The novel The Rachel Incident is rooted around a wonderful, messy friendship. Rachel and James live together, party, and get themselves into a peculiar situation with an older married couple. In today's encore episode, author Caroline O'Donoghue speaks with NPR's Miles Parks about how abortion and sexual repression in Irish society play a large role in Rachel's early adulthood. O'Donoghue also shares why it was important to her that the novel be told from an older Rachel's perspective, reflecting on her youth.
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
Two childhood best friends realize they're in love and break up with their significant others to be together – that's a classic romantic-comedy storyline. But in her book, Funny Story, author Emily Henry wonders about some of the other forgotten cast members: what happens to the people who got dumped along the way? In today's encore episode, NPR's Juana Summers asks Henry about writing male characters that go to therapy, leaning into the cringey moments of falling in love and looking up to her own parents' relationship.
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
Marcus Licinius Crassus was the richest man in the Roman Republic.
His wealth bought him power and influence, but it couldn’t buy him everything. His massive wealth couldn’t give him the respect and authority that came from victory on the battlefield.
His desperate attempt to achieve this glory led to his spectacular demise and ultimately the fall of the Roman Republic.
Learn more about Crassus and his stunning rise and fall on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In the 19th century, New York City was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
However, it was still a very young city, and as such, the city’s leaders were able to take a step back and plan what exactly they wanted the future of the city to be.
What they decided was that the city needed a park. Not just any park, but a great park that took up an enormous part of Manhattan Island.
Learn more about Central Park and how it became one of the world’s greatest parks on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
On the evening of January 30, 1945, the deadliest shipwreck in human history occurred.
Most of you might be aware of the sinking of the Titanic or the Lusitania, yet you’ll have never heard of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff.
With a death toll 4 to 6 times worse than the Titanic, the maritime disaster has been all but forgotten today. Why has history forgotten about the world’s greatest maritime disaster?
Learn more about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, why it happened, and why it has been forgotten by history in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
For many of you listening to the sound of my voice right now, the audio originated from a digital file that was transported across the globe at the speed of light on fiber-optic cables.
The fiber optic cables, which crisscross the oceans, create a network that unites the entire globe. Almost all the telephone calls, text messages, web pages, streaming videos, and podcasts that travel around the world do so through undersea fiber optic cables.
Without these cables, our modern world would be very different, and many of you wouldn’t be listening to me right now.
Learn more about undersea fiber optic cables and how they work on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.