Poet Mark Doty Pays Tribute To Walt Whitman In His New Book
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with American poet Mark Doty about his new book, What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life.
Books
Officer Clemmons, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Policeman Pal, Tells His Story
Dr. François S. Clemmons' ambition and artistry, pain and struggle informed the person behind his character, Officer Clemmons. His memoir is often disarming in its intimacy and honesty.
'A Community Of Desperation' Finding Sympathy And Solidarity In Dorothea Lange
The American photographer intimately documented the upheavals of the Great Depression. Now, amid the upheavals of the coronavirus, Lange's portraits of humanity and adversity still have a lot to say.
Will Your Kids Love Your Favorite Childhood Reads? Let's Find Out
With few new books coming in, our kids' books columnist turns to the favorite reads of her childhood — beginning with the 19th-century classic Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.
Joy Harjo Gets A Second Term As U.S. Poet Laureate
Joy Harjo, the nation's first Native American to serve as Poet Laureate, was appointed to a second term by Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden.
Medical Historian Says Pandemics Are 'Looking Glasses' For Societies
Frank Snowden, author of the book, Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present, describes how pandemics stretching back centuries and our responses to them have shaped history.
'Normal People' Is A Love Story To Cherish
The Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel is gently romantic, wise and sometimes sad, and made with the care that an adaptation of a beloved book deserves.
This Is 'Creepy': Lawrence Wright Wishes His Pandemic Novel Had Gotten It Wrong
The End of October is about a mysterious virus that starts in Asia, sweeps across continents, cripples the health care system, wrecks the economy, and kills people worldwide.
A 'Home Baked' Childhood: When The Family Business Is Marijuana Brownies
Growing up in San Francisco in the '70s, Alia Volz's family ran a booming weed-laced brownie business. "I had this understanding of my family as an outlaw family from the very beginning," she says.
'Sigh, Gone' Is A Refugee's Chaotic Memoir Of Displacement And Belonging
Phuc Tran was a toddler in 1975 when his family fled Vietnam and landed in a small town in Pennsylvania. His memoir is a scrambled story of great books and punk rock.