Real Americans, the new novel by Rachel Khong, spans generations and decades within a family to understand the ongoing struggle to make sense of race, class and identity in the United States. Like with any family story, there are secrets and confrontations and difficult conversations, too; that desire to fill in the gaps about where we come from and how it has shaped our lineage is at the center of today's interview with Khong and NPR's Juana Summers.
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In the last year of the Second World War, things were not going well for the Imperial Japanese military.
They had lost several major naval battles against the United States, they were losing territory, and they had no capability to rebuild the ships that they were losing.
They were desperate to find something to turn the tide of the war. What they settled on was one of the most terrifying tactics of the entire conflict for participants on both sides.
Learn more about the kamikaze pilots and why Japan adopted such a desperate tactic on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Indicators of the Week is back! This time, we dig into why gold prices are spiking, why the Biden administration has only spent a small portion of money pledged to infrastructure projects, and what the spurt of streaming consolidations means for you.
In 1956, one of the most important geopolitical events of the post-war period took place in Egypt.
Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, one of the most important waterways in the world.
In response, a coalition of several countries tried to take it back. However, it didn’t go as planned, and it signaled a major reshuffling of the geopolitical order.
Learn more about the Suez Crisis and how it shaped the second half of the 20th century on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
This weekend is Mother's Day, a good occasion to reflect on the art of parenting. First, comedian Glenn Boozan speaks to Celeste Headlee on Here and Now about her book There Are Moms Way Worse Than You, a joke-book that uses examples of bad parenting from the animal kingdom to soothe those who might be worried about their own child-raising skills.Then, an interview from our archives: a 1989 chat with Amy Tan on All Things Considered about her novel The Joy Luck Club, the story of four Chinese American families living in San Francisco inspired by Tan's experience as a child of immigrants.
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
According to a government report released this week, Congress has until 2033 to fix Social Security before retirees receive an automatic benefit cut of about 21%. This is a more optimistic estimate from a previous report that stated the Social Security Trust Fund would run dry sooner, but it still paints a grim picture for a program that millions of retirees rely on.
Today, NPR's Chief Economics Correspondent joins the show to explain what exactly lawmakers can do to fix Social Security and why proposed solutions might be easier said than done.
Related episodes: What would it take to fix retirement? (Apple / Spotify)
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