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'Soundtrack of Silence' is a touching memoir about music and hearing loss Jan 24, 2024

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Matt Hay grew up with a medical condition that eventually diminished his ability to hear. But in the process of going deaf, he memorized his favorite songs, fell in love and started a family. In today's episode, Hay speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about his new memoir, Soundtrack of Silence, and how – nearly two decades later – music has been able to help him do something doctors said was impossible: partially recover his hearing.
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Efrén C. Olivares' memoir recounts family separations at the border Jan 23, 2024

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Efrén C. Olivares is a human rights lawyer – and he tells Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes that some of the toughest conversations he's ever had were during Trump-era family separations, when he had to tell the parents he was representing in South Texas that he wasn't sure when or where they'd see their children again. His new book, My Boy Will Die of Sorrow, is a firsthand account of the human impacts of anti-immigration policy at the border, told alongside Olivares' own experience immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico as a young teen.
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Claire Keegan's new book of stories explores tension, drama and gender dynamics Jan 22, 2024

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Three short stories comprise So Late in the Day, the new book by the highly acclaimed Irish writer, Claire Keegan. All three revolve around the ways men and women relate to one another — from a failed marriage proposal to a troubling affair. In today's episode, NPR's Scott Simon asks Keegan about the way her male characters come across, and how the finite nature of time influences her protagonists' decisions.
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Adam Kinzinger, Mitt Romney and the evolution of the Republican party Jan 19, 2024

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Today's episode focuses on two Republican legislators who, over time, came to feel like outsiders for sounding alarms about Trump. First, NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with former representative Adam Kinzinger about Renegade, his new memoir detailing his career and the way January 6 ultimately broke his allegiance to the Republican party. Then, journalist McKay Coppins speaks with Here & Now's Jane Clayson about his new biography of Mitt Romney, and how the former presidential candidate reflects on the conspiratorial leanings dominating today's politics.
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'The Frozen River' tells the fictionalized story of a real 18th century midwife Jan 18, 2024

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Martha Ballard was a real midwife in the late 1700s who delivered more than 1,000 babies without ever losing a mother. Ballard kept a diary of her life and the town secrets she learned thanks to her profession — and she's at the center of Ariel Lawhon's new novel, The Frozen River. In today's episode, Lawhon tells NPR's Scott Simon how she stumbled upon Ballard's story while pregnant with her own child, and why it was important for her to make a 54-year-old woman the hero of her book.
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'The Golden Screen' chronicles the films that shaped the Asian American diaspora Jan 17, 2024

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The Golden Screen, the new book by Jeff Yang, offers a comprehensive guide to some of the most significant films for Asian American representation, including commentary by industry trailblazers like Daniel Dae Kim, Janet Yang and Simu Liu. In today's episode, Yang and book contributor Preeti Chhibber speak with NPR's Ailsa Chang about how Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Bollywood and kung fu movies shaped their identities growing up. They also get to talking about some of the harmful stereotypes we still see on screen today, and why maybe mediocrity isn't such a bad thing.
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'Orbital' captures one day in the life of six astronauts Jan 16, 2024

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Author Samantha Harvey tells NPR's Ari Shapiro that she was fascinated by the quotes and insight of astronauts as a child. Her new novel, Orbital, turns that interest into a careful contemplation of Earth, space and humanity — it follows six people on a mission to orbit around our planet for 16 sunrises and sunsets. Harvey and Shapiro discuss the kind of poetry that emerged from imagining the daily routines of cosmonauts, so far up above, together and alone at once.
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Álvaro Enrigue's new novel reimagines Hernán Cortés' and Moctezuma's empires Jan 15, 2024

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You Dreamed of Empires sets the scene for a violent historical encounter: the war between the Spanish and Aztec empires. But in a fictionalization of Hernán Cortés' arrival in the city of Tenochtitlan in 1519, author Álvaro Enrigue challenges ideas about colonialism, revolution and influential rulers. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about finding humor and humanity in the men he writes about — sometimes laughing about, but not with, the powerful ones.
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Two historical fiction novels focus on women's lives during wars in Southeast Asia Jan 12, 2024

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Today's episode features two authors who've written novels centering the personal and political experiences of women during war. First, NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks with Vanessa Chan about The Storm We Made, which follows a mother in 1945 Malay grappling with how her secret work as a spy has resulted in the brutal Japanese occupation tearing her family apart. Then, NPR's Juana Summers chats with Alice McDermott about her novel Absolution, which depicts two American wives looking back on the friendship they developed living in Saigon as their husbands' "helpmeets" during the Vietnam War.
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Roxane Gay fleshes out her strong 'Opinions' Jan 11, 2024

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In the era of constant hot takes, what actually makes an opinion worthwhile? Roxane Gay tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe that it's a combination of things: credibility, backing arguments, articulation. In today's episode, Gay discusses her collection of nonfiction essays Opinions and the topics she tackles throughout — from the overuse of the word 'empathy' in today's discourse to the truly terrible experience of Father's Day shopping.
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