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For author Julissa Arce, 'sounding white' isn't a compliment

Author Julissa Arce makes the case for rejecting assimilation in her latest book, You Sound Like a White Girl. Aly Honore hide caption

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Aly Honore

It's Been a Minute

For author Julissa Arce, 'sounding white' isn't a compliment

Julissa Arce used to think that the secret to fitting in was to "sound white" — to speak English perfectly, with no accent. And for years after her family came to the U.S. from Mexico, she did all the things immigrants are "supposed" to do to assimilate: she went to college, got a job at Goldman Sachs and became an American citizen.

For author Julissa Arce, 'sounding white' isn't a compliment

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After Making History As A Child, Ruby Bridges Shares Her Story With Today's Kids

In November 1960, Ruby Bridges became the first Black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. The six-year-old was escorted by four U.S. marshals. Uncredited/AP hide caption

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Uncredited/AP

Consider This from NPR

After Making History As A Child, Ruby Bridges Shares Her Story With Today's Kids

Ruby Bridges was just six years old in 1960 when she became the first Black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans.

After Making History As A Child, Ruby Bridges Shares Her Story With Today's Kids

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Author Interviews

A novelist's time in the MMA cage informed his book on memory loss and identity

Fresh Air

John Vercher trained in mixed martial arts as a young man. His novel, After the Lights Go Out, is about a veteran MMA fighter struggling to remember everyday things. Originally broadcast June 2022.

A novelist's time in the MMA cage informed his book on memory loss and identity

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'Less' offers more in Andrew Sean Greer's follow-up to his Pulitzer-winning novel

Less is Lost, by Andrew Sean Greer Little, Brown hide caption

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Little, Brown

Review

Book Reviews

'Less' offers more in Andrew Sean Greer's follow-up to his Pulitzer-winning novel

Fresh Air

Greer's new comic novel, Less is Lost, is as funny and poignant as its predecessor. But comedy also arises out of pain and Greer smoothly transitions into the profound.

'Less' offers more in Andrew Sean Greer's follow-up to his Pulitzer-winning novel

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40 years after she took the stage, 'Angelina Ballerina' is still dancing
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Picture This

40 years after she took the stage, 'Angelina Ballerina' is still dancing

Angelina is a determined little mouse in a pink tutu who dreams of becoming a ballerina. Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig revisit their beloved character, the star of more than 25 picture books.

40 years after she took the stage, 'Angelina Ballerina' is still dancing

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Animals

Monkey thieves, drunk elephants — Mary Roach reveals a weird world of animal 'crime'

Fresh Air

Roach researched animal misbehaviors for her book, Fuzz. She says animals tend to ignore the rules we try to impose on them — and they often have the last laugh. Originally broadcast Sept. 14, 2021.

Monkey thieves, drunk elephants — Mary Roach reveals a weird world of animal 'crime'

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Saeed Jones confronts the end of the world in new poems
Saeed Jones/Saeed Jones

Saeed Jones confronts the end of the world in new poems

Alive at the End of The World, the new poetry collection by Saeed Jones, reckons with continued living in the face of endless grief.

Saeed Jones confronts the end of the world in new poems

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'British Vogue' editor-in-chief wants his magazine to reflect the world he sees

Edward Enninful became the editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 2017. His new memoir is A Visible Man. Rafael Pavarotti/Penguin Random House hide caption

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Rafael Pavarotti/Penguin Random House

Author Interviews

'British Vogue' editor-in-chief wants his magazine to reflect the world he sees

Fresh Air

Edward Enninful grew up in Ghana, assisting his mother in her dressmaking shop. "For me, fashion was always such an inclusive, beautiful thing," he says. His memoir is A Visible Man.

'British Vogue' editor-in-chief wants his magazine to reflect the world he sees

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Dear Life Kit: My husband wrote an 80-chapter book. Do I have to read it?
Photo Illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR

Dear Life Kit

Dear Life Kit: My husband wrote an 80-chapter book. Do I have to read it?

What's more, the letter writer hates her husband's writing style. Should she bite the bullet and read his novel? Or can she pass? Family therapist Kiaundra Jackson offers her two cents.

Dear Life Kit: My husband wrote an 80-chapter book. Do I have to read it?

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3 common thinking traps and how to avoid them, according to a Yale psychologist
Malte Mueller/Getty Images/fStop

Life Kit

3 common thinking traps and how to avoid them, according to a Yale psychologist

Humans have a tendency to make snap judgments and assumptions due to our cognitive biases, says Woo-kyoung Ahn in her book 'Thinking 101.' So how do we fight them?

3 common thinking traps and how to avoid them, according to a Yale psychologist

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Her sister was killed in the Birmingham church bombing. A new book tells their story

Lisa McNair holds her memoir Dear Denise: Letters to the Sister I Never Knew, recounting growing up in Birmingham, Ala., after her sister Denise and three other Black girls were murdered in the Ku Klux Klan bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church. Taylor Jennings-Brown/NPR hide caption

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Taylor Jennings-Brown/NPR

National

Her sister was killed in the Birmingham church bombing. A new book tells their story

In a new memoir, Lisa McNair recounts growing up in Birmingham, Ala., after her sister Denise and three other Black girls were murdered in the 1963 Ku Klux Klan bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church.

Her sister was killed in the Birmingham church bombing. A new book tells their story

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Nina Totenberg looks back on her decades-long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Simon & Schuster

Author Interviews

Nina Totenberg looks back on her decades-long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Fresh Air

The NPR legal affairs correspondent met the future SCOTUS justice in the early '70s, when Totenberg interviewed Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a story about a decision pertaining to women's rights.

Nina Totenberg looks back on her decades-long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Ling Ma's first novel predicted the pandemic. Her new collection goes one step beyond
MacMillan

Review

Book Reviews

Ling Ma's first novel predicted the pandemic. Her new collection goes one step beyond

Fresh Air

Nothing is just one thing in Bliss Montage: Satire swirls into savagery; a gimmicky premise into poignancy. Ma writes with such authority that readers are simply swept along.

Ling Ma's first novel predicted the pandemic. Her new collection goes one step beyond

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