Books

Actor Roger Moore, who played secret agent James Bond in the '70s and '80s, holds a martini. A new book written by a former CIA agent details how restaurants and cafes "are in many ways the lifeblood of espionage."

Books

Eat, Drink And Be Wary: Ex-CIA Agent Reveals How Eateries Are Key To Spycraft

2:11pm October 16, 2019

by Nina Martyris

"Restaurants and cafés are in many ways the lifeblood of espionage," says Amaryllis Fox in a new book. They're ideal places to clandestinely meet people with access to a government or terrorist group.

Books
Arts

In 'Heaven, My Home' Attica Locke Shows A Part Of Texas We Don't Usually See

1:57pm October 16, 2019

by Sam Briger

Locke says her new novel "was about place before it was about a character." The story follows a black ranger who patrols East Texas searching for the missing son of an Aryan Brotherhood leader.

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Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home, by Richard Bell

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Arts

In 'Stolen,' Five Boys Are Caught In A Reverse Underground Railroad Toward Slavery

1:57pm October 16, 2019

by Ilana Masad

Richard Bell's true tale details how even as the Underground Railroad ferried enslaved people north towards freedom, free black people vanished from northern cities to be sold into plantation slavery.

A wall inside the CIA headquarters honors members of the CIA who died in the service of their country.

The War On Terrorism, Through The Eyes Of 3 Women At The CIA

1:48pm October 16, 2019

by Greg Myre

After the 2001 al-Qaida attacks, the CIA ramped up counterterrorism operations. This included a surge in young, female recruits. Three have written new books about their secretive work.

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Books
Arts

In 'Olive, Again,' Elizabeth Strout Revisits An Old Friend

7:00am October 16, 2019

by Heller McAlpin

Ten years after her Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, where ornery Olive is learning about compassion, connection, and her own self.

Books
Arts

Edna O'Brien Bears Witness To Horror In 'Girl'

7:00am October 16, 2019

by Michael Schaub

O'Brien's 19th novel is based on the real story of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by jihadist group Boko Haram in 2014. It's a painful and essential read that ends on a hopeful yet realistic note.

Venezuelan Journalist Karina Sainz Borgo On Her Book 'It Would Be Night In Caracas'

5:50pm October 15, 2019

Venezuelan journalist Karina Sainz Borgo has channeled her feelings about her home country into a novel, It Would Be Night in Caracas. She speaks about it with NPR's Ari Shapiro.

The Compatriots: The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia's Exiles, Émigrés, and Agents Abroad, by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan

'The Compatriots' Suggests The Days Of Domestic-Only Politics Are Behind Us

5:47pm October 15, 2019

by Leonid Ragozin

Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, revered experts on the Russian secret service, give the book a credibility most others on Russian clandestine operations lack — and they also change the optics.

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Ronan Farrow poses for a portrait in NPR's Manhattan offices ahead of the release of his book Catch and Kill.

Books
Arts

Ronan Farrow: 'Catch And Kill' Tactics Protected Both Weinstein And Trump

5:45pm October 15, 2019

by Terry Gross

He was followed and his house bugged as he reported on allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Farrow says it's part of a pattern in which powerful entities go to extremes to quash unfavorable stories.

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Books

Author Adrienne Brodeur On Her New Memoir 'Wild Game'

4:43pm October 15, 2019

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Adrienne Brodeur about her memoir, Wild Game, that recounts the complicated relationship with her mother, who had an affair and enlisted her help in concealing it.