books


Jesmyn Ward Examines A Few Hard Truths About Race

Author Jesmyn Ward was raised in coastal Mississippi and she was the first in her family to go to college, which is where she started writing. Her second novel "Salvage the Bones,” informed by her experience enduring Hurricane Katrina, won the National Book Award. She talks to Brendan about what inspired her new novel, "Sing, Unburied, Sing," and more.


Teju Cole Examines Pairing Pictures and Prose in ‘Blind Spot’

Teju Cole is a true polymath. His novel, 'Open City,' won the PEN/Hemingway award. And he writes about photography in a column for The New York Times Magazine, which makes sense since he also exhibits his own photography around the world. His new book, 'Blind Spot,' combines all these pursuits into one publication. talks with Brendan about what he learned about himself in the process.


Alan Alda Gets Passive and Punchy with Etiquette

Alan Alda is beloved for starring as "Hawkeye" Pierce on one of the best TV shows of all time, "M*A*S*H." He was a regular on another great show, "The West Wing," and he hosted the PBS series "Scientific American Frontiers" for over a decade. He's also releasing a new book to help us all communicate better. Listen as he tries to solve our listeners' etiquette woes on thankless relatives and more.


Samin Nosrat Convinces Us to Go to Therapy

Celebrated chef and cooking teacher Samin Nosrat's first-ever fine dining meal was at the famed restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Almost immediately thereafter, Samin dropped everything to work there. That led her to develop a whole new way of cooking, which she teaches in her new book, "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat." She digs a little into the acid element, before helping our listeners let go in the kitchen and more.


Anne Lamott Tells Us How to Be Merciful to Ourselves

Anne Lamott's spunky, soul-bearing non-fiction has made her a best-selling author many times over. Her books sometimes investigate spiritual themes and sometimes they're about very human triumphs and tribulations, like overcoming alcoholism or raising a son as a single mother. In her new book, she celebrates a virtue that seems to be in short supply these days: mercy.


Charlamagne Tha God Explains ‘Black Privilege’

Millions of listeners tune in to hear Charlamagne co-host the nationally syndicated radio show "The Breakfast Club." He's known for his long, sometimes combative interviews with everyone from Kanye West to Hillary Clinton. Now, he's available in book form. Before answering our listeners' etiquette questions about competitive gym bunnies, he explained his ideas behind the title of the book, his "F" Your Dreams principle, and more.


Charlamagne Tha God Reminds Us Manners Will Take You Where Money Won’t

Each week, our listeners send in their questions about how to behave, and answering them this time around is Charlamagne Tha God. He is an outspoken giant of terrestrial radio, co-hosting the morning show "The Breakfast Club," which is syndicated by iHeartRadio. He's also got an MTV2 show. After we spoke to him about his new book, "Black Privilege," he stuck around to help our listeners with a few etiquette woes and shared some sage wisdom from his grandmother.