Books

Jassy Mackenzie was born in Rhodesia and moved to South Africa when she was eight years old. She edits and writes for the annual publication Best of South Africa.

Books
Arts

Hardcore With A Heart: Joburg Thrillers Star A Spunky P.I.

5:54pm May 28, 2014

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Jassy Mackenzie's crime novels, set in Johannesburg, star the not-always-law-abiding private investigator Jade de Jong. Mackenzie says that de Jong and "Joburg" are well-matched.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Fresh Air' Remembers Poet And Memoirist Maya Angelou

3:10pm May 28, 2014

In 1986, Angelou spoke to Terry Gross about Southern influences in her writing, her love of autobiography and how, as a traumatized young girl, poetry inspired her to start speaking again.

Queue Listen Now

Over the next few years China will build a multi-billion dollar railway linking the Kenyan port of Mombasa to Nairobi (shown here), based on an agreement signed earlier this month by East African and Chinese officials. It's one of many examples of China's

China Turns To Africa For Resources, Jobs And Future Customers

2:54pm May 27, 2014

In China's Second Continent, Howard French explores the Chinese presence in 15 African countries. The relationship goes beyond economics: more than a million Chinese citizens have migrated to Africa.

Queue Listen Now

Cover detail of India: A Million Mutinies Now

A Look At India's New Leader, Through The Lens Of Literature

3:13am May 24, 2014

by Akash Kapur

Narendra Modi is a Hindu nationalist and political outsider who won India's election in a landslide. To understand India's political history, author Akash Kapur recommends a book by V.S. Naipaul.

Queue Listen Now

A view of Dan Barber's Stone Barns Center field and barns in Pocantico Hills, N.Y.

Books
Arts

'Third Plate' Reimagines Farm-To-Table Eating To Nourish The Land

5:56pm May 23, 2014

by NPR Staff

Renee Montagne talks to Dan Barber about his new book The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food. Barber advocates eating a wider variety of foods that better support the land.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

A Second Posthumous Collection From Rock Critic Ellen Willis

3:54pm May 22, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

The Essential Ellen Willis focuses on the writer's explicitly feminist culture criticism. It was edited by Willis' daughter, who published an earlier collection of her mother's essays in 2011.

Queue Listen Now

40 Years After Watergate, A Look Back At Nixon's Downfall

1:43pm May 22, 2014

by NPR Staff

Political journalist Elizabeth Drew chronicled the events of 1974 in her recently reissued Washington Journal. She tells NPR's Robert Siegel that she sees "a certain nobility" in Nixon's resilience.

Queue Listen Now

How The Koch Brothers Remade America's Political Landscape

5:08pm May 21, 2014

Charles and David Koch have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to bring their libertarian views into the mainstream. In a new book, Daniel Schulman looks at the roots of their ideology.

Queue Listen Now

German troops march towards Paris' Arc de Triomphe in 1943.

Books
Arts

'Chameleon' Has Cabaret, Spies And A Plot Fit For Lifetime

4:20pm May 21, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

Francine Prose's latest novel was inspired by a 1932 photo of two lesbians, one of whom was in the Gestapo. Critic Maureen Corrigan says it's an ingenious excursion into the Parisian demimonde.

Queue Listen Now

Edward St. Aubyn's 2006 novel Mother's Milk was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Books
Arts

In Life And Fiction, Edward St. Aubyn Sheds The Weight Of His Past

6:39pm May 20, 2014

The writer is best known for his semi-autobiographical novels about an Englishman from a posh but monstrous family. St. Aubyn's new book marks a departure.

Queue Listen Now