Books

Books

Merriam-Webster has added 370 words and phrases to its dictionary

6:33am September 09, 2022

Pumpkin spice was among the new additions. Along with yeet — an exclamation of excitement. Sus — short for suspicious or suspect. And ICYMI which is short for in case you missed it.

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The YouTube algorithm has been criticized for pushing content that radicalizes users rather than keeping them informed.

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How the polarizing effect of social media is speeding up

5:01am September 09, 2022

In his new book, journalist Max Fisher unpacks how social media companies have engineered our feeds to keep us angry, and keep us online.

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How YouTube became one of the planet's most influential media businesses

1:32pm September 08, 2022

by Dave Davies

Like, Comment, Subscribe author Mark Bergen says YouTube has ushered in a world of abundant content and creativity, of influencers and hustlers, of information overload and endless culture wars.

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5 new YA reads to check out this fall

8:51am September 07, 2022

by Caitlyn Paxson

As autumn's chill creeps in, we look to five new YA releases that will both haunt you and bewitch your heart, including books by the authors of Last Night at the Telegraph Club and The City Beautiful.

'Surveillance State' explores China's tech and social media control systems

5:42am September 07, 2022

by Emily Feng

Veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Josh Chin and Liza Lin spent years covering China. In a new book, they untangle how China built its formidable digital surveillance apparatus.

Author Peter Straub at St. Paul's School in London, when he was collaborating with the Aurora Orchestra for their touring show "Thriller" in 2011.

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Arts

Best-selling horror writer Peter Straub has died

5:40pm September 06, 2022

by Elizabeth Blair

Straub was 79. He was known for his supernatural themes, including Ghost Story, The Hellfire Club and, in collaboration with Stephen King, The Talisman.

Books

Encore: Werner Herzog's new novel is a story of the jungle and obsession and delusion

4:55pm September 06, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with filmmaker Werner Herzog about his debut novel, The Twilight World. It tells the story of Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese soldier who kept fighting decades after the end of WWII.

Books

A new novel honors the forgotten — and possibly murdered — Lucrezia de Medici

4:55pm September 06, 2022

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Maggie O'Farrell about her novel The Marriage Portrait, an imagined account of the life of Lucrezia de' Medici, who was rumored to have been murdered by her husband.

Books

Social media can inflame your emotions — and it's a byproduct of its design

4:23pm September 06, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to Max Fisher, author of The Chaos Machine, about how social media companies leverage content that elicits anger and outrage to keep users engaged on their platforms.

Books

A.M. Homes on writing about characters that have different set of values from her

4:23pm September 06, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with author A.M. Homes about her new book, The Unfolding, which focuses on a Republican power broker between election night 2008 and Inauguration Day in January 2009.