In The Poppy War Series, R.F. Kuang Asks: 'What If Mao Was A Teenage Girl?'

The third volume in Kuang's Poppy War series is out now. She grounded the story in history, both her own and China's; it follows a passionate, ruthless young woman who becomes a military leader.(Image credit: Kobi C. Felton)

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In 'No One Asked For This,' Cazzie David Writes About Her Afflictions

In a new book of essays, No One Asked For This, Cazzie David writes about struggles with depression and anxiety, the perils of social media, and her excruciating breakup with SNL star Pete Davidson.

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Kwame Alexander Offers New Poems On Race And Hope As 'Psalms And Balms' For The Soul

In Light For The World To See: A Thousand Words On Race And Hope, Kwame Alexander writes of the killing of George Floyd, Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protests, and the election of Barack Obama.(Image credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

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In A New Book, Pope Francis Speaks Out On The Coronavirus And Anti-Mask Protests

People who claim that mask mandates deprive them of their personal freedom, Francis says, are "victims only in their own imagination." The book also addresses demonstrations against racial injustice.(Image credit: Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

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Ta-Nehisi Coates On HBO Adaptation Of 'Between The World And Me'

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with American author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates about the HBO adaptation of his book Between the World and Me and what it means in 2020.

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'Waste' Activist Digs Into The Sanitation Crisis Affecting The Rural Poor

In 2017, a study reported one in three people in one rural Alabama county had been exposed to hookworm. Catherine Coleman Flowers says the study reveals big gaps in sanitation in rural America.(Image credit: Michael Carson/The New Press)

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HBO Adapts Ta-Nehisi Coates' Best-Selling Book Into A Movie

Our critic says the movie — like Coates' book Between the World and Me — reveals the story of Black survival within the ugliness of America's white supremacy.

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'Even As We Breathe': A First Novel From A Teacher Who Writes For Her Students

The book is a mystery of sorts, set at an upscale North Carolina resort during World War II. Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle teaches at a high school with a student population that's 30% Native American.(Image credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

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'Nights When Nothing Happened' Is Quietly Lovely — Maybe A Little Too Quiet

Simon Han's debut novel follows a Chinese immigrant family in Texas, whose fragile peace is shattered after the father is wrongly accused of a crime, and it's up to the kids to restore balance.(Image credit: Riverhead Books)

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'How Fascism Works' Author On Trump's Attempts To Overturn Election Results

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks to Jason Stanley, author of How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, about President Trump's refusal to concede and his party's willingness to go along with it

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