Books

Books
Arts

Claudia Rankine's 'Just Us' Is A Conversation, Not A Prescription

8:28pm September 03, 2020

by Audie Cornish

In her new collection, Just Us, Claudia Rankine, without telling us what to do, urges us to begin the discussions that might open pathways through this divisive and stuck moment in American history.

Queue Listen Now

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former White House press secretary, speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 30.

In Memoir, Sarah Huckabee Sanders Shows She's All In With Trump

5:50pm September 03, 2020

by Franco Ordoñez

The former press secretary is not about settling scores. Her book is an unabashed homage to the president and a feathering of her nest for a probable run for governor of Arkansas.

In 'Having And Being Had,' Eula Biss Maps Capitalist Game Rules Without Breaking Them

5:00am September 03, 2020

by Kristen Martin

By rooting each meditation in lived experience, the author captures the way the capitalist value system has weaseled itself into the everyday — even implicating herself in its ills and rewards.

Everything Sad is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri

Books
Arts

'Everything Sad Is Untrue' Is Funny And Sad And (Mostly) True

4:37pm September 02, 2020

by Ailsa Chang

In his new novel Daniel Nayeri fictionalizes his own experience of arriving in Oklahoma as an eight-year-old Iranian refugee and dealing with the difficulties of leaving his home and father behind.

Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President by Michael S. Schmidt

'People Around The President Are Trying To Stop Him,' 'Times' Journalist Says

4:14pm September 02, 2020

by Terry Gross

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Schmidt says it's unusual for advisers to be so focused on preventing a president from breaking the law. His new book is Donald Trump v. The United States.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Daddy' Dwells In The Moments After Something Awful Happens

10:00am September 02, 2020

by Clare Marie Schneider

Emma Cline's new story collection never digs into the nitty-gritty details of how her characters have gone wrong. Instead, she focuses on what happens after the affair or the addiction or the firing.

The Lying Life of Adults, by Elena Ferrante

Books
Arts

Sex Is The Most Powerful Force In This 'Lying Life'

7:00am September 02, 2020

by Annalisa Quinn

Elena Ferrante's latest is as slinky and scowling as a Neapolitan cat, and as promised, it's all about the part of life adults lie about: sex — and the chaos, infidelity and fear that accompany it.

Books

'Having And Being Had': A Book That Answers Your Questions On Capitalism

4:43pm September 01, 2020

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with author Eula Biss about her new book. Having and Being Had attempts to answer questions on capitalism: What is it? Is it inevitable? And how do we live outside it?

Books
Arts

'The Quiet Americans' Examines Tragic Miscalculations In The CIA's Formative Years

2:44pm September 01, 2020

by Dave Davies

In a new book, author Scott Anderson chronicles the formative years of America's spy agency by focusing on four soldiers who became intelligence agents after World War II.

Queue Listen Now

Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power, by Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck

'Blood And Oil' Traces Mohammed Bin Salman's Rise As A Ruthless Saudi Leader

12:46pm September 01, 2020

by Jackie Northam

The Wall Street Journal's Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck chart MBS' evolution from an unfocused, overweight kid with a taste for McDonald's to an increasingly brutish man with an eye on the throne.