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In 'Dyscalculia,' Camonghne Felix reckons with heartbreak as a form of trauma Mar 06, 2023

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The critically acclaimed poet Camonghne Felix says that people going through breakups are not often treated with the same grace or generosity as those who've experienced self-harm or sexual assault. But in her new memoir, Dyscalculia, she explores the ways romantic pain and loss requires its own kind of grief – and the amount of honesty that it requires to truly heal from heartbreak. In today's episode, she tells NPR's Juana Summers about how she yearned for a book, written by a Black woman, that immersed itself in that process – and so she ended up having to write her own story.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders and Malcolm Harris take a closer look at wealth and capitalism Mar 03, 2023

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Today's episode features interviews with two people who've given a lot of thought to capitalism's role in modern society. First, Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about his new book, It's OK to be Angry About Capitalism, and how he views the way politicians appeal to the working class – oftentimes, he says, without addressing the root of the problems they're facing. Then, NPR's Michel Martin talks to author Malcolm Harris about his new book, Palo Alto, which details the origins of the California city, the birth of Silicon Valley and the power that's concentrated in the industries that are based there.
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In 'My Selma,' Willie Mae Brown recalls growing up during the Civil Rights Movement Mar 02, 2023

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Willie Mae Brown was a little girl in Selma, Alabama in the 1960s. In her new YA book, My Selma, she recalls growing up during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. As she tells Here & Now's Robin Young, those core childhood memories include going to church to see Martin Luther King, Jr. speak – which moved Brown's mother to tears as she held the author – and her siblings getting arrested for trying to accompany teachers who were planning to register to vote. But, she says, there was also a lot of joy and community as a child on the frontlines of justice.
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In 'The Darker the Night,' a murder in Glasgow unravels a political investigation Mar 01, 2023

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Early on in The Darker the Night, the debut thriller from NPR producer Martin Patience, an investigative reporter links a murder in Glasgow to a significant political figure: the first minister of the Scottish government. As Patience tells NPR's Scott Simon, the story that ensues draws larger questions about journalists and their sources – particularly within governments and police departments – and how the erosion of local media outlets has impacted the way they're trusted by the communities they serve.
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Jean D'Amérique's novel 'A Sun to Be Sewn' grapples with violence in Haiti Feb 28, 2023

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Jean D'Amérique says he grew up in a neighborhood where "it was easier to find a gun than a book." But as he tells NPR's Ari Shapiro, falling in love with reading and writing changed the course of his life. His new novel, A Sun to Be Sewn, follows a young protagonist growing up in rough circumstances in Port au Prince: her father's a gang leader, her mother's a sex worker. But she's finding her way through poetry – and as the author explains, the medium can carry a lot of political power for people on the margins.
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Bozoma Saint John opens up about trauma, grief and healing in 'The Urgent Life' Feb 27, 2023

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Bozoma Saint John says that the loss of her first daughter, who was born prematurely because of preeclampsia, left deep scars in her relationship with her husband. It contributed to their separation later on – but it also led to a lot of reflection after Saint John's husband's cancer diagnosis brought them back together before he died. These are some of the challenges the former Netflix and Pepsi executive explores in her new memoir, The Urgent Life. As Saint John tells NPR's Asma Khalid, there's a lot more shame associated with marriage and motherhood – especially for Black women – than is often talked about. But there's also a lot of resilience in finding a path forward.
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Two children's books examine the meaning of home Feb 24, 2023

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Today's episode features two children's books that touch on the topic of home in one way or another. First, musician Rhiannon Giddens speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about turning the song she wrote during the 2020 racial protests, "Build A House," into a children's book that dives into the complexities of slavery and civil rights in the U.S. Monica Mikai illustrated the book. Then, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe asks Grace Lin and Kate Messner about Once Upon a Book, which follows a little girl's journey as she loses herself in literature.
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From cowboy boots to polyamory, 'Wanting' explores what it means for women to desire Feb 23, 2023

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Margot Kahn and Kelly McMasters know that wanting is a very particular feeling. What women desire is constantly changing, of course: time, money, sex, new shoes. But as the editors of a new collection of essays, aptly titled Wanting, tell NPR's Ailsa Chang, they were more interested in exploring the process of yearning for something – and the rules we construct around that longing – than the objects that we ultimately do or do not get.
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'Up With The Sun' traces actor Dick Kallman's short-lived career – up to his murder Feb 22, 2023

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Up With The Sun is the newest historical novel from acclaimed author Thomas Mallon – with a real-life actor at its center. Dick Kallman's career rose and then fizzled out throughout the 1950s and '60s. By the time he and his life partner were murdered in 1980, he was no longer performing. But as the author tells NPR's Scott Simon, Up With The Sun – and Kallman's life, which intersected with stars like Lucille Ball and Dyan Cannon – serves as a window into the world of Broadway, primetime TV, and gay romance across decades.
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'Call and Response' is an ode to the women and girls of Botswana Feb 21, 2023

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Gothataone Moeng says she knows the characters in her collection of short stories, Call and Response. They bear similarities to her sisters, cousins, and aunties – but they're their own reflections of life, love, shame, expectations and joy in Gaborone and Serowe, Botswana. In today's episode, Moeng talks to NPR's Scott Simon about some of the different lessons her protagonists are learning, and how spending time back home in her village after a long time away reopened doors to a rhythm of life she'd almost forgotten about.
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