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Author Interviews NPR interviews with top authors and the NPR Book Tour, a weekly feature and podcast where leading authors read and discuss their writing. Subscribe to the RSS feed.

Author Interviews

Music Interviews

Saving The Sacred Blues Of Highway 61

Driving his Chevrolet Nova up and down Highway 61 in Mississippi, William Ferris stopped at churches and juke joints and penitentiaries to record the music he found. In his new book, Give My Poor Heart Ease, Ferris explores the legacy of the "The Blues Highway."

Saving The Sacred Blues Of Highway 61

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A Terrifying Tour Of 'American Fantastic'

Author Peter Straub knows a bit about terror. As the editor of the new two-volume set American Fantastic: Tales, Terror and the Uncanny, he spent two years researching the best — and scariest — American stories, dating from the age of Edgar Allan Poe to the present.

A Terrifying Tour Of 'American Fantastic'

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Books

People ... People Who Eat People

In her book Dinner With a Cannibal, writer Carole Travis-Henikoff documents the long — and often hidden — history of cannibalism in humans. Travis-Henikoff notes that cannibalism wasn't always taboo, whether it be eating loved ones out of respect or eating enemies out of disdain.

People ... People Who Eat People

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Teddy Roosevelt And The Fire That Saved The Forests

Fresh Air

Author Timothy Egan argues in The Big Burn that the forest fire of 1910 — the largest in American history — actually saved the forests, even as its flames charred the trees. It helped rally public support, Egan explains, behind Theodore Roosevelt's push to protect national lands.

Teddy Roosevelt And The Fire That Saved The Forests

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Books

Cornel West, 'Living And Loving Out Loud'

Philosopher, civil rights activist and professor Cornel West has described himself as a "bluesman in the life of the mind, and a jazzman in the world of ideas." He talks with Neal Conan about his memoir, Living And Loving Out Loud.

Cornel West, 'Living And Loving Out Loud'

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A Memoir Of Pakistan, Islamic Fundamentalism

Fresh Air

Ali Eteraz returned to his home country of Pakistan after living in the US to find himself at the center of an abduction plot. He describes his experiences in his new memoir, Children of the Dust.

A Memoir Of Pakistan, Islamic Fundamentalism

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Analyzing Obama's Options In Afghanistan

Fresh Air

Washington Post Pentagon Correspondent Greg Jaffe joins Fresh Air to talk about the military options available to President Obama as he develops a new strategy in Afghanistan. Jaffe is co-author of the new book The Fourth Star, about the four generals who led the US military's efforts in Iraq.

Analyzing Obama's Options In Afghanistan

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Books

Foreign Companies Remake The American Dream

More than 5 million Americans work for companies that aren't American. New York Times senior business correspondent Micheline Maynard, author of The selling of the American Economy: How Foreign Companies Are Remaking the American Dream, says the foreign share of the American economy is almost double the share of the U.S. auto industry.

Foreign Companies Remake The American Dream

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World

Malalai Joya: 'A Woman Among Warlords'

Three days after Malalai Joya was born in Afghanistan, the government was overthrown. In A Woman Among Warlords, Joya tells the story of her family's struggle against Islamic fundamentalists, warlords and foreign occupation.

Malalai Joya: 'A Woman Among Warlords'

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New Cookbook Chronicles A Year Of Cakes At NPR

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Annabelle Breakey

Food

New Cookbook Chronicles A Year Of Cakes At NPR

All Things Considered producer Melissa Gray describes her adventures in baking — and the staff's adventures in eating — in All Cakes Considered. Gray brings a new cake into the office every Monday. She says she loves to see the staff's childish joy at seeing her latest confection.

New Cookbook Chronicles A Year Of Cakes At NPR

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'Daily Show' Writer's 'Genius Of Unspeakable Evil'

Host Liane Hansen talks to Daily Show Executive Producer Josh Lieb about his new book, I Am A Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President.

'Daily Show' Writer's 'Genius Of Unspeakable Evil'

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Booker Prizewinner Mantel Tells The Story Of Henry VIII

Liane Hansen talks with author Hilary Mantel, this year's winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Her novel, Wolf Hall, tells the story of the reign of England's King Henry VIII and the subsequent ushering in of the Reformation — all through the eyes Thomas Cromwell, the king's adviser for almost a decade.

Booker Prizewinner Mantel Tells The Story Of Henry VIII

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Books

A New Look At 'Iliad' In 'The War That Killed Achilles'

Homer's epic poem "The Iliad" dates back thousands of years, but author Caroline Alexander says its themes, especially about war, ring true today. Guy Raz talks to Alexander about her new book, The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War.

A New Look At 'Iliad' In 'The War That Killed Achilles'

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Venturing Inside Bellevue's Psychiatric ER

Fresh Air

Weekends at Bellevue is psychiatrist Julie Holland's account of her years treating patients in a New York City psychiatric ER. She says one of the hardest parts of her job was figuring out which patients were manic or schizophrenic and which were high on cocaine or methamphetamines.

Venturing Inside Bellevue's Psychiatric ER

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