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Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where host Emily Bright checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. Listen to Ask a Bookseller to find your next favorite book.

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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.

Talking Volumes

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.

Why a white poet posed as Asian to get published, and what's wrong with that
A white man called Michael Derrick Hudson used the name Yi-Fen Chou as a strategy to get published. Ken Chen of the Asian American Writers' Workshop in New York says the writer wanted to be "special."
A medal for a King, and for many of America's greatest living artists
The 2014 National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals were awarded to 21 of the most renowned U.S. artists and patrons. Among the winners is Stephen King.
'I didn't know you were funny': Minnesota writer a Thurber prize finalist
For the first time, the finalists for the nation's top humor writing award are all women. That includes U professor Julie Schumacher, whose satire on academic life got her friends, and everyone else, laughing.
Is 007 losing his cool? 'Trigger Mortis' helps bring Bond into 21st century
From Bond's smoking habit to the Pussy Galore storyline, there's a lot about the franchise that doesn't fly anymore. In a new Bond novel, writer Anthony Horowitz gives the spy story a modern edge.
'Voices in the Ocean': The whip-smart dolphin brain
Dolphins can count, grieve, deduce, seduce, form cliques and throw tantrums. Susan Casey's new book discusses their incredible brains -- and the modern dangers the mammals face.
Denver's Tattered Cover bookstore focused on succession, not just survival
Known for its vast selection and knowledgeable sales staff, the Tattered Cover is a Denver institution. Now, after 40 years, the store's longtime owner is passing the reins to a new generation.
Privilege and pressure: A memoir of growing up black and elite in 'Negroland'
In her memoir, 'Negroland,' Margo Jefferson describes growing up black and affluent in 1950s Chicago. She says it was a world of sophistication -- and snobbery.
Do real spies write the best spy novels?
Spy by day, author by night. Many bestselling spy novels are the product of authors' real experiences in espionage and international intrigue.
'Child Garden' gives the cozy mystery a shot of caffeine
Tight-laced Gloria Harkness says she's no Miss Marple, but she can't help picking at the threads of a murder mystery. Especially when it involves the care at the home where her disabled son lives.
Lighter than air: An end-of-summer comics collection
We've got the perfect selection of comics to help you wring the last bits of sunlight out of summer: plenty of heroism and romance, but nothing too heavy.