Author Interviews

Books

'Imbeciles' Explores Legacy Of Eugenics In America

2:53pm February 27, 2016

Adam Cohen's new book tells the story of the 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell. The ruling permitted the state of Virginia to sterilize an "imbecile" — a scientific term of the day.

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Arts

A Writer-Engineer's Historical Fiction Hack: Add Dragons

9:27am February 27, 2016

by Ravenna Koenig

Before her first book, Naomi Novik was a programmer who wrote Napoleonic-era fan fiction on the side. Then she had an idea: "What could make the Napoleonic wars more exciting? Dragons!"

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Arts

Comedian Ben Bailey Smith Weaves Rapping Into Children's Book

7:54am February 27, 2016

What does rapping have in common with a good children's book? A lively beat and rhyme. Rapper, comedian and actor, Ben Bailey Smith speaks to NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro about his book, "I Am Bear."

Muhammad Ali, world heavyweight boxing champion, stands with Malcolm X (left) outside the Trans-Lux Newsreel Theater in New York in 1964.

Muhammad Ali And Malcolm X: A Broken Friendship, An Enduring Legacy

2:38pm February 25, 2016

by Karen Grigsby Bates

A new book, Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, explores how faith brought two African-American icons together and eventually tore their relationship apart.

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Books

Social Media And Teenage Girls: Not Your Mother's Adolescence

1:53pm February 25, 2016

In her book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, Nancy Jo Sales looks at the pressures on teenage girls socially and sexually. She talks to David Greene about her book.

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The Indecisive Chicken combines the recipes and life stories of eight women from communities across India who now live in Dharavi, a teeming Mumbai slum. Sarita Rai, from a village in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, contributed a recipe for phara

Cookbook Explores Recipes From India's Most Famous Slum

4:06pm February 24, 2016

by Priti Salian

The Indecisive Chicken combines the recipes and life stories of eight women from communities across India who now make their home in Dharavi, a teeming slum featured in Slumdog Millionaire.

Books
Arts

'Hap And Leonard' Creator Needed To 'Burn Bridges' To Make It As A Writer

1:29pm February 24, 2016

Joe R. Lansdale grew up poor in east Texas and worked as a janitor and in a potato field before finding success as a writer. Honky Tonk Samurai is the latest book in his mystery series.

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Sonia Shah is also the author of The Fever and The Body Hunters.

'Pandemic' Asks: Is A Disease That Will Kill Tens Of Millions Coming?

5:40pm February 22, 2016

Author Sonia Shah says that urbanization and air travel put the global population at an increased risk for disease. "Zika is a great example of how new pathogens are emerging today," she says.

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Arts

The 'Girl' In The Title: More Than A Marketing Trend

3:02pm February 22, 2016

by NPR Staff

Lately it seems as if every thriller written by a woman gets compared to two recent blockbusters: Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. So what makes those two books so appealing and influential?

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Books
Arts

'Tender' Author Calls Novel On Friendship 'Autobiographical To Its Core'

7:59am February 21, 2016

Adolescence is a time when "friendship feels like something you die for," says Irish author Belinda McKeon. It's how she explains the characters in her new novel "Tender" to NPR's Rachel Martin.