NPR's Book of the Day

Historian Simon Schama's new book, Foreign Bodies:Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations , recounts the pain and panic caused by smallpox, cholera and the Bubonic plague over the past two centuries. But he also examines how vaccines were developed for each disease – and how understanding science and our bodies brings humans closer together. In today's episode, Schama speaks with NPR's Scot...

Today's episode is all about the lives of women in Afghanistan, before and after the U.S. armed forces occupied the country. First, Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with journalist Mitchell Zuckoff about his new book, The Secret Gate , chronicling how activist Homeira Qaderi engineered her escape out of Kabul at the very last minute. Then, Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes asks Sola Mahfouz and Malaina K...

Matthew McConaughey has a new children's book out, full of couplets with a pretty mature message. Just Because is all about the contradictions in life – like "just because I lied doesn't mean that I'm a liar." In today's episode, the Academy Award winner speaks with NPR's A Martinez about how this idea that our actions don't necessarily define our character can be pretty complex, but it can also s...

It's one thing to be friends with someone, but going on a trip together? Totally different story. A new graphic novel by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki captures that dissonance: Roaming follows two friends from high school reuniting on a trip to New York City during college. But there's a new, third pal in the mix – and pretty soon, it's clear the vibes are off. The Tamiko cousins spoke with NPR...

As The Public's Radio Lynn Arditi says in today's episode, much has been written about the Polish resistance movement during World War II. But in her interview with Judy Rakowsky, author of Jews in the Garden , the two journalists discuss the culture of silence around many of the atrocities of the time period. Rakowsky's book – part memoir, part thriller – recounts how she spent decades using her...

When Héctor Tobar was born to Guatemalan parents in Los Angeles in the 1960s, his race was described as "caucasian" on his birth certificate. In his new book, Our Migrant Souls , the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter examines how Latino identity is constructed and defined. He speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the ways whiteness and colorism operate in the Latino community, how class pla...

Today's episode is an in-length conversation with National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff. She met up with NPR's Andrew Limbong at a library at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where they chatted about Mary Rowlandson, the colonial woman captured and held ransom by Native Americans in the 1600s, and how she influenced Groff's new book, The Vaster Wilds . Groff also talked about h...

Alice Carrière grew up in Manhattan under the care – and absence – of two extraordinarily creative parents: artist Jennifer Bartlett and actor Mathieu Carrière. But her mother's trauma, her father's transgressions, and her own dissociative disorder broke Alice's ties to her own identity and humanity. In her memoir, Everything/Nothing/Someone , she recounts some of the most difficult moments of her...

From Walt "Clyde" Frazier to Russell Westbrook, a new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Mitchell S. Jackson chronicles the relationship between style and basketball over decades. Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion features photos and analysis of how the Civil Rights movement, the infamous dress code, and Instagram have all played a role in the evolution of NBA players' modes of expression. In tod...

In the 19th century, a butcher living in Australia claimed to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. The Tichborne trial, which sparked much controversy and even more attention in Victorian England, is at the center of Zadie Smith's new novel, The Fraud . In today's episode, the author tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly how she became captivated by the outrageous lies the man told in court, and ho...

In Abdulrazak Gurnah's Afterlives , the characters centered in the novel offer different perspectives of ordinary people under German colonization in East Africa. In an interview with NPR's Scott Simon, the author goes into detail about how the "power and attraction of the victor" can lead to the conquered joining the conqueror and the impact it has on one's identity. See pcm.adswizz.com for infor...

Today's episode is rooted in how the expectations of immigrant fathers affect their children. First, Khashayar J. Khabushani speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about his novel I Will Greet the Sun Again , which follows a young Iranian-American boy trying to make sense of his identity and sexuality under a strict, sometimes violent, dad's care. Then, Prachi Gupta tells NPR's Leila Fadel about...

Ben Purkert's novel, The Men Can't Be Saved , follows a junior copywriter with a viral tagline for adult diapers. Is it a modern take on Mad Men ? Or its very antithesis? Purkert tells NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer how his own days in the advertising industry – at the same time the TV drama starring Jon Hamm had just premiered – shaped his understanding of ego, drive and manhood in the workplace....and how...

Abby Stern is very much looking forward to leading a biking trip from NYC to Niagara Falls – until her mom, an old one-night-stand, and some uneasy memories are added to the mix. In Jennifer Weiner's new novel, The Breakaway , that two-week trip becomes filled with tension: sexual, political, and familial. Weiner tells NPR's Juana Summers how different women manage their mothers' expectations, and...

Adam Parson goes on a morning hike with his son, Eugene, and the boy returns home alone. Eugene is autistic and nonverbal, so he can't explain what happened. This is how Angie Kim sets up Happiness Falls , which chronicles how the Korean-American family tries to make sense of Adam's disappearance. Kim tells NPR's Scott Simon about the complicated relationship between Eugene and his siblings, and w...

In the face of record temperatures and dry conditions, wildfires are becoming more and more common. This is Wildfire , a new book by Nick Mott and Justin Angle, provides a historical analysis of the role flames have played in both human and natural ecosystems – and seeks to inform readers how to best protect themselves, their homes, and their communities. As the authors tell Here & Now's Scott Ton...

Today's episode focuses on two thrillers that our host, Andrew Limbong, read while on parental leave. First, R.F. Kuang speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about her novel Yellowface and the complicated nuances of writing about friendship and cultural appropriation. Then, Japanese-American author Joe Ide takes a walk with Karen Grigsby Bates, formerly of NPR's Code Switch team, to explain how his...

In her new book, Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America , historian Margot Canaday sets out to discover the experiences of LGBTQ people in the American workplace. From the Lavender Scare that sought to remove gay and lesbian employees from government jobs, through the abuse and exploitation that outed workers often faced when they didn't get fired, Canaday's book recounts how sexuality...

Author Kent Matsumoto's parents both lived through traumatic experiences during WWII: his mother was forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans in the U.S., and his father survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In a new novel, Of White Ashes , Matsumoto and his wife and co-writer Constance Hays Matsumoto explore a romance between two Japanese-Americans based on Matsumoto's parents. T...

Russell Moore resigned from his position in the Southern Baptist Convention after finding himself at odds with other top evangelical leaders – for criticizing Donald Trump, condemning a sexual abuse scandal in the church, and calling out white nationalism within the institution. In his new book, Losing Our Religion , the Christianity Today editor-in-chief examines how the evangelical faith became...

Elizabeth "Bunny" Glenn likes reading Cosmopolitan and watching soap operas – but the teenager is blithely aware of how power and wealth operate around her. She's the daughter of a diplomat in Azerbaijan tasked with ensuring oil pipeline access in Lydia Kiesling's new novel, Mobility . In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about how her protagonist feigns oblivion to pave he...

Today's episode features interviews with two authors of short story collections. First, NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Steven Millhauser about Disruptions , and why he likes to write stories that start off in the normal world and slowly become more and more unsettling until he feels he's pushed the limits as far as he can. Then, NPR's Juana Summers asks Jamel Brinkley about Witness , and how he...

Pidgeon Pagonis grew up thinking they'd survived cancer as a child, and the disease was the reason their body didn't develop quite like the other girls at school. It wasn't until college that they realized they were actually born intersex, and all the surgeries, secrets and confusion came into focus. In their new memoir, Nobody Needs to Know , Pagonis reckons with how they came to understand and a...

There are lots of secrets that 105-year-old Hak Jeonga has carried with her throughout her life. But even after she dies, there's still one big one – generational curse included – that she must resolve. Jimin Han's new novel, The Apology , follows the family from South Korea to Chicago to right some of the wrongs that have happened over time. Han tells NPR's Eyder Peralta how she was influenced by...

In James McBride's new novel – the titular shop at its heart – The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store – can be found in a neighborhood in Pottstown,Pennsylvania, where working-class Jewish immigrants and African-Americans live side by side, forming a community of protection and respect for one another. In today's episode, McBride speaks with NPR's Scott Detrow about the murder mystery that unfolds in...