Author Interviews

detail from the cover of Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini Says A Succinct 'Sea Prayer' For A Refugee's Journey

7:19am September 19, 2018

by Rachel Martin

The novelist known for his epic works about Afghanistan turns his attention to the human impact of the Syrian refugee crisis in a slim, poetic, illustrated book.

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When she was 13, Linda Kay Klein joined an evangelical church that valued sexual purity. She recounts her experiences in the memoir Pure.

Memoirist: Evangelical Purity Movement Sees Women's Bodies As A 'Threat'

6:52pm September 18, 2018

by Terry Gross

In Pure, Linda Kay Klein reflects on the "deep, long-lasting shame" caused by churches that claim women and girls are responsible for the sexual desires of men.

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Field sits on a surfboard in a promotional portrait for the 1965 television series Gidget. "I represented the 'girl next door,' the 'all-American girl,' " she says.

Books
Arts

Sally Field Wasn't Sure She'd Have The Guts To Publish Her New Memoir

4:20pm September 17, 2018

by Ari Shapiro

"I wrote it for myself," Field says of her intensely personal accounting of her life and career. In Pieces describes childhood abuse, an abortion at 17 and her relationship with Burt Reynolds.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Examines The 'Unspoken Alliance' Between Science And War

1:35pm September 17, 2018

by Dave Davies

In his new book, Accessory to War, the astrophysicist argues that people who work in his field are often complicit to military development — despite being overwhelmingly liberal and anti-war.

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Whiskey in a Teacup by Reese Witherspoon

Books
Arts

With Wallpaper, 'Whiskey' And Women, Reese Witherspoon Celebrates The South

5:01am September 17, 2018

by Rachel Martin

The actress' book title, Whiskey in a Teacup, comes from a phrase her grandmother used to describe Southern women: Like whiskey in a teacup, they're beautiful on the outside and fierce on the inside.

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Books

Memoir: 'Not For The Faint Of Heart'

5:21pm September 16, 2018

Wendy Sherman tells NPR's Michel Martin about her unlikely rise from social worker to high-stakes negotiator with North Korea and Iran, a story laid out in her memoir, Not for the Faint of Heart.

detail of the cover of Heartland by Sarah Smarsh

She Thought Her Family Was Middle Class, Not Broke In The Richest Country On Earth

2:57pm September 16, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

In Heartland, author Sarah Smarsh explores what working class looks like in the United States while reflecting upon her own life experiences growing up in the Midwest.

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Jose Antonio Vargas, pictured at a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016, has written a memoir of his life as an undocumented immigrant in Dear America.

'Dear America,' Writes A Pulitzer-Winning Journalist — And Undocumented Immigrant

5:37pm September 15, 2018

by Scott Simon

Jose Antonio Vargas' new book is a memoir about living in the U.S. as an "undocumented citizen" — a secret he himself didn't discover until he was 16.

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Books

A True Story Of Kidnap And Rape In 'The Real Lolita'

8:26am September 15, 2018

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author Sarah Weinman about her new book The Real Lolita. It tells the story of the true events that inspired Vladimir Nabokov's classic novel.

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

1:41pm September 14, 2018

by Terry Gross

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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