Author Interviews

Books
Arts

In 'The Dakota Winters,' Finding A New Story To Tell About John Lennon

8:01am December 15, 2018

by Scott Simon

Tom Barbash's new novel is set in the famed Manhattan apartment house where Lennon spent the last year of his life — and where, in this telling, he befriends a washed-up talk show host and his son.

Illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi based The Broken Ornament's Christmas fairy Tinsel on his wife, Angela, who helped with the book.

Books
Arts

This 'Broken Ornament' Led To Christmas Magic

4:22pm December 13, 2018

by Lynn Neary

Award-winning illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi got the idea for his new children's book when his own daughter accidentally dropped a beloved Christmas ornament, and he made up a story to comfort her. W

Books
Arts

Code Switch's 2018 Book Guide

10:08am December 12, 2018

We checked in with authors, poets and great literary minds to see what books they think everyone should read this holiday season.

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Attendees preview the BMW Vision iNEXT autonomous electric car at a special unveil event ahead of the LA Auto Show on Nov. 27, 2018.

The Revolution Will Be Driverless: Autonomous Cars Usher In Big Changes

12:31pm December 11, 2018

by Terry Gross

Autonomous vehicles could be the "most disruptive technology to hit society worldwide since the advent of the motor car," says former New York City traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz.

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A Photographer Turns A Lens On His Father's Alzheimer's

12:42pm December 06, 2018

by Meredith Rizzo

They had always been partners, in a way — artists who connected through their work. So, when Gene DiRado began withdrawing from the world, his son rushed toward him — and brought along a camera.

Books
Arts

'All That Heaven Allows' Examines Rock Hudson's Life As A Closeted Leading Man

1:24pm December 05, 2018

by Terry Gross

Hudson lived a double life as a Hollywood heartthrob and a closeted gay man. Biographer Mark Griffin says Hudson's death from AIDS in 1985 was a turning point in public awareness of the epidemic.

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Swinging on a Star, written by jazz and film critic Gary Giddins, is out now.

New Biography Chronicles Bing Crosby's Most Beloved Years

5:06pm December 04, 2018

by Tom Vitale

Crosby set the mold for the multimedia star: on radio, on the big screen and on record. The 1940s was the period when his star shone brightest and Swinging on a Star by Gary Giddins tells that story.

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Books

Extreme Ideologies Clash In 'North Of Dawn'

3:19pm December 04, 2018

by Steve Inskeep

Author Nuruddin Farah writes about immigration and radicalization in his latest novel North of Dawn, which follows a Somali living in exile in Norway whose son chooses a dangerously extreme path.

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Books
Arts

In Love With Teen Lit: Remembering The 'Paperback Crush' Of The '80s And '90s

6:04pm December 03, 2018

by Ailsa Chang

As a preteen Gabrielle Moss devoured books in "The Baby-Sitters Club" and "Sweet Valley High" series. She recently reread them for "nostalgic stress relief" and ended up writing a book on the genre.

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Matthew Macfadyen (right) and Stephen Mangan played Jeeves and Wooster, respectively, in Perfect Nonsense, a 2013 stage production. The characters were first created by comic author P.G. Wodehouse.

Books
Arts

Jeeves And Wooster, But Make It A Modern Spy Novel

7:53am December 02, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Ben Shott has taken the iconic P.G. Wodehouse comic characters (with the blessing of the Wodehouse estate) and twisted "five degrees to starboard" in his new novel Jeeves and the King of Clubs.