Author Interviews

Jennifer Finney Boylan has written extensively about being a trans woman, including in the memoir, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders. She co-chaired the board of directors of the LGBTQ rights group GLAAD from 2013 until 2017.

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Arts

'I'm Living In The World With No Secrets,' Says Trans Activist Jennifer Finney Boylan

5:09pm April 21, 2020

by Terry Gross

Boylan came out as trans when she was in her 40s. She describes her new book, Good Boy, as a "memoir of masculinity, kind of told the way an expatriate might speak of the country of their birth."

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Betsey Johnson attends the Women's Guild Cedars-Sinai annual luncheon at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel on November 6, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

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Betsey Johnson Talks Fashion, Love And Motherhood In Self-Titled Memoir

6:06pm April 19, 2020

by Michel Martin

The designer who has been pushing fashion boundaries for decades reveals more about the woman behind the brand — the whimsy and fun, but also difficult times, from relationships to health challenges.

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Arts

#NPRPoetry: Danez Smith

5:11pm April 19, 2020

Poet Danez Smith, author of the new collection "Homie", shares their favorite listener-submitted Twitter poems with NPR's Michel Martin.

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An activist holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019.

Expert Warns Of 'Real Festival Of Partisan Gerrymandering' In 2021

12:16pm April 19, 2020

by Miles Parks

David Daley, who wrote a book on Republican redistricting efforts earlier this decade, worries that the next round of map-making could be just as bad.

From Department of Mind-Blowing Theories by Tom Gauld.

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Scientists Are Human, Too: Questions For Cartoonist Tom Gauld

10:00am April 19, 2020

by Petra Mayer

Literary pun purveyor Tom Gauld turns his pen to the foibles of science (and science fiction) in his new comic collection Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, inspired by his scientist grandfather.

The whole family came along to drop Kent Garrett off at college in fall 1959. He's pictured above in Harvard Yard with his sister, aunt and mother.

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'We Were Curiosities': One Of 'The Last Negroes At Harvard' Shares His Story

4:55pm April 18, 2020

by Jon Kalish

In 1959, Kent Garrett was one of 18 black students accepted into a freshman class of more than 1,000. It was an early form of affirmative action, and he chronicles his time on campus in a new book.

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Arts

Getting To Know Estranged Parents — Finally — In 'Missed Translations'

8:01am April 18, 2020

by Scott Simon

Sopan Deb's parents had an arranged marriage, but they were "a bad match from the start," leading to years of unhappiness and estrangement. He writes about it in a new memoir, Missed Translations.

Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life, by Lulu Miller

Learning Lessons From Inspiration, Despite Complexity, In 'Why Fish Don't Exist'

7:50pm April 17, 2020

by Ari Shapiro

Former NPR journalist Lulu Miller was inspired by a scientist who started again when his life's work was destroyed. Now, she writes about what she can take from his story, even when it's not all good.

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'In Deep' Challenges President Trump's Notion Of A Deep-State Conspiracy

2:04pm April 15, 2020

by Terry Gross

Author David Rohde refutes Trump's claims about a "deep state" — and argues that the president is the one creating a parallel shadow government filled with like-minded loyalists.

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A woman on a private plane holds champagne.

From Private Helicopters To Concierge Doctors, Inequality Is A 'Big Business'

2:03pm April 13, 2020

by Dave Davies

Nelson Schwartz, author of The Velvet Rope Economy, says special privileges for the super-rich are dividing America: "The result is less sympathy, less empathy and a sort of a harder-edge society."

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