Two new history books make a strong case for why learning about the past is critical to understanding the world today. First, History Matters is a posthumous collection of writings by American historian David McCullough. In today’s episode, co-editor Dorie McCullough Lawson and historian Jon Meacham tell NPR’s Scott Simon about McCullough’s endless curiosity. Then, in Midnight on the Potomac, Scott Ellsworth explores little-known corners of Civil War history. In today’s episode, he speaks with Here & Now’s Sarah McCammon about long-held myths about the period.
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NBN Book of the Day - Greg Lukianoff and Nadine Strossen, “The War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail” (Heresy Press, 2025)
The War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail (Heresy Press, 2025) constitutes a bulwark against the persistent censorial efforts from both the political left and right. At a time when conformist pressures threaten viewpoint diversity, and when political attacks on free expression are mounting, this book is a valuable resource for all who seek to understand and defend the right that is central to both individual liberty and our democratic self-government. This concise volume is organized around 10 claims that proponents of speech restrictions regularly assert, such as: “words are violence,” “free speech is right-wing,” and “hate speech isn’t free speech.” In lively, clear, and persuasive prose, the authors examine the flaws in these pro-censorship assertions. The book also includes an insightful introduction by Jacob Mchangama, shedding additional light on the topic from historical and international perspectives.
Greg Lukianoff is an attorney, New York Times best-selling author, and the President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
Nadine Strossen is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School and was the national President of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991 to 2008. She is a Senior Fellow at FIRE and serves on the advisory boards of the ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, and National Coalition Against Censorship.
Caleb Zakarin is editor of the New Books Network.
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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘F*** Approval, You Don’t Need It!’ makes the case against ‘people pleasers’
In her new book, F*** Approval, You Don’t Need It!, therapist Lizzie Moult says people who seek the approval of others are doing a great disservice to themselves — and others too. In a conversation with Here & Now host Peter O’Dowd, Moult explains why being a “people pleaser” can be counterproductive.
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NPR's Book of the Day - Angela Flournoy’s ‘The Wilderness’ focuses on a Black, female ‘chosen family’
The group of friends at the center of Angela Flournoy’s new novel, The Wilderness, are figuring out how to navigate life as they enter middle age. NPR’s Juana Summers spoke with the author about the evolving journey of her characters and what their ups and downs say about the dynamics of long-term friendships.
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NBN Book of the Day - Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez and Anita Huízar-Hernández eds., “meXicana Roots and Routes: Listening to People, Places, and Pasts” (U Arizona Press, 2025)
Community voices are often an underrepresented aspect of our historical and cultural knowledge of the U.S. Southwest. In this episode, we sit down with Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez and Anita Huízar-Hernández, editors of meXicana Roots and Routes: Listening to People, Places, and Pasts (U Arizona Press, 2025). In this collection, established and emerging scholars draw upon their rootedness in the U.S. Southwest and U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The meXicana contributors use personal and scholarly inquiry to discuss what it means to cultivate spaces of belonging, navigate language policies, and explore and excavate silences in various spaces, among other important themes.
From the recruitment of Latinas for the U.S. Benito Juárez Squadron in World War II, to the early twentieth-century development of bilingual education in Arizona, to new and insightful analyses of Bracero Program participants and their families, the book details little-known oral histories and archival material to present a rich account of lives along the border with emphasis on women and the working class.
As the inaugural publication of the Arizona Crossroads series, readers will find Arizona featured as a central node of borderlands roots and routes. Each section of the book intentionally centers Arizona within broader comparative and cross-state dialogues. Throughout, this volume highlights the ways in which personal experience, community building, and scholarly perspectives can provide a powerful space for community voices.
Contributors:
- Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez
- Lillian Gorman
- Gloria Holguín Cuádraz
- Anita Huízar-Hernández
- Christine Marin
- Valerie A. Martínez
- Alina R. Méndez
- Karen R. Roybal
- Yvette J. Saavedra
- Liliana Toledo-Guzmán
- Andrea Tovar
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NPR's Book of the Day - Former senator Joe Manchin makes the case for the middle in the memoir ‘Dead Center’
Former West Virginia senator Joseph Manchin III was a gadfly in the ear of his own Democratic party for many years, and a sometime Republican ally. Manchin’s new memoir, Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense, is packed with stories about his relationships with the likes of President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. In this interview with NPR’s Michel Martin, Manchin explains why this country needs an “American independent party."
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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - How artists and musicians are responding to Trump’s 2nd term
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen publicly blasted President Trump and his policies, saying “we’re living through particularly dangerous times." As Trump increasingly targets the arts, artists are faced with the question of whether to speak out or keep their heads down. Jeffrey Brown reports for our series, Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy as part of our CANVAS coverage. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
NPR's Book of the Day - Ian McEwan’s latest novel ‘What We Can Know’ is science fiction without the science
At 77, the Booker Prize-winning British novelist Ian McEwan shows no signs of slowing down. His new novel, What We Can Know, is set in Great Britain in the 22nd century – a country now partly underwater as a result of global warming. In today’s episode, McEwan speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about the book’s plot – it tells of a search for a lost poem that was written in our own times – and notes that he is less interested in the future of science than that of the humanities, love and daily life.
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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - Jahri’s World creator reflects on why he makes music for neurodivergent kids
In Jahri's World, quirky costumes and silly songs are designed to create a sensory oasis for neurodivergent children. The videos on TikTok have gone viral, racking up millions of views. John Yang speaks with the man behind the music, Jerry Turner, for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
NBN Book of the Day - Kolby Hanson, “Ordinary Rebels: Rank-And-File Militants Between War and Peace” (Oxford UP, 2025)
In Ordinary Rebels: Rank-And-File Militants Between War and Peace (Oxford University Press, 2025), Kolby Hanson argues that these periods of state toleration do not simply change armed groups' behavior, but fundamentally transform the organizations themselves by shaping who takes up arms and which leaders they follow. This book draws on a set of innovative experimental surveys and 75 in-depth interviews tracing four armed movements over time in Northeast India and Sri Lanka. A powerful new theory of how conditions shape the trajectory of non-state armed groups, this book reshapes our understanding of why such organizations become more moderate over time.
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