Episodios

  • Two debut novels, two murder mysteries set in the United Kingdom

    Two debut novels, two murder mysteries set in the United Kingdom
    Jan 9 2026
    Two debut novelists are out with murder mysteries set in the United Kingdom. First, Jennie Godfrey’s The List of Suspicious Things is a coming-of-age story inspired by the Yorkshire Ripper, the English serial killer who murdered 13 women in the 1970s. In today’s episode, Godfrey tells NPR’s Scott Simon about her own experience growing up during the time of these murders. Then, Death at the White Hart is a novel by Chris Chibnall, the creator of the television show Broadchurch. In today’s episode, Chibnall tells NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about the two rival pubs at the center of his story.


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    17 m
  • Amitav Ghosh’s 'Wild Fictions' gathers essays on empire and the environment

    Amitav Ghosh’s 'Wild Fictions' gathers essays on empire and the environment
    Jan 8 2026
    Indian Bengali writer Amitav Ghosh has been writing about empire, the environment, and other subjects for the past 25 years. Now, he has gathered some of his essays into a new collection called Wild Fictions, which asks big questions about the way humans are connected to other forms of life. In today’s episode, Ghosh joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation that touches on climate change as a problem of politics, culture, and imagination. They also discuss an idea central to Ghosh’s thought: that anthropocentrism is responsible for our current planetary crisis.


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    7 m
  • In 'Twice Born,' a daughter discovers her father through his biography of Mark Twain

    In 'Twice Born,' a daughter discovers her father through his biography of Mark Twain
    Jan 7 2026
    Hester Kaplan, the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Justin Kaplan, knew her father was an esteemed writer and researcher, but she didn’t quite know him personally. After the elder Kaplan died in 2014, Hester began to discover her father, unexpectedly, through his famous biographical account of Mark Twain. In today’s episode, Kaplan speaks with Here and Now’s Tiziana Dearing about the power of biography, and how her memoir Twice Born recounts the stories of a man – and a family – still alive in the margins.


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    11 m
  • 'The Philosopher in the Valley' paints an eccentric portrait of Palantir’s Alex Karp

    'The Philosopher in the Valley' paints an eccentric portrait of Palantir’s Alex Karp
    Jan 6 2026
    Palantir is one of the world’s most valuable companies, analyzing data for businesses, but also for U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies. The Philosopher in the Valley, a new book by Michael Steinberger, is a portrait of the company’s CEO, Alex Karp. In today’s episode, Steinberger speaks with NPR’s Steve Inskeep about Palantir’s operations at the nexus of technology and national security, Karp’s liberal arts background, and the CEO’s unusual lifestyle.


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    8 m
  • 'Russ & Daughters' cookbook documents a century-old New York City establishment

    'Russ & Daughters' cookbook documents a century-old New York City establishment
    Jan 5 2026
    Russ & Daughters opened in 1914 and is one of the last remaining “appetizing stores” in New York City. The shop – which the owners say is not a deli – is famous for its bagels and lox, among other classic Jewish foods. Now, the Russ family is out with a cookbook that includes history, recipes and musings from the last century. In today’s episode, NPR’s Scott Simon visits Russ & Daughters, where he finds the shop brimming with smoked salmon, whitefish salad, chubs, trout, sable, sturgeon and more.

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    13 m
  • Susan Choi’s 'Flashlight' is about an alternate-universe version of her own family

    Susan Choi’s 'Flashlight' is about an alternate-universe version of her own family
    Jan 2 2026
    As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Last up: A 10-year-old girl, Louisa, is later found on a beach in Japan – and her father has disappeared. She and her mother are left on their own – but the tragedy doesn’t bring them closer together, at least for a long time. Susan Choi’s novel Flashlight follows this family across generations and a vast historical expanse. In today’s episode, Choi speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about why her protagonist fends off love, her interest in the historical tensions between Korea and Japan, and the benefit of writing in chronological order.


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    7 m
  • 'Feeding Ghosts' is a graphic memoir grappling with generational trauma

    'Feeding Ghosts' is a graphic memoir grappling with generational trauma
    Jan 1 2026
    As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Tessa Hulls’ grandmother, Sun Yi, was a dissident journalist in Shanghai who faced intense political persecution during the Chinese Communist Revolution. In today’s episode, Hulls tells Here & Now’s Scott Tong that her grandmother’s trauma often cast a shadow over their family – one she decided to finally face in her new graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts. It’s a reexamining of Hulls’ matriarchal lineage, of Chinese history and of generational love and healing.

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    11 m
  • In ‘A Guardian and a Thief,’ a mother’s love for her family threatens her own morals

    In ‘A Guardian and a Thief,’ a mother’s love for her family threatens her own morals
    Dec 31 2025
    As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Megha Majumdar’s novel A Guardian and a Thief, a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award, takes place in a near-future Kolkata struck by climate change. There, one family’s possibility of escape is put in jeopardy when their passports are stolen. In this conversation with Here & Now, Majumdar tells Jane Clayson that hope isn’t always noble in situations of crisis.


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    11 m
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