Author Interviews

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Arts

An Expansive View Of Vietnam In 'She Weeps Each Time You're Born'

4:03pm February 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

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.

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Until about 30,000 years ago — around the same time these animals were drawn on the walls of France's Chauvet Cave — there were at least five other species of humans on the planet.

Books
Arts

We Went From Hunter-Gatherers To Space Explorers, But Are We Happier?

9:29pm February 07, 2015

by NPR Staff

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."

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'Alphabetical' Tells The Story Behind Every Letter, A To Z

11:43am February 07, 2015

by NPR Staff

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.

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The Past, Present And Future Of High-Stakes Testing

3:14pm February 06, 2015

by Anya Kamenetz

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.

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In 2007, Asali Solomon was named one of the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35." Her previous book, Get Down, is a collection of short stories. She teaches English literature and creative writing at Haverford College.

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Arts

Novelist's 'Disgruntled' Heroine Is Drawn From Her Own Childhood

1:18pm February 06, 2015

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.

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Steven Brill is a journalist who also founded Court TV, American Lawyer magazine, 10 regional legal newspapers and Brill's Content Magazine. He teaches journalism at Yale.

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'America's Bitter Pill' Makes Case For Why Health Care Law 'Won't Work'

2:07pm February 05, 2015

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."

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David Linden is a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and is a former chief editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology. He also wrote The Compass of Pleasure.

Fingertips To Hair Follicles: Why 'Touch' Triggers Pleasure And Pain

4:39pm February 04, 2015

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.

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Books
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How 'Star Wars' Helped Patton Oswalt Beat His Movie Addiction

1:48pm February 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

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.

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Get In Trouble is Kelly Link's new collection of short stories.

Books
Arts

Drift Away Into The Not-Quite-Dreamy Logic Of 'Get In Trouble'

11:02am February 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

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."

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As America Grays, A Call For Dignity In Aging And Elder Care

11:42am February 02, 2015

by NPR Staff

In The Age of Dignity, Ai-jen Poo says getting older should be viewed not from a place of scarcity and fear but as an opportunity. And, she writes, the U.S. must fix its flawed care system.

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