley Goat

7:48am October 17, 2020

NPR's Scott Simon talks with novelist Ann Patchett and illustrator Robin Preiss > Glasser about their new children's book, Escape Goat

Books

'Black Sun' Offers A Fantasy Set In Ancient Pre-Columbian Americas

4:59pm October 16, 2020

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with writer Rebecca Roanhorse about her new book, Black Sun, which takes inspiration from ancient pre-Columbian Indigenous civilizations.

the cover of James Forman Jr.'s "Locking Up Our Own"

Books

The Complicated Role Of Black Leaders In Shaping The Criminal Justice System

3:00pm October 16, 2020

by Gene Demby

In Locking Up Our Own, James Forman Jr. explains the role that Black leaders, from prosecutors to legislators, have played in mass incarceration—and why it's more complicated than meets the eye.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks on March 2 during a press conference to discuss the first positive case of coronavirus in New York state.

Books

In 'American Crisis,' New York Gov. Cuomo Gives Halftime Review Of Pandemic Response

6:27pm October 14, 2020

by Audie Cornish

In his new book American Crisis, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo describes how his state battled coronavirus after it became an epicenter — and what he'll do differently going forward.

Queue Listen Now

A volunteer loads food into a cart at a mobile pantry in Detroit in April 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an uptick in the demand at food banks.

'This Is An Opportunity': Fareed Zakaria On 'Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World'

12:49pm October 13, 2020

by Dave Davies

The CNN host and author says COVID-19 has widened the inequality gap. "The most important piece of what the federal government can do is to stabilize these people's lives with direct aid," he says.