Author Interviews

American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead sits for an interview in 1952.

Books
Arts

How Margaret Mead's research into utopias helped usher in the psychedelic era

2:28pm January 16, 2024

by Terry Gross

In Tripping on Utopia, historian Benjamin Breen writes about Mead's early research into psychedelic substances — and how it led to secret CIA experiments using psychedelics for interrogation.

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The 15-year-old granddaughter of MLK Jr. wants to start a revolution around service

5:18pm January 15, 2024

NPR's Andrew Limbong speaks with Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, about her new children's book, We Dream A World.

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Muhammad Zaman, author of the book We Wait for a Miracle, in his lab at Boston University.

Q&A: Author Muhammad Zaman on why health care is an impossible dream for 'unpersons'

10:12am January 15, 2024

In his new book, We Wait for a Miracle, Zaman tells how about the struggle for health care by forcibly displaced people — refugees, the internally displaced, the stateless.

Books

Michele Norris shows how brevity conveys powerful truths about Americans' identities

5:10am January 15, 2024

The Race Card Project invited people to tell stories about race in six words. Many are in Michele Norris' book: Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity.

Environment

'Not the End of the World' author on tackling climate change

5:36pm January 14, 2024

NPR's Andrew Limbong interviews Hannah Ritchie, author of the book, Not the End of the World, about how we can address climate change and create a sustainable world.

Books

Jenny Kiefer on her new horror novel 'This Wretched Valley'

9:25am January 14, 2024

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to author Jenny Kiefer about her new horror novel, "This Wretched Valley."

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Books

Director Jeymes Samuel on 'Book of Clarence', a Biblical Epic through a Black lens

8:17am January 14, 2024

by Ayesha Rascoe

A hustler presents himself as a messiah in director Jeymes Samuel's new movie, "The Book of Clarence." He talks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about making a Biblical epic with a Black point of view.

Struggling to have fun in your life? You're not alone

5:33pm January 13, 2024

NPR's Andrew Limbong speaks with Catherine Price, author of The Power of Fun, about why it can be so difficult for adults to have fun and how people can find ways to incorporate fun into their life.

Bábo, written by Astrid Kamalyan and illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan

Books
Arts

Mop-mop-swoosh-plop it's rug-washing day in 'Bábo'

10:05am January 13, 2024

by Samantha Balaban

Little Tato sneaks a few cherry plums before grabbing a mop and a hose to help Bábo — her grandmother — with a favorite chore.

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Matt Hay gradually went deaf. But music helped him partially hear again

6:01pm January 12, 2024

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to author Matt Hay, who has struggled with his hearing since he was a kid, about his new book Soundtrack of Silence.

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