Author Interviews

Books

From Puberty To Pop Culture: What It Means 'To Be A Woman'

12:13pm January 04, 2013

In How To Be A Woman, British columnist and critic Caitlin Moran describes her journey — thus far — through womanhood. She shares stories of the awkwardness of puberty, and the perils of fashion, career, marriage and childbirth. Along the way, she explores what it means to be a feminist today.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Frank Calabrese Jr. On Opening His 'Family Secrets'

12:04pm January 04, 2013

Frank Calabrese Jr. wrote a memoir about bringing down his father's murderous Chicago crime family. In Operation Family Secrets, Frank detailed how he helped the FBI convict his father of several murders by wearing a hidden wire and taping his father's conversations. His father died Christmas Day.

Queue Listen Now

The singer Skin of Skunk Anansie performs at Brixton Academy in London last month. She wrote the foreword to Laina Dawes' What Are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal.

The 'Life And Liberation' Of A Black Female Metal Fan

10:15am January 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

Writer Laina Dawes has loved heavy metal ever since she got her first Kiss album at age 8. But the metal community hasn't always loved her back, as she explains in her book What Are You Doing Here?

Queue Listen Now

Ben Fountain is the author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and the short story collection Brief Encounters With Che Guevara.

Books
Arts

Author Ben Fountain's Book Picks For 2013

6:33pm December 30, 2012

by NPR Staff

Ben Fountain's first novel, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, was nominated for the 2012 National Book Award. He's well-read for 2013, so we thought we'd ask him what to look forward to in the book world.

Queue Listen Now

The Renaissance Man Who Got It All Wrong

1:03pm December 28, 2012

In A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change, John Glassie writes of 17th-century Jesuit priest and scientist Athanasius Kircher, a renaissance man who studied magnetism, Mount Vesuvius, even the blood of plague victims. The only problem? His theories were often wrong.

Queue Listen Now

Margaret Atwood has written 13 novels, including The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake.

Books
Arts

Margaret Atwood's Brave New World Of Online Publishing

9:40pm December 27, 2012

by NPR Staff

Charles Dickens wrote many of his greatest works in serial form, but serial publishing has fallen by the wayside since his day. Now, it's being revived online, and Margaret Atwood is publishing a future-dystopia novel called Positron in installments via the literary website Byliner.

Queue Listen Now

Talking About What It Means 'To Be Black'

3:08pm December 27, 2012

In his 2012 book, How To Be Black, comedian Baratunde Thurston offers a humorous and poignant commentary on race in America. As part of our annual series on books we missed, Thurston shares his take on the conversations Americans have about race — as well as the ones we should have, but avoid altogether.

Queue Listen Now

R.A. Dickey currently plays for the New York Mets. He was previously with the Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers.

Sports
Books

R.A. Dickey On 'Winding Up' As A Knuckleballer

12:18pm December 27, 2012

New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey is currently the only knuckleball pitcher in the major leagues. His memoir, Wherever I Wind Up, explains how his life — and career — have mimicked the unpredictable trajectory of the difficult pitch he throws game after game.

Queue Listen Now

Joan Rivers says her material has only gotten stronger with age. "I always say, 'What are you going to do? Are you going to fire me? Been fired. Going to be bankrupt? Been bankrupt.'"

Books
Arts

Joan Rivers Hates You, Herself and Everyone Else

12:19pm December 26, 2012

Comedian Joan Rivers hates a lot of things. Her new book, I Hate Everyone, Starting With Me, details the things Rivers can't stand, from her appearance to obituaries to younger comedians who steal her gigs.

Queue Listen Now

How To Handle Santa-Heavy TV In A Jewish Home

1:46pm December 25, 2012

The Christmas season is a peculiar time for Jewish children, many of whom are drawn to Christmas specials like A Christmas Story. What should Jewish parents do? Guest host John Donvan talks to Slate senior editor Dahlia Lithwick about her Jewish parent's guide to Christmas specials.

Queue Listen Now