Author Interviews

'The Innocent Have Nothing To Fear' Echoes Real-Life Republican Race

4:38pm June 28, 2016

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Stuart Stevens, a former strategist for Mitt Romney, whose new novel, The Innocent Have Nothing to Fear, tells the story of a neck-and-neck Republican primary campaign that ends up at a brokered convention.

In 'Hustling Hitler,' A Jewish Vaudevillian Scams The Third Reich

4:38pm June 28, 2016

It seems everyone has one: the eccentric relative much gossiped about. For Walter Shapiro, it's his great-uncle, Freeman Bernstein. The vaudeville manager, boxing promoter, card shark and stock swindler managed to scam the Third Reich. Shapiro writes about this in his new book, Hustling Hitler.

Donald G. McNeil Jr. is a global health reporter for The New York Times.

'Nobody Is Immune': Bracing For Zika's First Summer In The U.S.

3:45pm June 28, 2016

Author Donald. G. McNeil Jr. predicts that 2016 will be the worst year for Zika transmission in the U.S. "After this year, a fair number of people will be immune, and ... immunity will grow," he says.

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Broadway Chanteuse Barbara Cook: 'My First Memories Are Of Singing'

1:26pm June 27, 2016

After starring in Broadway shows like The Music Man and Candide, Cook struggled with addiction, then staged a successful second career as a cabaret singer. Her new memoir is Then and Now.

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Books
Arts

'The Mandibles' Is Financial Dystopia With A Bite

7:59am June 26, 2016

by NPR Staff

Lionel Shriver's newest novel is a work of speculative fiction: A national debt crisis leads to a systematic civil breakdown, bringing a once-prosperous family

David Hepworth's new book, Never A Dull Moment, is out now from Henry Holt & Co.

The Case For 1971 As Rock's Greatest Year

7:07pm June 22, 2016

by NPR Staff

That year, music journalist David Hepworth argues, offered an explosion of talent from David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Al Green, John Lennon and more. He discusses his new book, Never a Dull Moment.

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Forgotten History: How The New England Colonists Embraced The Slave Trade

1:20pm June 21, 2016

American slavery predates the founding of the United States. Wendy Warren, author of New England Bound, says the early colonists imported African slaves and enslaved and exported Native Americans.

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Cover detail of What a Fish Knows, by Jonathan Balcombe

Fish Have Feelings, Too: The Inner Lives Of Our 'Underwater Cousins'

5:57pm June 20, 2016

Jonathan Balcombe, author of What A Fish Knows, says that fish have a conscious awareness — or "sentience" — that allows them to experience pain, recognize individual humans and have memory.

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Author Heidi Durrow gathers with festivalgoers to celebrate Mixed Remixed in 2015.

A Festival For Mixed-Race Storytellers — And Everyone Else, Too

5:39pm June 20, 2016

by Leah Donnella

The Mixed Remixed festival isn't just for folks who are multiracial. It's about connecting people from all over the world who aren't always seen as belonging together.

Books
Arts

'An Abbreviated Life' Memoir Captures Lasting Impact Of Childhood Emotional Abuse

8:06am June 19, 2016

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks to Ariel Leve about her new memoir, An Abbreviated Life. It tells the story of her growing up in a difficult dysfunctional family.