Author Interviews

Books
Arts

How a DNA test inspired actress-activist Kerry Washington's journey of self-discovery

1:46pm September 25, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

Washington was an adult when she learned that she had been conceived via artificial insemination and the man she considered her father was not her biological dad. Her new memoir is Thicker than Water.

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In The Enchanted Symphony, a young boy named Piccolino harnesses the power of art, nature and community.

Books
Arts

A concert audience of houseplants? A new kids' book tells the surprisingly true tale

9:59am September 23, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

The latest children's book from Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton and illustrator Elly McKay is about the power of nature and music. They discussed their creative process in an interview with NPR.

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Books

Daniel Masoon his novel 'North Woods'

7:55am September 23, 2023

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks with Daniel Mason about "North Woods," his new novel that tells the story of a patch of land in rural Massachusetts over the course of generations.

Books

Pick your clothes wisely, if you want pockets

5:39pm September 22, 2023

Author Hannah Carlson takes us through the history of that most essential fashion hack, pockets.

Leslie Jones says she was 19 when Jamie Foxx told her she needed to live life — get hired, get fired, fall in love — in order to be truly funny.

Books
Arts

How comic Leslie Jones went from funniest person on campus to 'SNL' star

1:29pm September 21, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

Jones says performing stand-up for the first time as a freshman in college felt like putting on a shirt that fit perfectly: "It was just so natural." Her memoir is Leslie F*cking Jones.

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'Swingtime for Hitler' explores the Nazis use of jazz as a propaganda tool

1:30pm September 20, 2023

by Terry Gross

Hitler's Germany banned jazz, which was deemed degenerate music made by Jews and Black people. But NPR host Scott Simon says the Nazis repurposed jazz abroad to weaken British and American resolve.

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Books
Arts

Comic Aparna Nancherla uses humor to confront self doubt and anxiety

2:00pm September 19, 2023

by Ann Marie Baldonado

Nancherla's starred in TV shows like BoJack Horseman and Master of None, and written for Late Night with Seth Meyers. She recounts her struggle with depression in the memoir, Unreliable Narrator.

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Books

Rachel Harrison on her new horror novel 'Black Sheep'

8:24am September 17, 2023

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Rachel Harrison about her new horror novel, "Black Sheep," which asks what must be sacrificed in order to go home again.

Historian Simon Schama's new book traces the roots of today's distrust of vaccines

11:35am September 16, 2023

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon asks historian Simon Schama about his latest book, Foreign Bodies, and about attitudes to inoculation.

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Books

Anne Enright's novel follows a family that's left behind in a famous poet's pursuit of fame

8:04am September 16, 2023

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Irish author Anne Enright about her novel, "The Wren, The Wren." It's about a mother and daughter and how their lives are marked by the family patriarch, an Irish poet.