Author Interviews

Oliver Sacks: Hallucinations

3:11pm May 21, 2013

In his latest book Hallucinations, neurologist Oliver Sacks collects stories of individuals who can see, hear and smell things that aren't really there--such as strange voices, or collages of unrecognizable faces--and explores the disorders and drugs that can produce such illusions. This interview was originally broadcast on November 9, 2012.

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Courtside Chemistry: How NBA's Phil Jackson Won 'Eleven Rings'

11:13am May 21, 2013

by NPR Staff

Jackson is famous for his philosophical take on basketball and for the many stars he led to championship triumphs. He taught his players yoga and gave them assigned reading — but also pushed them to intensely practice fundamental skills. His new book looks back on a legendary coaching career.

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Arts

After Crashing In Canadian 'Abyss,' Four Men Fight To Survive

11:13am May 21, 2013

by NPR Staff

On an icy night in 1984, a commuter plane crashed in the wilderness. Six passengers died, but four survived: the pilot, a politician, a policeman and a prisoner. Carol Shaben's Into the Abyss describes their fight to make it through that frigid night alive.

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Arts

Unacceptable Anger From 'The Woman Upstairs'

6:18pm May 19, 2013

by NPR Staff

"Women's anger is very scary to people," author Claire Messud says. Her new novel, The Woman Upstairs, features a seething main character, a young woman whose anger is unsettling.

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Decades Later And Across An Ocean, A Novel Gets Its Due

6:18pm May 19, 2013

by NPR Staff

John Williams' Stoner sold just 2,000 copies when it was originally published in 1965. It's now acknowledged as a classic work, is a best-seller across Europe and the No. 1 novel in the Netherlands.

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'Waiting To Be Heard' No More, Amanda Knox Speaks Out

7:47pm May 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

Less than two months into her study abroad program in Italy, Amanda Knox was accused and eventually convicted of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher. After her conviction was overturned, Knox returned home to Seattle — and now faces a potential retrial. Knox tells her story in a new memoir.

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Insects May Be The Taste Of The Next Generation, Report Says

11:23am May 17, 2013

A report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says insects offer a huge potential for improving the world's food security. Peter Menzel, co-author of Man Eating Bugs, describes some insect-based cuisine and the western aversion to creepy-crawly snacks.

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Resetting the Theory of Time

11:23am May 17, 2013

Generations of physicists have claimed that time is an illusion. But not all agree. In his book Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that time exists--and he says time is key to understanding the evolution of the universe.

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Rick Atkinson worked as a reporter, correspondent and editor at The Washington Post for over 20 years. This is his sixth book of military history.

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Arts

'Guns At Last Light' Illuminates Final Months Of World War II

1:19pm May 14, 2013

by NPR Staff

Historian Rick Atkinson's new book completes his trilogy on the second world war. He tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that the events of the war may be 70 years in the past, but they're still very much a part of American culture.

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In Somalia, Surviving A Kidnapping Against 'Impossible Odds'

1:19pm May 14, 2013

by NPR Staff

In 2011, Jessica Buchanan, an aid worker in Somalia, was kidnapped by land pirates. For 93 days she fought off despair while her husband, Erik Landemalm, wondered if he'd ever see her again. In a two-part interview, Buchanan and Landemalm recall Buchanan's capture and her dramatic rescue by Navy SEALs.

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