Books
Mat Johnson is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Humanities at the University of Oregon. His previous books include Pym and Loving Day. Courtesy of University of Oregon hide caption
Real life or satire? Novelist Mat Johnson says it can be hard to tell the difference
John Vercher is the author of the novels Three-Fifths and After the Lights Go Out. Karen Maria Photography/Soho Press hide caption
A novelist's time in the MMA cage informed his book on memory loss and identity
Coastal Redwood Trees Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
Review
Book Reviews
Life in the Middle Ages is more gross than engrossing in this ruthless novel
Fresh Air
Life in the Middle Ages is more gross than engrossing in this ruthless novel
A kindle e-book reader is pictured at the Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2015. Daniel Roland/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Fasten your seat belts, flight attendant-turned-novelist shares stories from the sky
A dolphin's sense of echolocation allows it to coordinate efforts to hunt prey, see "through" other creatures and form three-dimensional shapes using sound. Raymond Roig/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The human sensory experience is limited. Journey into the world that animals know
Fourth-grader Lucy Kramer (foreground) does schoolwork at her home, as her mother, Daisley, helps her younger sister, Meg, who is in kindergarten, in 2020 in San Anselmo, Calif. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images hide caption
Raising kids is 'Essential Labor.' It's also lonely, exhausting and expensive
Attempts to ban books in school districts around the country have increased in recent years. Now, some states are working on enacting laws to give politicians more power over public libraries. Rick Bowmer/AP hide caption
Kaitlyn Tiffany, author of Everything I Need, I Get From You: How Fangirls Shaped the Internet as We Know It. Amelia Holowaty Krales/FSG Books hide caption
Fangirls rule the internet in 'Everything I Need, I Get From You'
Julie Andrews sang "The hills are alive" in the film version of The Sound of Music, but Hammerstein's letters reveal that a much bigger Hollywood star had lobbied hard to play Maria. Alamy Stock Photo hide caption
Oh, what a beautiful archive: Oscar Hammerstein's letters reveal his many sides
'On Juneteenth' historian examines the hope and hostility toward emancipation
In 'Human Resources,' a poet finds her voice by working on artificial intelligence
A Black woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Tampa, Fla. Black Americans have died of the disease at a rate more than double that of white people. Octavio Jones/Getty Images hide caption