Author Interviews

Books
Arts

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? Well, He Doesn't Have To Be

8:27am June 11, 2016

by NPR Staff

What if Romeo and Juliet had lived? In Ryan North's new "chooseable-path adventure" Romeo and/or Juliet, you can make sure the two never meet — or have them take over Verona in giant robot suits.

Books
Arts

Annie Proulx's Bloody New Novel 'Barkskins' Is About More Than Deforestation

7:26pm June 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

Barkskins follows two loggers' stories over three centuries. Proulx says the forest is the hero of her book, but it's also "one facet of larger things, like climate change and the melting of the ice."

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Sports
Arts

Tracing Muhammad Ali's Rise To 'King Of The World'

1:26pm June 10, 2016

Fresh Air remembers the boxing legend who dies last week with this archival interview with David Remnick, author of the Ali biography, of King of the World. Originally broadcast in 1998.

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"There are these great patterns to life — and we all go through them." — Joshua Prager

What Can Great Writers Teach Us About Growing Up and Getting Old?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

We all stumble across similar ideas as we age, and some of these revelations have passed into the books we love. Journalist Joshua Prager explores the stages of life through quotes from great writers.

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"In nature everything is so uniquely itself ... and there is a pace to the natural world and a genius to the natural world that arises out of that state of being." — Boyd Varty

What Wisdom Can We Gain From Nature?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

South African writer and conservationist Boyd Varty has spent his entire life among wild animals. He describes how he discovers "new old ways" by observing the natural world.

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"We don't end conversations with any of my children without 'I love you, I care about you, I miss you, I need you, I have to see you.'" — Tony Porter

What Can One Generation Teach The Next About Manhood?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

Advocate Tony Porter's wisdom focuses on masculinity and ending violence against women. He explains how he draws on his own upbringing to help the next generation of men redefine manhood.

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Books

'Invention Of Russia' Chronicles The Fall Of The USSR To Today

5:04am June 09, 2016

Arkady Ostrovsky talks to Mary Louise Kelly about his new book, The Invention of Russia, which looks back on the 25 years from the fall of the Soviet Union to Putin's Russia today.

In her new book, neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt tackles why traditional diets don't work for many people, and often leave the dieter worse off than before.

A Neuroscientist Tackles 'Why Diets Make Us Fat'

4:42pm June 07, 2016

by Jean Fain

Why don't traditional diets work for many people? Blame your brain, suggests Sandra Aamodt. Her new book delves into the science of why eating and weight have become such a sizable problem.

'The Fractured Republic' Explores How Nostalgia Led To Polarized Politics

4:41pm June 07, 2016

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Yuval Levin about his latest book, The Fractured Republic: Renewing America's Social Contract in the Age of Individualism. He argues both liberal and conservative Americans' nostalgia for the past has led to today's polarized national life.

Revisiting The Tenure Of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, The 'Jewish Jefferson'

1:32pm June 07, 2016

One hundred years ago, Brandeis became the first Jewish justice on the Supreme Court. Author Jeffrey Rosen says that Brandeis was also the most far-seeing progressive justice of the 20th century.

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