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  • New books ask how we can protect threatened land in the Amazon rainforest and Hawaii

    New books ask how we can protect threatened land in the Amazon rainforest and Hawaii
    2025/07/11
    Two new books ask how we might protect vulnerable ecosystems in the Amazon rainforest and Hawaii. First, journalist Dom Phillips was reporting in the Amazon when he and a colleague were shot and killed. Phillips was in the middle of writing a book – and now, that project, How to Save the Amazon, has been completed by his widow and a team of contributors. In today's episode, Alessandra Sampaio, Phillip's widow, and co-author Jonathan Watts join NPR's Ari Shapiro to discuss the challenges they faced in completing the book. Then, Sara Kehaulani Goo's new book, Kuleana, chronicles her family's effort to hold onto ancestral land in Hawaii. In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about her own complex relationship with Hawaii and what tourists might consider before they visit.

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    17 分
  • With novel 'Among Friends,' Hal Ebbott says he wanted to take friendship seriously

    With novel 'Among Friends,' Hal Ebbott says he wanted to take friendship seriously
    2025/07/10
    In Hal Ebbott's debut novel, Among Friends, two wealthy New York families are spending a weekend in the country. They've gotten together for decades – but one act ruptures their close ties. In today's episode, Ebbott tells Here & Now's Asma Khalid that he's drawn to story premises where a lot happens in a tightly-contained space. They also discuss Ebbott's interest in writing about an event's aftermath more than the event itself, his decision to write a world where marriage orbits friendship, and how he landed on the book's ending.

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    11 分
  • David Litt's new memoir is about finding common ground through surfing

    David Litt's new memoir is about finding common ground through surfing
    2025/07/09
    Former Obama speechwriter David Litt and his brother-in-law, Matt, couldn't be more different. But during the pandemic, Matt taught Litt how to surf. The time they spent together out on the water created what Litt refers to as "neutral ground" – a space that isn't coded as liberal or conservative. In today's episode, Litt speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about his new memoir, It's Only Drowning. They discuss the way surfing changed Litt's approach to fear, political discussions, and his perceptions of Matt.

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    9 分
  • In the new speculative novel 'Weepers,' mourning is outsourced to professionals

    In the new speculative novel 'Weepers,' mourning is outsourced to professionals
    2025/07/08
    In Peter Mendelsund's novel Weepers, many in the world are concerned they'll be replaced by smart machines. But a cowboy poet named Ed has found work in the American Southwest. He's a professional weeper, part of a group of union workers hired to mourn at funerals. In today's episode, Mendelsund tells NPR's Scott Simon that the novel was inspired, in part, by the author's own experience with depression and "oversensitivity."

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    8 分
  • Ten years later, Ta-Nehisi Coates says 'Between the World and Me' is no longer his

    Ten years later, Ta-Nehisi Coates says 'Between the World and Me' is no longer his
    2025/07/07
    Ten years ago, Ta-Nehisi Coates published Between the World and Me, written as a letter to his then-15-year-old son. The book was released shortly after a shooting at Mother Emanuel church in Charleston left nine people dead – and it became a literary phenomenon as many Americans searched for answers about the state of race relations in the United States. In today's episode, Coates reflects on the 10 year anniversary of Between the World and Me. He speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about the book's dedication, efforts to ban his work, and the role of writers in the public sphere.

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    8 分
  • Kevin Kwan explores race and identity in 'Sex and Vanity' and 'Lies and Weddings'

    Kevin Kwan explores race and identity in 'Sex and Vanity' and 'Lies and Weddings'
    2025/07/04
    Today's encore episode features two interviews with Kevin Kwan, author of the Crazy Rich Asians series. First, former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro spoke to the writer in 2020 about Sex and Vanity, exploring identity through the lens of a biracial character and setting a new trilogy between Europe and the U.S. Then, Here & Now's Robin Young asks Kwan about his newest novel, Lies and Weddings, and his thoughts on the fascination with wealth and power in literature.

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    19 分
  • In Emma Straub's novel 'All Adults Here,' family is messy

    In Emma Straub's novel 'All Adults Here,' family is messy
    2025/07/03
    Author Emma Straub has written a book about family dynamics and the mess and love that comes with them in All Adults Here. It's no secret that families are complicated. Straub argues a lot of our familial relationships are about watching each other grow up — and whether or not you allow those you love to grow and change. In today's encore episode, she told NPR's Scott Simon that even the imperfect bits are worth loving.

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    7 分
  • In 'Lessons in Chemistry' a chemist is the star of... a cooking show?

    In 'Lessons in Chemistry' a chemist is the star of... a cooking show?
    2025/07/02
    Bonnie Garmus' novel Lessons in Chemistry got a lot of buzz when it was first released in 2022. Elizabeth Zott is a talented chemist but because it's the 1960s, she faces sexism in her quest to work as a scientist. So instead, she has a cooking show that is wildly popular. In this encore episode, Garmus told NPR's Scott Simon that the character of Elizabeth lived in her head for many years before she started writing this novel.

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    9 分