Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Kerri Miller Podcast Tile
Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller
MPR News

Where readers meet writers, Fridays at 11 a.m. Listen live or stream later on your favorite podcast app.

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Books Coverage: The Thread | About: Kerri Miller

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Diana Abu-Jaber on family myths and inheritance
For immigrants who have to start life over in a new land, home carries a powerful lure. Diana Abu-Jaber says questions of identity and displacement haunted her Jordanian father, which inspired her latest novel, “Fencing with the King.”
From the archives: Diana Abu-Jaber on 'Birds of Paradise'
This Friday on Big Books and Bold Ideas, author Diana Abu-Jaber returns to talk about her latest novel, “Fencing with the King,” which was just released in paperback. To get you in the mood, enjoy one of host Kerri Miller’s last conversations with Abu-Jaber — this one from 2011, about her book, "Birds of Paradise."
Professor Dacher Keltner on the significance of awe
According to professor and researcher Dacher Keltner, awe is the universal emotion we feel when we encounter vast mysteries we can’t explain. And he believes we should find more of it, in order to live happy and health lives, both individually and collectively. This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, host Kerri Miller talks with Keltner about research that resulted in his new book, “Awe: The New Science of Every Day Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.”
From the archives: Ross Gay on 'Inciting Joy'
This Friday, on Big Books and Bold Idea, host Kerri Miller talks with psychologist and researcher Dacher Keltner about the science of awe, and how this universal emotion can transform our brains and bodies. So we felt it fitting to bring you a discussion of joy for this week’s archive. Enjoy poet Ross Gay at Talking Volumes last fall discussing his book, “Inciting Joy.”
New author Jamila Minnicks on the resilience and history of all-Black towns
Jamila Minnicks’ debut novel is a stunner. “Moonrise Over New Jessup” uses fiction to tell the stories of real all-Black towns that flourished in the American South a century ago, thanks to a policy of separate but equal.
From the archives: Exercise as preventative medicine
How is it that Americans are more obsessed with exercise than ever, yet still unhealthy? This Friday, host Kerri Miller talks with the author of the new book “Fit Nation,” to examine the U.S. fitness industry today.
Deepti Kapoor on her much anticipated novel 'Age of Vice'
MPR News host Kerri Miller says Deepti Kapoor’s novel lives up to the hype. “Age of Vice” introduces us to the extreme wealth, corruption and cynicism of a changing India in a daring new crime thriller.
From the archives: Emily St. John Mandel on her smash book 'Sea of Tranquility'
Deepti Kapoor’s new novel, “Age of Vice,” is one of the most anticipated releases of 2023. We’ll talk to her on this Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. While you wait, enjoy this interview with Emily St. John Mandel, who wrote one of the most anticipated novels of 2022, “Sea of Tranquility.”