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Tom Hanks Is Obsessed With Typewriters (So He Wrote A Book About Them)

8:13am October 16, 2017

by David Greene

The actor's new collection of short fiction — his debut book as an author — is called Uncommon Type, and each story has something to do with the machine close to his heart.

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CANADA - OCTOBER 01: Author - Kazuo Ishiguro (Photo by Rick Eglinton/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

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Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro Once Wrote A Screenplay About Eating A Ghost

10:48pm October 15, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Written in the '80s, The Gourmet is an absurdist satire exploring the politics of food and the hedonistic culture of consumerism that treats it as a recreational drug. It's still strikingly relevant.

Mortician Caitlin Doughty has traveled around the world exploring the ways other cultures approach death.

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Mortician Explores Cultures' Many Paths For 'Sacred Transition' Of Death

2:31pm October 15, 2017

Caitlin Doughty, whose Los Angeles funeral home specializes in alternative ceremonies, traveled the world to collect stories about how different peoples send loved ones off to the great beyond.

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Tape worm pills were once advertised as a way to stay thin.

'Quackery' Chronicles How Our Love Of Miracle Cures Leads Us Astray

8:04am October 15, 2017

by April Fulton

Tobacco enemas? Mercury pills? Ice pick lobotomies? A new book explains how throughout history, miracle "cures" often didn't just fail to improve people's health, they maimed and killed.

'A Skinful of Shadows' By Frances Hardinge

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'Skinful Of Shadows' Delights Without Reservation

7:00am October 15, 2017

by Caitlyn Paxson

Frances Hardinge's captivating tale follows a girl during the English Civil War who discovers she has the power to invite ghosts into herself — a power that puts her in danger, but can also save her.

'Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History' By Tori Telfer

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'Lady Killers:' Cherchez La Femme Fatale

10:00am October 14, 2017

by Jean Zimmerman

An FBI investigator once famously said "There are no female serial killers," but Tori Telfer sets out to prove him wrong with this gruesome new account of multiply-murderous women throughout history.

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For October: 3 Romance Heroes Who Bare It All

7:00am October 14, 2017

by Maya Rodale

There's one thing romance heroes have in common — whether a duke, a workaholic billionaire or reality TV hunk: They look really good with their shirts off. Here are three of our favorites this month.

Joseph Lister directing the use of carbolic acid spray in one of his earliest antiseptic surgical operations, circa 1865.

'The Butchering Art': How A 19th Century Physician Made Surgery Safer

5:28pm October 13, 2017

by April Fulton

Before surgeons accepted germ theory, operations often killed patients. All Things Considered host Robert Siegel talks with the author of a new biography of antiseptic advocate Joseph Lister.

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Exclusive First Read: Philip Pullman's 'The Book Of Dust'

6:00am October 13, 2017

by Petra Mayer

Philip Pullman returns to the world of his beloved Dark Materials trilogy in The Book of Dust. We have an exclusive first peek at young protagonist Malcolm, his canoe, and the day his life changes.

"I'm meant to make people happy. That's my job," says Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon.

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Arts

Jimmy Fallon On The School Of 'SNL' And His Tendency To Smile Too Much

7:15pm October 12, 2017

by Terry Gross

"There was a report card from kindergarten and the comment from the teacher was, 'Jimmy smiles too much,' " Fallon says. "I think I would smile even when I was getting yelled at."

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