Are cliches always tired? Not necessarily! NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Orin Hargraves, author of It's Been Said Before: A Guide to the Use and Abuse of Cliches.
Poet and author Quan Barry — born in Vietnam but raised in America — says she wants her new novel to help get rid of some of the preconceptions Americans have about Vietnam as a quagmire.
In his book Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari packs the history of humanity into 400 pages. "In some areas we've done amazingly well," the historian says. "In other areas we've done amazingly bad."
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. But how did they get there, and why do they look the way they do? Michael Rosen looks for answers in his new book Alphabetical.
Steve Inskeep talks with NPR Ed's Anya Kamenetz about her book, The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed with Standardized Testing — But You Don't Have to Be.
Asali Solomon's novel is about a girl growing up in West Philadelphia whose parents were black nationalists. "My parents taught us to revere Africa — people at school made fun of Africa," she says.
Journalist Steven Brill's latest book critiques the Affordable Care Act, which he calls "unsustainable." In the next few years, "something is going to snap," he says. "We cannot pay for this."
In his latest book, neuroscientist David Linden explains the science of touch. He tells Fresh Air how pain protects, why fingertips are so sensitive and why you can't read Braille with your genitals.
The actor and comedian reveals in his new memoir, Silver Screen Fiend, that he used to have a film addiction. Watching the first Star Wars prequel led to a realization that helped him kick the habit.
Kelly Link says the stories in her new collection Get in Trouble employ "night time logic." It's not quite dream logic, she tells NPR — nonsensical, but it has "a kind of emotional truth to it."