Author Interviews

The feet of a teen couple dangle as they sit on a dock.

Books
Arts

Teens Rehearse For Adulthood In Wolitzer's 'Interestings'

3:03pm February 18, 2014

Meg Wolitzer's novel is about lifelong friendship tinged with jealousy. It begins at a summer camp in 1974 and follows a group of friends through middle age. Wolitzer says her teen years were a rehearsal for her adult life and that today she is "different" but "in the same shell."

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Most of us have never been submerged under more than a few feet underwater. But just a few meters down, the water compresses the tissues of your body so that you become more dense. At that point, "You're more likely to sink than float," says Dr. Kevin Fon

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Arts

Practicing 'Extreme Medicine,' From Deep Sea To Outer Space

12:39pm February 12, 2014

by NPR Staff

In his new book, Dr. Kevin Fong explores how humans survive extremes of heat, cold, outer space and deep sea. "We're still exploring the human body and what medicine can do in the same way that the great explorers of the 20th century and every age before them explored the world," he says.

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The Earth's 'Sixth Extinction' May Be One Of Our Own Making

10:15am February 12, 2014

There have been five major mass extinctions over the last half-billion years, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists are currently monitoring an era of mass extinction predicted to be the most devastating since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. But this time around, says Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction, it's humans that are causing it.

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Brian McGough and Kayla Williams met in Iraq in 2003.

Books
Arts

For Military Couples, It's A Long Recovery 'When We Get Home'

8:24am February 11, 2014

Kayla Williams and Brian McGough met in Iraq in 2003. Williams' new memoir, Plenty of Time When We Get Home, describes their homecoming after McGough suffered physical and cognitive injuries in an IED explosion.

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detail from cover of Code Name: Johnny Walker

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Arts

With Fearlessness And A 'Code Name,' Iraqi Helped Navy SEALs

6:33pm February 09, 2014

by NPR Staff

Interpreter "Johnny Walker" accompanied the U.S. military on countless missions in his war-torn home country of Iraq. His memoir, Code Name: Johnny Walker, details his experiences with the SEALs and his family's long path to U.S. citizenship.

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The title of Jennifer Senior's book — All Joy and No Fun — contrasts the strains of day-to-day parenting with the transcendent experience of having a child.

Books
Arts

Are We Having Fun Yet? New Book Explores The Paradox Of Parenting

4:09pm February 04, 2014

Kids can be magical and maddening. The title of Jennifer Senior's book — All Joy and No Fun — contrasts the strains of day-to-day parenting with the transcendent experience of raising a child.

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Books
Arts

'Le Divorce' Author Finds Stories Closer To Home In 'Flyover'

9:31am January 31, 2014

by NPR Staff

Diane Johnson has spent much of her adult life living in France, writing novels like Le Divorce. But it was not until a visit home, to the Midwestern town of Moline, IL, that the Johnson discovered that her pioneer ancestors had lives worthy of writing about. Her new book, Flyover Lives reconstructs their stories.

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Books
Arts

What Wakes B.J. Novak Up In The Middle Of The Night?

7:58am January 31, 2014

by Lynn Neary

B.J. Novak is a triple threat. He got his start in show business as a standup comedian which led to a job on the hit comedy series The Office. Novak had a regular part on the show but he was also one of the writers. Now he has put his writing talent to work on a book of stories: One More Thing.

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A boat skims through the melting ice in the Ilulissat fjord in August 2008, on the western coast of Greenland.

Entrepreneurs Looking For 'Windfall' Cash In On Climate Change

2:48pm January 28, 2014

A new book explores the ways melting Arctic ice yield new shipping channels, new oil and gas resources — and potential profits. Journalist McKenzie Funk delves into the "booming business of global warming" in Windfall.

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'Pope And Mussolini' Tells The 'Secret History' Of Fascism And The Church

1:45pm January 27, 2014

It's commonly thought that the Catholic Church fought heroically against the fascists in Italy. But in The Pope and Mussolini, historian David Kertzer says the church actually lent organizational strength and moral legitimacy to Mussolini's regime.

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