Author Interviews

Chrissy Metz plays Kate on the NBC's This Is Us.

Books
Arts

'This Is Us' Star Chrissy Metz Retraces Her Journey From Agent To Actress

9:10am April 10, 2018

Metz worked as an agent for years before her acting career finally took off. She says, "It was like watching your boyfriend take another woman out every day."

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detail to cover of Varina by Charles Frazier

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Arts

In 'Varina,' A Confederate Contemplates Her Complicity

5:05am April 10, 2018

by Steve Inskeep

Charles Frazier was done writing about the Civil War after his award-winning novel Cold Mountain. Then he discovered the true story of the first lady of the Confederacy.

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Books
Arts

How Rodgers And Hammerstein Revolutionized Broadway

1:48pm April 09, 2018

by Terry Gross

Todd Purdum's new book, Something Wonderful, is about the creative partnership and strained personal relationship behind such hit shows as Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and The Sound of Music.

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Books stacked in a library. The Romance Writers Association issued a statement earlier this week criticizing their own history of excluding black authors from RITA prizes.

Books

The Billion-Dollar Romance Fiction Industry Has A Diversity Problem

12:11pm April 08, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

No black author has ever won its top prize. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks about the issue with Alisha Rai, author of the Forbidden Hearts series.

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Arts

'No One Meant To Be In My Office': A Divorce Lawyer's Tips On Staying Together

7:15am April 08, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

James Sexton has seen the demise of more than a thousand marriages — which inspired him to write a new book on how to keep it together. His advice? Keep communicating, and be painfully honest.

detail from the cover of Jo Nesbo's Macbeth

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Arts

'This Guy Had Really Done A Great Job Before I Started': Jo Nesbo's 'Macbeth'

8:11am April 07, 2018

by Scott Detrow

The Norwegian crime novelist says he tries to avoid other people's ideas. Then he was offered the chance to adapt one of Shakespeare's masterpieces.

Books
Arts

Meg Wolitzer's 'Female Persuasion' Honors The Women Who Helped Her On Her Way

4:48pm April 06, 2018

by Mary Louise Kelly

Wolitzer's new novel tells the story of two women: an 18-year-old college freshman and the famous feminist who befriends and inspires her.

Piskor says there's a pop-art, retro feel to his work " that just doesn't exist in any Marvel or DC comics right now."

Books
Arts

From B-Boys To X-Men: Alt-Comics' Ed Piskor Goes Mainstream

7:00am April 05, 2018

by Etelka Lehoczky

Cartoonist Ed Piskor is best known for his award-winning Hip Hop Family Tree series, and for working with alt-comics legend Harvey Pekar. So how did he get Marvel to give him a shot at the X-Men?

Martin Luther King Jr. stands with fellow civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., on April 3, 1968 — one day before he was assassinated while standing in approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Je

An 'Exhausted' Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final 31 Hours

7:06pm April 04, 2018

A bomb threat, a march turned violent and a militant black power group all weighed heavily on the civil rights leader during his last speech in 1968, says Redemption author Joseph Rosenbloom.

Books
Arts

'Two Sisters' Follows Norwegian Teenagers Who Left Home To Join ISIS FIghters In Syria

4:21pm April 03, 2018

by Ari Shapiro

When ISIS started expanding its hold on Iraq and Syria, tens of thousands of foreign fighters went to join the caliphate. In Norway, two teenage girls decided to leave their family for Syria. Their story is the subject of a new book by Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad called, Two Sisters.