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Véronique Tadjo's 'In The Company Of Men' Focuses On West Africa's Ebola Outbreak

5:09pm February 24, 2021

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with writer Véronique Tadjo about her book, In The Company of Men. It's a novel about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, first published in French in 2017.

The Pandemic Has Made An Unlikely Star Out Of A Brooklyn Librarian

4:57pm February 24, 2021

by Sally Herships

The pandemic has yielded a silver lining for the Brooklyn Public Library. Bilingual librarian Tenzin Kalsang's Tibetan story time has been drawing audiences in the thousands.

Tim O'Brien was a foot soldier during the Vietnam War. "The problem for me really is that I questioned the rectitude of the war," he says. "I thought I was doing the wrong thing by being there."

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Tim O'Brien On Late-In-Life Fatherhood And The Things He Carried From Vietnam

1:17pm February 24, 2021

by Terry Gross

Now 74, O'Brien didn't become a father until his late 50s. He reflects on writing, mortality and his experiences in Vietnam in the new documentary, The War and Peace of Tim O'Brien.

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Two Truths and a Lie, by Ellen McGarrahan

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A Botched Execution Leads To A Search For Answers In 'Two Truths And A Lie'

1:16pm February 24, 2021

by Maureen Corrigan

Ellen McGarrahan was a young reporter for The Miami Herald, when she witnessed an execution that went horribly wrong. She revisits the case of Jesse Tafero in an intense new true crime book.

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On 'The Kitchen Front,' 4 Women Cook Their Way To Victory

7:00am February 24, 2021

by Maria Godoy

In Jennifer Ryan's new novel, set in England in 1942, four women from different backgrounds compete in a cooking contest with a possibly life-changing prize: The chance to cohost a BBC cooking show.

Poet and author Lawrence Ferlinghetti, pictured above in 1960, was born on March 24, 1919.

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Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Beat Poet And Small-Press Publisher, Dies At 101

8:05pm February 23, 2021

by Tom Vitale

In 1956, Ferlinghetti published the first edition of Allen Ginsberg's Howl. According to one critic, his greatest accomplishments were fighting censorship and starting a small-press revolution.

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What Does The 'War' Over Obamacare Reveal About Our Governing Bodies?

1:46pm February 23, 2021

by Terry Gross

In his new book, The Ten Year War, Jonathan Cohn looks at the intense debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act, the compromises of the law itself, and the ongoing fight for universal health care.

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Flight of the Diamond Smugglers: A Tale of Pigeons, Obsession, and Greed Along Coastal South Africa, by Matthew Gavin Frank

Pigeons Star In A Tale Of Mining In 'Flight Of The Diamond Smugglers'

12:25pm February 23, 2021

by Martha Anne Toll

Journalist Matthew Gavin Frank exposes the history of South Africa's nefarious diamond industry, accompanied by a tale of pigeons and their role in subversion, in crisp and poetic prose.

Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America's Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World, by Joby Warrick

'Red Line' Examines Syria's Use Of Chemical Weapons, And The World's Discovery Of It

10:49am February 23, 2021

by Steve Inskeep

Journalist Joby Warrick takes a detailed look at an excruciating moment for the world — the time in 2013 when the U.S. concluded that Syria's government had used chemical weapons in its civil war.

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'Popular Longing' Digs Into Everything We'd Rather Leave Unsaid

5:45am February 22, 2021

by Jeevika Verma

In her third collection of poems, Natalie Shapero takes a blunt, funny look at the uncomfortable realities of life under capitalism. She says her work engages with the things people don't talk about.

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