Books

Night Came With Many Stars, by Simon van Booy

Books
Arts

This Family Saga Finds Grace And Beauty In Ordinary Lives, Fully Lived

6:00am June 10, 2021

by Jason Sheehan

Simon Van Booy's new novel Night Came With Many Stars follows several generations of a Kentucky family, their crossroads and choices, their curses and hard memories, their luck and their chances.

Books
Arts

'Mercury Rising' Explores The U.S.'s Treacherous Attempts to Control Space

3:30pm June 09, 2021

by Dave Davies

In Mercury Rising, historian Jeff Shesol recalls the early days of the U.S. space program, when Cold War fears ruled, and no one was sure Glenn would survive America's first orbital flight.

Queue Listen Now

We Need New Stories: The Myths that Subvert Freedom by Nesrine Malik

Books
Arts

'We Need New Stories' Asks: Why Are People Prone To Believing The Largest Of Lies?

12:22pm June 09, 2021

by Jason Heller

Author Nesrine Malik is reclaiming the terms of defense against ignorance and bigotry, ones that she says have become rote in the mouths of some and insults in the mouths of others.

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir, by Akwaeke Emezi

Books
Arts

Letters Reveal Author's Strength In A World Of Destructive Noise

6:30am June 09, 2021

by Hope Wabuke

Akwaeke Emezi's Dear Senthuran is a story of transcendence over violence that has marked their lived experience, told through letters to friends, lovers, and public figures — some they've never met.

Hebe Uhart's drawing of a chimango bird, from Animals.

Books
Arts

Still Don't Want To Go Out? Here Are 3 Books For An Inner Journey

5:00am June 09, 2021

by Lily Meyer

Everyone's talking about getting out and about now that the pandemic has calmed — but what if you don't want to? Here are three books in translation that'll help you dig into your own life and mind.

'Kissing Bug' Tells A Personal Story About Race, Sexuality And A Deadly Insect

2:25pm June 08, 2021

by Terry Gross

When Daisy Hernández was 5, her aunt in Colombia came down with a mysterious illness that caused her large intestine to swell. Hernández details her aunt's story — and her own — in a new memoir.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

4 Books To Broaden Your Pride Month Reading List

6:34am June 08, 2021

by Noel King

There are a lot of Pride Month reading lists out there — so we thought we'd get away from the classics everyone knows. We asked author Akwaeke Emezi to recommend some of their favorite reads.

Queue Listen Now

The book jacket for The Great Dissenter by Peter Canellos

Books

The Supreme Court Justice Who Made History By Voting No on Racial Segregation

4:33pm June 07, 2021

by Steve Inskeep

A new book explores the life of Justice John Marshall Harlan, who wrote the dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case that upheld the principle of racial segregation.

Queue Listen Now

Walking on Cowrie Shells, by Nana Nkweti

Books
Arts

These Stories Dance Deftly Between America And Cameroon

5:00am June 07, 2021

by Martha Anne Toll

In her debut collection Walking On Cowrie Shells, Nana Nkweti bends language like a master, delivering keenly observed details and wicked humor no matter which side of the Atlantic she's on.

Books

John Paul Brammer, The Advice Columnist Behind 'Hola Papi,' Releases His Memoir

7:53am June 06, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with John Paul Brammer about his new memoir, Hola Papi.