Author Interviews

Pediatric surgeon and author Dana Suskind

Books
Arts

Simple Number, Complex Impact: How Many Words Has A Child Heard?

10:24am December 05, 2015

by NPR Staff

The Thirty Million Word Initiative, created by University of Chicago Hospital pediatric surgeon Dana Suskind, attempts to close the achievement gap between poorer and more affluent students.

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'The Game's Not Over' Takes On The Traumas Of Football

10:24am December 05, 2015

by NPR Staff

The most popular sport in America causes head trauma. Some famous players have been convicted of domestic abuse, or accused of cheating. But author Gregg Easterbrook won't give up on the gridiron.

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Set in New Orleans in the 1960s, the comedic masterpiece A Confederacy of Dunces centers around Ignatius J. Reilly, a glutton in a city known for its legendary cuisine. A new cookbook looks at the food culture that helps define the characters in the book.

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Arts

'A Confederacy Of Dunces Cookbook': A Classic Revisited In Recipes

3:17pm December 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

Set in 1960s New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces centers around Ignatius J. Reilly, a glutton in a city known for its cuisine. A new cookbook looks at the food central to the heralded comedic novel.

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Books
Arts

'New Yorker' Cartoon Editor Explores What Makes Us Get It

2:12pm December 04, 2015

Humor is both a creative and a cognitive process, says Bob Mankoff, who has contributed cartoons to The New Yorker since 1977. Originally broadcast March 24, 2014.

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As part of the spectacle of the packinghouses, a worker shackled the leg of a hog onto a revolving wheel known as a Hurford Wheel. The animal was then lifted into the air to begin the slaughtering process.

How Chicago's Slaughterhouse Spectacles Paved The Way For Big Meat

5:03pm December 03, 2015

by Anne Bramley

Opened in 1865, Chicago's Union Stock Yard was the greatest livestock market the world had seen. Tourists watched masses of animals move through kill floors, a sight hailed as a miracle of modernity.

'Triumph Of William McKinley' Speaks To The Ages, Karl Rove Says

2:57pm December 03, 2015

Steve Inskeep talks to Republican strategist Karl Rove about his book of history that he believes sheds light on politics today: the 1896 presidential election of William McKinley.

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Gloria Steinem Shares What She Learned 'On The Road'

6:20pm December 02, 2015

by Ina Jaffe

At 81, Gloria Steinem is still going strong. The noted feminist has been on tour promoting a new book, My Life On The Road, which she insists is not a memoir.

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Historian Mary Beard says real gladiator competitions were probably not as brutal as the film Gladiator (starring Russell Crowe) would have us believe. Still, she says, "I loved Gladiator and I thought its depiction of gladiatorial combat, although it was

Books
Arts

From Gladiator Duels To Caesar's Last Words: The Myths Of Ancient Rome

9:15am December 01, 2015

Historian Mary Beard says many of our popular notions about the empire are based on culture — like the play Julius Caesar or the film Gladiator — rather than fact. Her new book is called SPQR.

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How The Brain Tells Real From Fake: From Fine Art To Fine Wine

12:04am December 01, 2015

by NPR Staff

Shankar speaks with Noah Charney, author of The Art of Forgery, about what motivates art forgers. Also this week on Hidden Brain: why we love studies that prove wine connoisseurs wrong.

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For decades, astronomers believed there was another planet hiding just out of sight behind the sun. It wasn't until Albert Einstein that this belief was finally debunked.

A Star-Crossed 'Scientific Fact': The Story Of Vulcan, Planet That Never Was

3:20pm November 30, 2015

by NPR Staff

For decades, astronomers believed there was another planet in our solar system, tucked just out of sight. Then Albert Einstein figured out it wasn't there. Author Thomas Levenson explains.

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