Commentary

Leo del Aguila (from left), Vesa Gashi, Scott Simon, Erblin Mehmetaj and Shawn Fox in 1999 in a housing complex in Pristina. Del Aguila, Simon and Fox were covering the Kosovo conflict for NPR; the children lived in the war-stricken area.

World News

When Weighing Intervention In Syria, Consider The Children

1:01pm September 07, 2013

by Scott Simon

This week, NPR's Scott Simon ran into a young man he knew years ago while covering the war in Kosovo. His friend was just a child during that conflict, and their chance reunion prompted Simon to wonder anew about children trapped in conflict zones and the unknowable consequences of military intervention in Syria.

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Sports

How About A Gold Medal For Human Rights For Gay People?

5:46pm August 28, 2013

by Frank Deford

Russia is pledging that the 2014 games will be free of discrimination despite its anti-gay measures. Frank Deford isn't buying it and says Olympic officials need to be accountable.

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Many of Elmore Leonard's stories have been adapted for the screen, from the movie Get Shorty to the TV show, Justified.

Books

Remembering Elmore Leonard, A Writer Who Hated Literature

11:39am August 24, 2013

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon remembers Elmore Leonard as a writer who found "putting pretty clothes on hard, direct words" contemptible, and loathed what's typically known as literature. Leonard wrote more than 40 novels over his long career.

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Juan Gabriel Vasquez is also the author of The Informers.

Books
Arts

'Things Falling' Is A Potboiler, But One That's Set To Simmer

6:38pm August 21, 2013

by Rosecrans Baldwin

The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez takes readers on a journey through Colombia starting in the late '60s — but it's not your average detective story. Reviewer Rosecrans Baldwin says the real mysteries in the book are in the minds of the characters.

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Justin St. Germain teaches at the University of New Mexico.

Books
Arts

Heading West: The Gritty, Luminous 'Son Of A Gun'

8:17pm August 12, 2013

by Julia Keller

If the town of Tombstone, Ariz., sounds familiar, it probably has to do with what happened there in 1881 — the year of the infamous gunfight between lawman Wyatt Earp and a rival gang. A new memoir by Justin St. Germain weaves the story of the O.K. Corral into another, more personal tale.

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Wildfires Destroyed 'Big Chunks Of My Childhood'

8:53am August 12, 2013

Wildfires are raging across the West. Colorado resident and Morning Edition commentator Craig Childs, a veteran of many fires, describes the long-term damage to the landscape. Child's latest book is Apocalypse Planet: Field Guide to the Future of the Earth.

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Choire Sicha co-runs the website The Awl. Very Recent History is his first book.

Books
Arts

Party Like It's 2009: Life And Friendship In The Great Recession

5:23pm August 11, 2013

by Alex Espinoza

When the economy's dropping like an anvil, young professionals have to find ways to make do — and having friends always helps. Reviewer Alex Espinoza says Choire Sicha's Very Recent History is an insightful tale of friends weathering a tough economy in the big city.

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Peter Capaldi is the latest actor to play the Doctor on the long-running British sci-fi show, Doctor Who.

The Doctor, An Utterly Millennial Hero

7:43am August 11, 2013

by Celeste Headlee

Doctor Who fans waited with bated breath this summer for the announcement of the latest actor to play the Doctor. But the Doctor is more than a character on a show that millions love, he's arguably the chosen hero of the millennial generation.

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A conference attendee tries Google Glass during the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco in May.

Arts

Bracing For Google Glass: An In-Your-Face Technology

2:22pm August 05, 2013

by Geoff Nunberg

The new eyeglass frames allow you to take pictures and browse the Internet while you wear them. Early adopters focused on the tiny screens have already been dubbed "glassholes." Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg reminds us that in Shakespeare's time "distraction" was another word for madness.

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Michael Paterniti is also the author of Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain.

Books
Arts

A Touching, 'Telling' Book About Cheese

6:24pm July 28, 2013

by Rosecrans Baldwin

Colonel Mustard, in the ballroom, with the ... Gouda? You may not expect a wheel of cheese to be at the center of a devious plot, but Michael Paterniti's The Telling Room manages to do just that.

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