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.

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.

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.

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.

In his memoir, America Made Me a Black Man, Farah tells of what American blackness has meant to him, from his childhood in Somalia to his adolescence in the Northeast — to his return to Somalia.

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.

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.

In his new book, scientist and author Dimitris Xygalatas explores how performing all kinds of rituals will have tangible impacts on our everyday lives

Servants of the Damned author David Enrich says lawyers from the firm of Jones Day were deeply embedded in the Trump White House — and helped create policy designed to limit the federal government.

You've Been Chosen is a look at the personal and professional events that have shaped who Marshall is today, from adopting kids to surviving cancer to rising through the corporate ranks.

In Marvel's "America," Gabby Rivera wrote a superhero who's queer, Latina, and punches portals across dimensions. She shares why it's empowering to write characters that mirror her identity.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe visits the food writer's home to talk and cook. Clark has a new book of recipes promising minimal fuss (and dirty dishes).

Whitehead says his novel was inspired by his love of heist movies. The story centers on a furniture store owner who has a side hustle trafficking in stolen goods. Originally broadcast Sept. 15, 2021.

Authors Jade Chang and Jacqueline Woodson share a conversation about how they prepare mentally to write a new book and what motivates them.

William MacAskill's book, What We Owe the Future, urges today's humans to protect future humans — an idea he calls longtermism. Here are a few of his hardly modest proposals.