Author Interviews

Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, pictured at a gathering last week of African-American clergy, academics and activists outside Washington D.C.

In Troubled Times, Does 'The Black Church' Still Matter?

2:52pm December 11, 2014

by Michel Martin

As the nation endures a season of racial tension, NPR's Michel Martin talks about the mission of the black church and whether it remains relevant in the social justice movement.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Billions Of Years Go By, All In The Same 'Room'

2:52pm December 11, 2014

by NPR Staff

NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Richard McGuire about his arresting graphic novel, Here. It's an austere, profound journey backward and forward in time through the life of a single room.

Queue Listen Now

Books

Staff Favorite: An Interview With Poet Stephen Dunn

2:52pm December 11, 2014

Weekend Edition is picking its favorite interviews of 2014. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to editor Barrie Hardymon about her selection — an interview with poet Stephen Dunn.

Queue Listen Now

Nazila Fathi reported from her native Iran for The New York Times. Fearing arrest, she fled in 2009 with her family and now lives in suburban Washington, D.C. Her new book, The Lonely War, describes the challenges of reporting from the country.

The Risks, Rewards And Mysteries Of Reporting From Iran

1:53pm December 11, 2014

by Greg Myre

Nazila Fathi covered Iran for The New York Times until she feared her arrest was imminent. She then fled her homeland. Her new book, The Lonely War, tells of the challenges of reporting on Iran.

Queue Listen Now

Jacqueline Woodson has published 30 books, and won three Newbery honors and a Coretta Scott King Book Award for her young adult book Miracle's Boys.

Books
Arts

Jacqueline Woodson On Growing Up, Coming Out And Saying Hi To Strangers

3:01pm December 10, 2014

Woodson won the National Book Award for young people's literature for her memoir Brown Girl Dreaming. She says that growing up in South Carolina, she knew that the safest place was with her family.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

WWII By The Books: The Pocket-Size Editions That Kept Soldiers Reading

11:11am December 10, 2014

by NPR Staff

In the 1940s, U.S. publishers printed paperbacks — everything from romances to Westerns — that were designed for battle. Molly Guptill Manning explores their history in When Books Went to War.

Queue Listen Now

'Eating On The Wild Side:' A Field Guide To Nutritious Food

10:10am December 10, 2014

by Maria Godoy

Our modern fruits, grains and vegetables aren't nearly as nutrition-packed as their wild counterparts were thousands of years ago, says health writer Jo Robinson.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Author Of 'Bridge To Terabithia': Messages Are Poison To Fiction

10:07am December 08, 2014

by NPR Staff

Katherine Paterson describes the inspiration behind her best-known children's book, as well as tales from her childhood in China and missionary work in Japan, in her new memoir, Stories of My Life.

Queue Listen Now

The four undergrads of the Diaspora team were given "a global commission to rebottle the genie of personal privacy" after scoring $200,000 in a Kickstarter campaign and support and mentorship from Silicon Valley's brightest.

Books
Arts

Is Privacy Protection 'More Awesome Than Money'?

4:58pm December 07, 2014

by Nathan Siegel

Jim Dwyer's new book chronicles the life of Diaspora, a feisty, nonprofit social network dedicated to safeguarding personal privacy.

Donald Hall is a former U.S. poet laureate and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2010.

Books
Arts

At 86, Poet Donald Hall Writes On, But Leaves Verse Behind

5:36pm December 06, 2014

by NPR Staff

The former U.S. poet laureate says he can't write poetry any more, but still has some prose in him. In a new book, Essays After Eighty, he considers his art, his beard and his experience growing old.

Queue Listen Now