Books

Former Obama Administration Insider Says U.S. Is Losing Its Standing On International Stage

4:23pm June 07, 2018

Ben Rhodes witnessed all eight years of Barack Obama's presidency from inside the White House, helping the president make key national security and foreign policy decisions. NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Rhodes about his new memoir about those years, The World as It Is.

Queue Listen Now

Mariam Sharma Hits the Road, by Sheba Karim

Books
Arts

'Mariam Sharma' Nails The Fun Road-Trip Vibe

10:00am June 07, 2018

by Caitlyn Paxson

Summer is the season for road-trips, and Mariam Sharma Hits the Road makes for a saucy, yet emotional ride, following three Pakistani-American teens on a journey through the Deep South.

Books
Arts

Mannered, Pretty 'Upstate' Is Quiet To A Fault

7:00am June 07, 2018

by Michael Schaub

Critic and novelist James Wood has often dinged other writers for what he calls "hysterical realism," but his new novel Upstate — while beautifully written — goes too far in the other direction.

Books

Tommy Orange's 'There There' Has A Wide Cast Of Native American Characters

6:38am June 07, 2018

by Lynn Neary

In his new novel, Tommy Orange introduces 12 different characters who converge on a powwow in Oakland, Calif. Orange is part of a new generation of Native American writers.

Queue Listen Now

Former FBI Counter-Terrorism Agent Reflects On 'Messing With The Enemy'

2:18pm June 06, 2018

by Dave Davies

Clint Watts developed online relationships with terrorists and their sympathizers in order to understand and undermine terror networks. He also researched Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

In Haunted 'Florida,' The Storms And Panthers Are Always There. How Will You Survive?

7:00am June 06, 2018

by Jason Sheehan

In Lauren Groff's gorgeous, precise new story collection, Florida is a haunted place, full of eyes in the darkness — and angry, restless women, always on the move, always searching for something.

Books
Arts

In Lauren Groff's 'Florida,' Everything's Out To Get You

6:25pm June 05, 2018

by Ari Shapiro

Groff's new short story collection, Florida, is a dark, visceral tribute to the state she has called home — though sometimes reluctantly — for the past 12 years.

Queue Listen Now

Books

Seymour Hersh Reports On A Life In Journalism

3:49pm June 05, 2018

The "scoop artist" has written a memoir.

Former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, shown here walking with President Barack Obama, says Obama was bothered by the perception that he was aloof.

Obama Staffer Looks Back On His White House Years: 'It Can Take A Real Toll'

1:52pm June 05, 2018

by Dave Davies

Former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes was 24 when he saw the collapse of the first tower on 9/11. He says that moment was a "fork in the road" that eventually led to the White House.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

An Epic Conversation Draws To A Close In 'Kudos'

7:00am June 05, 2018

by Heller McAlpin

Rachel Cusk's trilogy about a peripatetic writer and her many conversational partners winds up with Kudos. The books are essentially plotless — but there's plenty of joy to be found just in talk.