Author Interviews

How the war in Ukraine impacted David McCloskey's Russia spy thriller

9:43pm October 05, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with David McCloskey, whose new spy versus spy novel Moscow X is about a CIA officer scheming to recruit a Russian intelligence officer — and vice versa.

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The story of the drug-running DEA snitch behind the web databases tracking our lives

4:42pm October 05, 2023

Author McKenzie Funk's new book, The Hank Show: How a House-Painting, Drug-Running DEA Informant Built the Machine that Rules Our Lives, about the man behind the databases of personal information.

Books

Sarah Cooper, who became famous during the pandemic, has a new memoir

5:11am October 05, 2023

After viral videos made her famous, comedian and writer Sarah Cooper says she's embracing being foolish — which is also the title of her memoir. She talks to NPR's Leila Fadel about her book Foolish.

The cover of Starling House by Alix E. Harrow.

Books
Arts

For Alix E. Harrow, writing 'Starling House' meant telling a new story of Kentucky

3:51pm October 04, 2023

by Kalyani Saxena

Alix E. Harrow's Starling House depicts a dying, fictional coal town's horrors and dark past. Harrow joins a long tradition of authors writing Gothic fiction as a way to process the ills of society.

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Safiya Sinclair is an associate professor at Arizona State University.

Books
Arts

Poet Safiya Sinclair reflects on her Rastafari roots and how she cut herself free

1:44pm October 04, 2023

by Terry Gross

Sinclair grew up in a devout Rasta family in Jamaica where women were subservient. When she cut her dreadlocks at age 19, she became "a ghost" to her father. Her new memoir is How to Say Babylon.

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Patrick Stewart on his new memoir and playing Captain Picard

4:56pm October 03, 2023

by Rachel Martin

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Sir Patrick Stewart about his recent memoir and why he sees his time playing Captain Picard as a kind of spiritual calling.

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'Eve' author says medicine often ignores female bodies. 'We've been guinea pigs'

1:43pm October 03, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

Author Cat Bohannon says there's a "male norm" in science that prioritizes male bodies. Female bodies have been left out of countless clinical studies, and research is only just starting to catch up.

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Taylor Lorenz, columnist at The Washington Post and author of Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence and Power on the Internet.

Books

How did we come to live extremely online? Mommy bloggers, says one writer

12:45pm October 03, 2023

by Claire Murashima

Washington Post columnist and tech journalist Taylor Lorenz chronicles the history of the internet in her new book, Extremely Online.

Books

Jordan Peele has a new collection of scary stories called 'Out There Screaming'

9:30am October 03, 2023

As a film director, Jordan Peele is a master of horror. Now he's curated a book of horror stories called Out There Screaming. He talks to Brittany Luse of the NPR show and podcast It's Been a Minute.

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Books

Yomi Adegoke on her novel 'The List'

8:18am October 01, 2023

by Ayesha Rascoe

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with author Yomi Adegoke abouther new novel, The List.