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Hold on to your wishes — there's a 'Spider in the Well'
Illustrations © 2024 Jess Hannigan

Author Interviews

Hold on to your wishes — there's a 'Spider in the Well'

There's trouble in the town of Bad Göodsburg! A wishing well has stopped working! NPR's Tamara Keith talks with Jess Hannigan about her new children's book, "Spider in the Well."

Hold on to your wishes — there's a 'Spider in the Well'

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Writer Carvell Wallace on past pain and forgiveness: Letting go is 'always available'
Macmillian

Author Interviews

Writer Carvell Wallace on past pain and forgiveness: Letting go is 'always available'

Fresh Air

Wallace is known for his celebrity profiles, but his new memoir, Another Word For Love, is about his own life, growing up unhoused, Black and queer, and getting his start as a writer at the age of 40.

Writer Carvell Wallace on past pain and forgiveness: Letting go is 'always available'

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The miracle of middle age with Miranda July

Author Miranda July poses next to her novel, "All Fours" Elizabeth Weinberg/Amazon hide caption

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Elizabeth Weinberg/Amazon

Perspective

It's Been a Minute

The miracle of middle age with Miranda July

Our culture is full of stories about what it's like to be young: to find yourself, to fall in love, to leave home. But there aren't nearly as many scripts for what middle age might look like, especially for women. This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by author and filmmaker Miranda July, whose new novel 'All Fours' dives deep into the mystery and miracle of being a middle aged woman.

The miracle of middle age with Miranda July

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Alice Munro, Nobel Prize-winning short story author, dies at 92

Canadian author Alice Munro as she receives a Man Booker International award at Trinity College Dublin, in Dublin, Ireland, on June 25, 2009. Peter Muhly/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Peter Muhly/AFP via Getty Images

Obituaries

Alice Munro, Nobel Prize-winning short story author, dies at 92

The Canadian writer was known for her masterfully crafted short stories. Throughout her long career, she earned a number of prestigious awards including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013.

Alice Munro, Nobel Prize-winning short story author, dies at 92

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System of a Down's Serj Tankian on his memoir, why a new album hasn't come since 2005

Serj Tankian, singer for System of a Down Travis Shinn/Hachette Books hide caption

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Travis Shinn/Hachette Books

Author Interviews

System of a Down's Serj Tankian on his memoir, why a new album hasn't come since 2005

System of a Down singer Serj Tankian covers fleeing the Lebanese Civil War as a child, advocating for recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and why his band hasn't made a new album since 2005.

System of a Down's Serj Tankian on his memoir, why a new album hasn't come since 2005

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'Brotherless Night,' an ambitious novel about Sri Lankan civil war, wins $150K prize
Random House

Book News & Features

'Brotherless Night,' an ambitious novel about Sri Lankan civil war, wins $150K prize

The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is a relatively new literary award given to women and nonbinary authors. This year's winner is V.V. Ganeshananthan for her book Brotherless Night.

'Brotherless Night,' an ambitious novel about Sri Lankan civil war, wins $150K prize

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Kathleen Hanna on life as a 'Rebel Girl,' and the joy of expressing anger in public

"When I first started being in Bikini Kill, I thought of myself as a feminist performance artist who was in a punk band," Kathleen Hanna says. Rachel Bright/Ecco hide caption

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Rachel Bright/Ecco

Music Interviews

Kathleen Hanna on life as a 'Rebel Girl,' and the joy of expressing anger in public

Fresh Air

The Bikini Kill frontwoman pioneered the "riot grrrl" movement in the 1990s. "I thought of myself as a feminist performance artist who was in a punk band," Hanna says.

Kathleen Hanna on life as a 'Rebel Girl,' and the joy of expressing anger in public

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Claire Messud's sweeping novel borrows from her own 'Strange Eventful History'
W. W. Norton & Company

Review

Book Reviews

Claire Messud's sweeping novel borrows from her own 'Strange Eventful History'

Fresh Air

Messud draws from her grandfather's handwritten memoir as she tells a cosmopolitan, multigenerational story about a family forced to move from Algeria to Europe to South and North America.

Claire Messud's sweeping novel borrows from her own 'Strange Eventful History'

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Author Interviews

Author Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses 'The Sympathizer' and his escape from Vietnam

Fresh Air

Nguyen and his family fled their village in South Vietnam in 1975. Now his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been adapted into a series on HBO and MAX. Originally broadcast in 2016.

Author Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses 'The Sympathizer' and his escape from Vietnam

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A WWII story by The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling is published for the first time

Rod with his father Sam Serling c. 1943. Esther Cooper Serling/Courtesy of Anne Serling hide caption

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Esther Cooper Serling/Courtesy of Anne Serling

Culture

A WWII story by The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling is published for the first time

Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling was a paratrooper during WWII. After the war, he wrote a short story inspired by the experience. It's now being published for the first time in The Strand.

A WWII story by The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling is published for the first time

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In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

Author Daniel A. Olivas poses next to the cover of his recent book, Chicano Frankenstein Author headshot via publisher hide caption

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Author headshot via publisher

Code Switch

In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

Daniel Olivas's novel puts a new spin on the age-old Frankenstein story. In this retelling, 12 million "reanimated" people provide a cheap workforce for the United States...and face a very familiar type of bigotry.

In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

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Brittney Griner shares her experience behind bars in Russia

Brittney Griner warms up before a game against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center on July 05, 2023. Dustin Satloff/Getty Images hide caption

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Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

Brittney Griner shares her experience behind bars in Russia

Brittney Griner didn't know the flight she was taking to Moscow in February 2022 would upend her life. But even before she left for the airport, Griner felt something was off.

Brittney Griner shares her experience behind bars in Russia

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Brittney Griner reflects on 'Coming Home' after nearly 300 days in a Russian prison

Griner competes for Team USA on Aug. 8, 2021, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Griner won gold medals in both Tokyo and in Rio de Janeiro. Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

Author Interviews

Brittney Griner reflects on 'Coming Home' after nearly 300 days in a Russian prison

Fresh Air

The WNBA star, who is six feet, nine inches, says she felt like a zoo animal in prison. "The guards would literally come open up the little peep hole, look in, and then I would hear them laughing."

Brittney Griner reflects on 'Coming Home' after nearly 300 days in a Russian prison

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