Best-selling author Margaret Atwood says she originally rejected the idea of writing a memoir. But she warmed up to the idea after she began to think of a memoir as a recollection of “stupid things you did, near-death events, catastrophes, and surprising highlights and jokes.” Now, at age 85, Atwood is out with Book of Lives. In today’s episode, she joins NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer for a conversation that touches on the difference between memoir and biography, Canadian identity, and writing from the perspective of an “Inner Advice Columnist.”
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NBN Book of the Day - Susanna Rabow-Edling, “The First Russian Revolution: The Decembrist Revolt Of 1825” (Reaktion Books, 2025)
On the 200th anniversary of the Decembrist Revolt, Susanna Rabow-Edling published The First Russian Revolution: The Decembrist Revolt Of 1825 (Reaktion Books, 2025), a new book about the first Russian Revolution. Though the 1825 coup attempt failed in its aspiration to change how Russia was governed, that failure has nevertheless cast a long shadow across Russian history since.
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NBN Book of the Day - Lucy Caplan, “Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera” (Harvard UP, 2025)
Recently, musicologists and others have started writing about Black participation in opera. Lucy Caplan’s Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera (Harvard UP, 2025) is a major new publication on this topic. Caplan examines what she calls a Black operatic counterculture in the US dating from the performance of H. Lawrence Freeman’s first opera, The Martyr, in 1893 until the 1950s. Rather than centering her analysis on opera as a symbol of uplift or on the ways that the operatic establishment excluded Black participation, Caplan thinks about how opera was part of a project of self-fashioning in Black communities. She argues that opera could be one way to answer the question, in the words of Black librettist Karen Chilton, “How do we become ourselves?” Focusing on institutions and networks, while also not ignoring influential figures, Caplan delves into the rich history of Black opera through numerous points of entry. This is not a strictly chronological retelling of a few, already well-known operatic “firsts.” Instead, Caplan writes about everything from critics to short-lived opera companies, from celebrities to supernumeraries, and recreates this previously untold complex and multifaceted operatic legacy.
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NPR's Book of the Day - Revisiting ‘Giovanni’s Room’
James Baldwin’s recent centennial birthday allowed us to discuss one of his most celebrated novels, Giovanni’s Room. Andrew Limbong and B. A. Parker are joined by NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour’s Glen Weldon, examining the story of three lovers, chasing connection, love, and acceptance in 1950s Paris. Special guest Garth Greenwell also drops by to share how Giovanni’s Room made an impact on his work.
Glen’s Recommendation: ‘Florenzer’ by Phil Melanson
Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus
Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘The Sun Also Rises’ by Ernest Hemingway
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Glen’s Recommendation: ‘Florenzer’ by Phil Melanson
Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus
Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘The Sun Also Rises’ by Ernest Hemingway
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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - David Kelley’s Brief But Spectacular take on creativity and design
For decades, David Kelley has helped people unlock their creativity. A pioneer of design, he founded the Stanford d.school as a place for creative, cross-disciplinary problem solving. He reflects on the journey that shaped his belief that everyone has the capacity to be creative and his Brief But Spectacular take on creativity and design. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
PBS News Hour - Art Beat - Ken Burns’ ‘The American Revolution’ explores the beginnings of the nation’s democracy
"The American Revolution," the latest work from filmmaker Ken Burns, begins this Sunday on PBS. The six-part, 12-hour history of the war of independence from Britain and the beginnings of the American experiment in democracy comes at a moment of deep divisions. Jeffrey Brown has our look 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 - Music biographies ‘The Cars,’ ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ balance greatness and tragedy
Two new biographies focus on legendary musical acts: the rock band The Cars and rapper Tupac Shakur. First, in the late 1970s, a Boston radio DJ played The Cars’ demo tape – and the band went on to inform rock music for decades. In today’s episode, author Bill Janovitz speaks with Here & Now’s Robin Young about his new book The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told. Then, Tupac was one of the most influential rappers of all time, but his life was cut short at age 25. In today’s episode, author Jeff Pearlman tells Here & Now’s Scott Tong about his new biography of the music artist Only God Can Judge Me.
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NBN Book of the Day - Mila Burns, “Dictatorship Across Borders: Brazil, Chile, and the South American Cold War” (UNC Press, 2025)
Dictatorship Across Borders: Brazil, Chile, and the South American Cold War (UNC Press, 2025) offers a groundbreaking perspective on the 1973 Chilean coup, highlighting Brazil’s pivotal role in shaping the political landscape of South America during the Cold War. Shifting the focus from the United States to interregional dynamics, Mila Burns argues that Brazil was instrumental in the overthrow of Salvador Allende and the establishment of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. Drawing on original documents, interviews, and newly accessible archives, particularly from the Brazilian Truth Commission, Burns reveals Brazil’s covert involvement in the coup, providing weapons, intelligence, and even torturers to anti-Allende forces. She also explores the resistance networks formed by Brazilian exiles in Chile. Burns’s impeccable research—combining history, anthropology, and political science—makes Dictatorship across Borders a vital addition to Cold War studies, reshaping how we understand power and resistance in South America.
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NPR's Book of the Day - John Grisham brings a money-hungry lawyer to center stage in ‘The Widow’
In The Widow, his 52nd novel and counting, author John Grisham returns to one of his cherished topics: lawyers. But not the type of lawyer one would hire if they’d like to keep their money safe. Simon Latch is a small town lawyer sick of equally small cases, until he finds himself in charge of drafting a will for an enormously wealthy widow. Will Simon keep her wealth an untouched secret, or attempt to turn a profit for himself? In today’s episode, Grisham talks to NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer about this legal thriller-turned-murder mystery, and the age-old lie that every lawyer tells at least once.
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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - David Szalay on winning the Booker Prize for his novel ‘Flesh’
The Booker Prize is one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, given annually to a single novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. This year’s winner is David Szalay's novel, “Flesh”. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown spoke with him for our arts and culture series, CANVAS. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy