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'The Mamas' views parenting through the lenses of race, class, and gentrification Sep 05, 2022

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When it comes to raising children, says Helena Andrews-Dyer, there are complicated dynamics connected to race and class – which she writes about in her book The Mamas. In an interview with Rachel Martin, Dyer details the trials and tribulations of being a first-time parent, attending social events with other moms and all the pressure put on her internally and externally to make sure her child turns out alright. But it's her experience as a Black mom among a sea of white mothers that pushed her to reimagine her parenting "through a larger lens of race, and class, and gentrification."
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Magical realism and identity explored in Salman Rushdie's books Sep 02, 2022

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This episode features two different books by one author: Salman Rushdie. And while the two stories differ, recurrent themes of magical realism and the supernatural accompany them both. First, Rushdie, in a discussion of his book The Golden House, tells Ari Shapiro how escaping your past can lead to disillusionment And then, in an interview with Scott Simon about the fantasy elements in Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, he says that to combine magic and realism, you need the ability to think and to dream.
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In 'Electable,' Ali Vitali explores the glass ceiling for women in politics Sep 01, 2022

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In Electable: Why America Hasn't Put a Woman in the White House... Yet, author Ali Vitali explores why the glass ceiling separating women from the highest office is still intact. Vitali and Juana Summers talk about why it wasn't possible to elect a woman in 2020 – and the importance of female representation in politics for America's future.
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Emma Donoghue revisits isolation and faith (with many birds) in new book 'Haven' Aug 31, 2022

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Author Emma Donoghue "seem to enjoy the stimulus of going to an entirely new place." That's precisely what she does in her new book 'Haven'; it's about three Irish monks in the middle ages who choose to live a life of isolation on a rocky island. In an interview with Ari Shapiro, Donoghue explains why she has recurrent themes of isolation and faith in her stories.
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'The Stolen Year' details how politics and pandemic magnified inequality in education Aug 30, 2022

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Author Anya Kamenetzwas covering education for NPR when the pandemic started spreading in the U.S. She says she saw how political affiliation, divisions and distrust prevented leaders from putting kids first. Kamenetz sits down with Steve Inskeep to discuss her new book, The Stolen Year, and how the pandemic "magnified the inequality" that already existed among school children.
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Abdulrazak Gurnah's 'Afterlives' highlights nuances of colonization in East Africa Aug 29, 2022

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In Abdulrazak Gurnah's Afterlives, the characters centered in the novel offer different perspectives of ordinary people under German colonization in East Africa. In an interview with NPR's Scott Simon, the author goes into detail about how the "power and attraction of the victor" can lead to the conquered joining the conqueror and the impact it has on one's identity
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Paula Hawkins and Amanda Jayatissa highlight class inequality via mystery Aug 26, 2022

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The two books in this episode are thrillers that center class as the theme of the narrative. First up is A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins that the author says, in an interview with Mary Louise Kelly, is a crime-murder-mystery in a setting where "the powerful and the powerless" are right next to each other. Next is You're Invited, authored by Amanda Jayatissa, about a wedding invite gone wrong – but, as Jayatissa shared with Ayesha Roscoe, is actually a backdrop to highlight Sri Lanka's present inequalities.
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Sidik Fofana addresses how complicated gentrification is in debut story collection Aug 25, 2022

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Sidik Fofana's short story collection can be best described as "addressing the notion that gentrification is complicated." Those were Fofana's words to NPR's Daniel Estrin as they talked about his debut book, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs. Fofana, who's also a public school teacher, uses the emotions he's felt growing up and situations of other people he's known, to ask: "How would I feel if this happened to me?" He writes them down in his collection as distinct voices and characters struggling to get by in a fictional high rise building in Harlem.
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Ellen Jovin travels across the U.S. in search of grammar questions and answers Aug 24, 2022

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The author of Rebel With a Clause traveled to more than 40 states to document how grammar is used in relationships, work conversations and everyday life. In this episode, Ellen Jovin shares her discoveries and what she's learned along the way with Scott Simon.
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'The Scent of Burnt Flowers' uses fiction to explore a real, historical event Aug 23, 2022

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Blitz Bazawule directed the first Ghanaian original film to be released on Netflix, co-directed Beyonce's visual album 'Black is King', directed the upcoming film musical version of 'The Color Purple' and, now, has published his first novel – The Scent of Burnt Flowers. In this interview, he talks with Michel Martin about how and why he wrote this novel, which meshes real historical events with the supernatural.
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