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The Late Archbishop Desmond Tutu never lost his faith in humanity
Harper

NPR's Book of the Day

The Late Archbishop Desmond Tutu never lost his faith in humanity

Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away at the age of 90 at the end of 2021. We look back at his legacy by revisiting his 2010 book Made For Goodness. Even after decades of fighting apartheid and seeing the cruelty people were capable of, he still believed that humans were mostly good at their core. Tutu told NPR's Renee Montagne that he was constantly bowled over by people's willingness to forgive.

The Late Archbishop Desmond Tutu never lost his faith in humanity

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WaaaAAH! Rraak! 'Everybody in the Red Brick Building' is awake!
HarperCollins Children's Books/Balzer + Bray

Picture This

WaaaAAH! Rraak! 'Everybody in the Red Brick Building' is awake!

Baby Izzie howls, Rayhan's parrot screeches, Benny and his friends play flashlight tag, and Natalia launches her rocket in the new children's book by author Anne Wynter and illustrator Oge Mora.

WaaaAAH! Rraak! 'Everybody in the Red Brick Building' is awake!

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Tricia Elam Walker, Ekua Holmes, and Clint Smith take us across the country
Anne Schwartz Books/Little, Brown and Company

NPR's Book of the Day

Tricia Elam Walker, Ekua Holmes, and Clint Smith take us across the country

Today's interviews are about transporting you to different places. The first is with cousins Tricia Elam Walker and Ekua Holmes who wrote a children's book, Dream Street, about the neighborhood where they grew up in Roxbury, Mass. They told NPR's Scott Simon and producer Samantha Balaban that the characters in the book were inspired by people in their lives. Our next interview is with writer Clint Smith, who traveled to different locations across the country for his book on slavery, How the Word is Passed. He told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly he wanted to talk about places that still exist because slavery wasn't that long ago.

Tricia Elam Walker, Ekua Holmes, and Clint Smith take us across the country

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Actress Sharon Gless on life's ups and downs in 'Apparently There Were Complaints'
Simon & Schuster

NPR's Book of the Day

Actress Sharon Gless on life's ups and downs in 'Apparently There Were Complaints'

Actress Sharon Gless, who starred in the 80s cop procedural, Cagney and Lacey, is out with a new memoir: Apparently There Were Complaints. The book looks back at her life and career, both the good and the not-so-great moments, like her struggles with alcoholism while filming the show. Gless told NPR's Rachel Martin that she is very strong despite it all: "I have good stuff in here. And I can survive it all."

Actress Sharon Gless on life's ups and downs in 'Apparently There Were Complaints'

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The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

The container ship Hyundai Hope is loaded in Norfolk, Va., on Dec. 1, 2021. Steve Helber/AP hide caption

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Steve Helber/AP

Author Interviews

The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

Fresh Air

"Americans went on a shopping spree as soon as lockdown started, and we haven't really stopped," journalist Christopher Mims says. His book, Arriving Today, goes inside the global supply chain.

The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

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President Trump's final acts of 'Betrayal'
Dutton

NPR's Book of the Day

President Trump's final acts of 'Betrayal'

Almost a year ago today, supporters of President Trump attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election. ABC White House correspondent Jonathan Karl has chronicled the final days of the Trump administration and the events leading up to the January 6th insurrection in his new book, Betrayal. Karl told NPR's Steve Inskeep that he believed in the end Trump was laying the groundwork to be un-checkable.

President Trump's final acts of 'Betrayal'

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After his son's suicide and the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jamie Raskin is not giving up

After serving as the lead manager for the ultimately unsuccessful second Trump impeachment, Rep. Jamie Raskin became a member of the House select committee looking into the Jan. 6 attacks. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption

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Andrew Harnik/AP

Politics

After his son's suicide and the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jamie Raskin is not giving up

Fresh Air

Raskin's son died just days before the Capitol insurrection. Now Raskin serves on the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack. His new memoir is Unthinkable.

After his son's suicide and the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jamie Raskin is not giving up

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Remembering bell hooks and 'All About Love'
William Morrow

NPR's Book of the Day

Remembering bell hooks and 'All About Love'

Author and social activist bell hooks died a couple of weeks ago, so we at Book Of The Day thought it would be nice to revisit one of our favorite interviews of hers. In 2000, she discussed her book All About Love: New Visions with NPR's Cheryl Corely. They talked about how most people misunderstand love and the many forms it can take and how transformative and powerful real love can be in all spheres of life.

Remembering bell hooks and 'All About Love'

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Lower your expectations and succeed with 'Tiny Habits'
Mariner Books

NPR's Book of the Day

Lower your expectations and succeed with 'Tiny Habits'

Every time the new year rolls around, many of us start trying to "better ourselves." Maybe you decide to read more or clean out your entire house only to find yourself falling short. Author BJ Fogg wrote a book about how not to do that called Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Fogg told Life Kit's Maria Godoy that everyone should try and lower their expectations. It's actually much easier to accomplish goals you set for yourself if they are much, much smaller. Say, instead of cleaning out your whole house, start with one room.

Lower your expectations and succeed with 'Tiny Habits'

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NPR's Wisdom From The Top: 'Machiavelli For Women'
Gallery Books

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR's Wisdom From The Top: 'Machiavelli For Women'

Planet Money's Stacey Vanek Smith has reported on business and the economy for over 15 years now. She told NPR's Guy Raz that over that time, she's seen the same barriers blocking advancement for women in the workplace again and again. Recently, she's started to recognize that a lot of tools to move past those barriers can be found in the work of Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. Vanek Smith lays out these solutions in her new book, Machiavelli for Women: Defend Your Worth, Grow Your Ambition, and Win the Workplace.

What's making us happy: What to watch, read and listen to this weekend

Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth and Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga in director Robert Eggers' Viking epic The Northman. Aidan Monaghan/© 2021 Focus Features, LLC hide caption

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Aidan Monaghan/© 2021 Focus Features, LLC

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's making us happy: What to watch, read and listen to this weekend

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: the trailer for The Northman, the novel The School for Good Mothers and more.

The story of marriage equality is more complicated — and costly — than you remember

Same-sex marriage supporters wear "Just married" shirts while celebrating the U.S Supreme Court ruling regarding same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015 in San Francisco. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Politics

The story of marriage equality is more complicated — and costly — than you remember

Sasha Issenberg, author of The Engagement, a history of marriage equality, says he doesn't see the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges being overturned anytime soon.

The story of marriage equality is more complicated — and costly — than you remember

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Alexi Pappas and Glennon Doyle want you to know it's ok to not be ok
The Dial Press

NPR's Book of the Day

Alexi Pappas and Glennon Doyle want you to know it's ok to not be ok

Both our interviews today deal with the pressures we put on ourselves. First, Olympic runner Alexi Pappas on her memoir, Bravey. On the outside, Pappas was living what looked like a great life; she was breaking Greek Olympic records and her movie got a distribution deal. But, she told NPR's Ari Shapiro, she was still deeply sad. Next, an interview from early in the pandemic when women were disproportionately feeling the burden of our new reality. Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed, told former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro that "every woman on earth needs to lower her expectations for herself."

You won't want to miss the 10 most popular 'Fresh Air' stories of 2021

The top Fresh Air web stories of 2021 reflect the show's status as a place where artists, authors and journalists speak to the moment. Valerie Macon/AFP; Grace Cary; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Valerie Macon/AFP; Grace Cary; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Author Interviews

You won't want to miss the 10 most popular 'Fresh Air' stories of 2021

Fresh Air

From Dr. Anthony Fauci to Sacha Baron Cohen, the year's most popular Fresh Air web pages reflect the show's strength as a place where artists, authors and journalists speak to the moment.

Healing through poetry in 'Light For The World To See'
Mariner Books

NPR's Book of the Day

Healing through poetry in 'Light For The World To See'

Poet and author Kwame Alexander was feeling the weight of being Black in America last summer and didn't know how to make sense of his feelings. So, he made sense of them through his book of poetry, Light For The World To See: A Thousand Words On Race And Hope. It's three poems on three historic events: the murder of George Floyd, Colin Kaepernick's protests, and Barack Obama being elected president. Alexander told NPR's Rachel Martin he wrote this as a call for Black people to remember their humanity.

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