Author Interviews

Drew Gilpin Faust served as president of Harvard from 2007 until 2018. She is currently the Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor.

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Arts

Harvard's Drew Gilpin Faust says history should make us uncomfortable

1:47pm August 22, 2023

by Terry Gross

Growing up in the South, Faust rejected the narrative she was fed about slavery and the Civil War. She writes about her journey to activism and becoming the president of Harvard in Necessary Trouble.

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Kate Zernike's book explores the long battle for gender equality at MIT

6:31pm August 21, 2023

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with author Kate Zernike about her book The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science.

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Ancient Night, written by David Bowles and illustrated by David Álvarez

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Rabbit and Opossum come to life in 'Ancient Night' — a new twist on an old legend

8:09am August 19, 2023

by Samantha Balaban

David Álvarez's twist on traditional myths from Mesoamerica is about rivalry, jealousy and making amends. What started as a wordless picture book now has text by author David Bowles.

Books

The book 'The Quickening' looks at bringing a child into a world with climate change

5:49pm August 17, 2023

by Julie Depenbrock

In the new book The Quickening, author Elizabeth Rush charts a journey to Antarctica's "Doomsday Glacier" — and muses about contemplating parenthood in a time of climate change.

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"Every decade of my life has been better than the one beforehand," says R. Eric Thomas.

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Don't believe his book title: For humorist R. Eric Thomas, the best is yet to come

1:29pm August 16, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

Thomas' new book, Congratulations, the Best Is Over!, is about middle age, and what it was like to return to his hometown of Baltimore as an adult — when both he and the city had changed.

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Author Pidgeon Pagonis was raised a girl but was born with both female and male sexual organs. They tell their story of discovering who they really in a memoir released August 15, 2023.

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Pidgeon Pagonis reveals a long held secret in 'Nobody Needs to Know'

6:14pm August 15, 2023

Author Pidgeon Pagonis discovered the truth about their gender identity when they were in college. Now they tell their story hoping to help others.

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'Dream Town' examines the link between academic tracking and school segregation

1:45pm August 15, 2023

by Dave Davies

Washington Post reporter Laura Meckler tells the story of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a town with high-performing, diverse schools — and also a pronounced achievement gap between white and Black students.

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