In their new noir novels, authors Joseph Finder and Jo Nesbø choose small towns as the settings for dark plotlines. First, Finder's The Oligarch's Daughter follows a man named Paul who has built a new life under a new name in New Hampshire. He's on the run from a Russian oligarch, who happens to be his father-in-law. In today's episode, Finder speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about the difficulty of disappearing in today's era of surveillance technology, the difference between typical wealth and oligarch wealth, and how the Russian oligarch class' status has shifted under President Vladimir Putin. Then, one of the protagonists in Nesbø's Blood Ties is Roy, a 35-year-old mass murderer who's ready to start a family. Nesbø says his challenge was to make Roy someone readers could root for. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's Kelly about a piece of advice he received from Christopher Nolan, the way small towns hold secrets, and how writing lyrics prepared him to write novels.
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Music
Two from Lambert: Fremd and The Open
Plantasia from Mort Garson's amazing, ridiculous album of the same name.
Two from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans' score to Christine: Paranoia and Newsroom.
Once every 450,000 years or so, the Earth undergoes a radical transformation.
The planet’s magnetic field will literally flip. The North Pole becomes the South Pole and vice versa.
Despite the fact that we know this has happened many times in the Earth’s history, we really don’t know what would happen if the poles were to reverse today.
Learn more about when the Earth’s magnetic poles reverse on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In 2009, Bitcoin launched as the first cryptocurrency. Just under two decades, President Trump has signed an executive order to create the "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile." On today's show, we look at what the U.S. government plans for this new strategy, plus who benefits from a crypto reserve.
Related episodes: Is an American sovereign wealth fund such a bad idea? (Apple / Spotify) Is 'government crypto' a good idea? (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
In 1936, Merle Oberon became the first Asian woman–and person of color–to receive an Oscar nomination for best actress. She was nominated for her role in The Dark Angel and later starred in films like Wuthering Heights. But Oberon kept her mixed-race, South Asian heritage a secret, passing as white for her entire career. Mayukh Sen tells this story in Love, Queenie, the first biography of Oberon. In today's episode, Sen speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about prejudice the actress faced during her upbringing in India, the role men played in her career, and the elaborate stories she told to keep her identity a secret.
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
Introducing a new podcast from LA Times Studios and award-winning L.A. Times columnist Sammy Roth, Boiling Point, where Sammy breaks down the many complexities of today's climate challenges and solutions with top experts in the field. In this episode comedian Esteban Gast talks with Sammy about using humor to alleviate climate anxiety, while making clean energy and other environmental solutions more interesting — and even fun. From punchlines to policy, they explore laughter as a powerful tool for change.