Annie Lowrey explores the administrative burdens people face applying for government benefits. It's not just about wasted time: "When the government treats us like this, we don't trust it," she says.
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Like much of Rachel Cusk's work, Life of M is driven by her concern with conditions that impede self-definition -- for writers, artists, and women in particular.
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In The Jackal, national security writer Joby Warrick writes about the playboy terrorist who killed and kidnapped for years, eluding law enforcement while frequenting nightclubs and luxury hotels.
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If you're looking for an end-of-summer escape you can't go wrong with The Intrigue, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Under the Falls, by Richard Russo, or The Blue Flame, by George Pelecanos.
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NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Harvard professor and writer at the New Yorker Jill Lepore about her new book, "The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State."
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In 1926, author A.A. Milne and illustrator Ernest H. Shepard published Winnie-the-Pooh. Now, a new kids' book — How a Bear Became a Book — celebrates their collaboration.
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Heller's 2012 novel about a man who survives a super flu that kills most of humanity is now being adapted to film. Adventure writer Heller drew from his own life. Originally broadcast in 2012.
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Paul Yoon's new novel follows a dog conscripted into an unnamed war in an unnamed country. From the very first page, Etna's voice is somber and poetic in its simplicity.


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Paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman talks about diets he's tested, and contradictory information about what's healthy to eat and what's not. He says evolution often works against weight-loss efforts.
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Journalist Gil Durán argues that a small circle of Silicon Valley billionaires and venture capitalists have concluded that democracy is in their way — and that they should be governing in its place.
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