Books

Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain, by Shankar Vedantam and Bill Mesler

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Arts

'Useful Delusions' Examines How Beliefs Can Be Powerful In Positive And Negative Ways

1:14pm March 12, 2021

by Steve Inskeep

In a new book, former NPR reporter Shankar Vedantam suggests attaining "a deeper psychological understanding of why people believe what they believe," being empathetic and considering costs involved.

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Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer, by Harold Schechter

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'Maniac' Recounts Deadliest School Mass Murder In American History

3:29pm March 11, 2021

by Michael Schaub

Author Harold Schechter details the 1927 school bombing in Bath Township, Mich., which killed 38 children and six adults. Days later, Charles Lindbergh's famous trans-Atlantic flight made headlines.

Reality and Other Stories, by John Lanchester

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Arts

The Stories In 'Reality' Have Some Bite

7:00am March 11, 2021

by Michael Schaub

John Lanchester's sharp new story collection considers the dark side of technology, from smartphones to selfie sticks. But you don't have to be a Luddite to appreciate this smart, scary book.

Jane Curtin, from left, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman in February 1978.

Books
Arts

From SNL To SpongeBob, Laraine Newman Chronicles 'Interesting Times'

5:59am March 11, 2021

by Elizabeth Blair

Newman was a founding member of the improv group The Groundlings and an original Saturday Night Live cast member. She's voiced dozens of animated characters and has just published a new audio memoir.

The Postscript Murders, by Elly Griffiths

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Arts

Books Hold The Key To 'The Postscript Murders'

5:45pm March 10, 2021

by Mary Louise Kelly

The woman who turns up dead at the start of Elly Griffiths' new novel billed herself as a "murder consultant" for writers. Griffiths says she was inspired by her aunt, who enjoys thinking up murders.

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Arts

In 'The Empathy Diaries,' Sherry Turkle Considers The Burden Of Family Secrets

1:45pm March 10, 2021

by Dave Davies

MIT professor Sherry Turkle was 27 when she learned that her estranged father had conducted psychological experiments on her when she was a child. She looks back on her childhood in a new memoir.

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Arts

Story Collection Puts A Ghostly Spin On Digital 'Reality'

12:58pm March 10, 2021

by Maureen Corrigan

Cell phones, social media and smart houses feature prominently in John Lanchester's Reality and Other Stories. A year into the pandemic, the collection speaks eerily to our tech-dependent lives.

Books
Arts

The Weird World Of 'Cosmogony' Is Immensely Inviting

7:00am March 10, 2021

by Lily Meyer

In her first collection, Lucy Ives proves herself — and we mean this as a compliment — a real literary weirdo. Her stories are strange without ever performing strangeness, baffling yet precise.

Books
Arts

'The Ghost Variations': A Different Take On What It Means To Be Haunted

7:34pm March 09, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Kevin Brockmeier about The Ghost Variations, a collection of 100 ghost stories that ponders what haunts us in this life and might make us linger in the next.

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Katie Engelhart details the right-to-die movement in her new book, The Inevitable. She says that many patients in the U.S. are forced to act alone, without telling friends and family, because they fear their loved ones will be prosecuted after the fact.

Inside The Fight For The Right To Die: Logistical And Ethical Challenges

3:46pm March 09, 2021

by Terry Gross

Katie Engelhart explores the complexity of physician-assisted death in the book The Inevitable. She says patients seeking to end their own lives sometimes resort to veterinary drugs from overseas.

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