Author Interviews

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Arts

In The Midst Of Future Calamity, A Different Kind Of Ark: The London Zoo

8:24am August 20, 2016

by NPR Staff

In Bill Broun's dystopian Night of the Animals, zoo-bound creatures ask the main character to let them out. "It's a kind of fulcrum between the old world and a kind of liberating cataclysm," he says.

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Novelist's 'Disgruntled' Heroine Is Drawn From Her Own Childhood

1:26pm August 19, 2016

Asali Solomon's novel is about a girl growing up in West Philadelphia whose parents were black nationalists. "My parents taught us to revere Africa," she says. Originally broadcast Feb. 5, 2015.

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Amy Schumer Bares Her Soul In 'The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo'

10:03am August 19, 2016

by NPR Staff

Schumer's new essay collection is revealing, packed with personal diary entries going back to her preteen years — and funny. But she doesn't shy away from difficult topics like her sexual assault.

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Eating Yogurt Is Not Enough: Rebalancing The Ecosystem Of 'The Microbes Within Us'

1:28pm August 18, 2016

Ed Yong, author of I Contain Multitudes, says someday we might be able to improve our health by taking probiotics, but "we are still in the very early stages of working out how to do this."

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Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole (Emily Bogle/NPR)

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Everything Is Fair Game In 'Known And Strange Things'

8:05pm August 16, 2016

by NPR Staff

Teju Cole's new essay collection covers politics, poetry, music and even Snapchat. "I love to live things," he says — and he recommends Miles Davis as a cure for election season stress.

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In 'Uproot,' A DJ Traces Modern Music's Tangled Family Tree

6:37pm August 16, 2016

by NPR Staff

Jace Clayton, best known for his work as DJ /rupture, speaks with NPR's Audie Cornish about his first book, Uproot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture.

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'Roaring Wind' Examines Extreme Weather, And The Power Of Air

1:40pm August 16, 2016

Biologist Bill Streever sailed from Texas to Guatemala while doing research for his new book, And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind. He says the wind was working against him "most of the time."

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Cover detail from A Square Meal, by Jane Ziegelman and Andy Coe

Creamed, Canned And Frozen: How The Great Depression Revamped U.S. Diets

11:34am August 16, 2016

During the Depression, cheap, nutritious and filling food was prioritized — often at the expense of taste. Jane Ziegelman and Andy Coe, authors of A Square Meal, discuss food trends of the time.

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The Lobotomy Of Patient H.M: A Personal Tragedy And Scientific Breakthrough

9:13pm August 14, 2016

by NPR Staff

Known as Patient H.M. to the medical community, Henry Molaison was lobotomized — and lost his ability to create memories in the process. His story is one of tragedy and scientific breakthrough.

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Books
Arts

YA Author Wisdom: Sandra Cisneros

8:39am August 14, 2016

Sandra Cisneros is the author of "The House on Mango Street." For our series, "Next Chapter," she talks about how important it was for her as a Mexican-American woman to move into her first apartment.