Daniel Sharfstein's new book Thunder In the Mountains sheds new light on the Nez Perce Indian wars, and the two historical figures on each side of the conflict: Chief Joseph and Oliver Otis Howard.
Washington Post reporter Amy Goldstein talks about her book Janesville: An American Story, that's about a factory town in Wisconsin that lost its lifeblood when its factory shut down.
After an incorrect dose of a chemotherapy drug for Crohn's disease caused Anne Webster's bone marrow to shut down, she decided that, if she survived, she'd write about her experience.
Author Peggy Orenstein says that when it comes to adolescent sexuality, the subject of girls' pleasure is often left unspoken. Originally broadcast March 29, 2016.
For a new word to enter the dictionary, it must meet three criteria: widespread use, sustained use and meaningful use. Merriam-Webster lexicographer Kory Stamper explains the process in Word by Word.
"Everybody's got to get out there and find the piece that they can do," the Democratic Massachusetts senator says. She talks to NPR's Audie Cornish about her new book, the middle class and activism.
Alyssa Mastromonaco worked in the West Wing for six exhilarating and exhausting years. She describes that era in her new memoir, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?
David Letterman, one of the most famous people in America, is an enigma. Jason Zinoman's new book, Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night, looks at the late night talk show host's long career and the impact it still has on broadcasting today.
The Osage tribe in Oklahoma became spectacularly wealthy in the early 1900s — and then members started turning up dead. David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon describes the dark plot against them.
Poet and author Kevin Coval talks about his new book of poems, A People's History of Chicago. The book tells the stories of the city's marginalized communities.
In his new memoir, the one-time member of The Monkees recalls befriending John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, who opened for the band on a 1967 tour. (That didn't last long.)
Stephanie Powell Watts' No One Is Coming to Save Us isn't quite a retelling of The Great Gatsby; instead, it uses similar themes to tell a story about black characters in a declining furniture town.
New Yorker staff writer David Owen says that convoluted legal agreements and a patchwork of infrastructure determine how water from the Colorado is allocated. His new book is Where The Water Goes.
Unlike food — which gives us sensory cues like crunchy and hot, as well as tasting, say, salty — with wine, it's all about tiny differences in taste and smell. The danger is in getting too poetic.
Prince on defining his music: "The only thing I could think of, because I really don't like categories, but the only thing I could think of is inspirational."
U.S. taxpayers pay $30 billion a year to fund biomedical research aimed at finding better treatments. But competition for scarce funding and tenure may be prompting some scientists to cut corners.
Savoring the flavor of wine activates more gray matter than solving a complex math problem, according to neuroscientist Gordon Shepherd. His new book, Neurenology, explores your brain on wine.
Historian Dennis McBride writes in his new book about Nevada’s reputation as “tolerant of activities the rest of the nation shunned.” However, over the decades - in the area of gay and lesbian righ
Mark Harris says the military worked with Hollywood directors to create movies about the war. His book, Five Came Back, is the basis for a new Netflix docu-series.Originally broadcast March 3, 2014.
Journalist Sharon Weinberger discusses the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, which develops innovative scientific technologies for the military. Her new book is The Imagineers of War.
Tressie McMillan Cottom worked in enrollment at two for-profit colleges, but quit because she felt uncomfortable selling students an education they couldn't afford. Her new book is Lower Ed.
The image of the "sad clown" can seem like a cliche. But for Kevin Breel, it's very real. He describes how he struggled with depression while performing as a stand-up comedian.
"There is no greater ... feeling of helplessness than to watch two beloved sons deteriorate before [your] eyes," says Ron Powers. His new book is No One Cares About Crazy People.
