Tommy Orange's debut novel, There, There, centers several Native American characters grappling with identity in the bustling city of Oakland, California. In today's episode, we revisit a profile of Orange reported by NPR's Lynn Neary in 2018. Then, Orange joins NPR's Scott Simon to discuss his new book Wandering Stars, a sequel to There, There that stretches across time to follow a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864. Orange explains how an image he saw in a museum in Sweden introduced him to this historical narrative, and why he decided to focus on his protagonist Orvil's ancestors.
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The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.
Music
Abisme by Shida Shahadi
Ellen’s Image from Lalo Schiffiren’s genius score to The Fox
Circulation by H. Takahasi
Liquid Spear Waltz from Michael Andrews’ score to Donnie Darko
A8 from a terrific record called NuNu by Clever Austin
Notes
I found a lot of insight in a terrific book called Extraordinary Beliefs by Peter Lamont. In it, there’s a smart historical, psychological exploration of why spiritualism was able to flourish despite all sorts of evidence opposing it.
Nestled in the heart of West Africa lie two nations with distinct identities yet tied together by a common geography and history: Senegal and The Gambia.
The landscape of this region wasn’t always as fragmented as it is now. It wasn’t until the 19th century that it was carved into the separate entities we recognize today, a division that has persisted into contemporary times.
Efforts have been made to bridge the divide, but the boundary between these two countries still presents challenges.
Learn more about the fascinating story of Senegal and The Gambia and how their odd borders came to be on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Sponsors
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Journalist Kara Swisher, who's been covering the internet and the tech industry for decades, says she's not surprised when people like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk lie to her — but what she says they sometimes don't realize is how much they lie to themselves. Her new memoir, Burn Book, recounts what she's learned in conversation with some of the brightest minds in Silicon Valley. In today's episode, Swisher tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that as disillusioned as she is with how much harm the industry has caused, she's still optimistic about the future of tech and AI.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
In the penultimate episode of 60 Songs, Rob takes it way back. Listen as he recalls the first song he remembers consciously hearing as a baby before diving into the world of Garth Brooks and 90’s country music. Later, Tyler Parker joins the show to discuss what Garth Brooks means to Oklahoma and much more.
One of the most important advancements in the 20th century was the identification of the structure of the DNA molecule.
However, that discovery didn’t appear out of nowhere. It was part of a century-long process that included many advancements in biology, chemistry, and physics.
Solving the secret of the DNA molecule was a major accomplishment, but it wasn’t without controversy.
Learn more about the discovery of DNA and how its structure was solved on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Sponsors
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Yasheng Huang, a professor of global economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, names four major contributors to China's economy in his new book, The Rise and Fall of the EAST: exams, autocracy, stability and technology. Huang writes that those have been the driving factors of Chinese development dating back to the Sui dynasty, and particularly during the economic boom of the past half-century. But he tells Here & Now's Scott Tong that a declining property sector, a lack of investment in people and today's political leadership is ringing alarms for the country's future.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday