NPR's Book of the Day - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

Celeste Ng's 'Our Missing Hearts' explores a new dystopia through a teenager's eyes Oct 17, 2022

Show notes

Celeste Ng's new novel Our Missing Hearts is set in a dystopian America, where children are taken away from their parents. The story is told from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy who goes in search of his missing mother. In an interview with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, Ng says she wanted to look at how people rationalize their faith in institutions, and how willing they are to look away from something that's wrong.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Two novels by Namwali Serpell explore borders and the mixed-race family Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we hear two interviews with author Namwali Serpell. Her two novels look at some variation on what it means to be part of a mixed-race family. First, NPR's Scott Simon talks to Serpell about her 2019 debut The Old Drift in which the author considers how immigrants that came to Zambia gave the country a new identity through unity and love. Then, Serpell and NPR's Juana Summers discuss her second novel The Furrows, which looks at grief – and how it doesn't necessarily get easier with time.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

In 'You Gotta Be You,' Brandon Kyle Goodman says we should embrace who we are Oct 13, 2022

Show notes

This conversation between NPR's Ailsa Chang and actor Brandon Kyle Goodman looks at authentic relationships and the performance of queerness. Goodman is Black, non-binary, and grew up in a religious household. Among humorous stories of love – and self-love – their new book You Gotta Be You: How to Embrace This Messy Life and Step Into Who You Really Are touches on dating, white privilege, and dating those with white privilege. Goodman's origin story helps readers understand what it means to fully love oneself.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

'WARHOLCAPOTE' is a window into the relationship between two great, tortured minds Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Rob Roth's new play in book form, WARHOLCAPOTE, is what he calls a "non-fiction invention," created from found tapes of conversations between artist Andy Warhol and writer Truman Capote. In a conversation with Scott Simon, Roth sheds light on the two men's loneliness, their recognition of both talent and pain in each other, and how they turned the way they fathomed the world into art.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Gay sons of immigrants talk about the weight they carry in 'Brown and Gay in LA' Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

In Brown and Gay in LA, author Anthony Christian Ocampo interviews more than 60 gay sons of immigrant families about the fears that come with living as gay men. He discusses with A Martinez the complex relationships they have with their parents — the respect they have for their parents as immigrants, but also the pain they carry from coming out to them.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

'Waging a Good War' explains civil rights movement in military strategy terms Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

Distinguished war correspondent Thomas Ricks analyzes how civil rights movement protesters used military principles and strategies in his new book, Waging a Good War. He explains to Steve Inskeep how although unarmed and non-violent, the discipline, training, and willingness to sacrifice everything allowed the protesters to achieve success and employ tactics rivaling those of the U.S. military.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Two writers on friendships and how they shape us Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, NPR's Scott Simon interviews two writers whose books about friendship reckon with how people, and what we experience with them, make us who we are. First, Hua Hsu talks about his memoir Stay True which focuses on one of his formative college friendships, and how that friendship was cut tragically short. Then, we hear from Kamala Shamsie about her novel Best of Friends. It follows the push and pull of a friendship between two girls from when they were teenagers in Karachi to when they're older and working in London.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Dick Ebersol's autobiography 'From Saturday Night to Sunday Night' spans his career Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

Dick Ebersol was a major player in the world of American entertainment until his retirement over a decade ago. He co-created Saturday Night Live, and created Sunday Night Football, which was once the most watched television program in America. In this episode, we get a glimpse of Ebersol's 40-year career as he talks with NPR hosts Ari Shapiro and Juana Summers about his new autobiography From Saturday Night to Sunday Night. We also hear from Ebersol how he coped with some of the worst, tragic moments in his life.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

'What If? 2' is Randall Munroe's second round of answers to absurd questions Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

Randall Munroe's first book of scientific answers to the absurd questions people have was so popular that he wrote another one. In What If? 2, the author and cartoonist answers confusing and often unusual questions submitted by adults – and children – using science and humor. He spoke to NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about why it's important to lean into this confusion, and how that actually makes way for curiosity.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

'The Door of No Return' is a story for children about slavery Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Kwame Alexander's new novel aimed at teens, The Door of No Return, focuses on the history of slavery. It follows a boy growing up in Ghana in 1860, and it aims to help readers understand the wholeness of the lives and experiences of Africans before they walked through that "door of no return" – and were shipped to the Americas. In an interview with NPR's Rachel Martin, Alexander talks about how he used poetry to make the heavy subject palatable for children.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

NPR’s Book of the Day

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected