Author Interviews

Books
Arts

In 1879, Explorers Set Sail To Solve Arctic Mystery, Once And For All

11:25am August 25, 2014

by NPR Staff

In the Kingdom of Ice tells the story of a "grand and terrible" 19th-century expedition into uncharted Arctic waters. Of the 33 men who set out, only 13 made it home after a truly harrowing voyage.

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Arts

In A Foster Home, Two Boys Become 'Kinda Like Brothers'

8:30am August 25, 2014

by NPR Staff

Before Coe Booth was a writer, she was a caseworker, often tasked with placing kids with foster families. Her latest novel for middle-grade readers looks at two young members of a foster family.

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Books

Author And His Daughter Cook Around The World And You Can Too

8:21pm August 22, 2014

Kelly McEvers talks to food writer Mark Kurlansky and his daughter Talia about their cookbook International Night, based on their tradition of cooking a meal every week from a different country.

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Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician cover.

Cardiologist Speaks From The Heart About America's Medical System

7:47pm August 19, 2014

In his new memoir, Doctored, Sandeep Jauhar describes a growing discontent among doctors and how it's affecting patients. He says rushed doctors are often practicing "defensive medicine."

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Sugar or artificial sweetener falling off of a spoon.

Books
Arts

'Sweetness #9' Satirizes Food Wars And Artificial America

3:40pm August 18, 2014

The novel is about a flavor chemist who tests a sweetener on lab rats and monkeys and finds side effects the company covers up. Author Stephan Eirik Clark says he was inspired by Fast Food Nation.

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Arts

Thoughts Of Fall Butt Into Lazy Day Of Summer

8:11am August 18, 2014

For our look at summer poetry, we turn to Charlotte Boulay, a Philadelphia-based poet, with "The End of Summer." She offers a poem that, on its surface, is about an idyllic activity: taking a nap.

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Thrity Umrigar has authored six novels and is a professor of English at Case Western Reserve University.

Books
Arts

An Unlikely Psychologist-Patient Friendship Unfolds In 'The Story Hour'

8:28am August 16, 2014

by NPR Staff

Thrity Umrigar's new novel is about two women with "a mystical connection." Lakshmi is stuck in a loveless marriage. Dr. Maggie Bose decides Lakshmi doesn't need a shrink — she needs an escape.

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The Titan II intercontinental-range missile, pictured in 1965, sits ready for launch on its 150-feet-deep underground launchpad. "The one warhead on a Titan II had three times the explosive force of all the bombs used by all the armies in the second world

Books
Arts

Nuclear 'Command And Control': A History Of False Alarms And Near Catastrophes

11:39am August 13, 2014

Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, spent six years researching America's nuclear weapons. In Command and Control, he details explosions, false attack alerts and accidentally dropped bombs.

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Brothers and aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright walk together in 1910.

Books
Arts

When It Comes To Creativity, Are Two Heads Better Than One?

8:14am August 11, 2014

by NPR Staff

Joshua Wolf Shenk says it's time to debunk the myth of the lone genius. His new book explores creative partnerships — and explains how Emily Dickinson wasn't actually as much of a loner as we think.

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Books
Arts

For Novelist Jonathan Lethem, Radicalism Runs In The Family

2:44pm August 08, 2014

His new book, Dissident Gardens, follows three generations of an activist family. The book is fiction, but its characters were inspired by Lethem's own story. Originally broadcast Sept. 9, 2013.

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