Author Interviews

Illustrated Memoir Recalls Marching In Selma At Just 15

8:25pm March 08, 2015

Lynda Blackmon Lowery was a child when she joined the 1965 march. She's written a book for young readers about the experience. This piece originally aired on All Things Considered on Jan. 17, 2015.

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Neil Gaiman's other books include The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Stardust.

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In His Latest Book, Neil Gaiman Offers Readers A 'Trigger Warning'

7:06pm March 08, 2015

by NPR Staff

Trigger warnings caution readers to tread carefully and Neil Gaiman encourages those who pick up his latest collection of "short fictions and disturbances" to do the same.

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Broken Family Needs To Have A 'Man At The Helm'

1:08pm March 08, 2015

In Nina Stibbe's new novel, Man at the Helm, Lizzie, 9, wants to find a man for her newly divorced mother. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Stibbe about the freedom of writing in a child's voice.

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A German U-boat sank the luxury ocean liner Lusitania, seen here in 1907, on May 7, 1915.

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The Lusitania Mystery: Why British Codebreakers Didn't Try To Save It

10:29am March 07, 2015

by NPR Staff

The ocean liner's sinking by a German U-boat led to the U.S. entering World War I. Erik Larson, author of Dead Wake, says British intelligence knew the ship was in danger and didn't tell anyone.

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'Bowling Alone' Author Tackles The American Dream

10:29am March 07, 2015

American political scientist Robert Putnam says we've lost sight of America as the land of opportunity. NPR's Scott Simon talks with him about his new book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.

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A 'Girl In A Band': Kim Gordon On Life After Sonic Youth

2:20pm March 04, 2015

Gordon co-founded Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore. When their marriage broke up in 2011, so did the band. Gordon talks about rebuilding her life, writing her memoir and her new band Body/Head.

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The Vatican Bank is "essentially an offshore bank in the middle of a foreign country," says Gerald Posner. Above is an aerial view of St. Peter's basilica in Vatican City.

From Laundering To Profiteering, A Multitude Of Sins At The Vatican Bank

9:27am March 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

In God's Bankers Gerald Posner explores the history of money, power and the church. During World War II, he says, the Vatican made money off of the life insurance policies of Jews sent to death camps.

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Charles Darrow sold Monopoly to Parker Bros. in the 1930s.

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Ever Cheat At Monopoly? So Did Its Creator: He Stole The Idea From A Woman

5:00pm March 03, 2015

by NPR Staff

The game Charles Darrow sold in the 1930s bore a striking resemblance to a game Lizzie Magie patented in 1904. In The Monopolists, Mary Pilon tells Monopoly's origin story.

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Kevin Carey's writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Prepare For 'The End Of College': Here's What Free Higher Ed Looks Like

4:58pm March 03, 2015

In his new book, Kevin Carey envisions a future in which online education programs solve two of colleges' biggest problems: costs and admissions.

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Chris Offutt Reveals A Family Secret In 'My Father, The Pornographer'

1:20pm March 02, 2015

Offutt's late father went from running a small insurance agency to writing more than 400 books, mostly pornography. The writer tells Fresh Air his dad believed he would be "extremely famous" for it.

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