Author Interviews

Derek Boogaard of the Minnesota Wild (left) and Wade Brookbank of the Vancouver Canucks exchange punches during a fight in the first period of a November 2005 game in Vancouver, Canada.

'Boy On Ice' Explores The Emotional And Physical Toll Of Dropping The Gloves

5:51pm September 26, 2014

by NPR Staff

In 2011, 28-year-old Derek Boogaard — one of the NHL's most fearsome fighters — was found dead of an accidental overdose of painkillers and alcohol. He also showed signs of serious brain injury.

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Books
Arts

What's Mittens Thinking? Make 'Sense' Of Your Pet's Behavior

4:32pm September 26, 2014

Animal behaviorist John Bradshaw's books Cat Sense and Dog Sense detail what cat and dog owners should expect from their animals. Cat Sense originally aired Sept. 5, 2013. Dog Sense originally aired May 26, 2011.

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Arts

Remembering The 'Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace'

10:59pm September 25, 2014

by NPR Staff

Robert Peace, a 30-year-old African-American, was a Yale University graduate and an almost straight-A student in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. He also dealt marijuana.

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My Life as a Foreign Country book cover.

Books
Arts

A Poet Parses The Legacy Of War In 'My Life As A Foreign Country'

9:38am September 23, 2014

by NPR Staff

When award-winning poet Brian Turner served in the Army, he was following a long family tradition. His new memoir traces that history — and imagines the perspectives of the people shooting back.

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Books
Arts

Former BP CEO: 'Glass Closet' Still Holds Many Gay Workers Back

7:01am September 23, 2014

by NPR Staff

There's a presumption in the business world that everyone's straight, says John Browne, who hid his homosexuality for years. In his new book, he says it's time for a change in corporate culture.

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Charles Wright, a retired professor at the University of Virginia, has been named the nation's next poet laureate.

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Arts

New Poet Laureate: 'The Meaning Has Always Stayed The Same'

7:01am September 23, 2014

by NPR Staff

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Wright, who will serve as the next poet laureate, tells NPR's Melissa Block that his inspirations — landscape, language and God — have stayed constant for 50 years.

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Ron Perlman played Clay Morrow on FX's Sons of Anarchy.

Books
Arts

Ron Perlman On 'Sons Of Anarchy' And His Many On-Screen Transformations

3:47pm September 22, 2014

Perlman played the ruthless leader of a motorcycle gang on the FX series. In his new book, Easy Street (The Hard Way), he talks about having a face "that was not ugly but surely one of its kind."

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Books

'American Cornball' A Taxonomy Of Humor In The U.S.

6:08pm September 19, 2014

Robert Siegel talks to author Christopher Miller about American Cornball. It looks at the prejudices and peculiarities of a nation polarized between urban and rural, black and white and more.

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Author Jacqueline Woodson reads from her newest novel, Sept. 15.

Jacqueline Woodson On Being A 'Brown Girl' Who Dreams

2:37pm September 19, 2014

by Kat Chow

In her new memoir for young adults, Woodson uses free verse to tell the story of growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. Her work for young readers often touches on themes of race and identity.

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In a March 2014 TED talk, Ebrahim credited The Daily Show's Jon Stewart with helping him realize that "a person's race, religion or sexual orientation had nothing to do with the quality of one's character."

The Long, Scary Journey From A 'Terrorist's Son' To A Peace Activist

5:39pm September 18, 2014

Zak Ebrahim's father was convicted as a conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. For most of his life, Ebrahim lied to people about who his father was. His new memoir tells his story.

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