Author Interviews

Artist Kadir Nelson illustrates Kwame Alexander's poem "The Undefeated" in a new picture book.

Books
Arts

This Is For 'The Undefeated': A New Picture Book Celebrates Black Brilliance

7:36pm April 02, 2019

by Ari Shapiro

Kadir Nelson was inspired by Kwame Alexander's poem. It "spoke to excellence, and perseverance, and triumph amidst adversity," Nelson says. "It was an ode to the sung and unsung heroes in history."

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Books

Obama Friend And Adviser Valerie Jarrett On Her Life Journey

6:16pm April 02, 2019

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarrett about her early life and her work in the White House.

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Books

U.S. Diplomat Recounts Time In Russia In 'The Back Channel'

8:13am April 02, 2019

Steve Inskeep talks to former ambassador William Burns about diplomacy in the Trump era. Burns is the author of: The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal.

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'Chief' Explores The Motivations And Impact Of SCOTUS Justice John Roberts

1:26pm April 01, 2019

by Dave Davies

CNN legal affairs correspondent Joan Biskupic discusses the roots of Roberts' conservatism and his work for the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. Her new book is The Chief.

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Arthur Brooks, seen speaking at Georgetown University in 2015, has a new book called Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt.

Books
Arts

'Love Your Enemies' ... And Maaaybe You'll Get Them To Agree With You

12:49pm April 01, 2019

by Steve Inskeep

Arthur Brooks says that even if you're sure someone's lying, calling that person a liar won't help your case. His book describes "how decent people can save America from the culture of contempt."

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Former secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano prepares to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013. She has written a new book called How Safe Are We?

Former Homeland Security Head Napolitano Says Cybersecurity Should Be A Top Priority

11:13am April 01, 2019

by Korva Coleman

In an interview about her book, How Safe Are We?, Janet Napolitano says "a wall is a symbol, it's not a strategy" and that there's no evidence Russia has stopped interfering with our election systems.

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Books
Arts

'Women Talking' Gives A Human Voice To Horror

9:18am March 31, 2019

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Miriam Toews' new novel is based on an awful true story: The drugging and rape of women in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia. Toews says she wanted to show the women as real humans, not isolated cultists.

A part of Band-e-Amir, Afghanistan's first national park, in Bamiyan province.

A Key To Peace In Afghanistan? Consider Conservation, Says One Scientist

7:59am March 31, 2019

by Ashley Westerman

Alex Dehgan, a former State Department official who ran the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan program, argues science diplomacy can play a key role in rebuilding the country.

Sky Without Stars, by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell

Books
Arts

'Sky Without Stars': Vive La Revolution ... In Space!

7:06am March 31, 2019

by Caitlyn Paxson

Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell's new novel recasts Les Miserables on a distant — yet French-inflected — planet where a powerful Regime keeps the populace split and oppressed.

Books

Nora McInerny On 'No Happy Endings'

7:55am March 30, 2019

Nora McInerny is the author of It's Okay to Laugh and host of the popular podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking. NPR's Scott Simon talks with McInerny about her new memoir, No Happy Endings.