Otsuka has recently been awarded the Carnegie Medal for Excellence for her novel about a Japanese American woman who's lost much of her memory to dementia. Originally broadcast Feb. 22, 2022.

Phone and electric car batteries are made with cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt Red author Siddharth Kara describes the conditions for workers as a "horror show."

As the marketing of soda and fast food ramps up around the world, the companies involved forge partnerships to help the poor. The new book 'Junk Food Politics' casts a critical eye at their efforts.

Dr. Henry Marsh felt comfortable in hospitals — until he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. "I was much less self-assured now that I was a patient myself," he says. His book is And Finally.

Writer Jeff Guinn draws on new interviews with federal agents and surviving Branch Davidians in his account of the confrontation, which left scores of people dead, including more than 20 children.

In "Master Slave Husband Wife," Ilyon Woo describes the story of Ellen and William Craft escaping slavery.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2006, hundreds of workers from India were promised jobs in what labor organizer Saket Soni calls "one of the largest cases of forced labor in modern U.S. history."

Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith created The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales in 1992. They remember their work on the classic children's book and how their partnership began.

Queenie: Godmother of Harlem tells the overlooked story of Stephanie Saint Clair, or "Queenie," a Black female mob boss and fashion icon who lived during the height of the Harlem Renaissance.

Historian Matthew Connelly says government records are marked as classified three times every second — and many of them will never be declassified. His new book is The Declassification Engine.

Roe author Mary Ziegler has chronicled the legal, political and cultural battles around abortion, and says the debate is far from over: "We're at the very beginning of something very confusing."

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Ilyon Woo about her new book — Master Slave Husband Wife — which details the account of Ellen and William Craft escaping slavery.

Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book South to America traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor. Originally broadcast Jan. 25, 2022.

Jonathan Cohen, author of "For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America," talks with host Michel Martin about the Mega Millions Jackpot and the U.S. lottery system as a whole.

Artist and author Deena Mohamed created a graphic novel about how wishes would — or wouldn't — work in modern-day Egypt. Her much-praised book is now out in English. It's ... a wish come true!