Writer Julia Heaberlin joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss her new novel, featuring a cast of characters trying to solve the disappearance of a missing child, and the prominent role Texas plays in her writing.
Read moreThe eternal allure of old books
Antiquarian bookseller Oliver Darkshire discusses one of the world’s oldest bookshops and a profession that makes more memories than it does money.
Read moreWhy fictional villains are often portrayed as disabled
Professor Jan Grue, who is disabled himself, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss villains from Disney to 007 – and how these portrayals of people with disabilities spread harmful ideas.
Read moreJoy is made sweeter because we know pain
Author and poet Ross Gay joins us to share his essay collection about finding meaning in bleak times to create compassion, hope, and to better connect to our shared humanity.
Read moreUntangling the true story of a scandalous shipwreck
New Yorker staff writer David Grann joins us to discuss a British warship called the Wager, which wrecked in Patagonia in the 1740s, and the conflicting stories of its surviving castaways.
Read moreA conversation with U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo
The member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation joins us to discuss how she reckons with the loss of ancestral homelands, her personal story, and the rituals that provide her with inspiration.
Read moreThe changing seasons of friendship
Essayist B.D. McClay joins us to discuss the many phases of a friendship, from joy to loss, using touchstones from classic stories.
Read moreWhat TV and books get wrong about women
Sophie Gilbert from The Atlantic talks about Western beauty standards and how the portrayal of women characters in books, movies and television affects the lives of women in the real world.
Read moreThe power of small poems
Poet Billy Collins talks about his new work full of small poems, built to pack an emotional punch in just a few, short lines.
Read moreNovelist Andrew Sean Greer is a hopeful romantic
The hapless, loveable character of Arthur Less from the novel “Less” won Andrew Sean Greer a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2018. And now, he’s back.
Read moreThe weird and brilliant stories of George Saunders
Writer George Saunders discusses his newest collection of short stories – many with dystopian themes – and his process for writing them.
Read moreYour fun could be so much funner
Science journalist Catherine Price discusses her definition of true fun and why she feels it can lead us to happier, more fulfilling lives.
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