Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama cataloged spreadsheets of poems to help create his new anthology, 44 Poems on Being with Each Other. The collection features writing from a variety of poets as well as reflections from Ó Tuama on the nuances of the human condition. Ó Tuama is also out with his own poetry collection, Kitchen Hymns. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about poetry that reflects complex emotions and about his background in theology.
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After several years of rising tensions, on May 13, 1846, the United States Congress declared war on the nation of Mexico.
The war lasted only two years, and the conduct of the war was decidedly one-sided.
The conclusion of the war resulted in changes to both countries, which can be seen on the map and felt on the ground today. Yet, despite being one of the most important conflicts in the history of both countries, it has been largely forgotten today.
Learn more about the Mexican-American War, its causes, and its resolution on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
The personal story of how an energetic lawyer got knocked off from her dream career and what she thinks that might mean for whether the government can attract talented people in the future.
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In 1957, a labor leader named Daniel Fignolé was the president of Haiti for 19 days. Just two weeks after his inauguration, he was forced to sign a resignation letter as part of a U.S.-backed coup. But growing up, Rich Benjamin – Fignolé's grandson – didn't know anything about his grandfather's political career. The cultural anthropologist says his family, especially his mother, erected a "wall of silence" around him. A new memoir, Talk to Me, is Benjamin's attempt to fill in these gaps in his family history. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's A Martínez about Fignolé's work with labor unions, state-sanctioned silence, and the State Department documents that helped Benjamin piece together his grandfather's story.
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Mark Greaney is the author of the Gray Man series, a collection of espionage novels that chronicle the adventures of ex-CIA operative Court Gentry. The latest addition, Midnight Black, follows Gentry as he tries to save the woman he loves from Russian captivity. Greaney is known for conducting extensive research on the elements that make it into his writing. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Andrew Limbong about his trip to Russia several years ago, before the latest invasion into Ukraine, and how photos and videos from that trip helped him make his writing realistic.
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The Netherlands is unlike any other country on Earth.
What sets the Netherlands apart from every other country isn’t its size; it's the fact that 17% of the area of the country was once in the sea.
Turning the sea into land is no easy feat, but it is something that the Dutch have been doing for centuries. Not only have they expanded the territory of the Netherlands, but they have also created a system that protects the country from flooding and storms.
Learn about how the Dutch managed to reclaim land from the sea on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.