At the start of Juli Min's debut novel, it's 2040 in Shanghai, and a wealthy real estate developer is parting ways with his wife and adult daughters at the airport. But as the story progresses, Shanghailanders moves back in time, slowly unraveling the dreams, decisions and mistakes of the members of this family all the way back to 2014. In today's episode, Min speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about why she decided to write the events of the book in this order, and how the city of Shanghai is a character all on its own.
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
The U.S. wants to become a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. That will mean a lot of new generation from renewable energy. It also means more transmission networks are needed to bring it onto the grid.
But there's a debate over how that new transmission should be built — between a competitive or monopoly approach. Today, we look at why competition is so divisive and why each side thinks they should build the next generation of transmission infrastructure.
Related Listening: Texas' new power grid problem (Apple / Spotify) Green energy gridlock (Apple / Spotify)
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During the Second World War, the United States embarked on one of the greatest science and engineering projects the world had ever seen.
Over 100,000 people took part in the program, the vast majority of which had no clue what it was for, and the total cost of the program was in the billions of dollars, at a time when a billion dollars was a lot of money.
The end result was the most devastating weapon ever created, and it fundamentally changed the world.
Learn more about the Manhattan Project and how the atomic bomb was created on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Cory Richards made a name for himself taking photographs across the globe for National Geographic. His new memoir, The Color of Everything, grapples with the harsh realities of high-end climbing, fame, mortality – and some of the not-so-great things he's done. In today's episode, Richards speaks with NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer about why he jokes the book is a bit of 'memoir, mountains, mea culpa' and what it means for public figures to open up about their pitfalls.
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
It's been a turbulent couple of days for financial markets around the world. Japan's biggest stock market saw its worst day in decades. Corporate earnings disappointed investors. And last week's jobs report here in the US showed disappointing numbers. Is this a sign of a recession or just some temporary turbulence? Today, we speak with two economic analysts to make sense of what's really going on.
Sarah Perry's novel, Enlightenment, recently received a Booker Prize nomination. It follows the relationship between two friends, with a 30 year age difference, as they confront the role of the church, the outside world and the cosmos in their lives over the course of two decades. In today's episode, Perry speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about her religious upbringing, her pandemic telescope and the role it played in her writing.
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
After the end of the second world war, Berlin was a divided city controlled by the four major allied powers. Despite the different zones of control, people could move freely between them.
However, on August 13, 1961, the East German government decided to end the free travel of Berliners by building a wall around West Berlin.
For 28 years, the wall defined the city and served as a metaphor for the entire Cold War.
Learn more about the Berlin Wall on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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