Author Interviews

How E.J. Koh drew on her own family members' experiences to write 'The Liberators'

6:09pm January 10, 2024

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with author E.J. Koh about her novel, The Liberators. In just over 200 pages, the story covers generations, wars and geopolitical upheaval.

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Annie Liontas is a professor of writing at George Washington University. Their previous book is Let Me Explain You.

'Sex With a Brain Injury' reveals how concussions can test relationships

1:44pm January 09, 2024

by Terry Gross

Annie Liontas experienced three brain injuries in the span of one year, which led to dizziness, memory fog and anger — and impacted Liontas' marriage and sex life.

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Meet trailblazing foreign correspondent Maggie Higgins in the book 'Fierce Ambition'

5:13pm January 07, 2024

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks to author Jennet Conant about her new book Fierce Ambition, a biography about Pulitzer prize winning war correspondent Maggie Higgins.

Books

Alvaro Enrigue's novel imagines the clash of two great empires in the 16th century

8:26am January 06, 2024

by Scott Simon

The Spanish and the Aztecs don't know what to make of each other in Alvaro Enrigue's new novel, "You Dreamed of Empires." He talks with NPR's Scott Simon about getting into a 16th-century mindframe.

Books
Arts

Restaurateur Rose Previte shares recipes she learned from women around the world

1:38pm January 03, 2024

by Tonya Mosley

Previte's restaurants serve food inspired by her extensive travels and the home-cooked Lebanese dishes of her childhood. Her new cookbook is Maydān: Recipes from Lebanon and Beyond.

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Books

New mafia book stands out because of the background of its author, an ex-mobster

5:06am January 02, 2024

NPR's A Martinez talks to Louis Ferrante about the first volume of his Borgata trilogy on the history of the American Mafia. Ferrante is a former high-ranking member of the Gambino crime family.

Barbra Streisand shares her secret for keeping performances honest

12:00pm January 01, 2024

by Terry Gross

When she was starring in Funny Girl on Broadway, Streisand says she'd alter the music slightly each night. Her new memoir is My Name is Barbra. Originally broadcast Nov. 8, 2023.

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Books

In 'The Storm We Made', the horrors of war are the main character

7:53am December 31, 2023

by Rob Schmitz

NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks to author Vanessa Chan about her new novel "The Storm We Made," about a Malayan mother who becomes a spy for Japanese invaders.

Clockwise from left: Brad Mehldau, Maryam Keshavarz, Samantha Irby, Lauren Fleshman, Ke Huy Quan and Christian Cooper.

'Fresh Air' staffers pick the 2023 interviews you shouldn't miss

9:18am December 29, 2023

Interviews with actor Ke Huy Quan, pianist Jason Moran, humorist Samantha Irby, and media critic Brian Stelter are among the conversations that stuck with the staff of Fresh Air this year.

'Music was there for me when I needed it,' The Roots co-founder Tariq Trotter says

1:37pm December 28, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

Trotter, aka Black Thought, reflects on his childhood in Philly, his decades-long friendship with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. Trotter's memoir is The Upcycled Self. Originally broadcast Nov. 7, 2023.

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