Jonathan Escoffery's debut collection of short stories follows the American-born son of Jamaican immigrants finding his place in the world and within his own family. Inspired by some of his own life experiences, If I Survive You questions what it means to belong, how culture is shared across generations, and why people migrate in the first place. Escoffery tells Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes that he wanted to disrupt the American savior complex, and instead acknowledge U.S. imperialism's role in pushing people out of their homes.

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The two books in today's episode explore how we construct meaning from the music we listen to. First, record producer Susan Rogers talks to WBUR's Robin Young about her book, This Is What It Sounds Like, which breaks down the science behind what draws different types of listeners to particular songs. Then, author Francesca Royster traces the relationship between Black identity and country music in her book, Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions. She tells NPR's Juana Summers that as a queer Black woman, listening to country can feel a lot like coming out.

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In this episode, NPR's Scott Simon pays best-selling author John Irving a visit in his Toronto home. Across from Irving's family photographs and slanted writing station, they discuss the writer's expansive career, the prevalence of gender and sexual politics in his novels and the newfound personal connection he can make with his characters.

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The U.S. is highly polarized – and author Anand Giridharadas thinks writing off people with different opinions is only going to make things worse. In this episode, he tells NPR's Steve Inskeep about some of the activists and leaders he talked to for his new book, The Persuaders, and how their mission to actually listen and engage with the other side of the political aisle could actually save democracy.

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Author Dani Shapiro spent 15 years working on Signal Fires, a novel about how a single accident changes the course of one family's life. In this episode, she tells NPR's Scott Simon how her own trajectory to completing the book upended what she thought she knew about herself and her upbringing.

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Abraham Lincoln made history in 1863 when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, effectively freeing enslaved people across the U.S. But he expected it to cost him reelection. In his new book, And There Was Light, Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham dives into how Lincoln's moral vision allowed him to stand his ground, even in the face of great criticism. Meacham tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that Lincoln's views on God and morality can teach us a thing or two in today's political climate.

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In this episode, we share two interviews on novels that explore how horror can be found within – and beyond – the laws of nature. First, Megan Miranda takes NPR's Elissa Nadworny into the North Carolina woods to set the scene for her book, The Last to Vanish, about disappearing hikers. Then, Stephen King and his son Owen tell Mary Louise Kelly about the supernatural rage that overcomes the women in their novel, Sleeping Beauties.

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Pulitzer Prize winning-author Annie Proulx tells Leila Fadel that she learns by writing. So when she wanted to better understand the wetlands – and how they're being affected by the climate crisis – she dove into nonfiction. Her new book, Fen, Bog & Swamp, does not concern itself with how the natural world serves humans, but rather how it serves itself.

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Poet and filmmaker Fatimah Asghar lost their parents at a young age. But they tell Scott Simon that they didn't grow up with a lot of stories that accurately captured the experience of being an orphan. In their debut novel, When We Were Sisters, Asghar describes life on the margins for three Muslim-American siblings left to raise one another.

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Geena Davis is no stranger to the spotlight. But in her new memoir, Dying of Politeness, the Academy Award-winning actor remembers growing up full of insecurities and self-criticisms. She tells Rachel Martin that acting gave her the "ability to be somebody else" – and over time, she gained her confidence by watching none other than her Thelma and Louise co-star, Susan Sarandon, walk through the world with her head held high.

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