Betty Shamieh was the first Palestinian American playwright to have a play produced off-Broadway. She describes her debut novel, Too Soon, as a "Palestinian American Sex and the City." The novel follows three Palestinian American women across generations as they navigate love and identity. In today's episode, Shamieh speaks with NPR's Pien Huang about using comedy as a way to humanize characters who may be dehumanized in the real world, the 10 year writing process for the book, and how she didn't necessarily want to write it, but she knew she had to.

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Grady Hendrix is one of the biggest names in horror fiction today. He's published 11 horror novels and won a Bram Stoker Award for his non-fiction book on the history of horror fiction. In this episode, we revisit a 2021 conversation between Hendrix and former NPR host Audie Cornish about his book Final Girl Support Group with a discussion on society's obsession with violence and its perpetrators, rather than the victims. Then, we hear Hendrix speak with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about his latest novel, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, and some of the real life horrors faced by women in history.

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After a long career as a prosecutor, a defense attorney and a judge, 77-year-old Rusty Sabich is retired. But when a young woman named Mae Potter goes missing, Rusty comes out of retirement to defend the lead suspect – who happens to be his soon-to-be stepson. Presumed Guilty is the latest novel from Scott Turow, who's been writing about this character since he published Presumed Innocent in 1987. In today's episode, Turow joins NPR's Scott Simon for a conversation that touches on second chances, the fallibility of the legal system, and the potential impact of artificial intelligence on literature.

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A new book titled Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the 21st Century by Bianca Mabute-Louie makes a radical case against assimilation for the Asian diaspora. The project was inspired by the author's upbringing in San Gabriel Valley, an ethnoburb right outside of Los Angeles, which Mabute-Louie describes as a place "where Asian immigrants go to never assimilate." In today's episode, the author joins NPR's Ailsa Chang for a conversation about what un-assimilability looks like in practice, the spike in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Mabute-Louie's hopes for her young son.

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Photographer Brian Kelley has been collecting National Park ephemera for years. He wanted to find a way to share the maps, brochures and memorabilia he's collected from his visits, which resulted in the 2019 project Parks. Now, Kelley is out with a sequel, Parks 2, a coffee table book that shares more of his personal archive of National Park designs. In today's episode, Kelley speaks with NPR's Sarah McCammon about what inspired him to start his collection, the history of design technology, and one of his favorite places, Olympic National Park.

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In this interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Han Kang says the idea for her latest novel came to her in a snowy, haunting dream. The Nobel Prize-winning author's We Do Not Part is itself dreamlike. The novel follows narrator Kyungha as she tries to rescue a friend's beloved pet bird in the midst of a snowstorm that has hit South Korea's Jeju Island. As the story goes on, Kyungha is confronted with the taboo, hidden history of a 1948 massacre that took place on the island. In today's episode, Simon and Han discuss how censorship by the South Korean government contributed to the obfuscation of that violent history, as well as the author's interest in finding lightness in themes like animals and snow.

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Two new novels tackle themes of motherhood and family secrets. First, in Emma Knight's The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus, 18-year-old Pen has just arrived as a student at the University of Edinburgh. For Pen's whole life, she's sensed that her parents were hiding something from her – and she believes the answers might lie in Scotland. In today's episode, Knight joins NPR's Mary Louise Kelly for a conversation about her debut novel. They discuss the first character that came to Knight – and her use of the octopus as a metaphor for early motherhood. Then in Rosarita, the latest novel from Anita Desai, a strange encounter at a park in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, throws the protagonist's family history into question. The story follows Bonita as she tries to untangle her mother's past. In today's episode, Desai speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the way her character finds pieces of India in Mexico and the dual lives of women.

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The beginning of a new year often represents a clean slate for people hoping to make a change. But by this point in January, many have let go of their resolutions. It can be difficult to make goals stick, especially when they require actions that aren't inherently rewarding. Katy Milkman, a behavioral economist at the University of Pennsylvania, has spent her career researching what it takes to achieve our goals. Her 2021 book How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, offers research-backed strategies to help new habits stick. In today's episode, Milkman speaks with Here & Now's Jane Clayson about some of those strategies, like combining tasks with temptation. Then, listeners share their New Year's resolution wins.

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Jules Feiffer, illustrator of The Phantom Tollbooth, died last week at age 95. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and cartoonist began drawing and writing for a living when he was 17. And just last year, Feiffer came out with his first graphic novel for middle grade readers. That book, Amazing Grapes, kicks off with a father's departure, which sets in motion a series of adventures across dimensions for his three children. In today's episode, we revisit a conversation between Feiffer and NPR's Scott Simon about how play became more central to the author's life as he grew older and the importance of "getting away with it."

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Betül Tunç is the Turkish baker behind the popular Instagram account, @turkuazkitchen. With more than 10 million followers, her account features recipes and photography of sweet and savory baked goods. The account took off during the early days of the pandemic with a video of Tunç punching the air out of freshly risen dough. Her debut cookbook Turkuaz Kitchen presents those recipes and more from Tunç's childhood. In today's episode, Tunç speaks with Here & Now's Jane Clayson about baking as therapy, her interest in vintage cooking tools, and being fine with making mistakes while baking.

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