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An Ancient Route Rolls On: Questions For Author Of 'The Silk Roads'

5:13pm April 08, 2016

by Nishant Dahiya

It's been centuries since camel caravans crisscrossed Eurasia along the Silk Roads. Now historian Peter Frankopan's new book puts the fabled roads at the center of a new view of world history.

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'Gateway To Freedom': Heroes, Danger And Loss On The Underground Railroad

1:41pm April 08, 2016

Historian Eric Foner recently won the American History Book Prize from the New York Historical Society for Gateway to Freedom, about the underground railroad. Originally broadcast Jan. 15, 2015.

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Searching For Home, Living For Art In 'All Tomorrow's Parties'

7:35pm April 07, 2016

by Jason Sheehan

Tin House editor Rob Spillman's new memoir chronicles his search for a maybe-nonexistent home across decades and continents. He's a winning writer despite occasional lapses into artsy self-importance.

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'The Red Parts' Offers No Easy Answers

3:49pm April 07, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

Author Maggie Nelson's aunt was murdered decades ago. Her new book chronicles the trial that ensues when the old, cold case is reopened. It's an uneasy masterpiece that avoids quick catharsis.

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A Radiologist And Poet Explains How He Sees The World In Patterns

3:10pm April 07, 2016

by NPR Staff

Amit Majmudar, Ohio's first Poet Laureate, spends his days looking for abnormalities in X-rays, CT scans and PET scans. He's given his latest poetry collection a provocative name: Dothead.

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Marvel's Black Panther by writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and artist Brian Stelfreeze.

Ta-Nehisi Coates Hopes 'Black Panther' Will Be Some Kid's 'Spider-Man'

10:47am April 07, 2016

by NPR Staff

Coates has written a new series of Black Panther comics telling the story of an African prince turned superhero. "Comic book heroes are like our mythology," he says. "They're our Greek gods."

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The Agonizing Collision Of Love And Slavery In 'Thomas Jefferson'

7:00am April 06, 2016

by Jean Zimmerman

The real, historical Thomas Jefferson never wrote anything about Sally Hemings, his slave and companion for decades. But she comes to life in a complex new novel from author Stephen O'Connor.

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Arts

Encore: Author Explores The Murder Of Kitty Genovese

11:03pm April 05, 2016

Winston Moseley, the man who brutally murdered Catherine "Kitty" Genovese in March 1964, has died in prison at age 81. This story originally aired on March 3, 2014, on All Things Considered.

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The women of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory helped launch the first American satellites, lunar missions and planetary explorations. Those "human computers," as they were called, are seen here in 1953.

Meet The 'Rocket Girls,' The Women Who Charted The Course To Space

5:56pm April 05, 2016

by NPR Staff

Before there were digital computers, there were "human computers," women who used pencils and paper to do the math that helped carry the U.S. into space. Nathalia Holt tells their story in a new book.

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Students chat, nap and take notes in this 14th century lecture by Henricus de Alemania, painted by Laurentius de Voltolina.

Wax Tablets, Chicken Rustling And The Medieval Roots Of The Modern University

4:45pm April 05, 2016

by Byrd Pinkerton

Universities have changed significantly since the Middle Ages. James Axtell describes just how far higher education has come in his new book, Wisdom's Workshop.