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Two new nonfiction books explore the impact of cultural forces in the world of music. First, a number of musicians, including B.B. King, Ed Sheeran, Jewel and Tracy Chapman, began their careers as street musicians. Cary Baker's new book Down on the Corner explores the history and influence of busking through interviews with performers of all kinds. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's A Martinez about some lesser-known musical street legends, like oil drum player Bongo Joe and neo-Dixieland band Tuba Skinny. They also discuss the early historical origins of busking and the way technology has changed the practice. Then, a new book on De La Soul contextualizes the hip-hop group within the modern musical canon. In High and Rising, Marcus Moore discusses how the band created a space for Black alternative culture, appealing to fans of rap, but also of jazz and punk. In today's episode, Moore speaks with Martinez about how De La Soul's popularity has persisted, despite the group's difficult trajectory.
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Lexy Bloom first read Haruki Murakami in the '90s, when she picked up A Wild Sheep Chase. At that point, not much of the Japanese author's work had been published in English. But Bloom often read his stories in The New Yorker, trying to guess which of his three translators had worked on each one. Bloom, who is now a senior editor at Knopf, began to edit Murakami's English translations years later, starting with 1Q84. Now, Murakami has a new novel out, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, a revision of an earlier novella. In today's episode, Bloom joins NPR's Andrew Limbong for a discussion that touches on what it's like to collaborate with Murakami, feminist critiques of the author's female characters, and reading the author's work through a Western lens.
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Angela Merkel served as Chancellor of Germany through a number of global challenges: a pandemic, a migrant crisis and military aggression. But she also had to consider dilemmas that were specific to being the first and only woman to hold her position. The former chancellor reflects on this experience, her rise to power and her political record in a new memoir, Freedom. In today's episode, Merkel speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelley through a translator. They discuss going toe-to-toe with leaders like Vladimir Putin, what a second Trump term means for U.S. diplomacy, and whether Merkel sees herself as a feminist.
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Author Marisha Pessl has always loved puzzles and board games. She's intrigued by the feeling of forced companionship that comes from solving a puzzle together. Her new novel, Darkly, follows a teen named Arcadia and six others as they embark on an internship with the renowned game design company Darkly. Working on the mysterious island that houses the Darkly headquarters, they come across mysteries of the company and its owner. In today's episode, Pessl speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about the idea of contained chaos and how the mysteries of the past can unlock the mysteries of the present.
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Comedian, writer and podcast host Youngmi Mayer was raised in Korea and Saipan with a Korean mom and a white American father. Their relationship was strained at times as Mayer navigated her family's generational trauma and often took on a parental role. She pushed through these struggles, and others, through humor–and that strategy frames her new memoir, I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying. Mayer speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about her family story in today's episode. They also discuss Mayer's original pitch for the book's title, relatability in Asian American storytelling and how she became a standup comedian.
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Today's books take readers into the secret lives of farm animals. The first, Pig Years, is a memoir by the writer Ellen Gaydos, who began working as a farmhand at 18 years old. In Pig Years, she writes lyrically about working with, raising and admiring pigs–all while knowing they'll one day be slaughtered. In today's episode, we revisit a conversation between Gaydos and NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben about the intimacy of working with people and animals on the farm. Next, author Sy Montgomery has written more than 34 books about creatures, including turtles and octopi. Her latest project is a book about chickens. What the Chicken Knows is an homage that relishes all we don't know about the birds. In today's episode, Montgomery speaks with Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd about chickens' surprising signs of intelligence and what to do when a rooster attacks.
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Cooking with young kids can be a mess, but embracing this idea is the point of Mark Bittman's new cookbook. In How to Cook Everything Kids, the journalist and author makes the case that inviting young chefs into the kitchen is the best way to get them curious about food. The book is filled with child-friendly recipes for dishes like baked ziti, pizza and blueberry muffins that make use of playful ingredients, including Corn Flakes. In today's episode, Bittman joins NPR's Ayesha Rascoe at home to cook a meal with her three kids, putting his recipes to the test. Together, they prepare two chicken dishes while Bittman shares the inspiration behind the project.
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Steve Urkel, the nerdy, bespectacled neighbor in Family Matters, is one of '90s television's most iconic characters. Urkel's nasally voice, oversized glasses and signature catchphrases made the character nearly inescapable in pop culture – and also made a star out of Jaleel White, the actor who played him. In a new memoir, Growing Up Urkel, White reflects on how the role catapulted his career while permanently shaping the way others see him. In today's episode, he joins NPR's Ailsa Chang for a conversation that touches on the character's mass appeal, TV stereotypes about Black boys, and how playing Urkel has affected White's view of his own masculinity.
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The 2024 edition of Books We Love is here. Each year, NPR staffers and critics submit their favorite reads of the year across genres. Those selections are compiled into a reading guide, where you can sort by filters, including Book Club Ideas, The States We're In, Rather Short or Rather Long. In today's episode, NPR's Andrew Limbong and Steve Inskeep discuss some of the 350+ books chosen by staff this year, including their own picks.
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Kate's new husband, who she reunites with 50 years after they were high school sweethearts, has just confessed that he was behind the Tylenol murders — a real, unsolved series of deaths in 1982 from poison-laced Tylenol pills in the Chicago area. When Kate tries to report him, the killer convinces everyone around her that her age, 70, is deteriorating her memory. This is the beginning of Bonnie Kistler's new thriller, Shell Games. In today's episode, Kistler speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about psychological manipulation and how the idea for the book came from a dream where she was the wife in question.
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Two nonfiction books question the efficacy of financial systems that are meant to help lift people out of poverty. In Unjust Debts, law professor Melissa Jacoby argues that bankruptcy in the United States exacerbates existing racial and economic inequalities. While filing for bankruptcy is supposed to offer individuals and families a fresh start, Jacoby suggests that the system often benefits corporations instead. In today's episode, she speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the favorable treatment afforded to corporations and possible strategies of reform. Then, journalist Mara Kardas-Nelson's We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky takes a critical look at microcredit through the stories of women borrowers in Sierra Leone. Microcredit was introduced in the 1970s as an anti-poverty measure and ultimately won its creator the Nobel Peace Prize. But in today's episode, Kardas-Nelson talks with NPR's Fernandes about the way these loans have kicked off vicious cycles of debt.
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In the late 1900s, Protestants and Catholics were in conflict over who should rule Northern Ireland, the British or the Irish. The time was dubbed "The Troubles." Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe's Say Nothing tells the story of this conflict through the disappearance of a woman, Jean McConville. His nonfiction book has now been adapted into an FX show by the same name. In today's episode, we revisit a 2019 conversation between Keefe and NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about the conflict, McConville, and how The Troubles left a wound on Ireland's history that remains open today.
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Since leaving the White House more than two decades ago, Bill Clinton has remained a leader in the Democratic Party, but has mostly focused on philanthropy and public service. He has aimed to address the HIV/AIDS crisis globally and he worked to help free two American journalists incarcerated in North Korea. Clinton's new memoir, Citizen, takes stock of these post-presidential years – but also serves as a vehicle for the former president to address past controversies. In today's episode, Clinton joins NPR's Leila Fadel for a discussion that touches on how the Democratic Party should respond to this political moment, and how writing his new book has helped him let go of the past.
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When Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible was first published in 1988, it took the baking world by storm. It was the first cake book to list ingredients by weight instead of volume and also introduced the technique of reverse creaming. Now, 35 years later, Beranbaum has released a new version of The Cake Bible. The update includes altered recipes that keep pace with changes to ingredients and equipment over the past few decades, like taller cake pans and smaller egg yolks. In today's episode, Beranbaum speaks with Here & Now's Robin Young about the biggest mistakes for beginner bakers to look out for, the author's recent preference for simple design, and a chocolate cake named after Plácido Domingo.
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Pony Confidential, a new novel by author Christina Lynch, is about an unlikely detective: a crime-solving pony who sets off to find his long-lost first owner. Penny, who was just a little girl when separated from Pony, is now an adult who has been accused of murder–and Pony is ready to clear her name. The book was inspired by a combination of tales from The Odyssey and Lynch's curiosity about the inner world of her own real-life pony, Flora. In today's episode, Lynch joins NPR's Scott Simon to talk about the emotional lives of animals, the novel's subtext about the legal system, and the parallels between Pony and Penny's respective confinement.
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New books focused on Johnny Carson and Shirley MacLaine offer intimate portraits of two of television and Hollywood's biggest stars. Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years, becoming an unparalleled nighttime staple and unifying force within American culture. His life is the subject of Carson the Magnificent, a new biography co-written by Bill Zehme and Mike Thomas, who took over the decades-long research project after Zehme died in 2023. In today's episode, Thomas joins NPR's Scott Simon to discuss the divisions between Carson's public and private personas. Then, Shirley MacLaine's personal photo walls feature pictures of dignitaries, starlets and leaders like the Obamas, the Dalai Lama, Dolly Parton, Stephen Hawking and others. In her new book, The Wall of Life, MacLaine uses her photo collection as a way to tell her life stories through a scrapbook format. In today's episode, she speaks with Here & Now's Robin Young about past lives, enduring friendships in Hollywood, and the balance between reality and fame.
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We live in a time where it can be difficult to maintain good relationships with people with opposing views. While writing her new book, Do You Still Talk to Grandma?, Brit Barron saw everyone around her struggling to hold this tension while connecting with the people they love. Her book is a guide to navigating those relationships with our loved ones – even when we disagree with them. In today's episode, she talks with NPR's Deepa Fernandes about binary thinking, the issue of social media, and our need to belong.
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Author Yvette Montoya didn't grow up playing Lotería, but she discovered the classic Latino party game in college. There, she fell in love with Lotería itself, but also the vibrant art and imagery of its boards and card decks. Now, Montoya has reinvented her own version of the bingo-like game with Mystical Lotería, a game set and book that give the traditional version a spiritual twist. In today's episode, Montoya talks with NPR's A Martínez about incorporating brujería–her witchcraft practice–into Mystical Lotería. They also discuss the resurgent interest in ancestral veneration within Latino culture, the need to move beyond Western healing modalities, and Día de Los Muertos.
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Parents of disabled children are responsible for navigating a number of complex systems, from educational services and accommodation to medical care. Author Kelley Coleman, whose son has an undiagnosed genetic syndrome, says that parenting a disabled child can be hard–but hard is not bad. That's the central framework of her book, Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child, which came out earlier this year. In today's episode, Coleman speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about their joyful and difficult parenting moments, how to access the support needed for kids to thrive, and teaching self-advocacy.
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Author Paula Hawkins is best known for her 2015 novel The Girl on the Train. Her new book, The Blue Hour, is also a thriller, this time set on a remote but idyllic Scottish island. The novel focuses on the death of artist Vanessa Chapman, who leaves behind her diaries and a piece of art that sets off a shocking discovery. The story that follows involves secrets, lies and murder. In today's episode, Hawkins speaks with Here & Now's Deborah Becker about how the ownership and interpretation of Vanessa's legacy is disputed among the book's other characters. They also discuss the complexity of long-term female friendships, how women are treated in the public eye and the unreliability of our own narratives.
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