Minnesotans have long debated the meaning of “Up North.” Is it everything north of Duluth, or north of Mille Lacs? Are pine trees and lakes a prerequisite? What about loons? Or is it more of a perception — a place defined not so much by location but by mindset?

Sigurd Olson wrote his beloved book, “The Singing Wilderness,” to describe the beauty and wildness he saw in what came to be known as The Boundary Waters Canoe Area. He wrote: “The singing wilderness has to do with the calling of loons, with northern lights, and the great silences of land lying northwest of Lake Superior. It is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life which is close to the past.”

Cal Flyn has never been to the Boundary Waters, but she resonates with Olson’s definition. A writer based in the isles off the coast of Scotland, Flyn climbed mountains, plunged into forests and helicoptered to volcanoes for her new book, “The Savage Landscape.” But more than the nature itself, she’s intrigued by how we recognize and preserve these wild places.

“There is no obvious visual marker that announces one’s arrival in a wilderness,” she writes, “and thus, the search never truly ends.”

Flyn joins Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about what we mean when we say wilderness and why that definition matters.

Guest:

• Cal Flyn is a Scottish journalist and writer. Her new book is “The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness.”

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Erica Helander never expected to work in archives or preservation. But stacks of posters and signs ranging in size and message told a different story. In April, they covered tables and leaned against walls in the living and dining rooms of the home she shares with her in-laws.

These signs came from protests over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Operation Metro Surge.

Helander began to put out calls to collect posters for The Rebel Loon Archive, an organization she started as she saw the vast amount of art being created during the months of protests and fear.

She was inspired by the way the Rebel Loon, a Rochester artist’s depiction of Minnesota’s state bird with its wings outstretched, caught fire in the art world, appearing on shirts, signs and tattoos.

For her, drawing is less of a preferred medium. She was a stay-at-home mom with a 4-year-old and infant when the federal immigration enforcement surge ramped up.

A jeweler by trade who also has a background in writing, she turned to poetry to pour out her anxiety. And as she started to share her poems on social media, she was encouraged to document her writing offline so she began to create a short book of poetry.

"I want this to be part of something larger," she said. "I know that my art is powerful, and it's more powerful in community, just like all of us are."

She began to ask artists on social media and by email if she could archive and publish their work nonexclusively through a right of reproduction agreement, allowing artists to publish their work elsewhere.

"These people poured their grief, their rage, their fear, and their hope and their love into this art, and just threw it up on the internet," Helander said. "Collecting this art is such an honor for me."

The goal quickly became ensuring what was being made and posted wasn't lost to the internet.

“If it's just on social media, optimistically, give it a week or two weeks, it's going to be so far down in the algorithm that you're going to have to scroll down to find it,” Helander said. “It's going to functionally be lost.”

The book became the archive's way of creating something physical from these digital primary sources. The small book of poetry that started as a 30-page stapled booklet, grew into a hardcover 8 ½ by 11-inch, 250-page-coffee table book. It features 300 local, national and international artists.

That broad approach to who was featured reflected how the Minnesota story of ICE's impact was being told, Helander said.

"This is not about how many followers you have. This is about human rights, human dignity, and your right to speak truth as an artist," she said. "Your right to say here's my experience and here's what happened,” she said.

The artwork is divided into nine segments that follow chronologically and thematically. Each begins with an essay by an expert. Helander believed it was necessary to share not only each artifact, but also its meaning.

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A June online fundraising campaign for the book quickly surpassed Helander's expectations. She opened a second online ordering window, that again drew sales she hadn't anticipated.

Helander has even heard from educators and libraries about opportunities to make the book accessible to students.

Over 1,225 physical copies and 59 e-books have been preordered. Net proceeds from book sales will support the Immigrant Defense Network.

Each artist featured in the book will receive a copy.

As for the physical artifacts, she collected posters and signs from across the Twin Cities, carrying them in trash bags to keep them dry. Those posters have been shown in art exhibitions in Minnesota and across the country. The Rebel Loon Archive is working to digitize all artifacts and pieces of artwork so it can be accessed by anyone online.

After the book’s September release, Helander said the archive's next project will be about the Boundary Water Canoe and Wilderness.

For Helander, the archive is more than just preserving art. It also means protecting the voices of people willing to challenge those in power.

“Those are voices that get shut down because art is dangerous,” Helander said “Art mobilizes people. Art can heal us, and art tells the truth, which is the scariest thing to people using their power in a way that they shouldn't.”

Do you love the science-focused, curiosity-driven storytelling on Radiolab? Pallas Erdrich, manager of Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, recommends reading Radiolab co-host Lulu Miller's memoir “Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life.”

Its exploration of how and why animals are classified the way they are will make you more curious about the world, Erdrich says.

“It’s more than just a science book. It is a book about love. It is a book about discovering yourself. It is a book about not holding on to the rules that were made up around us and trying to figure out where we fit in the world.” she said.

“And it’s funny. It’s bright. It’s short. There are illustrations that are very beautiful that kind of give you a peek into her mind. It’s just, for me, a nearly perfect book. I have no notes for Miss Miller!”

Miller also voices the audiobook. Radiolab airs Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. on MPR News.

Birchbark Books celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Every fall, thousands of bird lovers stand far above Lake Superior, on Duluth’s Hawk Ridge, and watch as thousands of raptors soar overhead on their way south.

But for all of their abundance, even majestic osprey, hawks, eagles and falcons are affected by the steep declines in bird populations across the western hemisphere.

In his gorgeous new book, naturalist and conservationist Robert Macfarlane asks, “What is lost when birds are lost? Above all, the creatures themselves, in their own splendor and right. And for humans — language, story, beauty, possibility, imagination, lifts of the spirit, ways of being otherwise. Birds are our place-makers, memory-keepers, calendars and clocks. They stitch the world’s parts together: earth to sky, river to woodland, mountain to sea, country to country, hemisphere to hemisphere.”

BOOKSHOP.ORG

The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss

Go to MPR's Bookshop to purchase this title and support local indie bookstores.

Macfarlane’s new book, “The Book of Birds,” finds him collaborating once again with artist Jackie Morris for a beautifully illustrated ode to birds. This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Macfarlane joins Kerri Miller to talk about the birds he loves — even though he says he’s not really a birder — and lament the disappearance of so many birds from our planet. His hope is that “The Book of Birds” will reignite a sense of wonder because “we will not save what we do not love.”

Guest:

• Robert Macfarlane is an award-winning writer, who has authored many books about nature and our interconnectedness. His new book, “The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss” was co-created with artist Jackie Morris.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

A new interactive exhibit in Minneapolis is reimagining predictive text as a tool for creative connection.

“Counter-Algorithmic Poetics,” created by poet and AI engineer Dana Chiueh, invites visitors to respond to writing prompts at computer stations. As they type, related phrases appear on their screens. But unlike conventional predictive text, those suggestions are not generated by artificial intelligence. They were written by other visitors.

Chiueh designed an algorithm that identifies related fragments and gives participants the option to incorporate their neighbors’ words into their own writing. The contributions will ultimately be assembled into a communal poem and projected on the exhibit wall.

“It’s sort of this communal, collaborative experiment in writing,” Chiueh said. “The final piece will be composed of all of these fragments that people have contributed.”

Chiueh said the project responds to the sense of powerlessness many people feel as technology becomes more embedded in everyday life. She wants to demonstrate that digital tools can be small-scale, handmade and designed around community values rather than profit.

“I've noticed a lot of people around me feel really disempowered by the technology that's encroaching on everyday life, like from our phones to doing meetings on Zoom,” said Chiueh. “And people just feel powerless to contribute to it. But as an engineer, I've been wanting to show people that technology is something that can be small and handmade and made like for us by us.”

“Counter-Algorithmic Poetics” opens Saturday at 6 p.m. at Resource in Minneapolis and runs for three days. Chiueh hopes the project can eventually help other communities create poetry together.

A once-iconic shopping center in Roseville serves as the backdrop for a new short story collection exploring migration, identity and belonging.

“Har Mar,” released in July, is the debut collection from author Hilal Isler. The interconnected stories follow women whose lives span Turkey and Minnesota as they navigate family, grief, love and the challenges of building a life between cultures.

From a nanny hoping to leave her life in Istanbul behind to a bookseller coping with loss through an unlikely relationship, each character searches for connection while confronting uncertainty.

MPR News host Kelly Gordon spoke with Isler about the inspiration behind “Har Mar,” why she chose the Roseville shopping center as the book's title and setting, and what she hopes readers take away from the collection.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Laura Haave of Content Bookstore in Northfield said one of her top recommendations so far this year is a YA graphic novel called “Wake Now in the Fire“ written by Jarrett Dapier and illustrated by AJ Dungo.

The title is a reference to a Rage Against the Machine song, “Sleep Now in the Fire,” which is about protesting oppression; it’s a fitting title for story about Chicago high school students standing up — successfully — to book banning.

The graphic novel is based on a true story, based on interviews with the students and teachers who were involved. Dapier is a librarian who was working in a Chicago-area library in 2013 when students uncovered that Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel “Persepolis” had been systematically pulled from their schools. “Persepolis” is Satrapi’s story of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

In “Wake Now in the Fire,” Satrapi appears as a character in the book in support of the students. Haave says Dungo’s bold black and white illustrations are a visual nod to Satrapi’s style, and Dapier’s story speaks about her book’s legacy:

“And there’s a lot of discussion in the book about how important ‘Persepolis’ is as a novel, and just the continuation of graphic novels about young people coming of age, becoming aware of injustices and fighting back against them.”

Satrapi passed away in June at the age of 56.

“Wake Now in the Fire” was one of Haave’s picks for Content’s Paperback Summer series, in which staff select 10 fiction books, 10 nonfiction, 10 young adult and 10 middle grade novels that have come out in paperback in the past year.

She recommends this YA book for teens and adults alike.

When Sarah Kendzior packed up her family for a road trip across America, she made sure her kids kept their eyes wide open. She wanted them to see this country’s wonders and its flaws.

Her new memoir, “The Last American Road Trip,” recounts the dozens of drives she and her family have taken since 2016. They leave their home in Missouri and crisscross the country, even as earth-shaking events remake it.

Along the way, she disentangles venerated American ideals from the mythology of American exceptionalism. She gapes in wonder at the majesty of the national parks and celebrates the forethought that created them — while acknowledging the threat facing them today.

Even the great St. Louis Gateway Arch in her hometown represents both “a triumph and a tragedy,” she writes. It’s “a gateway and a memorial, a monolith with no practical purpose that looks dramatically different depending on where you stand.”

Kendzior joined host Kerri Miller in July 2025 to take us all on a road trip across America — which is a fitting conversation to revisit now as we close our 2026 road trip series. Grab your favorite snacks, buckle your seatbelt and come along for the final leg of our travels.

Guest:

• Sarah Kendzior is a journalist and best-selling author. “The Last American Road Trip” is her most recent book.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

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Lauren Richards, co-owner of Tropes & Trifles in Minneapolis, recently hosted author Shirlene Obuobi to launch her new paranormal romance novel "Die for Me," and Richards is very excited about this book.

Sean is a cardiologist with a good salary, a dog, a best friend, and a goddaughter. Having taken time to heal from an abusive relationship, she has her life together and she isn't looking for love. Then she meets Julian at a wedding, and their chemistry is combustible. He's wealthy, attractive, and stable in his own life, but he's 11 years younger.

This is a bad idea, Sean tells herself. She's seen her older male colleagues trade in their wives for younger models. Could she date a younger man?

Richards was insistent on not revealing any spoilers in this paranormal romance, except to say that Julian only seems to be younger than Sean.

"One of the really interesting things that I love about paranormal romance is all of the power dynamics. Those obviously exist in any kind of relationship, even if you're just two regular old humans," but there are further complications when one person is, say, immortal.

Sean is the only Black woman cardiologist at her hospital. The main character’s career reflects the author’s own life: in addition to being an artist, Shirlene Obuobi is a Ghanaian American cardiologist.

Lauren Hough has worn many hats. She’s been an Air Force airman, a bartender, a bouncer, a construction laborer, a driver, a barista and a cable guy.

But through it all, she’s written. In 2021, a collection of essays that together formed a memoir — “Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing” — shot up the New York Times bestseller list.

Her new book, “Monster of a Land,” is a worthy follow-up. Reminiscent of John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley,” Hough hits the road in a battered Dodge Ram to see America, her trusty dog Woody Guthrie riding shotgun.

What she finds is more honest, more gritty and less divisive than headlines would have you believe.

“Monster of a Land” is part of our July deep dive into the history and culture of America. Come along with Hough and Kerri Miller on this week’s show as they explore who we are right now and why traveling with a dog is the best decision ever.

Guest:

• Lauren Hough is a writer who lives in Austin, Texas with her dog, Woody. Her new road trip memoir is “Monster of a Land: On the Road in Search of a Modern America.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

When was the last time you read a book or magazine, or listened to an audiobook?

Overall, Americans are reading less. A study last year from the University of Florida and University College London found the portion of people who read daily for pleasure in the U.S. fell from 28 percent in 2004 to 16 percent in 2023.

And, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, fewer than half of all adults said they read a book of any kind in 2022 — even fewer said they read a novel.

MPR News guest host Kerri Miller talks about what’s behind the decline in reading, and why some people are saying that it points to a fundamental shift that has consequences for how we entertain ourselves, learn and think.

Guests:

• Naomi Baron is professor emerita of linguistics at American University in Washington, D.C. She studies and writes about how technology shapes reading and thinking and is the author of 11 books, including “Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World” and the recently published “Reader Bot: What Happens When AI Reads and Why It Matters.”

• Natalie Wexler is an education writer and author of “Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning” and co-author of “The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System — and How to Fix It.” She writes about the decline in literacy and reading on her Substack newsletter, “Minding the Gap.”

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

Looking to get lost in a fun series this summer? Elizabeth Foster of Inkwell Booksellers Company in Minneapolis says the books that keep flying off her shelves are the novel-meets-video-game series "Dungeon Crawler Carl" by Matt Dinniman.

Here's the scenario: Aliens have come to Earth and taken control. If you want to live on as a citizen of the universe, you must survive the levels of a video game they've created.

The novels themselves read like video games, with characters' stats at the start of each chapter, skills, quests, levels and prizes (which often contain Easter eggs and hints to the reader as to what is coming next).

Our hero, Dungeon Crawler Carl, enters the video game with his ex-girlfriend's fluffy show cat, Princess Donut. Like other animals who enter the game, the cat becomes sentient and, naturally, has a great deal to say.

"I am a Princess Donut posse fan for life," says Foster. "She's my favorite character because she's not written like a person in a cat's body. She's written like a sentient talking cat. So there are certain moments where she just goes off on this total rant — this tangent, hilarious moment [where it's clear] that this is a cat talking. This is a cat with a beef against cocker spaniels, and it is beautiful."

You don't have to be a gamer to love these books. Along with the engaging characters, Foster says she was drawn in by the excellent world-building and bursts of dark humor that bring perfectly timed moments of relief from the end-of-the-world scenario.

She first started reading the series in 2020 when Dinniman began publishing in e-book format. As the books grew in popularity, Penguin Random House picked them up and published them in hardcover. The eighth book came out in May, with books nine and 10 in the works.

Foster's advice? Definitely start with book one, since the books build on one another as the characters level up.

As wildfires continue to burn across northeastern Minnesota, many people are worried about the smoke and air quality, as well as the danger to communities and the damage left behind.

But for many who love the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the north woods, there's another overwhelming feeling: grief. Grief over watching a place filled with memories, traditions and a sense of peace change before their eyes. And not knowing when, or how, it will recover.

Duluth-based nature writer Stephanie Pearson experienced that firsthand. She was forced to evacuate a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters because of the fires. She just published an essay about it in Outside Magazine. Pearson spoke to Minnesota Now host Nina Moini about her piece.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Talking Volumes, a partnership of MPR News and the Minnesota Star Tribune, returns for a landmark 27th season in a brand-new home: The O’Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

Hosted by award-winning journalists MPR News Kerri Miller and Catharine Richert, each evening offers an in-depth conversation with an author about their latest books, their creative process and the stories shaping our lives.

All tickets are $35 for the general public and $30 for MPR members, Minnesota Star Tribune subscribers and O’Shaughnessy subscribers. Visit mpr.org/events for tickets, seating options and more information.

Marlon James, ‘The Disappearers’

Saturday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

The season opens with Booker Prize–winning author Marlon James, whose new novel follows eight gay men in 1980s Kingston, Jamaica, as they rehearse for a play — and survive a brutal mob attack that changes everything.

“The Disappearers” is a riveting, deeply human story of fear, rage and recovery, and an unflinching look at queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s.

Lucy Foley, ‘Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel’

Friday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

Lucy Foley, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Guest List,” brings her favorite Agatha Christie creation, Miss Marple, to the glamorous, snowbound Grand Alpine Hotel high in the Swiss Alps.

The first book in Foley’s new Miss Marple Mysteries series, it’s a mystery that feels gloriously escapist yet utterly relevant to our times.

Min Jin Lee, ‘American Hagwon’

Sunday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

Min Jin Lee, the National Book Award finalist and bestselling author of “Pachinko,” returns with a sweeping, intimate epic about the Koh family’s journey from Seoul to Sydney to southern California.

“American Hagwon” reckons with ambition and sacrifice, personal dreams and family duty, across generations chasing the promise that education leads to security.

Emily St. John Mandel, ‘Exit Party’

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

The award-winning, bestselling author of “Station Eleven” and “Sea of Tranquility” returns with a breathtaking novel of doubles, shadow worlds and fractured timelines.

Set in a near-future Los Angeles, “Exit Party” follows a woman searching for answers after a man vanishes from a party without a trace.

Colson Whitehead, ‘Cool Machine’

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m. - Find tickets here

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead closes out the season with the next chapter of his Harlem Trilogy.

“Cool Machine” follows furniture dealer and master fence Ray Carney back into New York City’s criminal underworld, in Whitehead’s signature pitch-perfect prose. This conversation will be hosted by MPR News correspondent Catharine Richert.

Road trips are often marked by spontaneity. They offer side quests, junk food, hotel pools and a chance to see the country with fresh eyes.

But no road trip is quite as spontaneous as the one in “The Road to Tender Hearts.” This darkly funny novel follows 63-year-old lottery winner PJ Halliday, his estranged daughter, two orphaned kids who have just come into his care and a therapy cat named Pancakes — who happens to be a harbinger of death — on a six-day cross-country road trip to win back PJ’s high school girlfriend.

Along the way, the group faces past trauma, the meaning of family and the tender hopes of new beginnings.

This week, to kick off Big Books and Bold Ideas virtual summer road trip series, Kerri Miller talks with author Annie Hartnett about “The Road to Tender Hearts,” which was just published on paperback. Along the way, they discuss what makes a road trip magical (or not), and how being open to adventure can be a balm for grief, restlessness and a cynical outlook.

Guest:

• Annie Hartnett is the award-winning author of three novels: “Rabbit Cake,” “Unlikely Animals,” and the national bestseller, “The Road to Tender Hearts.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

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The Hamline Midway neighborhood in St. Paul will soon have a new library after three years without one. The more than 90-year-old building was decommissioned in 2023. But construction was delayed until 2025 after a community group sued to preserve the historic building.

Instead of the previous two-story building, the new library is now one story to be more accessible. It also includes two community rooms and two study rooms that are reservable, an outdoor reading garden, two quiet rooms, teen area and children’s area.

The library does have elements of the previous building including a stone archway, wood and brick.

The Hamline Midway Library is the first to be completed, out of three that are slated for renovations in St. Paul. It’s part of the Transforming Libraries initiatives. Hayden Heights Library in the East Side is currently closed for renovation and is anticipated to open in late 2027. St. Paul Library and The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library are working to secure funds for the Riverview Library in the West Side neighborhood.

Saturday there will be a grand opening celebration of the Hamline Midway Library.

Maureen Hartman, director of Saint Paul Public Library and Beth Burns, executive director of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about the new library and the plans to continue to grow St. Paul’s library system.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Sarah Brown of Zenith Bookstore in Duluth read an early review copy of Oana Aristide’s novel “Astronaut!” and she has eagerly been awaiting its official release Tuesday. She called it her favorite book of the year so far, hands down.

It’s part detective novel, part coming-of-age, set in a political environment where official lies are proclaimed as truth.

The year is 1989; the place: communist Romania, under the authoritarian rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Detective Constantine is tasked with chasing down a serial killer plaguing the city. According to the official line, though, there is no serial killer in Romania. The deaths are blamed on rogue bear attacks.

The second storyline follows Lia, an elementary school girl whose inquisitive, creative spirit is constantly getting her in trouble with the officials. By a fluke, she wins an opportunity to recite a poem before Ceaușescu. Lia’s parents, Brown said, are very worried about this.

“What is she going to say to him? What’s going to happen? Meanwhile, her crusty old neighbor starts planning a little surprise for Ceaușescu. You, as the reader, know this might not be a good thing,” Brown said. “These two plotlines come together in a wild, very satisfying conclusion. It’s just a great, amazingly written book. And I’ve read it twice already. I will probably read it again.”

The United States was feeling bleak in 1933.

People were still staggering from the economic fallout of the Great Depression. Drought and extreme heat baked much of the country, eventually leading to the Dust Bowl. Breadlines stretched for blocks in the city, and crime — including a notorious spree of bank robberies and kidnappings — was on the rise. In February, president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt, which killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Even baseball, “America’s national pastime,” was suffering. Attendance was dropping, owners slashed budgets, and Babe Ruth’s magic seemed to be fading.

It was against this backdrop that a sports editor in Chicago proposed the idea of a singular sporting event to anchor the World’s Fair — a baseball game featuring the best players, as decided by the fans.

Journalist Randall Sullivan details the whole story in his new book, “The First All-Star Game.” A few days before the current crop of All Stars gather in Philadelphia to play the game this year, he joins Kerri Miller on Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about the extraordinary history surrounding the first game and how it galvanized the country during a dark time.

Guest:

• Randall Sullivan was a contributing editor to Rolling Stone for more than 20 years. He is also the author of many books, including his newest, “The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR, and America at the Crossroads.”

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Bois Forte Band of Chippewa citizen Khayman Goodsky remembers watching her uncles skateboard around Duluth in her childhood.

“It was really rare to see Native skateboarders doing their thing in the ‘90s,” Goodsky said. Watching them sparked an interest in the activity and followed Goodsky into adulthood.

Today, she loves to skateboard regularly despite taking a tumble every now and then.

“I think it's the fact that I can get out there and be outside with my friends and my son and make it just a regular, normal thing for us to do,” said Goodsky.

Now, through a newly launched monolingual magazine, Goodsky has Ojibwe words for her hobby. The publication brings attention to non-traditional topics through narrative essays, poems and other works written in the Ojibwe language — creating new Ojibwe words for modern concepts.

The magazine is titled Asab, which means “net.” Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians citizen Nick Bimose Reo created the project. He teaches Indigenous studies at Simon Fraser University in Ontario.

“The idea is that Asab can capture a lot of different topics,” Reo said.

Asab is creating resources on topics that may not have an extensive vocabulary list, such as wild rice harvesting and maple syrup processing — two traditional activities.

The first volume covers skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing.

“There's less readily available vocabulary for trying to engage in those activities using our language,” Reo said.

The magazine's team worked with hobbyists and first-language speakers to find ways to define skateboarding and its lingo. A list with various English terminology translated into Ojibwe is printed inside.

For example, ditibiseyaaboono describes the action of “he or she skateboards.”

Other terms include maamakaajisagishkige, meaning “skate trick,” or zhooshkwaakabizo, meaning “boardslide.”

“Each issue will delve into a different topic and try to bring forward as much language as we can on that topic,” Reo said. He says Asab will be released once per year with hopes to eventually publish more frequently.

Asab partnered with various organizations across the United States and Canada, including two Minnesota-based programs — the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s Language Program and the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network.

Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe citizen Dustin Morrow helped in the editing process of the first volume. He majored in the Ojibwe language at the University of Minnesota and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in linguistics at the university.

Morrow says he sees the publication as a bridge between the past and present.

“I like to think that it could be a bridge between who we historically are, and then this modern notion of who we are,” Morrow said. “You're using all of these tools that they had hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, to talk about modern ideas.”

He adds that evolving the language to include non-traditional activities brings Ojibwe out of classroom environments and into daily life.

“This is in our leisure, this is in our downtime. We get to enjoy, pretty much, fully being Anishinaabe outside of where you would normally expect it in today's world,” Morrow said.

Call for contributions

From near and far, Asab received submissions from Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Canada.

Aamookwe Amy McCoy is a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She worked on Asab’s production team and contributed her own written piece.

Her piece, which highlights snowboarding, is titled, “Ishpabazigwa’on! Gegoo giga-zegi’igosiin gegoo!” The English translation is “Catch big air! Be afraid of nothing!”

McCoy wrote the article for her tribal nation’s newspaper in 1994. She says she wrote the piece to empower youth through highlighting daily life activities they may be involved in.

“Ishpabazigwa’on! Gegoo giga-zegi’igosiin gegoo!” centers on McCoy’s late friend, who she described as an “avid skater and snowboarder.”

As an Ojibwe language learner, she revisited her writing and translated it with the same purpose — to empower youth and community through their interests.

“It shows our youth what we can do with our language,” McCoy said. “As we evolve, we can do everything from our own thinking in Ojibwe.”

When a call for contributors was announced, Khayman Goodsky says she was eager to submit a piece of her own — a photocollage of herself, family and friends all together enjoying the hobby of skateboarding.

Her son inspired her to submit the photocollage to the magazine. The two often enjoy the activity together, an interest she wanted to normalize for him. At the age of 10, he’s also learning Ojibwe at an immersion school.

“It might not be viewed as traditional, but the fact that we're still hanging out with our homies, to me, that's as traditional as it can get,” Goodsky said. “Our whole values is about family and community, and what better way to do that than to skateboard around town together.”

Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.

allison anne is collecting artwork for a new project. There's just one rule: every submission has to arrive through the mail.

As AI makes it easier to generate art with a click, anne is part of a small but growing community of artists choosing a slower way to connect: the U.S. mail. They're sending handmade art, one envelope at a time.

A new piece just arrived at anne’s Minneapolis apartment from Germany, in a sturdy brown paper envelope with hand-carved beetle stamps.

Inside the envelope are four pages of block prints, each numbered and signed. These prints may become part of anne’s next zine. They may be sent back through the postal service to other artists.

Mail art took off in the 1960s, when artists including Ray Johnson turned the postal system into a creative network. Johnson often encouraged people to alter his work and send it back.

“Things flourish, grow, wilt, die. A conversation will restart itself,” Johnson said in a 1977 interview. “Each person has a different reason to communicate.”

And in an age of AI chatbots, where so much communication happens through screens, that idea feels newly relevant.

It's at once a way to create community, and an intentional step away from slick, AI-generated graphics in favor of something scrappier and more human.

“It’s the pleasure of doing the work, and the joy of connecting with others and building something, and that's been transformative for me,” anne says. “I really feel that mail art changed my life.”

anne is just about ready to mail out two brown paper envelopes of their own, covered in teal ink stamps. One is going to northern Minnesota, the other to New York.

Sometimes those envelopes contain paper collages. Other times, handmade pamphlets, called zines.

anne has connected with artists all over the world through mail art. Importantly, there are no gatekeepers.

Mail art is about “looking at who gets a seat at the table and how do you expand the table and bring people in,” anne said.

“Anything can be a zine. And you can start anywhere. You can start today.” anne says mail art can be any art that you create and send to someone else.

For more than 20 years, legendary Minneapolis fish stand Sea Salt Eatery has been serving up fried fish and po’boys just steps away from Minnehaha Falls.

A new cookbook, “Sea Salt Eatery: Recipes to Enjoy Year-Round,” documents the history behind the restaurant that begins with a propane turkey fryer, an abandoned grill and an aging park pavilion.

It also shares some of the restaurant’s cult favorite recipes, including clams and the “Sexy Ahi Burger.”

The book was a collaboration between Sea Salt co-owner Kait Ziemer-Davis and her mother-in-law, longtime journalist Gail Rosenblum. And while the two get along well, there was pressure working together on a project this big.

“[My wife] said, ‘Don't mess this up. You said yes to my mom. You've got to follow through on this,’” Ziemer-Davis recalled, to boisterous laughter from Rosenblum.

Ziemer-Davis has been co-owner since 2023, but she’s been within the restaurant’s orbit since 2010, and she’s seen that famously long line stretch and warp through the years. It’s always been long, she said. Staff have just gotten better at dealing with it.

These days, you’ll see it stretching outside and around the restaurant, even on weeknights. There’s an understanding from customers, Rosenblum said, that once you order, you’ll get your food quickly.

“You stand in line, you can step out briefly, grab a beer. People generally don't complain about it,” Rosenblum said.

Landlocked Minnesota isn’t known for seafood, but Sea Salt’s longstanding partnership with local supplier Coastal Seafoods helps patrons forget about that, so much so that there’s a cult following around the place.

Rosenblum interviewed the regulars who mark all their special occasions at the restaurant. They have their favorite orders. Even employees tend to come back year after year.

Ziemer-Davis said the restaurant tries to keep things fresh, but the classics make the restaurant what it is.

“[On our menu], I would say 90 percent of what's up there right now was written in permanent chalk in like maybe 2005,” she said.

Cooking fish at home can be another story. The pair hope the recipes inside the cookbook can encourage people to get out of their comfort zones — and maybe serve as some comfort during those winter months when Sea Salt isn’t open.

The book is on sale July 14.

Recipe: Tomato Basil Clams

Ingredients:

• 8 tomatoes, quartered

• 6 garlic cloves, smashed

• olive oil

• salt and pepper, to taste

• 6 strips thick-cut bacon

• 1 tablespoon clarified butter or ghee

• 6 pounds littleneck or countneck clams

• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 cup torn basil leaves, crusty bread and lemon wedge for serving

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes and garlic cloves on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil plus a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, mix the tomatoes and garlic on the pan and return to the oven until the garlic has taken on a golden-brown color and the tomatoes have released most of their liquid and completely softened, about five to seven minutes.

While the tomatoes and garlic are roasting, fry the bacon strips in a large pot with a lid or Dutch oven over medium heat until crispy. When bacon is finished, remove from pot and set aside, then add the clarified butter or ghee and clams to the bacon grease, carefully add the white wine (this will likely cause a small flame reaction), and then place the lid on the pot and increase the heat to high.

After about six minutes of steaming, check to see if the clams are beginning to open and give them a gentle stir. Once the majority of the clams have opened, gently stir in the cream and red pepper flakes and simmer the broth over medium heat until the cream has begun to thicken and all clams have opened. Finally, use a spatula or slotted spoon to mix in the roasted tomato and garlic, leaving much of the liquid behind.

While the clams are simmering, prepare your garnishes by crumbling or chopping the reserved bacon, toasting bread and cutting lemon wedges.

To serve, divide the clams evenly among bowls, ladling any remaining broth over each bowl. Garnish with chopped bacon and torn basil, plus crusty bread and lemon wedges.

Recipe excerpted with permission from “Sea Salt Eatery: Recipes to Enjoy Year-Round” by Gail Rosenblum and Kait Ziemer-Davis. Published by the University of Minnesota Press.

Press play above to listen to Ziemer-Davis and Rosenblum’s conversation with MPR News host Clay Masters.

Maria Lockwood of Foxes and Fireflies Booksellers in Superior, Wis., has a suggestion for a great historical fantasy series that will appeal to fans of “The Mummy” movies. She recommends the Raiders of the Arcana series, which starts with "Empire of Shadows," written by Jacquelyn Benson.

The series begins in 1898 in England, but archaeologist Ellie Mallory and dashing adventurer Adam Bates soon travel to Central America in search of a lost city.

Naturally, there’s a ruthless villain determined to beat them to the discovery and a mythical artifact buried within the ruins. The series has a slow-burn romance with fun, flirty banter.

Lockwood loves the characters. She describes Ellie as “a woman suffragette, so she's very opinionated. She jumps in there and takes control, and I love that about her! The characters are so real, they just jump out of the page at you. You feel like you're carrying around your best buddies in your handbag when you want to read a book; these are great buddies to have along on any kind of excursion,” said Lockwood.

There are three books in the series, plus a prequel novella, with a fourth book coming in January.

When asked about the Declaration of Independence, most Americans quote memorable phrases from the preamble. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

But historian Robert Parkinson says even Thomas Jefferson, who penned those words, would be puzzled by our preoccupation with the introduction when the grievances that make up the body of the Declaration were the meat of the document.

Parkinson’s new book, “Tyrants and Rogues,” is a deep dive into those grievances — and the villains of the Revolutionary period who spurred them.

“Americans are throwing a temper tantrum here, because they feel like their father has betrayed them,” he tells Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. It’s a conversation set in 1776 with implications for 2026 — a launch into a month of books that commemorates America’s 250th anniversary.

Guest:

• Robert Parkinson is a historian and professor at Binghamton University in New York. His new book is “Tyrants and Rogues: Understanding the Declaration of Independence.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Are you ready to believe a few impossible things? If so, Sue Zumberge of SubText Bookstore in St. Paul recommends the novel “Enormous Wings” by Laurie Frankel.

“The moment I mention that it is about a 77-year-old woman who becomes pregnant, people sort of back away from me,” Zumberge said. “I think it is best described by the epigraph at the beginning of the book, which is from Hilary Mantel's book, ‘Mirror and Light.’ ‘We know it is impossible. The question is, who can best endure impossibility?’”

The novel follows Pepper Mills, who moves into a retirement home at her grown children’s insistence. There, she falls in love with another resident and, to the shock of everyone, becomes pregnant.

They live in Texas, and a doctor threatens Pepper’s children and their livelihoods if she should seek an abortion.

Zumberge said this novel makes an excellent summer read, with themes that feel both timeless and urgent: “our relationship with our family, our relationship with our partners, our ability to make our own choices—not just about keeping a pregnancy, but whether we are able to live on our own.”

“The important aspect of this book is that it opens us, through this impossible scenario, to so many other possibilities within our lives. It is a beautiful book.”

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers across Minnesota and beyond to find out what books they’re most excited about right now

Jeff Danz of Zandbros Variety in Sioux Falls, S.D., was looking for some escapist fiction when he was drawn to the story of a traveling carnival. He calls Dan Chaon’s gothic horror novel “One of Us” an engaging read with compelling characters that felt like a darker version of a Mark Twin or Charles Dickens adventure.

Set in 1915, the novel follows 13-year-old twins Eleanor and Bolt, who have a flawless ability to read each other's minds. When their mother dies, leaving them orphaned, a rather terrifying man calling himself their Uncle Charlie shows up to adopt them.

They quickly realize Charlie is a con man who expects them to help with his schemes, and the children devise an escape. They find themselves on an orphan train, traveling through the Midwest with dwindling hopes of being chosen, when a man in a red waistcoat with gold epaulets appears and tells the children “I see you.”

He is Mr. Jengling, and he adopts them into the world of Mr. Jengling’s Emporium of Wonders. The traveling carnival world offers a new family in a sometimes-brutal American frontier, as well as opportunities that may cause the twins to grow apart.

And Uncle Charlie is on their trail...

“It ends,” he said, “in an unexpected way that is satisfying, in that it connects a lot of things. It kept me interested the whole time.”

Last month, the Wall Street Journal declared this summer to be the era of the “man band.” Those would be boy bands who’ve grown up — think New Kids on the Block, Boys II Men and the Jonas Brothers — along with their fans, who now have more disposable income to fork out. Exhibit A: The Backstreet Boys residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas last summer grossed more than $55 million.

But it’s about more than the money. It’s about the mostly middle-aged women who are no longer afraid of the cringe — and the mostly middle-aged boys-turned-men who are no longer afraid to embrace the passion of their fans.

Novelist Emma Straub saw that fandom first hand when she went on a New Kids on the Block cruise several years ago — and was blown away by the intensity and camaraderie of the now adult “Blockheads.” That visit inspired her new novel, “American Fantasy,” which is a deep dive into the lucrative world of a fictional ‘90s-era boy band named Boy Talk and the woman who still worship them.

Straub joins Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about boy bands, the pleasure of enjoying them without shame and how aging changes our perceptions of our past — and current — selves.

Guest:

• Emma Straub is is a New York Times-bestselling author and the owner of a Brooklyn-based bookstore, Books Are Magic. Her latest novel is “American Fantasy.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

For decades, Native American women leaders in the Twin Cities helped build numerous organizations and contributed to the arts, education and community — now their story is being told.

White Earth Nation citizen Audrey Thayer co-authored “Weaving Community: Indigenous Women and Leadership in the Twin Cities” with Colette Hyman.

She says the nine-year project shares stories of women activists who founded and led around 25 organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, beginning as early as the 1950s — many of those organizations are still active today.

“They've evolved. They've changed to meet the needs of community, and we think about all the opportunities that they are gathering,” she said.

The book includes stories behind the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, founded in 1987 by Bois Forte Band of Chippewa citizen Sharon Day, and MIGIZI Communications, cofounded by Seneca journalist Laura Waterman Wittstock in 1977. The organizations have evolved to include youth and community programming over the years. They are both located in Minneapolis.

The authors included perspectives from over two dozen voices, including Dakota, Ojibwe and Ho-Chunk women.

“They were the powerhouse,” Thayer said.

Thayer was inspired to write the book due to a lack of readily available teaching resources on the subject. As an educator at Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, she says her curriculum includes Indigenous leadership, though there was little information available that focused on women’s leadership.

“When I went into our Minnesota historical archives at the history museum, I found lots of stories about women, but they had no first names,” Thayer said. She added that their names were more often than not written under their husband’s first name.

When she thought about her students, mainly the Indigenous women in her classes, she wanted them to feel encouraged to pursue their goals and dreams.

“I got very emotional about this book, because it's spiritual. It is entering into the lives of Indigenous women who've worked very hard in their lives to survive and make that path,” she said.

Thayer and Hyman shed light on the historical context of the urban Indigenous community. The book touches on the history of boarding schools and the influx of Indigenous community who moved from reservations to Minneapolis and Saint Paul for work and educational opportunities.

“I can't begin to tell you emotionally how significant it was to interview and listen to these women,” Thayer said.

“Weaving Community: Indigenous Women and Leadership in the Twin Cities” was published by Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Milkweed Books in Minneapolis invites the public to a conversation with the authors Wednesday night. The free event begins at 6 p.m. and will include a book reading and signing.

Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.

Following the murder of George Floyd, many asked the question: “How was Minneapolis, of all places, at the center of a global racial reckoning?”

For Minnesota-native Justin Ellis, it wasn’t surprising. And now, the journalist is out with a new book that lays out Minnesota’s long quiet history of racism to help answer that question.

The book is titled “The Cruelty of Nice Folks: Why Minneapolis Is the Story of America.” Ellis joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about it.

He’ll host a reading and discussion of the book June 30 at 7 p.m. at Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Have you picked up a new cookbook or craft book recently? You’re not alone.

More people are gravitating toward how-to and hobby books that get them off digital devices and away from their worries.

And summer is the perfect time to dive into a good book — whether you’re reading in a hammock, on your porch or listening on the go.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two booksellers about their recommendations and what Minnesotans are reading — from local nonfiction and “romantasy,” to stories that deliver courage and hope.

Guests:

• Kristin Nilsen is a bookseller at Big Hill Books in Minneapolis and a former children’s librarian. She co-hosts the podcast, “Pop Culture Preservation Society.” She also wrote two middle grade novels, “Worldwide Crush” and “The Scott Fenwick Diaries.”

• Jasmine Baker is a bookseller at Black Garnet Books in St. Paul. She is also a marketing and communications strategist and has worked as an organizer on college campuses in Wisconsin.

  These books were recommended during the show:

  “Big in Sweden” by Sally Franson

  “The Burning” series by Evan Winter

  “A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides” by Gisèle Pelicot

  “Meet the Newmans” by Jennifer Niven

  “The Wild Robot” series by Peter Brown

  “The Amari” series by B. B. Alston

  Graphic novel versions of: “The Diary of Anne Frank”, “The Hobbit” and “Tuck Everlasting”

  “A Year Without Home” by V. T. Bidania

  “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson

  “My Convoluted Life” by Narciso M. Salas

  “Score” by Kennedy Ryan

  “Bromantasy” by Máire Roche

  “The Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells

  “The Missed Connection” by Tia Williams

  “The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout

  “Beard” by Kelly Foster Lundquist

  “The Girl with a Thousand Faces” by Sunyi Dean

  “The Cruelty of Nice Folks: Why Minneapolis Is the Story of America” by Justin Ellis

  “I Cheerfully Refuse” by Leif Enger

  “When the Rain Came” by Matthew Eicheldinger

  "Doorman Wanted” by Glenn R. Miller

  “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger

  “Revolutionaries Are Made of Love” by Mélina Mangal and Sun Yung Shin

  “The Vorkosigan Saga” series and “The World of the Five Gods” series by Lois McMaster Bujold

  “The Women of Wild Hill” by Kirsten Miller

  “The Change” by Kirsten Miller

  “Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books” by Kirsten Miller

  “Die For Me” by Amy Plum

  “Alex Six” by Vince Taplin

  “The High Mountain Court” part of the The Five Crowns of Okrith series by A.K. Mulford

  “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt

  “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir

  “All About Love” by bell hooks

  “Kin” by Tayari Jones

  “Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke

  “Swordbird” by Nancy Yi Fan

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

A biography of Hannibal Lecter. A meditation on trees. A memoir by a child prodigy violinist. A treatise on the way we poop. We asked our NPR colleagues what nonfiction they've enjoyed reading so far this year, and these are the titles they shared. (You can also check out their fiction picks here, and sign up for our Books newsletter for weekly recommendations.)

A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides by Gisèle Pelicot, with Judith Perrignon, translated by Natasha Lehrer and Ruth Diver

What could read like the marital tragedy heard around the world is instead brimming with empathy, for herself and others. True to its title, in A Hymn to Life, Gisèle Pelicot poetically retells the turn of events that led to a public trial in France exposing the breadth of nearly a decade of violent sexual abuse orchestrated by her husband of nearly 50 years and dozens of other men — most of which was filmed and all of which happened while she was heavily drugged and unconscious. In its pages, Pelicot trades sorrow for devotion and chooses love over and over again. — Adriana Gallardo, editor, Morning Edition

Backtalker: An American Memoir by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

True Story: When I launched my first show at NPR, Tell Me More, I wanted to have an audience feedback segment called Backtalk. My staff was horrified; they thought it was rude. Now, though, I think I was on to something. Remember the saying "polite women don't make history?" Law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw has lived it. If you've ever heard the terms critical race theory or intersectionality in the news, she is identified with both, and she explains what those terms mean here. But this is not a dry academic treatise. It's a raw, funny and, at times, heartbreaking account of how Crenshaw was born to be a "backtalker" — and she makes a compelling argument for why we could use more of them. — Michel Martin, host, Morning Edition

Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family — and the World by Gabriel Sherman

Dostoevsky's truism about all unhappy families being unique goes a long way in explaining our cultural fascination with the Murdochs. This account of the family behind the media empire expanded by Rupert — who took over a comparatively modest Australian operation from his father — gives fascinating insights into the mentality and dynamics that fueled their ascent. This is a read that's equally interesting for its dive into how Murdoch borrowed his way to dominance in a consolidating media landscape and for its look at the brutal ruthlessness that shaped his legacy as a businessman, husband and father. Journalism will never be the same. — Tayla Burney, director, Network Programming and Production

Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution by Anand Gopal

Anand Gopal gives us a magisterial retelling of the long and bloody Syrian civil war through the eyes of brave men and women in one tiny city. The death and sectarianism of the war, as it dragged on, became stultifying. But Gopal makes the banal intimate, masterfully re-creating the lives of the people who took part in the war by conducting literally thousands of interviews in Syria. And he is unsparing about how the war bends, even corrupts, the most idealistic. — Emily Feng, correspondent, International Desk

El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory by Jazmine Ulloa

Jazmine Ulloa, a native fronteriza (borderlander), documents key events that shaped El Paso through centuries. Through the stories of five families, she tracks the city from the arrival of Spanish explorers and Franciscan friars, to becoming the "Ellis Island of the Southwest," known for the major role it plays in migration to the U.S. The book also explores the aftermath of a fatal mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 by a white man on a mission to stop what he called a "Hispanic invasion." Ulloa's book is a window to the authenticity and beauty of the border culture. As Ulloa shows, El Paso plays a pivotal role in the making of the modern United States. — Alfredo Carbajal, supervising editor, National Desk

Famesick: A Memoir by Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham writes about the period during and after the production of Girls with the candor and humor we've come to expect. Much of the book chronicles her experience of chronic illness and her journey with addiction and rehab. But even with serious subject matter, it's an enjoyable read (or audiobook listen — she narrates). Dunham is not always the easiest person to understand, but her humanity shines through. And even though most of us will never reach her level of fame, the book still feels relatable. After all, despite her success, isn't she still just one of the (original) girls? — Emma Klein, associate producer, Intake

Fonda on Film: The Political Movies of Jane Fonda by Nelson Pressley

Forever ago (meaning 1985), when I interviewed Jane Fonda about her then-upcoming movie Agnes of God, and also her still-controversial 1972 trip to North Vietnam, I asked what she hoped to be remembered for. Her reply was simple: "Making a difference." Nelson Pressley's deep dive into Fonda's 1960s-'70s film career — from Barbarella and Barefoot in the Park, to Coming Home and The China Syndrome — is a briskly fascinating exploration of how she did that. A wry, politically pointed, very of-this-moment portrait of Fonda as actor and activist, this book's insightful, connect-the-dots analysis bristles with wit and will leave readers eager to revisit her films and reengage with their politics. — Bob Mondello, senior arts critic, Society & Culture Desk

The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon

As conflict continues to roil the Middle East, this beautifully personal book is a welcome respite. Authors Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon are peace activists — one Palestinian, the other Israeli. Both have suffered the loss of family. Aziz's brother was killed by Israeli prison guards. Maoz's parents were murdered by Hamas militants. This book takes readers on the authors' journey through Israel and the Occupied Territories together. It is a personal travelogue of hope but not a road map to peace. There are no easy solutions, and the authors don't pretend to offer one. They do warm hearts and open minds to a different paradigm, away from violence, revenge and hatred, toward peace and mutual understanding. — Carrie Kahn, correspondent, International Desk

Ghosts of Fourth Street: My Family, a Death, and the Hills of Duluth by Laurie Hertzel

As an only child, I fantasized about the kind of large families that populated the books I read (Cheaper by the Dozen) and movies and TV shows I watched (The Sound of Music, The Brady Bunch). In her emotionally complex new memoir, journalist Laurie Hertzel departs from the usual rollicking "big family" story. The seventh of 10 children, Hertzel grew up more like an only child in 1960s Duluth, Minn., her birth order and temperament conspiring to make her lost in the crowd. But when sudden death claimed her oldest brother at 18, her noisy house grew still. — Maureen Corrigan, book critic, Fresh Air

Hannibal Lecter: A Life by Brian Raftery

It's been decades since I read Thomas Harris' Red Dragon or seen Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. I honestly hadn't really given Hannibal Lecter that much thought until 2024, when President Trump kept talking about him on the campaign trail ("He'd love to have you for dinner!"). Why Hannibal, why now? Brian Raftery goes deep in this "biography" of one of American pop culture's most notorious and (oddly) most beloved villains. Come for the fava beans, stay for a deliciously dark reflection in the mirror, and perhaps one of the most effective examples of cover art I've ever seen. — Melissa Gray, senior producer, Weekend Edition

Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund by Molly Crabapple

From 1897 until the end of World War II, the Jewish Labor Bund was one of the most important institutions in Jewish life. In this beautifully written account Molly Crabapple tells the group's story and chronicles its fights against antisemitism, communism and Nazism. The Bund played a leading role in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The Bund also was anti-Zionist, believing that Jews should work to build socialist societies where they lived, not migrate. Crabapple is open about her own sympathies, she clearly sees the Bund as a prescriptive model for today. But agree with her or not, she's provided an invaluable service by surfacing a history unknown to most modern-day readers. — Tony Cavin, managing editor, Standards & Practices

How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy by Soumaya Keynes and Chad P. Bown

A book about international trade that's fun? Yes, please! These two have been getting nerdy about trade topics (like anti-dumping duties) since long before it was cool — or, um, deeply relevant. In this analogy-filled book, they take stock of the biggest problems in the pre-Trump trade system and offer some tactics on how to fight — or defend against — trade wars in smart ways, while not shying away from the downsides of those tactics. I know that doesn't sound fun, but it really is. They're funny people! — Nick Fountain, host/reporter, Planet Money

The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence by Sebastian Mallaby

On the surface, The Infinity Machine is a biography of British AI pioneer Demis Hassabis, but it's really a readable introduction to the nuts and bolts inside artificial intelligence. Hassabis took insights from his neuroscience studies to make better AI, and in doing so, formed a team that built models that played Atari video games, beat human Go champions, solved the mystery of how amino acid sequences fold into 3D structures, and paved the way for the current AI boom. Sebastian Mallaby tells the story of Hassabis' quest to learn the universe's secrets, and in doing so, reminds us of the beauty of scientific discovery. — Darian Woods, host, The Indicator from Planet Money

In Trees: An Exploration by Robert Moor

Recent years have been good to trees, at least in writing. We've seen their hidden lives, met their mother trees. With Robert Moor, we get a philosophy. Rather than just admiring trees, how might we live like them? He puts our growth, as individuals and a species, into tree-speak: branch, prune, gnarl (new favorite word). Moor relearns how to climb them and ends up in a sequoia with David Attenborough. He works to mend his family tree, discovering something vital about healing our roots. The book expands with its histories: of bonsai and treehouses, as well as race, anthropology and activism. It's earnest and passionate and has me looking at every tree like a teacher. — Matthew Cloutier, producer, TED Radio Hour

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe

A 19-year-old man posing as the son of a Russian oligarch leaps to his death from a luxury apartment on the River Thames. That's the heart-stopping opening of Patrick Radden Keefe's London Falling. Keefe investigates the death of the young imposter, as well as the role modern London played in his demise. I loved this book for literary and personal reasons. Keefe is an exhaustive investigative reporter who spins seamless tales. He also uses the man's mysterious death to explore the criminal culture that lies just beneath the glittering surface of Britain's capital. I spent seven years as NPR's correspondent in London. London Falling rings true. — Frank Langfitt, correspondent, National Desk

Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett

Mac Barnett is an author of many children's books — otherwise known as books. And he gets asked all the time when he plans on writing a "real" book — by which people usually mean a book for adults. Even though this question is pretty annoying, the U.S. national ambassador for young people's literature did decide to write Make Believe — a book for adults about books for children. One essay did draw some ire, but the book is still worth reading for its staunch defense of the value and potential of children's literature. Plus, you won't want to miss Barnett's close reading of the pure art form that is Goodnight Moon — it's illuminating. — Samantha Balaban, senior producer, Weekend Edition

My Mother's Daughter: Finding Myself in My Family's Fractured Past by Tracy Clark-Flory

When Tracy Clark-Flory was a teenager, her mother told her she'd gotten pregnant around her age and given the baby up for adoption. They didn't discuss it much again. But years later, after her mom's death, Clark-Flory decided to find her half-sister and figure out what really happened all those years ago. She learned that in 1965, her mom was sent off to a home for unwed mothers, where she and other women were coerced into giving up their children. Part memoir, part investigation, Clark-Flory uses her family's story to dig into a larger history of who is considered worthy of motherhood in America, and at what cost. — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, reporter, NPR Music

Opioids and Organs by Arizona O'Neill

After her estranged father dies of a fentanyl overdose, cartoonist Arizona O'Neill reluctantly agrees to donate his organs to patients in need. Feeling guilty about the decision, she makes sense of it by diving into the world of organ donation and its origins, accompanied by an oafish Frankenstein ("Frankie") character and a cheeky lizard named Izzy. Darkly funny and heartbreaking, this graphic memoir will leave you laughing out loud — and questioning whether it's our bodies that really make us human. — Malaka Gharib, digital editor, Life Kit

Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare by Katrina Manson

Katrina Manson, a Bloomberg reporter, has written a tour de force of reporting where she tells the story of how a determined, dogged and secretive team that — in partnership with some of the world's biggest (and some not so big) tech companies — brought artificial intelligence to the world's most powerful military. After chronicling that early effort, she goes further, showing just how committed the U.S. military is, not just to AI-enabled targeting, but also increasingly to autonomous weapons. She also does a good job capturing the unease a lot of people — in and out of the government — feel about what can only be described as our terrifying new reality. — Nishant Dahiya, editor

Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation by Vijay Gupta

Vijay Gupta offers a raw chronicle of his difficult journey: first as a child prodigy violinist, laboring under intense pressures from his impossible-to-sate immigrant parents, and then as a broken adult who ultimately transforms his own life through making music with people who need community the most. Gupta is the founder of the nonprofit Street Symphony, which brings live music to Los Angelenos experiencing homelessness, addiction and the incarceration system on and around Skid Row. His courageous narrative is brilliant, deeply vulnerable and ultimately exhilarating. — Anastasia Tsioulcas, correspondent, Society & Culture Desk

Stay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945 by Ian Buruma

When I was lucky enough to live in Berlin for a year in my 20s, I encountered a city both bursting with energy and haunted by the ghosts of its Nazi past. Ian Buruma's immersive Stay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945 renders that era in full color by focusing on the individual lives of Berliners as they coped with Allied bombers in the air, and their own genocidal government in the streets. Through archival newspapers, diaries, letters and interviews, Buruma follows the journeys of actors and musicians, Nazi fanatics and anti-Nazi resisters, and Jewish refugees and those who sheltered them, evoking the rhythms and vocabulary of life in a vibrant city hurtling toward disaster. — Tom Dreisbach, correspondent, Investigations Desk

The Theater: Courage and Survival in the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War by James Verini

The Russian siege of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol in early 2022 killed thousands of civilians. The siege included the deadliest attack of the war: the bombing of the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theater. Hundreds sheltered there, including children, as Russian airstrikes leveled the city around it. In his wrenching, vividly written and meticulously reported book, James Verini introduces us to the Ukrainians who kept this sanctuary running while reconstructing, through interviews with survivors, the fullest account of the bombing to date in terrifying detail. It's an unforgettable work of investigative reporting and narrative storytelling. — Joanna Kakissis, Ukraine correspondent, International Desk

When It's Darkness on the Delta: How America's Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land by Ralph Eubanks

This is the story of the beautiful yet tragic pull of the Mississippi Delta, birthplace of the Blues and a landscape that produces agricultural riches. Yet it remains among the most poverty-stricken regions in the country. Ralph Eubanks examines why the place his father once thought presented opportunity for Black farmers has never lived up to that promise, despite generations who have tried to break free from the Delta's plantation economy. He argues real change will require grappling with the legacies of slavery, sharecropping and Jim Crow. And he finds hope in the work of resilient locals determined to revitalize the Delta. — Debbie Elliott, correspondent, National Desk

Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest by James Martin, SJ

A summer job has long been a rite of passage for generations of American teenagers. In Work in Progress, the Rev. James Martin — perhaps best known for his recurring role on The Colbert Report — recounts his resume before his pivot to the priesthood. From his tenure as a first-time busboy to his wholly unqualified work as a golf caddy, Martin mines his childhood journals and even details his time spent in corporate America. Told with humor and heart, Work in Progress is a beach read about labor and what it can teach us about dignity and decency. — Lyndsey McKenna, project manager, Podcast Strategy & Operations

You've Been Pooping All Wrong: How to Make Your Bowel Movements a Joy by Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH

Roughly 95% of U.S. adults are not getting enough fiber! That's going to affect how we poop, but people usually shy away from talking about it. Dr. Trisha Pasricha says that might be hurting our health. Her book was funny, extremely scientific and written to fill in the gaps modern parenting leaves behind — bathroom education that stops after potty training. Pasricha addresses questions like: What should your poop look like? How many times a day is it normal to poop? What is with the gut-brain connection, and what makes you constipated? Hint: It isn't just fiber. I learned so much, and I was smiling the whole way through. — Regina G. Barber, host/reporter, Short Wave

You've Changed: The Promise and Price of Self-Transformation by Benoit Denizet-Lewis

You've Changed is an incredibly well-researched look at how we change (or don't) and why. From political identity shifters to people in therapy for personality disorders, and from trans people transitioning gender to seekers opening their consciousnesses on psychedelics, Benoit Denizet-Lewis follows how we experience these shifts with a curious, empathetic and introspective eye. A great read for anyone who wants to understand a change within themselves — or for people trying to engender a new one. — Liam McBain, producer, It's Been a Minute

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