NPR's Book of the Day - Jeff Kinney on his iconic, now 20-book ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ series

Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has sold more than 300 million books since the first installment was published in 2007. The star of the series is the famous line drawing, Greg Heffley, a frequently frowning, middle-school-aged antihero. Now, Kinney is out with Partypooper, the 20th book in the series. In today’s episode, Here & Now’s Robin Young travels to An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts, the bookstore Kinney owns with his wife. There, Young and Kinney discuss the inspiration behind Greg, whom Kinney says is a “funhouse” version of himself.


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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - Proposed Warner Bros. sale prompts concerns among Hollywood’s creative community

Paramount is engaged in a battle to buy Warner Bros., but Netflix's proposed $83 billion offer is still considered the favorite, for now. Talk of this deal has triggered widespread fears in Hollywood about what this could mean for the creative industry. Jeffrey Brown has perspective from one of the leading unions 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

NPR's Book of the Day - Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘Slow Poison’ centers politics of belonging in postcolonial Uganda

Mahmood Mamdani — a professor of government at Columbia University and the father of Zohran Mamdani, NYC’s next mayor — has spent decades researching colonialism and its effects on the African continent. His work is both political and personal, influenced by his own experience in Uganda as an exiled citizen deemed nonindigenous by colonial structures. In today’s episode, Mamdani talks to NPR’s Leila Fadel about his newest book, Slow Poison, an account of colonial legacy in Uganda, the rise of the country’s modern autocrats, and the politics of belonging that surround it all.


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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - How a school program from Baltimore is using hip-hop to teach social-emotional skills

Nationwide, schools are looking for better ways to connect with students and support their emotional well-being. A Baltimore-based organization called "We Do It 4 the Culture" is using hip-hop and storytelling to help students learn empathy and express themselves. Ali Rogin speaks with founder Jamila Sams to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

PBS News Hour - Art Beat - A conversation with Temple Grandin, world-renowned animal scientist and autism advocate

Four new portraits have gone up at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, showcasing this year’s recipients of the Portrait of America award for their transformative contributions to American history and culture. One of them is Temple Grandin, who has transformed animal welfare around the world and affected public perception of autism. John Yang speaks with Grandin for our Weekend Spotlight. 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 - Revisiting ‘Waiting to Exhale’

As the film adaptation of ‘Waiting to Exhale’ celebrates its 30th anniversary, B.A. Parker and Andrew Limbong, along with It’s Been a Minute host, Brittany Luse, revisit its source material about four friends, Savannah, Gloria, Robin, and Bernadine, as they make their way through the 30s, in love and in life. Later on, special guest, Tia Williams, speaks to Andrew about how Terry McMillian paved the way for her career path as a romance novelist. 


Brittany’s Recommendation: ‘Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs’ by Pearl Cleage

Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Wilderness’ by Angela Flournoy

Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘Where I’m Coming From’ by Barbara Brandon-Croft 


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NPR's Book of the Day - Paul McCartney on his band ‘Wings,’ plus the story of indie label Bloodshot Records

Two new memoirs zoom in on important moments in music history. First, Paul McCartney’s new book Wings reflects on the life of his post-Beatles band, which he formed in London in 1971. In today’s episode, McCartney speaks with NPR’s A Martínez about establishing a distinct identity in The Beatles’ shadow. Then, Rob Miller founded Bloodshot Records in the 1990s when a new sound – “insurgent country” or “alt-country” – was just emerging. Miller joined NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about his memoir The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low, which tells the story behind the label.


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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - Poet Billy Collins explores love, loss and life in ‘Dog Show’

It’s been said that nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless they've had a dog. Billy Collins agrees, and he recently released his 12th volume of poetry, called “Dog Show." Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown spent time in New York City with Collins, and dogs, exploring this enduring relationship. It’s part of 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

NPR's Book of the Day - In this novel, the residents of a Brussels apartment building brace for Nazi invasion

33 Place Brugmann opens with a list of the residents of a Brussels apartment building. The year is 1939 and Germany’s invasion of Belgium is on the horizon. Alice Austen’s debut novel winds together the fates of these residents under Nazi occupation. In today’s episode, Austen joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation that touches on the backstory of the building’s address, how she balanced the novel’s many narrative voices, and the questions that consumed her as she wrote the book.


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NPR's Book of the Day - William Boyd’s ‘The Predicament’ is a spy thriller with a conspiratorial edge

In William Boyd’s newest novel The Predicament, lead character and travel writer Gabriel Dax becomes a secret spy, scouring the globe on British orders during the Cold War. He’s looking for an escape from espionage, but when he starts to receive envelopes of cash from the KGB, can he resist? In today’s episode, author William Boyd talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about the second book in the Gabriel Dax trilogy, and how his own conspiracies about President Kennedy’s assassination influenced his novel-writing process.

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