Episódios

  • Introducing: Books We've Loved
    Oct 11 2025
    Welcome to Books We've Loved, a new limited series from Book of The Day. Every episode, we will dig into some of our favorite books, to make the case for picking up a book from the past. Hosted by Book of the Day’s Andrew Limbong and Code Switch’s B.A. Parker, they will be your guides through these timeless stories. Bringing on NPR voices and book nerds far and wide, they will discuss titles by authors like Anthony Bourdain, James Baldwin, and Jane Austen, and asking their guests questions like — why can’t they get this book out of their head? How did this book shift a paradigm, shake the culture, or change their life? And, most importantly, why should you read it now?


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    2 minutos
  • These new mystery novels are 'whodunits' that might as well be called 'whydunits'
    Oct 10 2025
    Today’s episode features two mystery novels with special twists. First, The Killer Question is a story told via emails, WhatsApp messages and texts. When a new trivia team becomes suspiciously successful, egos are hurt and a body is found in the river. In today’s episode, author Janice Hallett joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about the mystery that unfolds. Then, Kill Your Darlings is a novel written in reverse: The murderer is revealed in the first chapter. In today’s episode, author Peter Swanson talks with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about the marriage at the center of the story.


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    18 minutos
  • In 'Dream School,' Jeff Selingo wants parents to rethink what makes a ‘good’ college
    Oct 9 2025
    Over the past 20 years, the number of college applications filed to top schools has exploded. And while most American colleges accept most applicants, many parents and students hold tightly to the idea that prestige matters. In his new book Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right For You, journalist and higher education expert Jeff Selingo argues elite schools aren’t always the best. In today’s episode, Selingo speaks with NPR’s Michel Martin about why he wants to give parents permission to think more broadly about higher education.

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    8 minutos
  • For her latest novel, Patricia Lockwood says she wanted to write about confusion
    Oct 8 2025
    In Patricia Lockwood’s latest novel, the protagonist is an author named Patricia. Will There Ever Be Another You documents a four-year period of disorientation, disassociation and confusion after Patricia becomes severely ill. The story is based on Lockwood’s own experience with brain fog and other symptoms after becoming sick with Covid-19 in March 2020. In today’s episode, the real-life author talks with NPR’s Ari Shapiro about embodying confusion as she wrote about it.


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    9 minutos
  • Mariana Enriquez’s new book connects her interest in cemeteries with Argentina’s past
    Oct 7 2025
    Cemeteries are not everyone’s idea of fun, but they’re a source of fascination for author Mariana Enriquez. Her new nonfiction book Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave is a collection of personal short stories she gathered while traveling to final resting places across four continents. In today’s episode, the author joins NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe for a conversation about her past as a goth, the connection between graves and Argentina’s dictatorship, and where Enriquez would like to be buried.

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    9 minutos
  • 'For the Sun After Long Nights' is a history of Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement
    Oct 6 2025
    Three years ago, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Jina Amini was fatally beaten by Iran’s morality police. She’d been arrested for not following the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Her death sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement, one of the largest uprisings in Iran in decades. Journalists Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizy tell this story in their new book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising. In today’s episode, Jamalpour speaks with Here & Now’s Jane Clayson about the movement and Iran’s future.


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    11 minutos
  • Two new history books use the past to explain what’s important now
    Oct 3 2025
    Two new history books make a strong case for why learning about the past is critical to understanding the world today. First, History Matters is a posthumous collection of writings by American historian David McCullough. In today’s episode, co-editor Dorie McCullough Lawson and historian Jon Meacham tell NPR’s Scott Simon about McCullough’s endless curiosity. Then, in Midnight on the Potomac, Scott Ellsworth explores little-known corners of Civil War history. In today’s episode, he speaks with Here & Now’s Sarah McCammon about long-held myths about the period.

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    19 minutos
  • 'F*** Approval, You Don’t Need It!' makes the case against ‘people pleasers’
    Oct 2 2025
    In her new book, F*** Approval, You Don’t Need It!, therapist Lizzie Moult says people who seek the approval of others are doing a great disservice to themselves — and others too. In a conversation with Here & Now host Peter O’Dowd, Moult explains why being a “people pleaser” can be counterproductive.


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    10 minutos