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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.

'Fear of Dying' asks: Can you go zipless at 60?
Author Erica Jong famously explored female sexuality in 1973's 'Fear of Flying.' In her new novel, she writes about how the need for sex, touch and connection doesn't diminish when you get older.
Fall reads: Three new books not to miss
In the publishing world, fall is known as "big book" season. This mix of fiction and non-fiction are at the top of my must-read stack.
Salman Rushdie: These days, 'everyone is upset all the time'
"Everything I write upsets somebody," Rushdie tells NPR's Scott Simon. His latest book, 'Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights,' sweeps the reader into a turbulent, magical, mythological world.
Heirloom foods have grown in popularity, making their way into gardens, farms, farmers markets and restaurants. A sociologist says they offer a powerful emotional and physical connection to the past.
The best books you read this summer
Readers share the books that kept them busy this summer. Add your own recent reads to the list.
Superpowers meet the supernatural in 'Wayward'
Fans of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' will get a kick out of 'Wayward,' a graphic novel series that takes the magical-teens-battling-evil-monsters trope and transplants it to a lovingly-rendered Tokyo.
A compelling plot gives way to farce in Franzen's 'Purity'
The new novel reveals sharp observations and a great, sprawling story. But critic Roxane Gay says the book gets bogged down with absurdly drawn characters and misfired critiques of modern life.
Coffee House Press shakes up publishing
Minneapolis' Coffee House Press releases 18 books a year, but publisher Chris Fischbach says they are expanding their programming to connect readers and writers in different ways.
'NeuroTribes' examines the history and myths of the autism spectrum
How Nazi extermination plans and a discredited scientific paper about childhood vaccines shaped our current understanding of autism.