Author Interviews

A good fantasy novel can really transform the world — whether it's this world or another one entirely. Here are three YA fantasy novels to transform the dog days of summer for young readers.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Mitchell about his new book, The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe.

The author discusses her collection, The Woman I Kept to Myself, in which she explores the many facets of her identity, from the girl who reads poetry to herself at night to the seasoned professor.

On the Code Switch podcast, Ross Gay reflects on his 2019 collection The Book of Delights, the difficulty of allowing yourself to be moved, and why he thinks it's important to use the word "love."

NPR's A Martínez talks to Afghan American novelist Khaled Hosseini about his reflections on Afghanistan, which has been shattered by decades of war, tribal feuds and corruption.

Author Eyal Press calls them "jobs of last resort" — slaughtering animals, working in prisons, engaging in remote drone combat. Society needs them but doesn't want to talk about them.

The book covers King's Grand Slam and Wimbledon championships, the "Battle of the Sexes," her activism for women's and LGBTQ rights, as well as some joyous and painful chapters in her personal life.

Journalist Adam Harris explains how the higher education system has been built on an uneven foundation from the start — and how slavery, segregation and racism have stymied Black education.

NPR's Don Gonyea speaks with Ahmed Rashid, author of the book Taliban: The Story of Afghan's War Lords.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Lizzie Johnson about her new book, Paradise, which examines the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed the northern California town of Paradise.

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Virginia Feito, the author of the new novel Mrs. March, a story about a woman with a tidy, respectable life on the Upper East Side which is thrown into disarray.

If you, like many people, are getting through the dragging months of the pandemic by being Very Online, you'll find poet Leigh Stein's new book is a perfect encapsulation of that experience.