Author Interviews

William McRaven's Memior: 'Sea Stories: My Life In Special Operations'

6:22am June 25, 2019

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to retired Admiral William McRaven, who may be best known as the Navy SEAL commander who oversaw the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, about his new memoir.

Queue Listen Now

Amber Scorah writes about exiting the Jehovah's Witnesses in Leaving the Witness.

'I Couldn't Continue On': A Former Jehovah's Witness On Leaving The Faith

7:17pm June 24, 2019

by Terry Gross

"I felt like everything that had mattered to me was gone," Amber Scorah says of her decision to leave the Jehovah's Witness community she grew up in. Her new memoir is Leaving the Witness.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Bad Things Happen Out Of The Blue In Sadie Jones' 'The Snakes'

8:17am June 23, 2019

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

The author says writing this novel was like writing an "anti-murder mystery." Murder mysteries are nice and tidy, she says, but this disturbing morality tale is about unforeseeable tragedy.

Bill Cosby is taken away in handcuffs after he was sentenced for felony sexual assault on Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown, Penn.

Books

'Chasing Cosby' Author Says Covering The Cosby Case Was A Journey Of Disillusionment

8:11pm June 22, 2019

by Michel Martin

Nicole Weisensee Egan has followed the sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby since 2005. At first a skeptic herself, Egan discusses how "America's Dad" managed to escape justice for decades.

Queue Listen Now

Books

Chanelle Benz On 'The Gone Dead'

8:22am June 22, 2019

Chanelle Benz's new novel is a story that swells with Mississippi swelter, blood oaths, old grudges, conspiracy theories and everlasting mysteries. Scott Simon talks with her about the book.

Evvie Drake Starts Over, by Linda Holmes

Books
Arts

2 Fractured Halves Make A Whole In 'Evvie Drake'

8:22am June 22, 2019

by Scott Simon

The debut novel from NPR's own Linda Holmes follows a suddenly widowed (and not all that grief-stricken) woman and her new lodger — a former major league ballplayer who's lost his ability to pitch.

Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg

Books
Arts

'Damaged' Tales Of Love, In Fiction From 'BoJack' Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg

6:37pm June 21, 2019

by Ari Shapiro

The writer, better known for his dark animated comedy about a has-been horse, has written a collection of surreal short stories called Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory.

Queue Listen Now

Nora McInerny: What Does Moving Forward Look Like After Loss?

8:59am June 21, 2019

by NPR/TED Staff

In 2014, Nora McInerny experienced a wave of loss that reshaped her whole life. Despite the painful memories from that year, she explains why she doesn't want to "move on" from her grief.

Queue Listen Now

Robert Menasse Looks At The People Who Make the European Union Run In 'The Capital'

4:39pm June 19, 2019

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Austrian novelist Robert Menasse about his new book, an absurdist comic tragedy called The Capital, for which he embedded with European Union civil servants in Brussels.

Books
Arts

Uncovering The Story Of Cyclist Major Taylor, America's 1st Black Sports Star

2:34pm June 18, 2019

by Dave Davies

At the height of America's Jim Crow era, Taylor broke barriers by becoming the country's fastest and most famous cyclist. Michael Kranish tells his story in the new book, The World's Fastest Man.

Queue Listen Now