The two books featured in this episode illustrate the impact of colorism in society. First up is The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid. In conversation with Scott Simon, Hamid talks about his personal experience after 9/11 and how that helped shape the narrative of this novel. Next is Walking Gentry Home by Alora Young, which chronicles her family's history through nine generations of mothers in her life. Young shares with Leila Fadel about how her stories touch on her skin complexion "as a product of uninvited attention" from people who enslaved her family.
Bay Curious listener Erin Al Gwaiz wanted to know more about the time that famous Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera spent in San Francisco. In this episode, which originally aired in December, 2020, reporter Marisol Medina-Cadena immerses us in their world — exploring who they were, how they spent their time here, and ultimately how their legacy still resonates today.
Reported by Marisol Medina-Cadena. Frida Kahlo voice acting by Maria Pena. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, and Brendan Willard. Our social video intern is Darren Tu.
Lakeview once had a thriving Japanese community, but it fell victim to a push for assimilation. As one Japanese-American puts it: “You had to basically be unseen.”
Author and audiobook narrator Julia Whelan says narrating her own second book, Thank You for Listening, was "so meta, that it just spins off its axis." It's about a former on-camera actress who suffered a tragic event that ended her on-camera career. She's found work in narrating audiobooks and while she loves it, it isn't the same as being in front of the camera. Whelan chats with Mary Louise Kelly about how this latest novel pokes fun at romance while honoring it, and the different voices she has had to use to represent the "voice" of the book.
At the 1923 Pan-American Conference, a proposal was presented to link together all of the countries of the Western Hemisphere. A single road that would run from the shore of the Arctic Ocean all the way down to Terra Del Fuego in Argentina.
Several decades later, the countries in question announced the road's completion, which linked the entire western hemisphere. Sort of….
Learn more about the Pan-American Highway, the world’s longest road, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In an interview with NPR's Juana Summers, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina talks about the second chances he's been given by his mother and his constituents, which he also details in his new memoir America: A Redemption Story. Scott reflects on his struggles with self image growing up, the doubts he had as a young Black man in high school, and what he wished President Trump would have done during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Cards and card games have become almost ubiquitous They are played by children and in retirement homes. They are played at family picnics, and there are also televised games played with millions of dollars on the line.
You can play games with friends, or you can even play them by yourself.
Despite how common they are, most people don’t realize that they have a very ancient heritage.
Learn more about the origin of playing cards on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Marianne Wiggins had started to write her latest book Properties of Thirst when she had a stroke in 2016. So her daughter Lara Porzak, helped her finish it. Porzak described the experience as "hard, very difficult, but beautiful." Talking to Scott Simon, both authors share how their time in the hospital and the uncertainty of the future helped complete a story about new beginnings.
