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Want to understand the U.S.? This historian says the South holds the key

Imani Perry speaks at the Brooklyn Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in New York, on Jan. 17. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music hide caption

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Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music

Race

Want to understand the U.S.? This historian says the South holds the key

Fresh Air

Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book South to America reflects on the region's history and traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor.

Want to understand the U.S.? This historian says the South holds the key

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They didn't get the Newbery or Caldecott but these kids' authors won big this year

Novelist Angeline Boulley's first book for teenagers, Firekeeper's Daughter, won multiple awards from the American Library Association this year. Amber Boulley /Macmillan Children's Publishing Group hide caption

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Amber Boulley /Macmillan Children's Publishing Group

They didn't get the Newbery or Caldecott but these kids' authors won big this year

The American Library Association handed out nearly two dozen awards for kids' books this week. We look at some of the winners.

They didn't get the Newbery or Caldecott but these kids' authors won big this year

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'And I say, Hey! HEY!' Aardvark Arthur's wonderful new days are ending
Little Brown & Co.

Arts & Life

'And I say, Hey! HEY!' Aardvark Arthur's wonderful new days are ending

The world-famous aardvark first appeared in print over 45 years ago. The Emmy and Peabody award-winning TV show is about to begin its 25th and final season — and creator Marc Brown has a new book.

'And I say, Hey! HEY!' Aardvark Arthur's wonderful new days are ending

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'Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations' from Wajahat Ali

Wajahat Ali, author of Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American. Damon Dahlen/Huffington Post hide caption

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Damon Dahlen/Huffington Post

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

'Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations' from Wajahat Ali

Sam chats with author Wajahat Ali about his new book, Go Back To Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on Becoming American. The book points out just how hilarious, untenable, and difficult becoming American can actually be. Throughout the book, Ali uses his own story to offer strategies to make America more welcoming and compassionate.

'Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations' from Wajahat Ali

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Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans
Becky Harlan/NPR

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans

If you're looking to discover a new book, NPR has a marvelous mechanism to help you out: It's called Books We Love, and it's a sortable guide to hundreds of great books from 2021, as handpicked and recommended by the NPR staff. Today we're talking about some of the music-related books we loved in 2021.

Books We Love: Recommendations For Music Fans

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Author Imani Perry explores the South to reveal the soul of America

Author and Princeton Professor Imani Perry. Ecco hide caption

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Ecco

Author Interviews

Author Imani Perry explores the South to reveal the soul of America

Imani Perry discusses what it meant to write a book about her own home, and why the South is so important to comprehend the rest of the nation.

Author Imani Perry explores the South to reveal the soul of America

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Dave Eggers: How Can Kids Learn Human Skills in a Tech-Dominated World?
Andrew Heavens / TED

TED Radio Hour

Dave Eggers: How Can Kids Learn Human Skills in a Tech-Dominated World?

Fiction can serve as a window into multiple realities--to imagine different futures or understand our own past. This hour, author Dave Eggers talks tech, education, and the healing power of writing.

Dave Eggers: How Can Kids Learn Human Skills in a Tech-Dominated World?

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'The Urge' says calling addiction a disease is misleading

Carl Erik Fisher, psychiatrist and author of The Urge: A History of Addiction. Beowulf Sheehan/Beowulf Sheehan hide caption

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Beowulf Sheehan/Beowulf Sheehan

'The Urge' says calling addiction a disease is misleading

A psychiatrist says calling it a disease takes important attention away from racism and other things that are often associated with addiction.

'The Urge' says calling addiction a disease is misleading

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Influential fashion journalist André Leon Talley dies at 73

In 2007, Vogue magazine editor at large André Leon Talley attends a post-Fashion Week panel discussion on the lack of Black images in the current fashion output in New York. Talley, the towering former creative director and editor at large of Vogue magazine, has died. He was 73. Talley's literary agent confirmed Talley's death to USA Today late Tuesday. Mary Altaffer/AP hide caption

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Mary Altaffer/AP

Obituaries

Influential fashion journalist André Leon Talley dies at 73

André Leon Talley, the towering former creative director and editor at large of Vogue magazine, has died. He was a regular in the front row of fashion shows in New York and Europe.

'The Engagement' looks at the complicated history of marriage equality
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

NPR's Book of the Day

'The Engagement' looks at the complicated history of marriage equality

Journalist and author Sasha Issenberg has written a book about the history of marriage equality in America. The Engagement details how messy and complicated this fight was at times. Issenberg told NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben that within the LGBT community, there were, and are, many different policy concerns that didn't always gel. Marriage ended up being a top priority for some but not everyone agreed it should be.

'The Engagement' looks at the complicated history of marriage equality

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'What Is Otherwise Infinite' asks for granular honesty in our search for meaning
Tin House Books

Review

Book Reviews

'What Is Otherwise Infinite' asks for granular honesty in our search for meaning

In her fourth collection, poet Bianca Stone unites vulnerability and humor to tackle the heavy question of what it means to be alive.

'What Is Otherwise Infinite' asks for granular honesty in our search for meaning

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A new look at how turmoil is defining the lives and politics of Generation Z

Young people have been on the front lines of activist movements, including on the issue of climate change. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A new look at how turmoil is defining the lives and politics of Generation Z

In a new book, Fight: How Gen Z is channeling their fear and passion to save America, pollster John Della Volpe explores how America's youngest voters and activists are coming of age.

A new look at how turmoil is defining the lives and politics of Generation Z

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