Author Interviews

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy sings the national anthem during a visit to the city of Izium, in the Kharkiv, Sept. 14, 2022.

How war changed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

1:34pm January 24, 2024

by Dave Davies

Time correspondent Simon Shuster says Zelenskyy is "almost unrecognizable" from the happy-go-lucky, optimistic comedian he first met in 2019. Shuster's new book is The Showman.

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A book cover image of Crystal Hefner's face with her mouth covered by a sticker reading "Only Say Good Things."

Books

In 'Only Say Good Things,' Crystal Hefner describes her life at the Playboy Mansion

7:15am January 24, 2024

by Michel Martin

Crystal Harris was 21 when she met Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner, who was 60 years her senior. They eventually married, and she lived in the Playboy Mansion until he died in 2017 at age 91.

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'The Bullet Swallower' sees the Texas-Mexico border through a magical realism lens

4:26pm January 23, 2024

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with author Elizabeth Gonzalez James about her new book The Bullet Swallower, and how it transports readers back to the old west along the Texas-Mexico border.

This kids book chronicles a packet of ramen's longing to be Italian spaghetti instead

5:57pm January 22, 2024

by Lauren Migaki

NPR speaks with the author of the children's book I Want to Be Spaghetti!, Kiera Wright-Ruiz about the melting pot of noodles.

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Dr. Uché Blackstock is the author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism In Medicine.

Following in her mom's footsteps, a doctor fights to make medicine more inclusive

3:14pm January 22, 2024

by Tonya Mosley

Dr. Uché Blackstock says that the 2023 SCOTUS ruling against affirmative action will have a long-term, negative impact on both Black doctors and patients. Her book is Legacy.

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Books

'Forgottenness' explores upheavals in Ukraine and what it means to be Ukrainian

5:14am January 22, 2024

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Ukrainian author Tanja Maljartschuk about her book Forgottnness, first published in Ukrainian in 2016, now coming out in English.

Books

Kaveh Akbar on his debut novel 'Martyr!'

8:15am January 20, 2024

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to writer Kaveh Akbar about his debut novel, "Martyr!", his debut novel.

Books

Sarah-Jane Collins on her debut novel 'Radiant Heat'

8:08am January 20, 2024

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks with Sarah-Jane Collins about her debut novel, "Radiant Heat," a crime story inspired by devastating bushfires in her native Australia.

Books

In 'The Fury' Alex Michaelides wants to turn the murder mystery genre on its head

5:28pm January 18, 2024

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to author Alex Michaelides about his new murder mystery, The Fury.

"The act of choosing a piece of culture to consume is a really powerful one," says writer Kyle Chayka. He's the author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture.

Books
Arts

How social media algorithms 'flatten' our culture by making decisions for us

7:31pm January 17, 2024

by Tonya Mosley

Filterworld author Kyle Chayka examines the algorithms that dictate what we watch, read and listen to. He argues that machine-guided curation makes us docile consumers.

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