Do you ever get the feeling that you’re watching or reading… a lot about vampires? With the 20th anniversary of the Twilight book series upon us, plus the fact that one of the year’s biggest films, Sinners, happens to be a vampire movie, we feel like we can’t escape them - but maybe we don’t want to! On this week’s episode of Books We’ve Loved, Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker are joined by longtime NPR editor Barrie Hardymon to talk all things Interview with the Vampire – including how author Anne Rice established the pensive prototype of the vampire as we know it today.
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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - A look at 50 years of the News Hour
The News Hour has been marking our own milestone this week, the 50th anniversary of this program. Stephanie Sy has a look at the program's beginnings, its evolution over the years and how our journalism has both grown and stayed consistent with the original ideas behind the broadcast. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
NBN Book of the Day - Michael B. Cosmopoulos, “The World of Homer: Archaeology, Social Memory, and the Emergence of Greek Epic Poetry” (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Epic poetry, notably the Iliad and the Odyssey, stands as one of the most enduring legacies of ancient Greece. Although the impact of these epics on Western civilization is widely recognized, their origins remain the subject of heated debate. Were they composed in a single era or over the course of centuries? Were they crafted by one or by many poets? Do they reflect historical reality? These and other important questions are answered in this book. Michael Cosmopoulos, in The World of Homer: Archaeology, Social Memory, and the Emergence of Epic Greek Poetry (Cambridge UP, 2025), reconstructs the world of the Homeric poems and explores the interplay between poetry, social memory, and material culture. By integrating key insights from archaeology, philology, anthropology, and oral tradition, he offers a nuanced perspective of the emergence and early development of Greek epic. His wide-canvas approach enables readers to appreciate the complexity of the Homeric world and gain a deeper understanding of the intricate factors that shaped these magnificent poems.
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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Paper Girl’ and ‘Joyride’ are memoirs by journalists who get close to their subjects
Today’s episode features new memoirs by journalists who aren’t afraid to connect deeply with their subjects. First, in Paper Girl, Beth Macy travels back to her hometown, Urbana, Ohio. In today’s episode, she tells NPR’s Ailsa Chang about the socioeconomic and cultural changes she found there. Then, Susan Orlean is known for going deep on niche subjects, like orchid enthusiasts or umbrella inventors. In today’s episode, she talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about her memoir Joyride and how she came across her best-known stories.
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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir exposes abuse by powerful men
A new book tells the story of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of many victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. Her posthumous memoir explores her resilience while also revealing new details about the abuse she suffered at the hands of powerful figures. Amna Nawaz has that story. And a warning, this report includes accounts of sexual abuse and suicide. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
NBN Book of the Day - Nathan E. Sanders and Bruce Schneier, “Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship” (MIT Press, 2025)
AI is changing democracy. We still get to decide how.
AI’s impact on democracy will go far beyond headline-grabbing political deepfakes and automated misinformation. Everywhere it will be used, it will create risks and opportunities to shake up long-standing power structures.
In this highly readable and advisedly optimistic book, Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship (MIT Press, 2025), security technologist Bruce Schneier and data scientist Nathan Sanders cut through the AI hype and examine the myriad ways that AI is transforming every aspect of democracy—for both good and ill.
The authors describe how the sophistication of AI will fulfill demands from lawmakers for more complex legislation, reducing deference to the executive branch and altering the balance of power between lawmakers and administrators. They show how the scale and scope of AI is enhancing civil servants’ ability to shape private-sector behavior, automating either the enforcement or neglect of industry regulations. They also explain how both lawyers and judges will leverage the speed of AI, upending how we think about law enforcement, litigation, and dispute resolution.
Whether these outcomes enhance or degrade democracy depends on how we shape the development and use of AI technologies. Powerful players in private industry and public life are already using AI to increase their influence, and AIs built by corporations don’t deliver the fairness and trust required by democratic governance. But, steered in the right direction, AI’s broad capabilities can augment democratic processes and help citizens build consensus, express their voice, and shake up long-standing power structures.
Democracy is facing new challenges worldwide, and AI has become a part of that. It can inform, empower, and engage citizens. It can also disinform, disempower, and disengage them. The choice is up to us. Schneier and Sanders blaze the path forward, showing us how we can use AI to make democracy stronger and more participatory.
Nathan E. Sanders is a data scientist focused on making policymaking more participatory. His research spans machine learning, astrophysics, public health, environmental justice, and more. He has served in fellowships at the Massachusetts legislature and the Berkman-Klein Center at Harvard University.
Caleb Zakarin is editor of the New Books Network.
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NPR's Book of the Day - This Palestinian journalist kept a diary as Israeli forces invaded – now it’s a book
As Israeli forces invaded Gaza in 2023, Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad kept a diary. Her writing is a record of the 45 days she spent reporting on the ground during the invasion until she evacuated. Now, she’s published her diary as a book called The Eyes of Gaza. In today’s episode, Alaqad joins NPR’s Lelia Fadel for a conversation about the journalist’s memories of home both before and after the conflict.
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PBS News Hour - Art Beat - Nicholas Sparks teams up with M. Night Shyamalan to co-author supernatural love story
Nicholas Sparks, author of "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember," has built a career writing love stories that explore the resilience of the human heart. His latest novel, "Remain," was co-written with filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and blends Sparks’s trademark romance with Shyamalan’s sense of mystery and the supernatural. Geoff Bennett sat down with Sparks to discuss the collaboration. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
NBN Book of the Day - Teresa M. Mares and Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, “Will Work for Food: Labor Across the Food Chain” (U California Press, 2025)
Food consumers are demanding a healthier and more sustainable food system. Yet labor is rarely part of the discussion. In Will Work for Food: Labor Across the Food Chain (U California Press, 2025), Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern and Teresa Mares chronicle labor across the food chain, connecting the entire food system--from fields to stores, restaurants, home kitchens, and even garbage dumps. Using a political economy framework, the authors argue that improving labor standards and building solidarity among frontline workers across sectors is necessary for creating a more just food system. What would it take, they ask, to move toward a food system that is devoid of human exploitation? Combining insights from food systems and labor justice scholarship with actionable recommendations for policy makers, the book is a call to action for labor activists, food studies students and scholars, and anyone interested in food justice.
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NPR's Book of the Day - A new James Baldwin biography asks how the writer’s lovers might’ve shaped him
The scholar Nicholas Boggs has a new perspective on James Baldwin. The new biography Baldwin: A Love Story considers how the writer and Civil Rights leader’s lovers might’ve shaped him. In today’s conversation with NPR’s Michel Martin, Boggs argues Baldwin provided a dynamic model for how we relate to other people – both in platonic and romantic relationships.
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