Books

Books
Arts

Children's book 'Calvin' shows how a community can embrace a trans child's identity

8:35am November 11, 2021

Authors JR and Vanessa Ford's experience with their own child coming out inspired the story of the young transgender protagonist in their new children's book.

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Will Smith looks back on his life in the memoir, Will. "Those difficulties and those traumas and the mental anguish that I had to overcome was a big part of me growing into the person I am today," he says.

Books
Arts

Will Smith says he crafted a joyful image to cover the pain of the past

3:35pm November 10, 2021

by Tonya Mosley

As a child, Smith watched helplessly as his father beat his mother. The experience shaped him: "The mental anguish that I had to overcome was a big part of me growing into the person I am today."

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'Passing' — the original 1929 novel — is disturbingly brilliant

5:00am November 10, 2021

by Carole V. Bell

The movie adaptation of Nella Larsen's Passing is out now, and if you're less familiar with the book, critic Carole Bell describes it as a "decades-early precursor to a Patricia Highsmith novel."

Children's book 'Calvin' shows how a community can embrace a trans child's identity

5:12pm November 09, 2021

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with authors and parents Vanessa and JR Ford about their new book Calvin, which explores one child's experience of coming out as transgender.

Writer Anne Helen Petersen says that on the other side of the pandemic, there's a chance work will rotate more around people's lives instead of the other way around.

Books

As companies look to bring remote workers back to the office, a writer asks: Why?

3:11pm November 09, 2021

Anne Helen Petersen is the co-author of a new book on the future of remote work. She says companies need to clearly know what goal they are pursuing when asking remote workers to come back in person.

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An ex-hotshot crew member turns from fighting fires to writing about them

2:14pm November 09, 2021

Kevin Goodan used to be a U.S. Forest Service firefighter. Now he's a poet. He talks to NPR's Noel King about his new collection of poetry: Spot Weather Forecast.

'Justice on the Brink' author considers the impact of Trump's 3 Supreme Court picks

2:03pm November 09, 2021

by Dave Davies

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse says the new Court has given conservatives less than they'd hoped for, though critical cases on abortion and other issues are still pending.

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Arts

Want a good, therapeutic cry? Pick up 'You've Reached Sam'

5:00am November 09, 2021

by Alethea Kontis

The heartbreak starts right away in Dustin Thao's debut novel: 17-year-old Julie's boyfriend Sam is killed in a car crash — but then she calls his phone, just to hear his voice again. And he answers.

Books
Arts

Louise Erdrich's disquieting new novel will keep you on your toes

7:00am November 08, 2021

by Maureen Corrigan

Set in a haunted Minneapolis bookshop over the course of one very momentous year, The Sentence is an ambitious novel, featuring a sinister ghost, a country in tumult and Erdrich's own shifting style.

Rep. Ruben Gallego talks new book exploring how the U.S. treats its veterans

5:01pm November 07, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Congressman Ruben Gallego about his upcoming book They Called Us "Lucky": The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War's Hardest Hit Unit.