Author Interviews

Author Pulls Back The Iron Curtain On The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

2:04pm July 02, 2019

by Dave Davies

Midnight In Chernobyl author Adam Higginbotham spent years investigating the 1986 explosion and its aftermath. He says design flaws, human hubris and Soviet secrecy all contributed to the disaster.

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Author Mo Willems supervises a rehearsal of the musical adaptation of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. As the very first Education Artist-in-Residence, "I can say at this point that I am the greatest ... " he l

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Arts

Kids' Author Mo Willems Has A New Creative Challenge (And So Should You)

5:32am July 02, 2019

by Rachel Martin

The creator of the Pigeon series, Knuffle Bunny, and Elephant & Piggie is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Kennedy Center. He says if you want kids to draw, you should let them see you drawing.

Books

'Reviving Ophelia' Turns 25

5:31pm June 30, 2019

The 1994 book Revivng Ophelia spotlighted the mental health of teenage girls. Years later, author Mary Pipher and her daughter Sara Pipher Gilliam have updated the book for the modern era.

The list of names for the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season are seen on a map at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

Books
Arts

How The Advance Weather Forecast Got Good

8:19am June 30, 2019

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Under the radar (so to speak), predictions have improved dramatically of late. In The Weather Machine, Andrew Blum writes that it's due to an international (and imperiled) alliance of supercomputers.

Books
Arts

'Three Women' Puts Female Desire At The Forefront

10:28am June 29, 2019

by Sarah McCammon

For her new book, Lisa Taddeo spent nearly a decade immersed in the sex lives of three women. She says desire is one of the things we think about the most, and it's time to talk about women's desires.

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For Novelist John Green, OCD Is Like An 'Invasive Weed' Inside His Mind

1:27pm June 28, 2019

The Turtles All The Way Down author says OCD "starts out with one little thought, and then slowly that becomes the only thought that you're able to have." Originally broadcast Oct. 19, 2017.

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From BTTM FDRS, by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore

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Arts

Of Tenants And Tentacles: 'BTTM FDRS' Confronts Gentrification In Comic Horror Form

7:00am June 27, 2019

by Etelka Lehoczky

Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore's new graphic novel is a comic-horror take on the very real problem of gentrification that follows two young artists moving to a struggling Chicago neighborhood.

Marchers at a candlelight vigil in San Francisco, Calif., carry a banner to call attention to the continuing battle against AIDS on May 29, 1989. The city was home to the nation's first AIDS special care unit. The unit, which opened in 1983, is the subjec

1st AIDS Ward '5B' Fought To Give Patients Compassionate Care, Dignified Deaths

2:48pm June 26, 2019

by Terry Gross

A new documentary tells the story of America's first inpatient unit dedicated to the care of people with AIDS. Nurse Cliff Morrison helped create 5B in 1983, and worked on it with Dr. Paul Volberding.

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Emily Nussbaum is the TV critic for The New Yorker.

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Arts

From 'Buffy' Superfan To Pulitzer Prize, A Critic Celebrates TV On Her Own Terms

5:12pm June 25, 2019

by Audie Cornish

Emily Nussbaum's new book, I Like To Watch, is a collection of essays that span her career and the age of prestige TV. She wants to "explode and expand" the types of shows we take seriously, she says.

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer holds up the U.S. Constitution at a talk in 2016.

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Arts

'A Lot Of Gray Area': A Legal Expert Explains 'How To Read The Constitution'

8:42am June 25, 2019

by Rachel Martin

Inspired by the challenges to the current presidential administration, law professor Kim Wehle has written a guide to the founding document — and its susceptibility to interpretation.

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