Books

Here are the nonfiction books NPR staffers have loved so far this year

Meghan Collins Sullivan

Beth Novey

A biography of Hannibal Lecter. A meditation on trees. A memoir by a child prodigy violinist. A treatise on the way we poop. These are just a few of the nonfiction books our NPR colleagues are enjoying.
NPR staffers share their favorite fiction reads of 2026 so far

Meghan Collins Sullivan

Beth Novey

Facts by day, fiction by night! At the end of a long day in the newsroom, many of our journalists head home and escape into novels of all types.
Laverne Cox wrote her memoir because 'one more human story out there can help'

Tonya Mosley

For more than a decade, actor Laverne Cox been one of the most visible trans women in America. But the Orange Is the New Black star says she spent most of childhood keeping herself hidden.
National

Alan Greenspan, the legendary former Federal Reserve chair, dies

Scott Horsley

During his chairmanship, Greenspan was celebrated as possibly the best central banker in history. But later, his reputation was tarnished by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Judy Blume says she's done writing: '50 years is enough!'

Scott Simon

Samantha Balaban

Judy Blume wrote her last book more than a decade ago. At the Santa Fe International Literary Festival, NPR's Scott Simon talked to Blume about her long career and why she doesn't miss writing.
Arts & Culture

How to celebrate Juneteenth in San Diego County

Audy McAfee

Juneteenth began as a celebration of Black people’s liberation after the Civil War and now serves as a day for community reflection, education and celebration.
Arts & Culture

Top 10 weekend arts picks in San Diego: Experimental sound, ocean poetry and Black storytelling

Julia Dixon Evans

This weekend in the arts in San Diego: Juneteenth storytelling, art and music; Cat Gunn at ICA Central; a "Print As Protest" discussion; summer jazz; "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice"; a lagoon art walk; ocean poetry and more.
National

For author Jane Yolen, no word was too big for a children's book

Chloee Weiner

Yolen, who authored The Devil's Arithmetic and the picture book Owl Moon, was an author's author — known for gathering loved ones in her Massachusetts home and collaborating with her friends and family.
Faith's role in U.S. politics 'requires humility,' not certainty, says Sen. Warnock

Michel Martin

Michel Martin speaks with Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia about his new book, "The Crooked Places Made Straight: Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America."
Racial Justice and Social Equity

As the U.S. turns 250, this historian has blunt advice: 'America has to grow up'

Tonya Mosley

In America, U.S.A., Princeton historian Eddie Glaude Jr. looks at the country through the lens of its previous anniversaries and centennials. "The divided soul of the nation is in full view," he says.