Author Interviews

What 1 Journalist Learned From Researching The Causes Of The Opioid Epidemic

5:59pm August 08, 2018

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with journalist Beth Macy about her new book Dopesick, after she spent the last three years digging into the causes of the opioid epidemic, from rampant overprescribing of painkillers to stigma of heroin addiction in white suburban communities.

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'Into The Hands Of The Soldiers' Explores How The U.S. Contributed To Chaos In Egypt

4:15pm August 07, 2018

by Terry Gross

New York Times correspondent David Kirkpatrick says the Obama White House watched Arab democracy fall, and now the Trump administration is embracing Egypt's autocratic president.

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How Can America Reduce Mass Incarceration?

1:31pm August 06, 2018

by Terry Gross

Julian Adler, co-author of Start Here, and Judge Victoria Pratt discuss alternatives to jail, including community service, social services and even personal essays.

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Books

Time With White Nationalists Recorded In 'Everything You Love Will Burn'

5:59am August 06, 2018

Noel Kings talks to journalist Vegas Tenold, who spent several years embedded with white nationalist groups — culminating in last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va.

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The Story Of Sand In 'The World In A Grain'

8:29am August 05, 2018

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with author Vince Beiser about his new book, The World in a Grain. The book tells the story of sand and the crucial role it plays in our lives.

detail from the cover of Orchid and the Wasp by Caoilinn Hughes

Books
Arts

In 'Orchid And The Wasp,' An Unapologetic Heroine Who's No Gentle Flower

8:29am August 05, 2018

Caoilinn Hughes's new novel introduces a young Irish woman named Gael Foess, who is both exploitative and highly effective. The author says her protagonist is unlikable on purpose.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, pictured here in the Oval Office in 2016, reunite as a buddy-cop crime-solving duo in the new (entirely fictional) novel Hope Never Dies.

Barack And Joe Solve A Murder Mystery

5:40pm August 04, 2018

by Don Gonyea

The new noir novel Hope Never Dies rekindles a presidential buddy-cop bromance in order to unravel a suspicious death in Delaware. It is, to be clear, 100 percent fan fiction.

Books

A Rearranging World In 'The Third Hotel'

8:08am August 04, 2018

Clare, recently widowed, goes to a movie and sees her husband. Is he real? Or does she just think he's real? NPR's Scott Simon talks to Laura van den Berg about her latest novel, The Third Hotel.

Emil Ferris and her semi-autobiographical creation Karen Reyes, the star of My Favorite Thing is Monsters.

Books
Arts

'Every Full Moon We Can Howl At Is A Victory,' Says Emil Ferris

5:55pm August 03, 2018

by Mallory Yu

Ferris' graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters won three Eisners, the highest award in mainstream comics, and it celebrates the things that make us all monsters — because monsters are cool.

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Writer Mark Russell says artist Steve Pugh's character designs bring humanity to his updated version of The Flintstones.

Books
Arts

Yabbadabba-What? These Aren't The Flintstones You Remember

5:39pm August 02, 2018

by Mallory Yu

When you say The Flintstones, most people think of the old Hanna Barbera cartoons. But a new comic book adaptation keeps the humor, and tackles some heavy themes like capitalism and human frailty.

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