PBS
Glamour And Gentrification Go Hand-In-Hand In Artsy Ranch Town Marfa
It's sometimes weird, often wonderful, definitely off the beaten path. Marfa, Texas, is a tiny rural town in the middle of dusty ranchlands, as well as an internationally renowned creative mecca. In the last few decades, as artists and...
PBS
Heart' Author Sandeep Jauhar Answers Your Questions
Sandeep Jauhar, author of our January pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions on "Heart." Plus, Jeff announces the February book selection.
PBS
"Trust Exercise" Author Susan Choi On Power Dynamics And Timely Fiction
Susan Choi’s novel “Trust Exercise” takes place in a high school for the performing arts in an unnamed southern city. But the subjects examined, including consent, power and memory, are universally relevant. “Trust Exercise” won the 2019...
PBS
Octavio Solis on growing up a 'skinny brown kid' on the U.S.-Mexico border
As politicians spar over immigration, playwright Octavio Solis recounts his childhood as a "skinny brown kid" in El Paso in his memoir "Retablos". Solis says that though he was in the U.S. legally, Border Patrol would ask him to recite...
PBS
"Heart Berries" Author Terese Marie Mailhot Answers Your Questions
Terese Marie Mailhot, author of our January pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions on “Heart Berries,” and Jeff announces the February book selection.
PBS
Melinda Gates on her foundation’s work and the need to ‘lift up women’ worldwide
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the world's largest private philanthropic organization, with an endowment of $50 billion. Melinda Gates plays a huge role in shaping its work, and her new book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering...
PBS
A poet's take on looking to language for radical hope
In this digital and divided society, it can often seem that language is used primarily to deliver criticism and express rage. But poet Ada Limón shares her humble opinion on why she sees people turning to poetry for language that...
PBS
The little-known story of the Republican Party’s 1st presidential nominee
In a new book, NPR’s Steve Inskeep has chronicled the little-known story of how the illegitimate son of an immigrant rose to become the Republican Party’s first presidential nominee in 1856 -- with a lot of help from his wife. Lisa...
PBS
In Rural Michigan, Detroit Artists Reimagine The Iconic American Barn
The American barn is a cultural icon, but one that is quickly disappearing. In Port Austin, Michigan, an art project aims to draw attention to these structures -- and maybe even save some of them along the way. Jeffrey Brown reports as...
PBS
Why This Poet Says There Is No 'Single Story Spun On A Single Tongue'
Erica Dawson, a professor and writer, said she was surprised while on book tour recently to be faced with the same question over and over again, about speaking for "the black experience." Black poets never went away. We don't only...
PBS
How The First Black Head Of A Major Publishing House Wants To Change The Industry
In the wake of protests against systemic racism in the U.S., many industries are reexamining past practices and facing questions about their own racial biases. One new effort puts a spotlight on the world of publishing. Jeffrey Brown...
PBS
Author Lauren Wilkinson Answers Your Questions About ‘American Spy’
Lauren Wilkinson, author of our June pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions about “American Spy.”
PBS
This Philadelphia Art Exhibit Pushes The Envelope With Designs For The Future
What will the future look like? That’s the big question posed by a new exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Eighty designers from around the world have put their imaginations to work, leveraging both anxiety and excitement over...
PBS
Why We Should Think Differently About Classical Music
Musician and critic Jennifer Gersten wants us to transform the way we think about classical music. Perceived by many as "inaccessible, elitist, incomprehensible," the genre is often marketed by producers and performers primarily as...
PBS
Tom Hanks on HollywoodÕs tipping point over sexual misconduct
What do the Harvey Weinstein allegations reveal about power and gender in
Hollywood? When Tom Hanks recently sat down with Jeffrey Brown for a
conversation about his first collection of short stories, the legendary
actor also...
PBS
Poetry helps youth at a juvenile detention center find peace
Free Write Jail Arts and Literacy aims to help troubled youths in Chicago’s Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center address their personal issues by writing poetry about their circumstances and upbringing. Jeffrey Brown talks...
PBS
Author Dani Shapiro On The Power And Danger Of Family Secrets
After taking a DNA test on a whim, author Dani Shapiro discovered that her beloved late father had not been, in fact, her biological parent. She had been conceived using a sperm donor, and as was common at the time, the real story of her...
PBS
Author David Leavitt On Crossword Puzzles, Grief And Ritual
Sometimes it's the little things that get us through the hard times, and for many people crossword puzzles can serve as an escape. Author David Leavitt shares his humble opinion on the importance of this daily memento.
PBS
Author Sarah Broom On ‘The Yellow House’ And Putting New Orleans East On The Map
Sarah Broom’s 2019 memoir, “The Yellow House,” won the National Book Award for non-fiction. Jeffrey Brown sits down with Broom to discuss her mother and how an obsession with houses passed down two generations to the author herself, why...
PBS
The Value Of Writing Our Way Through A Tumultuous 2020
This has been a year of huge events and milestones, from the coronavirus
pandemic to the election of the first woman vice president. How will 2020
be remembered and analyzed in the years to come? Biographer and historian
Janice Nimura...
PBS
An Essay On The Importance Of Interracial Friendships
In a year when racism has been front and center in Americans’ minds, how can we break out of our own orbits to understand the life experiences of other people -- especially those of other races? Author and journalist Christine Pride...
PBS
The "Speechless: Different By Design" Exhibit Uses Brain Science To Inform Art
At the exhibition "Speechless: Different by Design," touching pieces of art is actually encouraged. As Jeffrey Brown reports, the Dallas Museum of Art show -- created as a collaboration between designers and brain researchers -- explores...
PBS
In latest book, author Erik Larson looks back at another time of crisis: London’s Blitz
In previous books like "The Devil in the White City" and "Isaac's Storm," bestselling author Erik Larson has used everyday people to chronicle historical events. But his latest offering, "The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill,...