Author Interviews

Books
Arts

A Messy Protagonist In 'Bonfire'

8:06am November 05, 2017

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

In her debut novel Bonfire, Krysten Ritter's protagonist is complicated, much like the women Ritter is known for portraying. She tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about why she thinks that's important.

Books

The World Is A Family Tree In 'It's All Relative'

8:13am November 04, 2017

A.J. Jacobs' latest book explains how basically everyone in the world is related to each other. He talks to NPR's Scott Simon about It's All Relative.

Clifton Fadiman looks over a shipment of wine in 1984. His daughter, Anne Fadiman, says she was never able to appreciate wine the way her father did.

Books
Arts

A 'Wine Lover's Daughter' Savors Her Dad's Vintage Story

8:13am November 04, 2017

by Scott Simon

Anne Fadiman writes about her father's journey from poor Brooklyn Jew to wine connoisseur. She says, "Along with books, wine represented the sort of cultivated, refined life that he had aspired to."

Dan Rather speaks at the Gotham Independent Film Awards in 2015. His new collection of essays is called What Unites Us.

Dan Rather, An Unlikely Essayist, On 'What Unites Us'

5:44pm November 03, 2017

by Ari Shapiro

Equally optimistic and concerned, the longtime television news anchor — now a Facebook phenomenon — has written a book that doesn't hide his love of country.

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From Fire Hydrants To Rescue Work, Dogs Perceive The World Through Smell

2:58pm November 03, 2017

Dogs can sniff out people, drugs, bombs, cancer and much more. In her book Being A Dog, Alexandra Horowitz explores the mysteries and mechanics of canine noses. Originally broadcast Oct. 4, 2016.

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E.J. Bonilla as Lt. Shane Aguero leading the cast of soldiers at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

Books
Arts

Sadr City Attack On U.S. Troops Retold In 'The Long Road Home'

5:51pm November 02, 2017

by Mary Louise Kelly

Martha Raddatz' 2007 book chronicling the ambush has been turned into an 8-part National Geographic series. "I think it's been healing for a lot of the guys. It's been healing for me, too," she says.

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Cage-free chickens stand in a fenced pasture near Waukon, Iowa.

'Big Chicken' Connects Poultry Farming To Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

2:40pm November 02, 2017

by Terry Gross

In her new book, health journalist Maryn McKenna explores how many of the chickens consumed in the U.S. have been fed antibiotics, which can lead to serious infections in humans.

Lindy West's writing has appeared in The Stranger, Jezebel and The Guardian.

Columnist Lindy West Sees 'Straight Line' From Trolls Who Targeted Her To Trump

4:30pm November 01, 2017

by Terry Gross

The New York Times columnist knows what it's like to encounter a barrage of hate from Internet trolls. She says she heard many of their messages repeated by Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

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A portrait of Patience Gray taken in 1959 by a colleague at the Observer. A British food writer, Gray advocated slow food and foraging long before the rest of the food world. Her work had outsized influence on chefs from Alice Waters on. A new biography t

Books
Arts

'Fasting And Feasting': The Remarkable Life of Patience Gray

11:55am October 31, 2017

by Nancy Matsumoto

A British food writer, Gray advocated slow food and foraging long before the rest of the food world. Her work had outsized influence on chefs from Alice Waters on. A new biography tells her story.

Books
Arts

John Hodgman Reflects On His Mother's Death And White Privilege

3:12pm October 30, 2017

by Terry Gross

Hodgman says, "The biggest privilege of white privilege is the ability to turn off race and pretend that it is not an issue." His new book is called Vacationland.

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