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Music
Two versions of Good Morning Melody by Lullatone.
Peter Maxwell Davies plays his own composition, Farewell to Stromness.
Since its publication in 1885, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been celebrated as one of the great American works of literature. But the novel has also been criticized for how Mark Twain stereotyped Black characters like Jim, the enslaved man who befriends Huck Finn. Now, author David Walker and illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson have reimagined this story with Jim at its center. Their new graphic novel, Big Jim and the White Boy, is an action story filled with adventures, fight sequences and an acknowledgment of the danger of the world Jim operates within. In today's episode, Anderson and Walker join NPR's Scott Simon to discuss the novel, including what they did to turn Jim into a multidimensional character, their decision to keep the N-word in their retelling and whether Huck and Jim were ever really friends.
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 election of 1860 was unquestionably the most important election in American history.
The presidential election after that was still important, but it has the distinction of being perhaps the oddest presidential election in history, if for no other reason than it was conducted in the middle of a civil war.
Learn more about the election of 1864 and all the ways we’ve never seen anything like it before or since, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Stanley Tucci of Searching for Italy and The Devil Wears Prada fame loves food—especially the comforting taste of home-cooked Italian cuisine. But in 2017, when Tucci was diagnosed with oral cancer, he temporarily lost his sense of taste. A year later, following treatment that included six months on a feeding tube, he became cancer-free. Since then, Tucci has thought and written a lot about death and his desire to freeze time. In today's episode, Tucci joins NPR's A Martinez to talk about what makes a great meal, how life revolves around food, and his new book What I Ate in One Year.
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
Author Winsome Bingham was raised in a community that gathered together to vote. But as a kid, she didn't realize how important this practice was to her life. Illustrator E.B. Lewis had a different childhood experience with elections. His parents voted but would do so almost in secret. As a result, Lewis didn't become a voter until his late 20s. In their children's book, The Walk (A Stroll to the Poll), published in 2023, Bingham and Lewis hope to give kids insight into this democratic process. In the book, a child and her grandmother pick up friends and neighbors on their way to the polls, forming a civically-minded procession. In today's episode, NPR's Scott Simon introduces a conversation between the author and illustrator about how children learn by watching adults act and how voting can be a collective–rather than individual–experience.
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
During the Second World War, the Allies were desperate to develop ideas to help them win the war.
Some of these ideas, such as the atomic bomb and the Norden bombsight, were so promising that they warranted investments of staggering amounts, reaching into the millions and billions of dollars.
Other ideas, such as training bats to drop bombs or pigeon-guided missiles, were so outlandish that they were never seriously considered.
However, there was one idea that seemed crazy, but it actually got attention at the highest levels of government.
Learn more about Project Habakkuk and the idea of making an aircraft carrier out of ice on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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One of the most popular board games in the world is Monopoly.
Millions of copies of the game have been sold and thousands of different versions have been published.
However, the origins of the game are not what most people think. In fact, the game was originally designed not as a way for people to win by amassing properties but rather to demonstrate why that was a bad idea.
Learn more about the surprising origins of Monopoly, one of the most popular board games in history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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It's been 50 years since the publication of All the President's Men, but journalist Bob Woodward says he hasn't changed his approach to political reporting. His new book, War, aims to bring readers as close as possible to the rooms where globally consequential diplomacy takes place. War focuses on three major conflicts and has already made headlines, detailing new information about the continued relationship between former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In today's episode, Woodward speaks with NPR's Scott Detrow about a high-stakes call between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterparts about the potential use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Iran, and Woodward's observations on Vice President Harris' role in foreign diplomacy.
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
Ancient mathematics was very different than the mathematics you are used to today.
Two primary tools ancient mathematicians used were the compass and the straightedge. With these two very simple objects, they were able to make an astounding number of proofs and mathematical discoveries.
However, there were some problems that were always beyond their grasp.
Learn more about squaring the circle and the problem that eluded mathematicians for over 2000 years on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Sponsors
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