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'Built from the Fire' traces the impact of the Tulsa Race Massacre Jun 12, 2023

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Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin is a descendant of survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The racist violence, which killed hundreds of Black Tulsans and burned the city's Greenwood District – known as Black Wall Street – is the subject of journalist Victor Luckerson's new book, Built from the Fire. In today's episode, both Goodwin and Luckerson join NPR's Michel Martin to discuss how for more than a century, Greenwood residents have rebuilt their community time and time again, even in the face of urban renewal policies and gentrification practices.
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Stacey Abrams and James Comey pen novels about crime and government Jun 09, 2023

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Today's episode features interviews with two very high-profile officials who have written thrillers. First, voting rights activist and former Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about her new thriller, Rogue Justice, which follows Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene as she uncovers how surveillance, blackmail and a murder reveal concerning truths about America's "secret court." Then, former FBI director James Comey discusses his novel Central Park West, which details how government officials and the mafia are entangled with one another.
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'Borderless' is a YA novel about a teenage migrant separated from her mother Jun 08, 2023

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Jennifer De Leon's new YA novel, Borderless, tells the story of a Guatemalan teenager named Maya. Though she has a rich and fulfilling life in her home country, circumstances arise that push Maya and her mother towards the U.S. border, where they're separated by immigration officials. In today's episode, De Leon speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about complicating the image of what a migrant looks like and why she wanted to write the real life zero-tolerance policy into this story.
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'Flawless' provides a deeply reported look into Korean beauty standards Jun 07, 2023

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Elise Hu moved to Seoul, South Korea to set up an NPR bureau and report on the geopolitical tensions of the mid-2010s. But her new book, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital, focuses on a different, albeit inescapable, part of life there – beauty standards and the industry driving them. In today's episode, Hu speaks with NPR's Brittany Luse about the consumerism, gender politics and technological advances that drive the booming beauty culture, and explains why the rest of the world should be paying attention...for better or worse.
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In 'Dances,' a Black ballerina navigates immense pressure and expectations Jun 06, 2023

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In Nicole Cuffy's novel, Dances, CeCe Cordell becomes the first Black woman to be named principal dancer at a major ballet company; but this big break also comes with big expectations. In today's episode, Cuffy speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about how CeCe navigates the world of ballet's preoccupation with white bodies, how it affects her relationship with her mother and brother, and how Misty Copeland's very real accomplishments informed CeCe's story.
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Rachel Louise Snyder's memoir traces a life shaped by patriarchy and religion Jun 05, 2023

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Journalist Rachel Louise Snyder has covered gender-based violence around the world for a number of media outlets and in her widely-acclaimed book, No Visible Bruises. But in her new memoir, Women We Buried, Women We Burned, she examines the role it played in her own life. After the loss of her mother early in life, Snyder was raised in a strict evangelical household, where corporal punishment was the norm. In today's episode, she tells NPR's Scott Simon about how that upbringing eventually pushed her to leave home, and the kindness she discovered waiting for her on the other side.
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Two poets pen memoirs about the relationships that shaped their writing Jun 02, 2023

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Today's episode features interviews with two poets who revealed different sides of themselves through memoirs. First, Maggie Smith speaks with NPR's Miles Parks about You Could Make This Place Beautiful, and how virality and the dissolution of her marriage impacted her writing. Then, Kwame Alexander discusses Why Fathers Cry at Night with NPR's Michel Martin, which highlights the different kinds of love that have informed his life.
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In 'The Kingmaker,' romantic sparks fly at a pipeline protest Jun 01, 2023

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Kennedy Ryan's The Kingmaker portrays two seemingly opposite characters – a Yavapai-Apache activist and the heir to an oil fortune – falling in love, and dealing with the complicated fallout of their differences. In today's episode, Ryan speaks with NPR's Chloe Veltman about how she approached writing an indigenous character and community she herself is not a part of, and how powerful storytellers like Shonda Rhimes and Ava DuVernay inspire her own work.
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'Undaunted' provides a thorough history of the women who blazed trails in journalism May 31, 2023

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For decades, male editors told women they couldn't be reporters because of congenital inaccuracies, or because they required having a male escort to report at night. In her new book, Undaunted: How Women Changed American Journalism, Brooke Kroeger provides a historical record of reporters like Ida B. Wells, Nellie Bly, and Gloria Steinem, who went ahead and did it anyway. Kroeger spoke with NPR's Scott Simon about how these journalists changed the industry forever, and how their legacy lives on through coverage of #MeToo and modern-day issues about gender.
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In 'The Guest,' a sex worker wreaks havoc on the glitzy social scene at the Hamptons May 30, 2023

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Alex is 22 years old and staying with a much older, wealthy man in the Hamptons. She's the protagonist of Emma Cline's new novel, an outsider looking in at the perfectly pruned life people of a certain social status lead in these towns. In today's episode, Cline speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about how her heroine navigates the unfamiliar world she finds herself in, and how power is so unequally wielded in those spaces.
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