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Big Books and Bold Ideas is a weekly series hosted by Kerri Miller and produced by Kelly Gordon every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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Talking Volumes is an annual event series featuring notable authors in conversation about their new books. Presented by MPR News and The Minnesota Star Tribune.

In 'Nubia: Real One,' trying to be a hero when society thinks you're a threat
Nubia has been many things over decades of comics: Wonder Woman's sister, her rival, a guardian of the underworld. Now, L.L. McKinney and Robyn Smith have re-imagined her as a Black American teenager.
Ask a Bookseller: A northern Minn. author explores the aftermath of a shooting
Sally Wizik Wills of Beagle and Wolf Books and Bindery in Park Rapids, Minn., recommends a new book by a local author this week: Doug Mayfield’s “The Saint Patrick’s Day Hero.” The novel begins after a horrific mass shooting at a fictional college in Minnesota.
You actually will be talking about 'No One is Talking About This'
Patricia Lockwood's first novel follows an extremely online woman whose life changes forever when her niece is born with a serious illness — which sounds Hallmark-ready, but Lockwood pulls it off.
Aspen Words announces 5 finalists for 2021's literary prize
The $35,000 prize honors fiction that "illuminates vital contemporary issues." This year's finalists deal with everything from Native American land ownership to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
'The Echo Wife' layers sci-fi and murder mystery for a twisty treat
Sarah Gailey's new novel follows a famed geneticist whose husband uses her methods to clone her — and has an affair with the clone. When he's murdered, the two women must figure out to do next.
Women take the lead in fighting ISIS in 'Daughters of Kobani'
Author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon recalls one of the female fighters saying "one, we were never going to let ISIS stand ... and two, we just didn't want men taking credit for our work."
David Pogue on ‘How to Prepare for Climate Change’
Record heat and warming oceans mean life on planet Earth is changing. Science and technology writer David Pogue outlined the scale of those changes and offers advice for how humans can adjust. 
To understand police reform, law professor volunteered to join the force
For four years, Rosa Brooks carried a badge and a gun and worked a minimum of 24 hours a month for the D.C. police — all on a voluntary basis. She writes about her experiences in “Tangled Up in Blue.”
A boy named 'Milo' reminds us to choose imagination over impressions
Milo and his big sister take a long subway ride to visit their mother, who is incarcerated, in the latest collaboration from award-winning picture book duo Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson.