The Thread

The Thread from MPR News

A new twist on book talk

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Publishers sue Internet Archive for 'mass copyright infringement'
The lawsuit filed this week in federal court alleges that the organization, which lends books online for free, amounts to a "piracy site" that has been eluding copyright law for years.
Russian-American Masha Gessen sees Putin in Trump, trouble in future
The New Yorker journalist says Putin and Trump were elected president without really wanting the job. They ran "not for president but for autocrat" and did not expect to settle for anything less.
This bedtime book helps kids find their place in the 'universe'
Before he became an astrophysicist, Ray Jayawardhana was just a kid, looking up at the night sky with his father. "I remember being awed," he says. He's written a book called “Child of the Universe.”
'Something To Talk About' is a slow-burn showstopper romance
In Meryl Wilsner's debut novel, a Hollywood showrunner and her assistant are thrust into the spotlight after an innocuous red-carpet moment prompts gossip about a relationship between the two women.
In 'Humankind,' Rutger Bregman aims to convince that most people are good
The historian and author of “Utopia for Realists” says that research shows that "especially in times of crisis, we show our best selves. And we get this explosion of altruism and cooperation."
Say 'Hello, Neighbor' to this charming picture book about Mister Rogers
Our kids' books columnist reports that amidst the messes and fights that result from kids in lockdown, Matthew Cordell's gentle new picture book biography of Mister Rogers has the power to soothe.
Larry Kramer, pioneering AIDS activist and writer, dies at 84
Kramer was a writer with an Oscar-nominated screenplay when his friends started dying mysteriously — galvanizing him to found the Gay Men's Health Crisis, and later ACT UP, to combat AIDS.