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"slug": "best-fiction-books-summer-2024-npr-staff-picks",
"title": "NPR Staffers Pick Their Favorite Fiction Reads of 2024",
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"content": "\u003cp>Even hardworking news journalists by day need a break from reality in their off hours. In the newsroom at NPR, there are some omnivorous fiction readers. There are fans of romance, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and more. We asked our colleagues what they’ve enjoyed reading most this year — and here are the titles they shared. (And, OK, yes, we read \u003cem>plenty\u003c/em> of nonfiction, too, because NPR gonna NPR. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959945/best-nonfiction-books-2024-npr-staff-picks\">You can see that list here\u003c/a>. )\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Realistic Fiction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960567\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM.png\" alt=\"A painting of a cliff edge at sunrise with large trees at its base.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘All Fours: A Novel’ by Miranda July. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘All Fours: A Novel’ by Miranda July\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All Fours\u003c/em> is a coming-of-age novel for perimenopause. The story follows an unnamed narrator as she begins a cross-country road trip away from her husband and child, but she pulls over to stay in a motel 30 minutes from her house instead. This “trip” still changes her life — through an infatuation with a younger guy who works at a car rental place, she begins a new intimacy with herself, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve read all of Miranda July’s books, and she’s always doing weird and imaginative things with her characters. This story has all of July’s usual eccentricity, but it also brims with the excitement and fear and possibility that comes with entering the unknown of life’s latter half, especially for women. It felt singularly fresh, and perfectly enjoyable. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/959668312/liam-mcbain\">Liam McBain,\u003c/a> associate producer,\u003c/em> \u003cem>‘It’s Been a Minute’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 860px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM.png\" alt=\"A gas station sign, a neon sign and a sign with sliding letters.\" width=\"860\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM.png 860w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM-800x1127.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM-160x225.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM-768x1082.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 860px) 100vw, 860px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘American Spirits’ by Russell Banks. \u003ccite>(Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘American Spirits’ by Russell Banks\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The three stories in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/03/10/1237083926/russell-banks-posthumous-novel-american-spirits\">this collection\u003c/a> are set in a fictional town, but seem so familiar: a local guy who got in a dangerous beef with an out-of-towner that bought up his family’s property and then refused to let him hunt on it; a family that adopts several children then purposely crashes their van off the highway; grandparents who are scammed by people claiming to have kidnapped their grandson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The late Russell Banks’ final writings are a masterful exploration of these kinds of tales, looking at the motivations of ordinary people in a world that’s become increasingly polarized and deeply troubled. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/474954558/melissa-gray\">Melissa Gray,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960564\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with a red house on it. It has oversized flowers illustrated as coming out of its roof. \" width=\"818\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM.png 818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM-800x1183.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM-160x237.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM-768x1136.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Behind You Is the Sea’ by Susan Muaddi Darraj. \u003ccite>(HarperVia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Behind You Is the Sea’ by Susan Muaddi Darraj\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you want to know the challenges that Palestinian Americans face in the U.S., you must read this book. It follows several families in Baltimore as they wrestle with poverty, religion, living in between two cultures and their pursuit of the American Dream. There is Marcus, a cop who stands up for his Arab sister who is dating a Black man; Samira, who is shamed for being a childless divorcee (despite that, she is a successful lawyer); Layla, a high school student who pushes back against the drama club’s production of \u003cem>Aladdin\u003c/em>, which she says perpetuates racist stereotypes about Arabs. How their lives intersect will leave you at the edge of your seat. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/469106148/malaka-gharib\">Malaka Gharib,\u003c/a> digital editor, ‘Life Kit’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960562\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 832px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960562\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with an illustration of a young pig on it.\" width=\"832\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM.png 832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM-800x1165.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM-768x1119.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Come & Get It’ by Kiley Reid. \u003ccite>(G.P. Putnam’s Sons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Come & Get It’ by Kiley Reid\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Told through multiple perspectives, I could not put this snappy page-turner down even though I had no idea where it was going until its jaw-dropping crescendo. Set at the University of Arkansas, this story follows several college students and a writing professor over the course of a year, largely through the lens of their relationship with money — how it motivates them, how it gets them into and (for some) out of situations — as well as race, sexuality, power and social status. As a southerner and the graduate of a southern university, I found myself nodding along excitedly to Reid’s apt depictions of contemporary southern culture. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/637150103/becky-harlan\">Beck Harlan,\u003c/a> visuals editor, ‘Life Kit’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960560\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 822px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with cartoonish font and a photo of two palm trees.\" width=\"822\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM.png 822w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM-800x1178.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM-160x236.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM-768x1131.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 822px) 100vw, 822px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Dead in Long Beach, California: A Novel’ by Venita Blackburn. \u003ccite>(MCD)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Dead in Long Beach, California: A Novel’ by Venita Blackburn\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A woman named Coral finds the body of her brother after his suicide, but she doesn’t tell anyone right away. Instead, she begins to inhabit his life through his phone, as if she can keep him alive by answering his texts. But what makes the book even odder, even more ambitious, is that it is narrated in the detached voices of automated beings from the future who are all that’s left after humanity has wiped itself out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This combination of almost unbearable intimacy and arm’s-length anthropology has an explanation of sorts. But more importantly, it serves both to add considerable humor to the text (what would a robot think of human frailty, after all?) and to render Coral’s situation more confusing, more disorienting. It’s a sad story, but it’s also a ride, and that’s a tough combination. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/93702353/linda-holmes\">Linda Holmes,\u003c/a> host, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960558\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960558\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM.png\" alt=\"Side profile of a woman wearing an elaborate red sari. \" width=\"834\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM-800x1161.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM-768x1114.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years: A Novel’ by Shubnum Khan. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years: A Novel’ by Shubnum Khan\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The djinn of the title — I pictured a depressed Grinch — haunts this comforting dose of tropes: A girl with a deceased mom moves into an old, possibly magic house with an inaccessible area. Blocked-off rooms being irresistible to teenage main characters, Sana Malek digs her way in, uncovering a tragic family secret or two. The twists and revelations that follow aren’t exactly jaw-dropping, but are emotionally wrenching enough to clear out the old tear ducts without leaving a grief hangover. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1173760481/holly-j-morris\">Holly J. Morris,\u003c/a> digital trainer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960556\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 824px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960556\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM.png\" alt=\"Colorful illustration of an exotic forest.\" width=\"824\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM.png 824w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM-800x1177.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM-160x235.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM-768x1130.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 824px) 100vw, 824px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Extinction of Irena Rey’ by Jennifer Croft. \u003ccite>(Bloomsbury Publishing)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Extinction of Irena Rey’ by Jennifer Croft\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This book has so many layers! Let’s start with the premise. Eight translators meet up at the home of a famous Polish novelist to translate her latest work — which is apparently so brilliant it could change the world! — into their respective home languages. But their beloved author goes missing, setting off their search for her in the nearby Białowieża forest — filled with so many layers of wilderness! The narrator is the Spanish translator, but we’re reading the story in English — it’s been translated by the English translator. Those two don’t get along. More layers! If you like language, literature — and fungi — this wild ride of a very esoteric mystery is for you. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/378865949/elissa-nadworny\">Elissa Nadworny,\u003c/a> correspondent\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960551\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 848px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960551\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM.png\" alt=\"A Black man relaxes on the edge of a boat, overlooking choppy waves.\" width=\"848\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM.png 848w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM-800x1143.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM-160x229.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM-768x1098.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Great Expectations’ by Vinson Cunningham. \u003ccite>(Hogarth)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Great Expectations’ by Vinson Cunningham\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Vinson Cunningham worked on the 2008 Obama campaign, so it’s no surprise that this coming-of-age story follows a young man working on a thinly (very thinly) veiled version of that very undertaking. It would be easy to make a story like this either a cynical and cutting takedown of politics or a starry-eyed and idealistic discovery of meaning. It’s neither. It presents this campaign as a formative stage in the life of a young person who sees what goes into the successful gathering of power, ugly and impressive as it can be. Full of sharp observations about our precarious system of government, it’s also insightful about race and wealth and the relationship between the two. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/93702353/linda-holmes\">Linda Holmes,\u003c/a> host, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 826px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960549\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM.png\" alt=\"Illustration of stairs, boxes and plant life.\" width=\"826\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM.png 826w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM-800x1174.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM-160x235.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM-768x1127.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 826px) 100vw, 826px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Greta & Valdin’ by Rebecca K. Reilly. \u003ccite>(Victoria University Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Greta & Valdin’ by Rebecca K. Reilly\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The loving family at the heart of this very funny and moving novel about a brother and sister is so complex that I drew a diagram — no fooling — halfway through, the better to solidify in my mind ideas like, “Valdin recently broke up with his older boyfriend, who is also his uncle’s husband’s brother.” But despite the messy structure of things, every bond in the book is written to be precious and specific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Greta & Valdin\u003c/em> is the rare story to live up to its fearless promotional copy, which calls it a cross between \u003cem>Schitt’s Creek\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Normal People.\u003c/em> Perhaps that sounds impossible; that’s what makes it so good. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/93702353/linda-holmes\">Linda Holmes,\u003c/a> host, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960548\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 828px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960548\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a woman wearing boxing gloves and helmet, throwing a punch.\" width=\"828\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM.png 828w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM-800x1167.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Headshot: A Novel’ by Rita Bullwinkel. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Headshot: A Novel’ by Rita Bullwinkel\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Headshot \u003c/em>is a real one-two punch of a novel. Eight teenage girl boxers have come to Bob’s Boxing Palace in Reno, Nevada, for the 12th annual Women’s 18 & Under Daughters of America Cup. As each fight plays out in the ring — sometimes brutally, ferociously — Rita Bullwinkel brings to life the internal monologues of the girls. They recite the digits of pi, think about their pasts, their futures, their dreams of being the best in the world — and also of making their opponents chomp on a mouthful of pennies until their teeth break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bullwinkel’s dynamic writing — moving back and forth in time, in and out of the boxing gym — and short, punchy sentences are a perfect mirror of the girls’ jabs in the ring. It’s a knockout. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 840px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM.png\" alt=\"A painting of a man's face, split into two.\" width=\"840\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM.png 840w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM-800x1154.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM-768x1108.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Henry Henry: A Novel’ by Allen Bratton. \u003ccite>(The Unnamed Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Henry Henry’ by Allen Bratton\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hal is a profane mess, kind of like Shakespeare’s Prince Hal, on whom he’s based: The 20-something is careening through life fueled by drugs, booze, cigarettes, and loveless sex. He both flaunts and loathes his class status, his family’s fortune, and his future as Duke of Lancaster, along with a flat-out-refusal to live up to his father’s expectations. Hal is so wholly unsympathetic that if not for the brilliant writing, you might just give up before discovering the shocking violation at the root of his self-destruction. How can he finally become his own person? This isn’t an easy read. It’s at times dark and highly upsetting, but the author makes you stick with it in hopes of seeing Hal finally grow up. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/474954558/melissa-gray\">Melissa Gray,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960546\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 846px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960546\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM.png\" alt=\"Illustrations of colorful houses, nestled in trees.\" width=\"846\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM.png 846w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM-800x1146.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM-160x229.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM-768x1100.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Same As It Ever Was’ by Claire Lombardo. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Same As It Ever Was’ by Claire Lombardo\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is one of those beautifully written, keenly observed novels where not that much happens — other than, you know, life itself — but also so much happens. Julia Ames is experiencing a midlife plateau when an announcement from her son sets her reeling, and reflecting on all the relationships — past and present, familial, intergenerational, romantic — that have shaped her life including: Mark, her near-perfect husband; Anita, her near-imperfect mother; and Helen, the older woman who saves Julia in the early days of motherhood. Though the dynamic between Julia and her “spiky” teenage daughter is my personal favorite, Claire Lombardo has written a whole cast of characters so detailed, so specifically themselves, that you almost feel you could reach out and touch them. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960545\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960545\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover showing a row of falling dominoes.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Victim: A Novel’ by Andrew Boryga. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Victim: A Novel’ by Andrew Boryga\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lying is kind of funny. The stress of someone jumping through increasingly wild hoops to avoid getting caught in a lie is hilarious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Victim\u003c/em> is about Javi, a writer from a marginalized community, who fudges his way into the kinds of rooms where people say “marginalized” and “community” a lot. The book is a charming critique of the publishing industry and its surface-level attempts at righting societal ills (which, kind of bold for a debut author), while also staying empathetic towards the well-meaning individuals who give Javi a shot. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348740829/andrew-limbong\">Andrew Limbong,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk, and host, NPR’s ‘Book of the Day’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Romance & Relationships\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960544\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 812px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960544\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of three women positioned around a large martini glass.\" width=\"812\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM.png 812w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM-800x1192.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM-160x238.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM-768x1144.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 812px) 100vw, 812px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet’ by Molly Morris. \u003ccite>(Wednesday Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet’ by Molly Morris\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>What happens when your former best friend comes back from the dead, but only for 30 days? That’s what Wilson needs to figure out when her friend Annie is brought back as part of a local custom in her small California town. To complicate things more, their friend, Ryan apparently hates them both. Wilson is determined to fix things before Annie returns to — well, being dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a beautifully poetic YA work about female friendships, with a touch of magical realism and laugh out loud humor. The dynamic between the trio is filled with teenage angst, love and forgiveness. It considers a common dilemma: How do you accept change when it means giving up what you love? \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/836937515/hafsa-fathima\">Hafsa Fathima,\u003c/a> production assistant, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 810px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a woman looking through binoculars. In one lens, we see a bird. In the other, a man. \" width=\"810\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM.png 810w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM-800x1199.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM-160x240.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM-768x1151.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Birding with Benefits’ by Sarah T. Dubb. \u003ccite>(Gallery Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Birding with Benefits’ by Sarah T. Dubb\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This sweet, fake-relationship romance follows the recently divorced empty-nester Celeste as she navigates life as a single woman, once again. This time around, she’s saying yes to life and shaking things up. She didn’t expect the shaking to bring in the sensitive, gentle giant that is John. Or his deep love of birds. Come for the romance but, beware, you might find yourself falling in love with John’s quiet, colorful world of birding yourself!\u003cem> — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/580312943/christina-cala\">Christina Cala,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Code Switch’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960542\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960542\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a modern young woman walking through a city under an umbrella and reading a book.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Girl Abroad’ by Elle Kennedy. \u003ccite>(Bloom Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Girl Abroad’ by Elle Kennedy\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Girl Abroad \u003c/em>starts with Abbey Bly, 19 years old, ready to step away from her adoring, yet overprotective, father when she is given the chance to study abroad in London. There’s just one hitch: Abbey believes she’ll be living with girls there — but arrives to find out all her flatmates are boys. She decides to step into her new-found independence (and hide this fact from her father). Elle Kennedy has written an enjoyable coming-of-age story filled with humor, drama, romance, and a found family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Readers will enjoy the way Kennedy deviates from her usual steamy-angst-centric stories for one with deeper emphasis on self growth, relationship dynamics and figuring out not only who you are, but what you want. \u003cem>— Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, audio engineer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960541\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960541\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring illustrations of a woman and man surrounded by palm trees.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM-800x1156.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM-768x1110.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘How to End a Love Story’ by Yulin Kuang. \u003ccite>(Avon)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘How to End a Love Story’ by Yulin Kuang\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If a ’90s rom-com grew up and went to therapy, this sparkling book would be the result. After penning a popular YA book series, Helen Zhang gets a seat in the writers’ room where it’s being adapted into a TV show. Unfortunately, Grant Shepard is also one of the writers in that room. Grant was the charming homecoming king at their high school whereas Helen was awkward and introverted. He’s also the reason Helen’s sister is dead — kind of. It’s been years since the accident, but the writers’ room reopens old wounds and forces Helen and Grant to be vulnerable with each other. Even as Helen wrestles with their past, the two begin a present-day romance that is sexy and tender. This book is a raised glass to second chances and late bloomers. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348774853/lauren-migaki\">Lauren Migaki,\u003c/a> senior producer, Education\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960540\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960540\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring bright illustrations of flowers, a woman and man, and a diamond ring.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM-800x1158.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Say You’ll Be Mine: A Novel’ by Naina Kumar. \u003ccite>(Dell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Say You’ll Be Mine: A Novel’ by Naina Kumar\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s a familiar South Asian story: Two people finally relent to their parents’ wishes of meeting a potential marriage partner. But \u003cem>Say You’ll Be Mine \u003c/em>is so much more than that. Meghna is in love with her best friend, who is engaged to someone else. Karthik is an engineer who doesn’t really want to get married. But as the two discover, a fake engagement between them may be the answer to their problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naina Kumar writes a funny, heartwarming tale, filled with sizzling chemistry. It’s hard to not root for them from page one, as they slowly fall in love. It’s an incredible book that tackles the merits and shortcomings of culture, finding an identity and of course, true love. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/836937515/hafsa-fathima\">Hafsa Fathima,\u003c/a> production assistant, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960538\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 820px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960538\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring illustrations of a young woman and man surrounded by autumn leaves.\" width=\"820\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM.png 820w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM-800x1184.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM-160x237.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM-768x1137.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Sex, Lies and Sensibility’ by Nikki Payne. \u003ccite>(Berkley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Sex, Lies and Sensibility’ by Nikki Payne\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Set in the heart of vacationland, Nora Dash and Ennis “Bear” Freeman are both fighting uphill battles. After her dad dies, Nora inherits some serious family drama — and a rundown cottage in Maine. Now, Nora and her sister have just months to turn the place into a successful resort. Meanwhile, Bear’s struggling with his own business of guiding visitors through his native Abenaki land. The tours take him through Nora’s backyard and the two team up. Their chemistry is off the charts as they spend hours working and finding stress relief in long runs through the Maine woods. But both are keeping secrets, and have let shame work its way through their lives like an invasive species. The two have to figure out how to move forward once those secrets spill out. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348774853/lauren-migaki\">Lauren Migaki,\u003c/a> senior producer, Education\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Historical Fiction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a close up photo of a man's hands playing the piano.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM-800x1166.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Cahokia Jazz: A Novel’ by Francis Spufford. \u003ccite>(Scribner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Cahokia Jazz: A Novel’ by Francis Spufford\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s 1922 and, in this alternate-history detective story, Cahokia isn’t a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Illinois. It’s a thriving Indigenous-owned and operated city and state with a strong Catholic presence, plus Klansmen, bootleggers and other undesirables. If you try to skim, you’ll get lost in the how-deep-does-this-go corruption, careful world-building and sprawling cast. The naive main character, jazz-playing police detective Joe Barrow, shoves his way through exposition, fight scenes, maybe-occult doings, local royalty and personal angst, all backgrounded by a Roaring Twenties aesthetic portrayed in loving detail. Maps and excerpts from (made-up) primary sources will guide you through — if you pay attention. If you’re me, you’ll take notes. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1173760481/holly-j-morris\">Holly J. Morris,\u003c/a> digital trainer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960536\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 816px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960536\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM.png\" alt=\"Waves crash onto a rocky beach. In the center of the water floats a tea pot.\" width=\"816\" height=\"1206\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM.png 816w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM-800x1182.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM-160x236.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM-768x1135.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 816px) 100vw, 816px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Clear: A Novel’ by Carys Davies. \u003ccite>(Scribner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Clear: A Novel’ by Carys Davies\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s the 1840s, the last and most brutal years of The Clearances, when Scottish landowners began replacing unprofitable tenants with sheep. Based on that real history, \u003cem>Clear\u003c/em> is a novel about a minister, John, who has been dispatched to clear a remote island of its last remaining inhabitant, Ivar. Except just after he arrives, John slips and falls off a cliff. Ivar finds John, nurses him back to health, and invites him into his life; Ivar begins to teach John the many words that all mean some variation of “rough seas” in Norn (a real language), and the pair learn to communicate roughly, but with an unexpected depth. What follows is perhaps the most tender, beautiful story about the connection between two people and what they must overcome to find each other — in every sense of the word. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring constellations.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM-800x1159.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Enlightenment’ by Sarah Perry. \u003ccite>(Mariner Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Enlightenment’ by Sarah Perry\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You know that feeling — when you are fascinated by someone all the more because you don’t fully understand them? That’s how I feel in English author Sarah Perry’s “presence.” \u003cem>Enlightenment \u003c/em>is a tale of two friends, different generations but hailing from the same small Essex town and even smaller congregation. There’s a mystery involving a woman astronomer — but mainly there’s empathy for the complexities of people’s identities and belief systems, a sense of home, and loads of gorgeous writing. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/349278028/shannon-rhoades\">Shannon Rhoades,\u003c/a> senior editor, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960534\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960534\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of an Asian woman, traditionally dressed, walking through snow. Her reflection in the water next to her is a white fox.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM-800x1168.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM-160x234.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM-768x1121.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Fox Wife: A Novel’ by Yangsze Choo. \u003ccite>(Henry Holt and Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Fox Wife: A Novel’ by Yangsze Choo\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s a little bit of mystery and mysticism on every page of this book. Set in China in the early 1900s, the book centers around two characters in separate, but connecting narratives. A fox masquerading as a young woman that’s set out to avenge her daughter’s death and a detective with an affinity for foxes who is working a murder case. It’s clever and observant, with twists and turns and just the perfect amount of folklore to keep you asking: What is real and what is imagined? \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/378865949/elissa-nadworny\">Elissa Nadworny,\u003c/a> correspondent\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960531\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960531\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring an exotic small town on a hillside at dusk.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM-800x1162.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM-768x1115.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Hard by a Great Forest’ by Leo Vardiashvili. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Hard by a Great Forest’ by Leo Vardiashvili\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hard by a Great Forest\u003c/em> has all the ingredients of a dark and twisty fairy tale: A mysterious disappearance, a post-war city teeming with danger, a scavenger hunt, riddles, a road trip, escaped zoo animals, an orphan, and a title echoing the first line of Hansel and Gretel. It’s loosely based on author Leo Vardiashvili’s life — he lived through Georgia’s civil war and immigrated to the UK as a refugee in the mid ’90s. It’s two decades later in the novel when Saba’s father is pulled back to their homeland in search of something — before promptly disappearing. His last message to his son: Do not follow me. But Saba (of course) follows his breadcrumb trail of clues and, along the way, is forced to confront the question: Can you ever really go home again? \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960530\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960530\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a tiny illustration of a traveling man.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM-800x1159.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘James: A Novel’ by Percival Everett. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘James: A Novel’ by Percival Everett\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The jokes in \u003cem>James\u003c/em> range from chin scratchers to knee slappers to gut busters. Although I’m not sure Percival Everett would even classify them as “jokes.” In his re-imagining of the Huckleberry Finn story, Everett mines language, history and irony to showcase brutal truths about America. And yes, it’s often funny. But, like the original source material, things can quickly turn deadly serious depending on how the river flows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The novel is thrilling, hilarious, heartbreaking, and a strong argument for Everett as one of the best doing it right now. \u003cem>— \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348740829/andrew-limbong\">Andrew Limbong,\u003c/a>\u003cem> correspondent, Culture Desk, and host, NPR’s ‘Book of the Day’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960528\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960528\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a person on a bicycle riding through purple flames.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM-800x1158.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Memory Piece: A Novel’ by Lisa Ko. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Memory Piece: A Novel’ by Lisa Ko\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is a coming of age story about three friends growing up in and around New York City in the 1990s. Their friendship evolves over the decades as they experiment with, and push the boundaries of, art, performance and technology. I loved that the book makes art feel real and weird and kind of gross — not glamorous and sugarcoated. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/378865949/elissa-nadworny\">Elissa Nadworny,\u003c/a> correspondent\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960527\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960527\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring an illustration of a woman lying with her arms over her head.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM-800x1165.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM-768x1118.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Swift River’ by Essie Chambers. \u003ccite>(Simon & Schuster)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Swift River’ by Essie Chambers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After her beloved father mysteriously disappears, Diamond and her mom find themselves living hand to mouth in a faded New England mill town where Diamond is the lone Black resident. Why did a previous generation of Black families abandon it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This propulsive and poetic first novel, by an accomplished documentary film producer, grounds a tender coming-of-age narrative in a history of migration, marginalization and imagination. Threaded through every step of Diamond’s journey is her deadpan wit; of one ramshackle dwelling, she observes, “the whole house looks like it’s having a cigarette.” And she reflects, when a heartbreaking legal issue is finally resolved, “That was the thing about a racist town. It got to decide when it would be kind.” \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/3850482/neda-ulaby\">Neda Ulaby,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960526\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960526\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a woman and man sitting at a restaurant table.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM-800x1161.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM-768x1114.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Table for Two: Fictions’ by Amor Towles. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Table for Two: Fictions’ by Amor Towles\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first half of this jaunty short-story collection takes place in New York. Among the memorable characters are a Russian immigrant whose chief role in life is to stand in lines; a young antiquarian bookstore employee who gets more than he bargains for in his desire for life experience; and a seemingly straight-laced family man with a big Wall Street job, whose secret pastime, once discovered, upends his and his loved ones’ lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second half, devoted entirely to the novella “Eve in Hollywood,” is set in Los Angeles during Tinseltown’s Golden Age. The pithy, film noir-ish thriller picks up where the author’s 2011 novel \u003cem>Rules of Civility\u003c/em> left off — with the plucky, scar-faced adventuress, Evelyn Ross, deftly saving the honor of a host of Hollywood starlets. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1113762078/chloe-veltman\">Chloe Veltman,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 842px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a helicopter flying over trees.\" width=\"842\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM.png 842w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM-800x1152.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM-160x230.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM-768x1105.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah. \u003ccite>(St. Martin's Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“You’re only going to be a nurse until you get married,” her mother said. But Frankie McGrath had other ideas, ones that would lead her away from her wealthy family’s conservative outlook on how daughters should behave. Kristin Hannah’s \u003cem>The Women \u003c/em>follows young Frankie’s transformation, when after working as a nurse in California and tending to a wounded soldier, and missing her soldier brother, she joins the Army as a nurse. That takes her from a comfortable life of known expectations, to one of the chaos and danger of war, new career opportunities and love. Tangled love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Frankie returns home, she finds her country still protesting the war, and those who served. \u003cem>The Women \u003c/em>shines a light on a then little-known aspect of the war: the women who also served in Vietnam, as nurses. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1053920456/jeanine-herbst\">Jeanine Herbst,\u003c/a> news anchor\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960523\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960523\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM.png\" alt=\"The front half of a horse visible as it sleeps into a spiraling vortex.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM-800x1160.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM-768x1113.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘You Dreamed of Empires: A Novel’ by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘You Dreamed of Empires: A Novel’ by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This salty and dark historical fantasia feistily explodes well-worn textbook narratives about the meeting of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his captains with the Aztec emperor Moctezuma and his entourage in Tenoxtitlan — now Mexico City — in 1519.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Álvaro Enrigue’s depiction of the stressed out, clumsy Cortés and the drugged out, mercurial Moctezuma sets these near-mythical figures into earthy relief. But it’s mostly the intrigues and machinations of these leaders’ canny consorts — the Aztec princess Atotoxtli and the conquistadors’ translator Malinalli — that power the plot. Natasha Wimmer’s English translation sharply delivers the novel’s poetic and witty qualities while at the same time reveling in its core theme: the fundamental untranslatability of human experience. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1113762078/chloe-veltman\">Chloe Veltman,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Mysteries & Thrillers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960522\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960522\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a partial close-up of a woman's face and the exterior of a house in the snow.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Nightwatching’ by Tracy Sierra. \u003ccite>(Pamela Dorman Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Nightwatching’ by Tracy Sierra\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nightwatching \u003c/em>begins with a scene straight out of a nightmare: A woman is at home with two sleeping children when she hears the footsteps of an intruder on the stairs. The story that follows is by turns suspenseful, uncomfortable and enraging. Tracy Sierra skillfully uses the home invasion to explore the terrifying responsibility of motherhood and to expose the pure horror of being a woman in a society that does not always choose to believe women. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1227635672/julie-rogers\">Julie Rogers,\u003c/a> historian and curator, NPR Research, Archives & Data strategy\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960518\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a white house on a red horizon.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM-800x1166.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Hunter’ by Tana French. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Hunter’ by Tana French\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Set in the hills of Western Ireland, this novel picks up the story of characters introduced in 2020’s \u003cem>The Searcher\u003c/em> — retired American detective Cal Hooper and Trey, a teen girl he’s taken under his wing. As French revisits the seemingly bucolic landscape where trouble roils just under the surface, her writing continues to shift from mystery to meditation. While there’s still a knot of questions about crimes — including both fraud and murder — to be untangled, this novel is ultimately about belonging; the ways in which families do, and don’t, owe each other debts; the communities we resist, alienate, or become a welcome part of. Morally shaded and complex, it will leave you thinking about who’s right — and what’s wrong — long after you turn the last page. —\u003cem> Tayla Burney, director, Network Programming & Production\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Sci Fi, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction & Horror\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960517\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 744px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960517\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.31.42-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a bird's nest with broken eggs and one that is still intact.\" width=\"744\" height=\"1106\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.31.42-PM.png 744w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.31.42-PM-160x238.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Cuckoo’ by Gretchen Felker-Martin. \u003ccite>(Tor Nightfire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Cuckoo’ by Gretchen Felker-Martin\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cuckoo \u003c/em>is an ingeniously scary novel about a group of kids sent to a conversion camp in the ’90s. There’s the terror of the socially accepted abuse the kids face (both at the camp and at home) because they are queer, but there’s yet another horrifying entity preying on them, and trying to make them — different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felker-Martin’s sharp novel takes on the particular vulnerability of queer kids and the body-snatching that is conversion therapy, and she does it with equal measures of tenderness and grotesquery. As harrowing and disgusting as it is, I also found it quite insightful and beautiful — and for that reason, \u003cem>Cuckoo \u003c/em>is a great work of horror. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/959668312/liam-mcbain\">Liam McBain,\u003c/a> associate producer, ‘It’s Been a Minute’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960516\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 874px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960516\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring an illustration of a hand holding a gold chain.\" width=\"874\" height=\"1108\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM.png 874w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM-800x1014.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM-160x203.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM-768x974.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Familiar’ by Leigh Bardugo. \u003ccite>(Flatiron Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Familiar’ by Leigh Bardugo\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It is the Spanish Golden Age, and kitchen maid Luzia has secrets to hide: her skill at magic and her Jewish heritage. When her employer discovers her spells, Luzia is entered into a tournament to find King Philip, who hopes to increase his military standing, a champion. She is trained by the strange creature Santángel, an immortal with a mysterious past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/04/11/1244125050/leigh-bardugo-the-familiar-book-review\">gorgeously lush, vividly written book\u003c/a> that shines with its strong cast of characters. Luzia is a hero you’ll find yourself rooting for right from the start, and the magic system in this world is a breath of fresh air. Once again, Leigh Bardugo proves she never misses the mark when it comes to intricately building fantastical worlds — leaving you thinking about them long after the last page is turned. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/836937515/hafsa-fathima\">Hafsa Fathima,\u003c/a> production assistant, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960514\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting the word 'Husbands' climbing up a ladder.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM-800x1168.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM-160x234.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM-768x1121.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Husbands: A Novel’ by Holly Gramazio. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Husbands: A Novel’ by Holly Gramazio\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lauren leaves her London flat for a bachelorette party one night only to discover a husband at home awaiting her return. Not only was she not married when she left for the night, she doesn’t recognize this man. Slowly she works out that he’s not a threat — and that all evidence on her phone, in conversations with friends and neighbors, and in their apartments points to him being fully integrated into her life. And there he is until he goes into the attic and a different husband emerges, slightly — or drastically — altering Lauren’s life. The pattern continues as Lauren searches for metaphysical clues to what’s going on and wrestles with how to know, if she can ever know, which life is right for her. A rare combination of the truly hilarious and profound. \u003cem>— Tayla Burney, director, Network Programming & Production\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960513\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 762px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960513\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.24.33-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting block letters floating in space.\" width=\"762\" height=\"1110\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.24.33-PM.png 762w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.24.33-PM-160x233.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) 100vw, 762px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Ministry of Time: A Novel’ by Kaliane Bradley. \u003ccite>(Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Ministry of Time: A Novel’ by Kaliane Bradley\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You’d think a novel about the bureaucracy of a time-travel government agency might be kinda boring. But from the moment you meet the book’s enigmatic protagonist — as she starts a new job in the UK’s top secret new time travel agency — to the introduction of the dashing Graham Gore, an 1847 arctic explorer plucked through time, you’ll be hooked. Come for the romance, stay for the unraveling of a mystery, the nuanced, genre-bending treatises on race and identity, and the long-lingering ideas on colonialism, empires and the mutability of history. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/580312943/christina-cala\">Christina Cala,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Code Switch’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 828px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960509\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with small illustrations including the Paris city skyline, the ocean and various plants and flowers.\" width=\"828\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM.png 828w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM-800x1171.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM-160x234.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM-768x1124.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘A Short Walk Through a Wide World: A Novel’ by Douglas Westerbeke. \u003ccite>(Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘A Short Walk Through a Wide World: A Novel’ by Douglas Westerbeke\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the year 1885, in Paris, when 9-year-old Aubry Tourvel encounters a mysterious, wooden, puzzle ball: It may be a blessing or a curse, but it most definitely changes her life. Now she needs to keep moving forever; too long in any one town and she will bleed to death. So her life is all travel and adventure, and through her we wonder at the richness of the globe’s markets, towns, forests and deserts. Over many decades, she meets all types of kind and curious people — as well as cruel and uncaring ones. Sometimes Aubry enjoys quick communion with strangers. Other times, she is surrounded but desperately lonely. This is a ravishing, deeply human book that’s in love with the world, with people, with the new — and yet is infused with a deep, futile longing for home.\u003cem> — \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1091803881/jennifer-vanasco\">\u003cem>Jennifer Vanasco\u003c/em>,\u003c/a>\u003cem> editor and reporter, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Even hardworking news journalists by day need a break from reality in their off hours. In the newsroom at NPR, there are some omnivorous fiction readers. There are fans of romance, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and more. We asked our colleagues what they’ve enjoyed reading most this year — and here are the titles they shared. (And, OK, yes, we read \u003cem>plenty\u003c/em> of nonfiction, too, because NPR gonna NPR. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959945/best-nonfiction-books-2024-npr-staff-picks\">You can see that list here\u003c/a>. )\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Realistic Fiction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960567\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM.png\" alt=\"A painting of a cliff edge at sunrise with large trees at its base.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.29.32-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘All Fours: A Novel’ by Miranda July. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘All Fours: A Novel’ by Miranda July\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All Fours\u003c/em> is a coming-of-age novel for perimenopause. The story follows an unnamed narrator as she begins a cross-country road trip away from her husband and child, but she pulls over to stay in a motel 30 minutes from her house instead. This “trip” still changes her life — through an infatuation with a younger guy who works at a car rental place, she begins a new intimacy with herself, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve read all of Miranda July’s books, and she’s always doing weird and imaginative things with her characters. This story has all of July’s usual eccentricity, but it also brims with the excitement and fear and possibility that comes with entering the unknown of life’s latter half, especially for women. It felt singularly fresh, and perfectly enjoyable. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/959668312/liam-mcbain\">Liam McBain,\u003c/a> associate producer,\u003c/em> \u003cem>‘It’s Been a Minute’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 860px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM.png\" alt=\"A gas station sign, a neon sign and a sign with sliding letters.\" width=\"860\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM.png 860w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM-800x1127.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM-160x225.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.27.54-PM-768x1082.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 860px) 100vw, 860px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘American Spirits’ by Russell Banks. \u003ccite>(Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘American Spirits’ by Russell Banks\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The three stories in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/03/10/1237083926/russell-banks-posthumous-novel-american-spirits\">this collection\u003c/a> are set in a fictional town, but seem so familiar: a local guy who got in a dangerous beef with an out-of-towner that bought up his family’s property and then refused to let him hunt on it; a family that adopts several children then purposely crashes their van off the highway; grandparents who are scammed by people claiming to have kidnapped their grandson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The late Russell Banks’ final writings are a masterful exploration of these kinds of tales, looking at the motivations of ordinary people in a world that’s become increasingly polarized and deeply troubled. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/474954558/melissa-gray\">Melissa Gray,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960564\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with a red house on it. It has oversized flowers illustrated as coming out of its roof. \" width=\"818\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM.png 818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM-800x1183.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM-160x237.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.26.13-PM-768x1136.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Behind You Is the Sea’ by Susan Muaddi Darraj. \u003ccite>(HarperVia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Behind You Is the Sea’ by Susan Muaddi Darraj\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you want to know the challenges that Palestinian Americans face in the U.S., you must read this book. It follows several families in Baltimore as they wrestle with poverty, religion, living in between two cultures and their pursuit of the American Dream. There is Marcus, a cop who stands up for his Arab sister who is dating a Black man; Samira, who is shamed for being a childless divorcee (despite that, she is a successful lawyer); Layla, a high school student who pushes back against the drama club’s production of \u003cem>Aladdin\u003c/em>, which she says perpetuates racist stereotypes about Arabs. How their lives intersect will leave you at the edge of your seat. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/469106148/malaka-gharib\">Malaka Gharib,\u003c/a> digital editor, ‘Life Kit’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960562\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 832px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960562\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with an illustration of a young pig on it.\" width=\"832\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM.png 832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM-800x1165.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.24.40-PM-768x1119.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Come & Get It’ by Kiley Reid. \u003ccite>(G.P. Putnam’s Sons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Come & Get It’ by Kiley Reid\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Told through multiple perspectives, I could not put this snappy page-turner down even though I had no idea where it was going until its jaw-dropping crescendo. Set at the University of Arkansas, this story follows several college students and a writing professor over the course of a year, largely through the lens of their relationship with money — how it motivates them, how it gets them into and (for some) out of situations — as well as race, sexuality, power and social status. As a southerner and the graduate of a southern university, I found myself nodding along excitedly to Reid’s apt depictions of contemporary southern culture. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/637150103/becky-harlan\">Beck Harlan,\u003c/a> visuals editor, ‘Life Kit’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960560\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 822px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with cartoonish font and a photo of two palm trees.\" width=\"822\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM.png 822w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM-800x1178.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM-160x236.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.23.03-PM-768x1131.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 822px) 100vw, 822px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Dead in Long Beach, California: A Novel’ by Venita Blackburn. \u003ccite>(MCD)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Dead in Long Beach, California: A Novel’ by Venita Blackburn\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A woman named Coral finds the body of her brother after his suicide, but she doesn’t tell anyone right away. Instead, she begins to inhabit his life through his phone, as if she can keep him alive by answering his texts. But what makes the book even odder, even more ambitious, is that it is narrated in the detached voices of automated beings from the future who are all that’s left after humanity has wiped itself out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This combination of almost unbearable intimacy and arm’s-length anthropology has an explanation of sorts. But more importantly, it serves both to add considerable humor to the text (what would a robot think of human frailty, after all?) and to render Coral’s situation more confusing, more disorienting. It’s a sad story, but it’s also a ride, and that’s a tough combination. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/93702353/linda-holmes\">Linda Holmes,\u003c/a> host, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960558\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960558\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM.png\" alt=\"Side profile of a woman wearing an elaborate red sari. \" width=\"834\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM-800x1161.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.21.29-PM-768x1114.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years: A Novel’ by Shubnum Khan. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years: A Novel’ by Shubnum Khan\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The djinn of the title — I pictured a depressed Grinch — haunts this comforting dose of tropes: A girl with a deceased mom moves into an old, possibly magic house with an inaccessible area. Blocked-off rooms being irresistible to teenage main characters, Sana Malek digs her way in, uncovering a tragic family secret or two. The twists and revelations that follow aren’t exactly jaw-dropping, but are emotionally wrenching enough to clear out the old tear ducts without leaving a grief hangover. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1173760481/holly-j-morris\">Holly J. Morris,\u003c/a> digital trainer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960556\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 824px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960556\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM.png\" alt=\"Colorful illustration of an exotic forest.\" width=\"824\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM.png 824w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM-800x1177.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM-160x235.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.19.57-PM-768x1130.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 824px) 100vw, 824px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Extinction of Irena Rey’ by Jennifer Croft. \u003ccite>(Bloomsbury Publishing)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Extinction of Irena Rey’ by Jennifer Croft\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This book has so many layers! Let’s start with the premise. Eight translators meet up at the home of a famous Polish novelist to translate her latest work — which is apparently so brilliant it could change the world! — into their respective home languages. But their beloved author goes missing, setting off their search for her in the nearby Białowieża forest — filled with so many layers of wilderness! The narrator is the Spanish translator, but we’re reading the story in English — it’s been translated by the English translator. Those two don’t get along. More layers! If you like language, literature — and fungi — this wild ride of a very esoteric mystery is for you. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/378865949/elissa-nadworny\">Elissa Nadworny,\u003c/a> correspondent\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960551\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 848px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960551\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM.png\" alt=\"A Black man relaxes on the edge of a boat, overlooking choppy waves.\" width=\"848\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM.png 848w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM-800x1143.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM-160x229.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.18.25-PM-768x1098.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Great Expectations’ by Vinson Cunningham. \u003ccite>(Hogarth)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Great Expectations’ by Vinson Cunningham\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Vinson Cunningham worked on the 2008 Obama campaign, so it’s no surprise that this coming-of-age story follows a young man working on a thinly (very thinly) veiled version of that very undertaking. It would be easy to make a story like this either a cynical and cutting takedown of politics or a starry-eyed and idealistic discovery of meaning. It’s neither. It presents this campaign as a formative stage in the life of a young person who sees what goes into the successful gathering of power, ugly and impressive as it can be. Full of sharp observations about our precarious system of government, it’s also insightful about race and wealth and the relationship between the two. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/93702353/linda-holmes\">Linda Holmes,\u003c/a> host, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 826px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960549\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM.png\" alt=\"Illustration of stairs, boxes and plant life.\" width=\"826\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM.png 826w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM-800x1174.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM-160x235.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.16.46-PM-768x1127.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 826px) 100vw, 826px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Greta & Valdin’ by Rebecca K. Reilly. \u003ccite>(Victoria University Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Greta & Valdin’ by Rebecca K. Reilly\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The loving family at the heart of this very funny and moving novel about a brother and sister is so complex that I drew a diagram — no fooling — halfway through, the better to solidify in my mind ideas like, “Valdin recently broke up with his older boyfriend, who is also his uncle’s husband’s brother.” But despite the messy structure of things, every bond in the book is written to be precious and specific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Greta & Valdin\u003c/em> is the rare story to live up to its fearless promotional copy, which calls it a cross between \u003cem>Schitt’s Creek\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Normal People.\u003c/em> Perhaps that sounds impossible; that’s what makes it so good. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/93702353/linda-holmes\">Linda Holmes,\u003c/a> host, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960548\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 828px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960548\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a woman wearing boxing gloves and helmet, throwing a punch.\" width=\"828\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM.png 828w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM-800x1167.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.15.04-PM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Headshot: A Novel’ by Rita Bullwinkel. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Headshot: A Novel’ by Rita Bullwinkel\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Headshot \u003c/em>is a real one-two punch of a novel. Eight teenage girl boxers have come to Bob’s Boxing Palace in Reno, Nevada, for the 12th annual Women’s 18 & Under Daughters of America Cup. As each fight plays out in the ring — sometimes brutally, ferociously — Rita Bullwinkel brings to life the internal monologues of the girls. They recite the digits of pi, think about their pasts, their futures, their dreams of being the best in the world — and also of making their opponents chomp on a mouthful of pennies until their teeth break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bullwinkel’s dynamic writing — moving back and forth in time, in and out of the boxing gym — and short, punchy sentences are a perfect mirror of the girls’ jabs in the ring. It’s a knockout. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 840px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM.png\" alt=\"A painting of a man's face, split into two.\" width=\"840\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM.png 840w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM-800x1154.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.12.49-PM-768x1108.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Henry Henry: A Novel’ by Allen Bratton. \u003ccite>(The Unnamed Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Henry Henry’ by Allen Bratton\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hal is a profane mess, kind of like Shakespeare’s Prince Hal, on whom he’s based: The 20-something is careening through life fueled by drugs, booze, cigarettes, and loveless sex. He both flaunts and loathes his class status, his family’s fortune, and his future as Duke of Lancaster, along with a flat-out-refusal to live up to his father’s expectations. Hal is so wholly unsympathetic that if not for the brilliant writing, you might just give up before discovering the shocking violation at the root of his self-destruction. How can he finally become his own person? This isn’t an easy read. It’s at times dark and highly upsetting, but the author makes you stick with it in hopes of seeing Hal finally grow up. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/474954558/melissa-gray\">Melissa Gray,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960546\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 846px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960546\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM.png\" alt=\"Illustrations of colorful houses, nestled in trees.\" width=\"846\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM.png 846w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM-800x1146.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM-160x229.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.11.15-PM-768x1100.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Same As It Ever Was’ by Claire Lombardo. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Same As It Ever Was’ by Claire Lombardo\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is one of those beautifully written, keenly observed novels where not that much happens — other than, you know, life itself — but also so much happens. Julia Ames is experiencing a midlife plateau when an announcement from her son sets her reeling, and reflecting on all the relationships — past and present, familial, intergenerational, romantic — that have shaped her life including: Mark, her near-perfect husband; Anita, her near-imperfect mother; and Helen, the older woman who saves Julia in the early days of motherhood. Though the dynamic between Julia and her “spiky” teenage daughter is my personal favorite, Claire Lombardo has written a whole cast of characters so detailed, so specifically themselves, that you almost feel you could reach out and touch them. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960545\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960545\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover showing a row of falling dominoes.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.09.44-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Victim: A Novel’ by Andrew Boryga. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Victim: A Novel’ by Andrew Boryga\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lying is kind of funny. The stress of someone jumping through increasingly wild hoops to avoid getting caught in a lie is hilarious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Victim\u003c/em> is about Javi, a writer from a marginalized community, who fudges his way into the kinds of rooms where people say “marginalized” and “community” a lot. The book is a charming critique of the publishing industry and its surface-level attempts at righting societal ills (which, kind of bold for a debut author), while also staying empathetic towards the well-meaning individuals who give Javi a shot. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348740829/andrew-limbong\">Andrew Limbong,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk, and host, NPR’s ‘Book of the Day’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Romance & Relationships\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960544\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 812px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960544\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of three women positioned around a large martini glass.\" width=\"812\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM.png 812w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM-800x1192.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM-160x238.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.07.57-PM-768x1144.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 812px) 100vw, 812px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet’ by Molly Morris. \u003ccite>(Wednesday Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet’ by Molly Morris\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>What happens when your former best friend comes back from the dead, but only for 30 days? That’s what Wilson needs to figure out when her friend Annie is brought back as part of a local custom in her small California town. To complicate things more, their friend, Ryan apparently hates them both. Wilson is determined to fix things before Annie returns to — well, being dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a beautifully poetic YA work about female friendships, with a touch of magical realism and laugh out loud humor. The dynamic between the trio is filled with teenage angst, love and forgiveness. It considers a common dilemma: How do you accept change when it means giving up what you love? \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/836937515/hafsa-fathima\">Hafsa Fathima,\u003c/a> production assistant, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 810px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a woman looking through binoculars. In one lens, we see a bird. In the other, a man. \" width=\"810\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM.png 810w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM-800x1199.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM-160x240.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.06.09-PM-768x1151.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Birding with Benefits’ by Sarah T. Dubb. \u003ccite>(Gallery Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Birding with Benefits’ by Sarah T. Dubb\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This sweet, fake-relationship romance follows the recently divorced empty-nester Celeste as she navigates life as a single woman, once again. This time around, she’s saying yes to life and shaking things up. She didn’t expect the shaking to bring in the sensitive, gentle giant that is John. Or his deep love of birds. Come for the romance but, beware, you might find yourself falling in love with John’s quiet, colorful world of birding yourself!\u003cem> — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/580312943/christina-cala\">Christina Cala,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Code Switch’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960542\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960542\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a modern young woman walking through a city under an umbrella and reading a book.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.03.47-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Girl Abroad’ by Elle Kennedy. \u003ccite>(Bloom Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Girl Abroad’ by Elle Kennedy\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Girl Abroad \u003c/em>starts with Abbey Bly, 19 years old, ready to step away from her adoring, yet overprotective, father when she is given the chance to study abroad in London. There’s just one hitch: Abbey believes she’ll be living with girls there — but arrives to find out all her flatmates are boys. She decides to step into her new-found independence (and hide this fact from her father). Elle Kennedy has written an enjoyable coming-of-age story filled with humor, drama, romance, and a found family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Readers will enjoy the way Kennedy deviates from her usual steamy-angst-centric stories for one with deeper emphasis on self growth, relationship dynamics and figuring out not only who you are, but what you want. \u003cem>— Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, audio engineer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960541\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960541\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring illustrations of a woman and man surrounded by palm trees.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM-800x1156.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.01.55-PM-768x1110.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘How to End a Love Story’ by Yulin Kuang. \u003ccite>(Avon)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘How to End a Love Story’ by Yulin Kuang\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If a ’90s rom-com grew up and went to therapy, this sparkling book would be the result. After penning a popular YA book series, Helen Zhang gets a seat in the writers’ room where it’s being adapted into a TV show. Unfortunately, Grant Shepard is also one of the writers in that room. Grant was the charming homecoming king at their high school whereas Helen was awkward and introverted. He’s also the reason Helen’s sister is dead — kind of. It’s been years since the accident, but the writers’ room reopens old wounds and forces Helen and Grant to be vulnerable with each other. Even as Helen wrestles with their past, the two begin a present-day romance that is sexy and tender. This book is a raised glass to second chances and late bloomers. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348774853/lauren-migaki\">Lauren Migaki,\u003c/a> senior producer, Education\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960540\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960540\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring bright illustrations of flowers, a woman and man, and a diamond ring.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM-800x1158.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-2.00.10-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Say You’ll Be Mine: A Novel’ by Naina Kumar. \u003ccite>(Dell)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Say You’ll Be Mine: A Novel’ by Naina Kumar\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s a familiar South Asian story: Two people finally relent to their parents’ wishes of meeting a potential marriage partner. But \u003cem>Say You’ll Be Mine \u003c/em>is so much more than that. Meghna is in love with her best friend, who is engaged to someone else. Karthik is an engineer who doesn’t really want to get married. But as the two discover, a fake engagement between them may be the answer to their problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naina Kumar writes a funny, heartwarming tale, filled with sizzling chemistry. It’s hard to not root for them from page one, as they slowly fall in love. It’s an incredible book that tackles the merits and shortcomings of culture, finding an identity and of course, true love. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/836937515/hafsa-fathima\">Hafsa Fathima,\u003c/a> production assistant, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960538\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 820px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960538\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring illustrations of a young woman and man surrounded by autumn leaves.\" width=\"820\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM.png 820w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM-800x1184.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM-160x237.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.58.26-PM-768x1137.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Sex, Lies and Sensibility’ by Nikki Payne. \u003ccite>(Berkley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Sex, Lies and Sensibility’ by Nikki Payne\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Set in the heart of vacationland, Nora Dash and Ennis “Bear” Freeman are both fighting uphill battles. After her dad dies, Nora inherits some serious family drama — and a rundown cottage in Maine. Now, Nora and her sister have just months to turn the place into a successful resort. Meanwhile, Bear’s struggling with his own business of guiding visitors through his native Abenaki land. The tours take him through Nora’s backyard and the two team up. Their chemistry is off the charts as they spend hours working and finding stress relief in long runs through the Maine woods. But both are keeping secrets, and have let shame work its way through their lives like an invasive species. The two have to figure out how to move forward once those secrets spill out. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348774853/lauren-migaki\">Lauren Migaki,\u003c/a> senior producer, Education\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Historical Fiction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a close up photo of a man's hands playing the piano.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM-800x1166.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.56.35-PM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Cahokia Jazz: A Novel’ by Francis Spufford. \u003ccite>(Scribner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Cahokia Jazz: A Novel’ by Francis Spufford\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s 1922 and, in this alternate-history detective story, Cahokia isn’t a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Illinois. It’s a thriving Indigenous-owned and operated city and state with a strong Catholic presence, plus Klansmen, bootleggers and other undesirables. If you try to skim, you’ll get lost in the how-deep-does-this-go corruption, careful world-building and sprawling cast. The naive main character, jazz-playing police detective Joe Barrow, shoves his way through exposition, fight scenes, maybe-occult doings, local royalty and personal angst, all backgrounded by a Roaring Twenties aesthetic portrayed in loving detail. Maps and excerpts from (made-up) primary sources will guide you through — if you pay attention. If you’re me, you’ll take notes. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1173760481/holly-j-morris\">Holly J. Morris,\u003c/a> digital trainer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960536\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 816px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960536\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM.png\" alt=\"Waves crash onto a rocky beach. In the center of the water floats a tea pot.\" width=\"816\" height=\"1206\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM.png 816w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM-800x1182.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM-160x236.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.54.34-PM-768x1135.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 816px) 100vw, 816px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Clear: A Novel’ by Carys Davies. \u003ccite>(Scribner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Clear: A Novel’ by Carys Davies\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s the 1840s, the last and most brutal years of The Clearances, when Scottish landowners began replacing unprofitable tenants with sheep. Based on that real history, \u003cem>Clear\u003c/em> is a novel about a minister, John, who has been dispatched to clear a remote island of its last remaining inhabitant, Ivar. Except just after he arrives, John slips and falls off a cliff. Ivar finds John, nurses him back to health, and invites him into his life; Ivar begins to teach John the many words that all mean some variation of “rough seas” in Norn (a real language), and the pair learn to communicate roughly, but with an unexpected depth. What follows is perhaps the most tender, beautiful story about the connection between two people and what they must overcome to find each other — in every sense of the word. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring constellations.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM-800x1159.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.52.49-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Enlightenment’ by Sarah Perry. \u003ccite>(Mariner Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Enlightenment’ by Sarah Perry\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You know that feeling — when you are fascinated by someone all the more because you don’t fully understand them? That’s how I feel in English author Sarah Perry’s “presence.” \u003cem>Enlightenment \u003c/em>is a tale of two friends, different generations but hailing from the same small Essex town and even smaller congregation. There’s a mystery involving a woman astronomer — but mainly there’s empathy for the complexities of people’s identities and belief systems, a sense of home, and loads of gorgeous writing. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/349278028/shannon-rhoades\">Shannon Rhoades,\u003c/a> senior editor, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960534\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960534\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM.png\" alt=\"An illustration of an Asian woman, traditionally dressed, walking through snow. Her reflection in the water next to her is a white fox.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM-800x1168.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM-160x234.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.50.50-PM-768x1121.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Fox Wife: A Novel’ by Yangsze Choo. \u003ccite>(Henry Holt and Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Fox Wife: A Novel’ by Yangsze Choo\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s a little bit of mystery and mysticism on every page of this book. Set in China in the early 1900s, the book centers around two characters in separate, but connecting narratives. A fox masquerading as a young woman that’s set out to avenge her daughter’s death and a detective with an affinity for foxes who is working a murder case. It’s clever and observant, with twists and turns and just the perfect amount of folklore to keep you asking: What is real and what is imagined? \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/378865949/elissa-nadworny\">Elissa Nadworny,\u003c/a> correspondent\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960531\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960531\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring an exotic small town on a hillside at dusk.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM-800x1162.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.48.43-PM-768x1115.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Hard by a Great Forest’ by Leo Vardiashvili. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Hard by a Great Forest’ by Leo Vardiashvili\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hard by a Great Forest\u003c/em> has all the ingredients of a dark and twisty fairy tale: A mysterious disappearance, a post-war city teeming with danger, a scavenger hunt, riddles, a road trip, escaped zoo animals, an orphan, and a title echoing the first line of Hansel and Gretel. It’s loosely based on author Leo Vardiashvili’s life — he lived through Georgia’s civil war and immigrated to the UK as a refugee in the mid ’90s. It’s two decades later in the novel when Saba’s father is pulled back to their homeland in search of something — before promptly disappearing. His last message to his son: Do not follow me. But Saba (of course) follows his breadcrumb trail of clues and, along the way, is forced to confront the question: Can you ever really go home again? \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/712227784/samantha-balaban\">Samantha Balaban,\u003c/a> producer, ‘Weekend Edition’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960530\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960530\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a tiny illustration of a traveling man.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM-800x1159.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.47.01-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘James: A Novel’ by Percival Everett. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘James: A Novel’ by Percival Everett\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The jokes in \u003cem>James\u003c/em> range from chin scratchers to knee slappers to gut busters. Although I’m not sure Percival Everett would even classify them as “jokes.” In his re-imagining of the Huckleberry Finn story, Everett mines language, history and irony to showcase brutal truths about America. And yes, it’s often funny. But, like the original source material, things can quickly turn deadly serious depending on how the river flows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The novel is thrilling, hilarious, heartbreaking, and a strong argument for Everett as one of the best doing it right now. \u003cem>— \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348740829/andrew-limbong\">Andrew Limbong,\u003c/a>\u003cem> correspondent, Culture Desk, and host, NPR’s ‘Book of the Day’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960528\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960528\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a person on a bicycle riding through purple flames.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM-800x1158.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.45.30-PM-768x1112.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Memory Piece: A Novel’ by Lisa Ko. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Memory Piece: A Novel’ by Lisa Ko\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is a coming of age story about three friends growing up in and around New York City in the 1990s. Their friendship evolves over the decades as they experiment with, and push the boundaries of, art, performance and technology. I loved that the book makes art feel real and weird and kind of gross — not glamorous and sugarcoated. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/378865949/elissa-nadworny\">Elissa Nadworny,\u003c/a> correspondent\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960527\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960527\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring an illustration of a woman lying with her arms over her head.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1214\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM-800x1165.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.43.47-PM-768x1118.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Swift River’ by Essie Chambers. \u003ccite>(Simon & Schuster)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Swift River’ by Essie Chambers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After her beloved father mysteriously disappears, Diamond and her mom find themselves living hand to mouth in a faded New England mill town where Diamond is the lone Black resident. Why did a previous generation of Black families abandon it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This propulsive and poetic first novel, by an accomplished documentary film producer, grounds a tender coming-of-age narrative in a history of migration, marginalization and imagination. Threaded through every step of Diamond’s journey is her deadpan wit; of one ramshackle dwelling, she observes, “the whole house looks like it’s having a cigarette.” And she reflects, when a heartbreaking legal issue is finally resolved, “That was the thing about a racist town. It got to decide when it would be kind.” \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/3850482/neda-ulaby\">Neda Ulaby,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960526\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 834px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960526\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a woman and man sitting at a restaurant table.\" width=\"834\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM.png 834w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM-800x1161.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.42.07-PM-768x1114.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Table for Two: Fictions’ by Amor Towles. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Table for Two: Fictions’ by Amor Towles\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first half of this jaunty short-story collection takes place in New York. Among the memorable characters are a Russian immigrant whose chief role in life is to stand in lines; a young antiquarian bookstore employee who gets more than he bargains for in his desire for life experience; and a seemingly straight-laced family man with a big Wall Street job, whose secret pastime, once discovered, upends his and his loved ones’ lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second half, devoted entirely to the novella “Eve in Hollywood,” is set in Los Angeles during Tinseltown’s Golden Age. The pithy, film noir-ish thriller picks up where the author’s 2011 novel \u003cem>Rules of Civility\u003c/em> left off — with the plucky, scar-faced adventuress, Evelyn Ross, deftly saving the honor of a host of Hollywood starlets. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1113762078/chloe-veltman\">Chloe Veltman,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 842px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a helicopter flying over trees.\" width=\"842\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM.png 842w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM-800x1152.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM-160x230.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.40.35-PM-768x1105.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah. \u003ccite>(St. Martin's Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“You’re only going to be a nurse until you get married,” her mother said. But Frankie McGrath had other ideas, ones that would lead her away from her wealthy family’s conservative outlook on how daughters should behave. Kristin Hannah’s \u003cem>The Women \u003c/em>follows young Frankie’s transformation, when after working as a nurse in California and tending to a wounded soldier, and missing her soldier brother, she joins the Army as a nurse. That takes her from a comfortable life of known expectations, to one of the chaos and danger of war, new career opportunities and love. Tangled love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Frankie returns home, she finds her country still protesting the war, and those who served. \u003cem>The Women \u003c/em>shines a light on a then little-known aspect of the war: the women who also served in Vietnam, as nurses. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1053920456/jeanine-herbst\">Jeanine Herbst,\u003c/a> news anchor\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960523\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 836px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960523\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM.png\" alt=\"The front half of a horse visible as it sleeps into a spiraling vortex.\" width=\"836\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM.png 836w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM-800x1160.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.38.10-PM-768x1113.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘You Dreamed of Empires: A Novel’ by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘You Dreamed of Empires: A Novel’ by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This salty and dark historical fantasia feistily explodes well-worn textbook narratives about the meeting of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his captains with the Aztec emperor Moctezuma and his entourage in Tenoxtitlan — now Mexico City — in 1519.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Álvaro Enrigue’s depiction of the stressed out, clumsy Cortés and the drugged out, mercurial Moctezuma sets these near-mythical figures into earthy relief. But it’s mostly the intrigues and machinations of these leaders’ canny consorts — the Aztec princess Atotoxtli and the conquistadors’ translator Malinalli — that power the plot. Natasha Wimmer’s English translation sharply delivers the novel’s poetic and witty qualities while at the same time reveling in its core theme: the fundamental untranslatability of human experience. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1113762078/chloe-veltman\">Chloe Veltman,\u003c/a> correspondent, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Mysteries & Thrillers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960522\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 838px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960522\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a partial close-up of a woman's face and the exterior of a house in the snow.\" width=\"838\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM.png 838w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM-800x1155.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM-160x231.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.36.14-PM-768x1109.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Nightwatching’ by Tracy Sierra. \u003ccite>(Pamela Dorman Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Nightwatching’ by Tracy Sierra\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nightwatching \u003c/em>begins with a scene straight out of a nightmare: A woman is at home with two sleeping children when she hears the footsteps of an intruder on the stairs. The story that follows is by turns suspenseful, uncomfortable and enraging. Tracy Sierra skillfully uses the home invasion to explore the terrifying responsibility of motherhood and to expose the pure horror of being a woman in a society that does not always choose to believe women. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1227635672/julie-rogers\">Julie Rogers,\u003c/a> historian and curator, NPR Research, Archives & Data strategy\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960518\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a white house on a red horizon.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM-800x1166.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.33.24-PM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Hunter’ by Tana French. \u003ccite>(Viking)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Hunter’ by Tana French\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Set in the hills of Western Ireland, this novel picks up the story of characters introduced in 2020’s \u003cem>The Searcher\u003c/em> — retired American detective Cal Hooper and Trey, a teen girl he’s taken under his wing. As French revisits the seemingly bucolic landscape where trouble roils just under the surface, her writing continues to shift from mystery to meditation. While there’s still a knot of questions about crimes — including both fraud and murder — to be untangled, this novel is ultimately about belonging; the ways in which families do, and don’t, owe each other debts; the communities we resist, alienate, or become a welcome part of. Morally shaded and complex, it will leave you thinking about who’s right — and what’s wrong — long after you turn the last page. —\u003cem> Tayla Burney, director, Network Programming & Production\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Sci Fi, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction & Horror\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960517\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 744px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960517\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.31.42-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a bird's nest with broken eggs and one that is still intact.\" width=\"744\" height=\"1106\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.31.42-PM.png 744w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.31.42-PM-160x238.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Cuckoo’ by Gretchen Felker-Martin. \u003ccite>(Tor Nightfire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘Cuckoo’ by Gretchen Felker-Martin\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cuckoo \u003c/em>is an ingeniously scary novel about a group of kids sent to a conversion camp in the ’90s. There’s the terror of the socially accepted abuse the kids face (both at the camp and at home) because they are queer, but there’s yet another horrifying entity preying on them, and trying to make them — different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felker-Martin’s sharp novel takes on the particular vulnerability of queer kids and the body-snatching that is conversion therapy, and she does it with equal measures of tenderness and grotesquery. As harrowing and disgusting as it is, I also found it quite insightful and beautiful — and for that reason, \u003cem>Cuckoo \u003c/em>is a great work of horror. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/959668312/liam-mcbain\">Liam McBain,\u003c/a> associate producer, ‘It’s Been a Minute’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960516\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 874px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960516\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring an illustration of a hand holding a gold chain.\" width=\"874\" height=\"1108\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM.png 874w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM-800x1014.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM-160x203.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.29.35-PM-768x974.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Familiar’ by Leigh Bardugo. \u003ccite>(Flatiron Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Familiar’ by Leigh Bardugo\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It is the Spanish Golden Age, and kitchen maid Luzia has secrets to hide: her skill at magic and her Jewish heritage. When her employer discovers her spells, Luzia is entered into a tournament to find King Philip, who hopes to increase his military standing, a champion. She is trained by the strange creature Santángel, an immortal with a mysterious past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/04/11/1244125050/leigh-bardugo-the-familiar-book-review\">gorgeously lush, vividly written book\u003c/a> that shines with its strong cast of characters. Luzia is a hero you’ll find yourself rooting for right from the start, and the magic system in this world is a breath of fresh air. Once again, Leigh Bardugo proves she never misses the mark when it comes to intricately building fantastical worlds — leaving you thinking about them long after the last page is turned. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/836937515/hafsa-fathima\">Hafsa Fathima,\u003c/a> production assistant, ‘Pop Culture Happy Hour’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960514\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting the word 'Husbands' climbing up a ladder.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM-800x1168.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM-160x234.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.26.32-PM-768x1121.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Husbands: A Novel’ by Holly Gramazio. \u003ccite>(Doubleday)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Husbands: A Novel’ by Holly Gramazio\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lauren leaves her London flat for a bachelorette party one night only to discover a husband at home awaiting her return. Not only was she not married when she left for the night, she doesn’t recognize this man. Slowly she works out that he’s not a threat — and that all evidence on her phone, in conversations with friends and neighbors, and in their apartments points to him being fully integrated into her life. And there he is until he goes into the attic and a different husband emerges, slightly — or drastically — altering Lauren’s life. The pattern continues as Lauren searches for metaphysical clues to what’s going on and wrestles with how to know, if she can ever know, which life is right for her. A rare combination of the truly hilarious and profound. \u003cem>— Tayla Burney, director, Network Programming & Production\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960513\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 762px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960513\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.24.33-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover depicting block letters floating in space.\" width=\"762\" height=\"1110\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.24.33-PM.png 762w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.24.33-PM-160x233.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) 100vw, 762px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Ministry of Time: A Novel’ by Kaliane Bradley. \u003ccite>(Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘The Ministry of Time: A Novel’ by Kaliane Bradley\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You’d think a novel about the bureaucracy of a time-travel government agency might be kinda boring. But from the moment you meet the book’s enigmatic protagonist — as she starts a new job in the UK’s top secret new time travel agency — to the introduction of the dashing Graham Gore, an 1847 arctic explorer plucked through time, you’ll be hooked. Come for the romance, stay for the unraveling of a mystery, the nuanced, genre-bending treatises on race and identity, and the long-lingering ideas on colonialism, empires and the mutability of history. \u003cem>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/580312943/christina-cala\">Christina Cala,\u003c/a> senior producer, ‘Code Switch’\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960509\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 828px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960509\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM.png\" alt=\"A book cover with small illustrations including the Paris city skyline, the ocean and various plants and flowers.\" width=\"828\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM.png 828w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM-800x1171.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM-160x234.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-28-at-1.21.52-PM-768x1124.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘A Short Walk Through a Wide World: A Novel’ by Douglas Westerbeke. \u003ccite>(Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>‘A Short Walk Through a Wide World: A Novel’ by Douglas Westerbeke\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the year 1885, in Paris, when 9-year-old Aubry Tourvel encounters a mysterious, wooden, puzzle ball: It may be a blessing or a curse, but it most definitely changes her life. Now she needs to keep moving forever; too long in any one town and she will bleed to death. So her life is all travel and adventure, and through her we wonder at the richness of the globe’s markets, towns, forests and deserts. Over many decades, she meets all types of kind and curious people — as well as cruel and uncaring ones. Sometimes Aubry enjoys quick communion with strangers. Other times, she is surrounded but desperately lonely. This is a ravishing, deeply human book that’s in love with the world, with people, with the new — and yet is infused with a deep, futile longing for home.\u003cem> — \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1091803881/jennifer-vanasco\">\u003cem>Jennifer Vanasco\u003c/em>,\u003c/a>\u003cem> editor and reporter, Culture Desk\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "j-rivera-pansa-imagers-et-al-review",
"title": "Delicate Sculptures Are Quietly Assertive in This Et al. Show",
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"headTitle": "Delicate Sculptures Are Quietly Assertive in This Et al. Show | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>It takes a moment to orient yourself upon walking into J Rivera Pansa’s exhibition \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://etaletc.com/imagers\">Imagers\u003c/a>\u003c/em> at San Francisco’s Et al. gallery. The brightness of the space’s tall white walls almost eclipses the delicate items arranged within it. Presenting works that the transdisciplinary artist has made over the past two years, the current show is their most comprehensive exhibition to date, and demonstrates how the artist’s practice has grown to encompass larger work and new materials. As your eyes adjust, the works assert themselves, reveling quietly in the power of this expanded scale. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13957410']Ringing the walls of the gallery are five hanging grids composed of photo prints and X-ray film that are cut into slender rounded rectangles and then carefully linked like chain mail with metal grommets and rings. The gridded tapestries drape a few inches off the walls. As you move towards them, they stir gently in the disrupted air, giving the impression that the artwork is breathing. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, in \u003cem>G.M.R. x 220\u003c/em> (2024) Pansa’s use of X-ray film calls to mind imagery of body parts that are normally hidden. While the works made with photographic prints depict change on the scale of nature — through moon rises, agricultural fields and horizons — the shiny gray of the flimsy X-ray film reflects minute changes in the environment of the gallery itself. This piece, especially, makes visible an embodied subjectivity that shifts from moment to moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960553\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000.jpg\" alt=\"hanging wall sculpture with connected segments of grid hanging in curved drape\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2239\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960553\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-800x896.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1020x1142.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-160x179.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-768x860.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1372x1536.jpg 1372w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1829x2048.jpg 1829w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1920x2149.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J Rivera Pansa, ‘G.M.P. x 20 (moondusk),’ 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Et al.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Four low lavender platforms dominate the center of the room and frame the stained glass sculptures carefully placed on and around them. These works take the form of a three-dimensional grid and encase rounded forms of ball chains, copper grain and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_cent\">wheat pennies\u003c/a>. It is not clear why these similarly rounded metal forms were chosen, though they do provide a pleasing contrast to the rigid structures that hold them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the photos and X-ray material respond to movement, the variously colored glass containers glimmer and reveal the objects inside as the viewer’s position shifts. Two rose-colored works and one yellow piece create a pastel tableau alongside the soft purple of the platforms. The grid is replicated throughout the space. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the largest of the floor sculptures, \u003cem>A.G.F. x 12\u003c/em> (2024) fits within this system of shapes, its various facets disrupt the show’s otherwise subdued color palette with the red, black, white, and green of the Palestinian flag. In an art world that has not hesitated to censor voices advocating for an end to the siege of Gaza and for Palestinian liberation, Pansa’s choice to include these colors is a brave political statement. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Red, green, white and clear stained-glass grid sculpture on lavender platform\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1348\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960555\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-1920x1294.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J Rivera Pansa, ‘A.G.F. x 12,’ 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Et al.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Placed on a platform whose lavender color was once a slur as well as a covert signal of queerness, the gesture also speaks to the dangers of visibility, which can bring as much violence as positive change. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this light, seemingly formal choices such as the repeated grid and alphanumeric titles can be seen as guides that provide structure whether or not meaning is revealed. The mystery and indeterminacy that suffuses Pansa’s work is not indicative of a lack of depth. Rather, it shields what is most vulnerable. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It feels particularly fitting that Pansa has used chain mail and stained glass in these pieces, both centuries-old craft techniques that evoke histories of protection and faith as well as pain and judgment. \u003cem>Imagers\u003c/em> reminds us that we have always found ways to express our complex humanity — no matter how much that humanity feels at odds with a world of binary definitions.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://etaletc.com/imagers\">Imagers\u003c/a>’ is on view at Et al. (2831A Mission St., San Francisco) through July 20, 2024.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "J Rivera Pansa uses slices of photographs and X-ray film to create carefully linked gridded tapestries.\r\n",
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"title": "‘Imagers’ at Et al.: J Rivera Pansa’s Delicate, Assertive Sculptures | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It takes a moment to orient yourself upon walking into J Rivera Pansa’s exhibition \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://etaletc.com/imagers\">Imagers\u003c/a>\u003c/em> at San Francisco’s Et al. gallery. The brightness of the space’s tall white walls almost eclipses the delicate items arranged within it. Presenting works that the transdisciplinary artist has made over the past two years, the current show is their most comprehensive exhibition to date, and demonstrates how the artist’s practice has grown to encompass larger work and new materials. As your eyes adjust, the works assert themselves, reveling quietly in the power of this expanded scale. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ringing the walls of the gallery are five hanging grids composed of photo prints and X-ray film that are cut into slender rounded rectangles and then carefully linked like chain mail with metal grommets and rings. The gridded tapestries drape a few inches off the walls. As you move towards them, they stir gently in the disrupted air, giving the impression that the artwork is breathing. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, in \u003cem>G.M.R. x 220\u003c/em> (2024) Pansa’s use of X-ray film calls to mind imagery of body parts that are normally hidden. While the works made with photographic prints depict change on the scale of nature — through moon rises, agricultural fields and horizons — the shiny gray of the flimsy X-ray film reflects minute changes in the environment of the gallery itself. This piece, especially, makes visible an embodied subjectivity that shifts from moment to moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960553\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000.jpg\" alt=\"hanging wall sculpture with connected segments of grid hanging in curved drape\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2239\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960553\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-800x896.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1020x1142.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-160x179.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-768x860.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1372x1536.jpg 1372w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1829x2048.jpg 1829w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/G.M.P.-x-20-moondusk_2000-1920x2149.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J Rivera Pansa, ‘G.M.P. x 20 (moondusk),’ 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Et al.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Four low lavender platforms dominate the center of the room and frame the stained glass sculptures carefully placed on and around them. These works take the form of a three-dimensional grid and encase rounded forms of ball chains, copper grain and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_cent\">wheat pennies\u003c/a>. It is not clear why these similarly rounded metal forms were chosen, though they do provide a pleasing contrast to the rigid structures that hold them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the photos and X-ray material respond to movement, the variously colored glass containers glimmer and reveal the objects inside as the viewer’s position shifts. Two rose-colored works and one yellow piece create a pastel tableau alongside the soft purple of the platforms. The grid is replicated throughout the space. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the largest of the floor sculptures, \u003cem>A.G.F. x 12\u003c/em> (2024) fits within this system of shapes, its various facets disrupt the show’s otherwise subdued color palette with the red, black, white, and green of the Palestinian flag. In an art world that has not hesitated to censor voices advocating for an end to the siege of Gaza and for Palestinian liberation, Pansa’s choice to include these colors is a brave political statement. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000.jpg\" alt=\"Red, green, white and clear stained-glass grid sculpture on lavender platform\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1348\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960555\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/A.G.F.-x-12_2000-1920x1294.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J Rivera Pansa, ‘A.G.F. x 12,’ 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Et al.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Placed on a platform whose lavender color was once a slur as well as a covert signal of queerness, the gesture also speaks to the dangers of visibility, which can bring as much violence as positive change. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this light, seemingly formal choices such as the repeated grid and alphanumeric titles can be seen as guides that provide structure whether or not meaning is revealed. The mystery and indeterminacy that suffuses Pansa’s work is not indicative of a lack of depth. Rather, it shields what is most vulnerable. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It feels particularly fitting that Pansa has used chain mail and stained glass in these pieces, both centuries-old craft techniques that evoke histories of protection and faith as well as pain and judgment. \u003cem>Imagers\u003c/em> reminds us that we have always found ways to express our complex humanity — no matter how much that humanity feels at odds with a world of binary definitions.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://etaletc.com/imagers\">Imagers\u003c/a>’ is on view at Et al. (2831A Mission St., San Francisco) through July 20, 2024.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "lifespan-of-a-fact-review-aurora-theatre-berkeley-fact-checking",
"title": "Bringing the Fact-Checker to a Play About Fact-Checking",
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"headTitle": "Bringing the Fact-Checker to a Play About Fact-Checking | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the world of journalism, a fact-checker performs invisible work. No one, save the writer or editor of a story, really notices it. And yet at the country’s top magazines on down to its remaining newspapers, copy desks engage in that tireless task of reviewing stories for a paramount goal: accuracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bringing this work to the literal spotlight is \u003cem>The Lifespan of a Fact\u003c/em>, a 90-minute play running through July 21 at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre. In it, a magazine writer, fact-checker and editor quarrel over an essay’s tiny details, and how they do, or do not, affect the resonance of its bigger themes. It’s essentially a question about the old Mark Twain maxim, writ large: Should you ever let the truth get in the way of a good story?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file.jpg\" alt=\"A blonde woman in blue sits atop a sofa, while staring at the table along with a bearded man in a grubby T-shirt and a young man sitting at a table.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carrie Paff, Elijah Alexander and Hernán Angulo in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Linda Houser doesn’t think so. As a 24-year veteran of the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>’s copy desk who fact-checks stories daily, her life is a trifecta of clarity, consistency and accuracy. Which I why I decided to bring her along to see \u003cem>The Lifespan of a Fact\u003c/em>. Who better to “review” the play than the copy chief at the Bay Area’s newspaper of record? (I knew I’d brought the right person when, just before curtain, Houser mused aloud if “lifespan” should be one word or two.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Lifespan of a Fact\u003c/em> opened on Broadway in 2018, and is based on the real-life disputes between writer John D’Agata (played here by Elijah Alexander) and fact-checker Jim Fingal (Hernán Angulo) over a magazine story about a teen suicide. With Carrie Paff as editor Emily Penrose, and directed by Jessica Holt, the play \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/aurora-lifespan-of-a-fact-review-19513552\">takes some liberties\u003c/a> while raising broad questions about human nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After opening night, Houser and I posted up on Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley to talk about it. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960481\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hernán Angulo in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KQED: First things first. Did you like the play? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Linda Houser\u003c/strong>: I did like the play! I kind of liked and hated a couple of the characters, by turns, and so it was very thought-provoking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How true would you say it is to the work that you do, of fact-checking?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a newspaper, we wouldn’t have something quite so scandalous. In the play, the writer’s an essay guy, a magazine guy, and he’s basically writing fiction. We wouldn’t even check some those details, because it would never occur to a daily newspaper journalist to not have the facts right, or to blatantly disregard them, like he does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So the very granular detail of fact-checking in this play — that doesn’t come up at a daily newspaper?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, we do check. But usually when we’re checking, it’s a math error, where people maybe forget about a leap year. Was the date wrong, or was the number of days wrong? Was one of those numbers a typo? Adding is a big part of the job. That’s a lot of what we do, and we hammer that out very easily. There’s no arguing, or flying to Vegas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960480\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carrie Paff as magazine editor Emily Penrose in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Was there any part of the play that best illustrated the work that you’ve done for the past 24 years? Where you went, “Yes! That’s what I do!”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t like the kid at first, the fact-checker, because it seemed like he was really trying to make the story about himself. But then he would make a great catch, and find something really important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We had a freelance writer a few years ago who filed a feature story. They were quoting an excerpt of something at the beginning, and they said it was Emily Dickinson, or someone like that. And it just didn’t sound right. I checked and it was a Prince lyric. It was the oddest thing ever! We had a good laugh about that one. Like, is it April 1? Because that is ridiculous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Was there an aspect of the play that was off to you? That made you say, “Oh, come on, it’s not like that at all”?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, you know, there were the Triscuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Right, the fact-checker really wanted to know if they were actually eating Triscuits. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know how much of it is the kid going to Harvard. I’ve known some people who went to Harvard and are not that annoying. But I don’t think the Triscuits matter at all, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>That’s the central tension in this play, the debate over whether or not to let facts and accuracy get in the way of a larger truth. And I was a little convinced at times that some details didn’t matter as much as the story’s rhythm, or pacing. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I will say, I feel like the writer didn’t really \u003cem>need\u003c/em> all the numbers that he seemed to need. Even his own editor thought there was something special about the number four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1277px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1277\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file.jpg 1277w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-1020x1534.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-768x1155.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1277px) 100vw, 1277px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elijah Alexander as writer John D’Agata in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Have there ever been times when you’ve taken a fact out of a story because it seemed incidental or unimportant, and then regretted it later?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No. We did have an editor once on the city desk. His motto was “when in doubt, take it out.” I wouldn’t always loop him in, because sometimes there are things that are nice to have in the story, and he would take it out if it didn’t matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What about additions? The true story that this play is based on, the fact-checking process went on for seven years, partly because new facts came to light. Have you ever had a stop-the-presses moment over new facts that emerged at the last minute that fundamentally changed the story?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, but I did get to kill a story once. I was slotting it, which means the editor had read it, and then the rim copy editor had read it. And this freelancer, a good writer and a respected writer, was writing about someone who’d died. It was this writer’s idea that clearly the wife had done it. They cited some vague facts, and then leapt to a conclusion. They did not talk to the wife, or the police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it was very juicy for a minute. I was like, “Oh my gosh, she totally did it.” Of course, that’s everyone’s first impression. But then I was like, I know we are the features section, but this is perhaps too much. I checked with my people on the city desk who deal with crime and legal issues all the time. And they said, “Linda, no! We cannot put that in the paper.” So we plugged it with a different story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960483\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elijah Alexander and Carrie Paff in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>We live in an age of proliferating disinformation. Obviously, most of it is out of your personal control. But do you see your job, in its small way, as protecting truth, and by extension, protecting the importance of truth? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, we certainly try, but it’s crazy. You can just repeat things, and so many people believe them. You can have AI magnify them and make them bigger. And people, when they see it so much, they’re like, “Well, of course it’s true.” They don’t even know what they’re reading, but it looks legitimate and they believe it, and it isn’t. And then they distrust us because people say, “Oh, the \u003cem>media\u003c/em>. The \u003cem>mainstream media\u003c/em>.” Like, maybe we are the mainstream media because we have gone to college, and we’ve studied, and we try hard. But they don’t care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bring back gatekeepers!\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’m not just pantomiming what you’re saying, I actually think we should bring back gatekeepers. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’d be nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1277px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1277\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file.jpg 1277w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-1020x1534.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-768x1155.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1277px) 100vw, 1277px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hernán Angulo and Elijah Alexander in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Near the end of this play, the young fact-checker is warning the older editor and writer about this new online paradigm, where you can’t just make things up or fudge facts, because people on Reddit and 4Chan and Twitter will seize upon it and publicize that it’s wrong, and it will be a giant scandal. And I had this very depressing feeling that, while that may have been true at the time, it’s not now. A hundred people could correct the facts online and it would not matter. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah. I liked the fact-checker. He was very eager. I thought he was too eager, but he was right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Last question: No one really sees the work you do. What would you like people to understand about your job as a copy editor and fact-checker?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Really, I’m just reading the newspaper. It’s a little different now with the website, but back in the day, I got to read the paper before people could read the paper. And I’m really just another reader. If something looks iffy to me, it will look iffy to the audience we have. And I want to fix that before it gets out there. There’s less of us now, of course. We have the shrinking staff that everybody has. So it’s a lot of pressure, and maybe it’s underappreciated, but it is important.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ runs through July 21 at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ca href=\"https://www.auroratheatre.org/index.php/shows-events/20232024-season/the-lifespan-of-a-fact\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the world of journalism, a fact-checker performs invisible work. No one, save the writer or editor of a story, really notices it. And yet at the country’s top magazines on down to its remaining newspapers, copy desks engage in that tireless task of reviewing stories for a paramount goal: accuracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bringing this work to the literal spotlight is \u003cem>The Lifespan of a Fact\u003c/em>, a 90-minute play running through July 21 at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre. In it, a magazine writer, fact-checker and editor quarrel over an essay’s tiny details, and how they do, or do not, affect the resonance of its bigger themes. It’s essentially a question about the old Mark Twain maxim, writ large: Should you ever let the truth get in the way of a good story?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file.jpg\" alt=\"A blonde woman in blue sits atop a sofa, while staring at the table along with a bearded man in a grubby T-shirt and a young man sitting at a table.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13941-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carrie Paff, Elijah Alexander and Hernán Angulo in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Linda Houser doesn’t think so. As a 24-year veteran of the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>’s copy desk who fact-checks stories daily, her life is a trifecta of clarity, consistency and accuracy. Which I why I decided to bring her along to see \u003cem>The Lifespan of a Fact\u003c/em>. Who better to “review” the play than the copy chief at the Bay Area’s newspaper of record? (I knew I’d brought the right person when, just before curtain, Houser mused aloud if “lifespan” should be one word or two.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Lifespan of a Fact\u003c/em> opened on Broadway in 2018, and is based on the real-life disputes between writer John D’Agata (played here by Elijah Alexander) and fact-checker Jim Fingal (Hernán Angulo) over a magazine story about a teen suicide. With Carrie Paff as editor Emily Penrose, and directed by Jessica Holt, the play \u003ca href=\"https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/aurora-lifespan-of-a-fact-review-19513552\">takes some liberties\u003c/a> while raising broad questions about human nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After opening night, Houser and I posted up on Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley to talk about it. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960481\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13937-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hernán Angulo in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KQED: First things first. Did you like the play? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Linda Houser\u003c/strong>: I did like the play! I kind of liked and hated a couple of the characters, by turns, and so it was very thought-provoking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How true would you say it is to the work that you do, of fact-checking?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a newspaper, we wouldn’t have something quite so scandalous. In the play, the writer’s an essay guy, a magazine guy, and he’s basically writing fiction. We wouldn’t even check some those details, because it would never occur to a daily newspaper journalist to not have the facts right, or to blatantly disregard them, like he does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So the very granular detail of fact-checking in this play — that doesn’t come up at a daily newspaper?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, we do check. But usually when we’re checking, it’s a math error, where people maybe forget about a leap year. Was the date wrong, or was the number of days wrong? Was one of those numbers a typo? Adding is a big part of the job. That’s a lot of what we do, and we hammer that out very easily. There’s no arguing, or flying to Vegas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960480\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13929-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carrie Paff as magazine editor Emily Penrose in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Was there any part of the play that best illustrated the work that you’ve done for the past 24 years? Where you went, “Yes! That’s what I do!”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t like the kid at first, the fact-checker, because it seemed like he was really trying to make the story about himself. But then he would make a great catch, and find something really important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We had a freelance writer a few years ago who filed a feature story. They were quoting an excerpt of something at the beginning, and they said it was Emily Dickinson, or someone like that. And it just didn’t sound right. I checked and it was a Prince lyric. It was the oddest thing ever! We had a good laugh about that one. Like, is it April 1? Because that is ridiculous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Was there an aspect of the play that was off to you? That made you say, “Oh, come on, it’s not like that at all”?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, you know, there were the Triscuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Right, the fact-checker really wanted to know if they were actually eating Triscuits. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know how much of it is the kid going to Harvard. I’ve known some people who went to Harvard and are not that annoying. But I don’t think the Triscuits matter at all, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>That’s the central tension in this play, the debate over whether or not to let facts and accuracy get in the way of a larger truth. And I was a little convinced at times that some details didn’t matter as much as the story’s rhythm, or pacing. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I will say, I feel like the writer didn’t really \u003cem>need\u003c/em> all the numbers that he seemed to need. Even his own editor thought there was something special about the number four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1277px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1277\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file.jpg 1277w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-1020x1534.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-768x1155.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13933-file-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1277px) 100vw, 1277px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elijah Alexander as writer John D’Agata in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Have there ever been times when you’ve taken a fact out of a story because it seemed incidental or unimportant, and then regretted it later?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No. We did have an editor once on the city desk. His motto was “when in doubt, take it out.” I wouldn’t always loop him in, because sometimes there are things that are nice to have in the story, and he would take it out if it didn’t matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What about additions? The true story that this play is based on, the fact-checking process went on for seven years, partly because new facts came to light. Have you ever had a stop-the-presses moment over new facts that emerged at the last minute that fundamentally changed the story?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, but I did get to kill a story once. I was slotting it, which means the editor had read it, and then the rim copy editor had read it. And this freelancer, a good writer and a respected writer, was writing about someone who’d died. It was this writer’s idea that clearly the wife had done it. They cited some vague facts, and then leapt to a conclusion. They did not talk to the wife, or the police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it was very juicy for a minute. I was like, “Oh my gosh, she totally did it.” Of course, that’s everyone’s first impression. But then I was like, I know we are the features section, but this is perhaps too much. I checked with my people on the city desk who deal with crime and legal issues all the time. And they said, “Linda, no! We cannot put that in the paper.” So we plugged it with a different story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960483\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13939-file-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elijah Alexander and Carrie Paff in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>We live in an age of proliferating disinformation. Obviously, most of it is out of your personal control. But do you see your job, in its small way, as protecting truth, and by extension, protecting the importance of truth? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, we certainly try, but it’s crazy. You can just repeat things, and so many people believe them. You can have AI magnify them and make them bigger. And people, when they see it so much, they’re like, “Well, of course it’s true.” They don’t even know what they’re reading, but it looks legitimate and they believe it, and it isn’t. And then they distrust us because people say, “Oh, the \u003cem>media\u003c/em>. The \u003cem>mainstream media\u003c/em>.” Like, maybe we are the mainstream media because we have gone to college, and we’ve studied, and we try hard. But they don’t care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Bring back gatekeepers!\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’m not just pantomiming what you’re saying, I actually think we should bring back gatekeepers. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’d be nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1277px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1277\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file.jpg 1277w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-800x1203.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-1020x1534.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-768x1155.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/file-13934-file-1022x1536.jpg 1022w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1277px) 100vw, 1277px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hernán Angulo and Elijah Alexander in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Near the end of this play, the young fact-checker is warning the older editor and writer about this new online paradigm, where you can’t just make things up or fudge facts, because people on Reddit and 4Chan and Twitter will seize upon it and publicize that it’s wrong, and it will be a giant scandal. And I had this very depressing feeling that, while that may have been true at the time, it’s not now. A hundred people could correct the facts online and it would not matter. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah. I liked the fact-checker. He was very eager. I thought he was too eager, but he was right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Last question: No one really sees the work you do. What would you like people to understand about your job as a copy editor and fact-checker?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Really, I’m just reading the newspaper. It’s a little different now with the website, but back in the day, I got to read the paper before people could read the paper. And I’m really just another reader. If something looks iffy to me, it will look iffy to the audience we have. And I want to fix that before it gets out there. There’s less of us now, of course. We have the shrinking staff that everybody has. So it’s a lot of pressure, and maybe it’s underappreciated, but it is important.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ runs through July 21 at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. \u003ca href=\"https://www.auroratheatre.org/index.php/shows-events/20232024-season/the-lifespan-of-a-fact\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Sharply Funny ‘Janet Planet’ Perfectly Captures the Feel of a Long, Hot Summer",
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"content": "\u003cp>Amid the current crop of summer movies, I can’t think of one that captures the \u003cem>feeling\u003c/em> of summer more evocatively than \u003cem>Janet Planet. \u003c/em>Much of the story takes place in a rustic house in woodsy Western Massachusetts; by day, sunlight streams in through enormous windows, and at night, chirping crickets flood the soundtrack. The celebrated playwright Annie Baker, here writing and directing her first film, has uncanny powers of observation and a talent for evoking time and place. She also has two memorable lead characters and a sharply funny and moving story to tell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the summer of 1991. The story begins when 11-year-old Lacy, played by the terrific newcomer Zoe Ziegler, calls her mom from camp and demands to be taken home early; her exact words are “I’m gonna kill myself if you don’t come get me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960332']Lacy is a shy misfit with big owlish glasses and a flair for deadpan exaggeration. She and her single mom, Janet, who’s played by a subtly luminous Julianne Nicholson, are extremely close, as we can see when Janet duly comes to fetch Lacy and bring her home. Later at their house, Janet puts Lacy to bed and listens to her vent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker isn’t one to hurry her characters along. Her plays — the best known of which is her Pulitzer-winning 2013 drama, \u003cem>The Flick\u003c/em> — have been justly praised for bringing a new kind of naturalism to the stage, especially in the way the actors retain the stammers and silences of normal conversation. She brings that same sensibility to \u003cem>Janet Planet\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker includes a few loving nods to her background in theater; at various points, Lacy plays with a small puppet theater, complete with handmade clay figurines, and in a later scene, she and Janet attend an outdoor performance featuring actors in elaborate costumes. But the movie never feels stagey. It was shot on 16-millimeter film by Maria von Hausswolff, who previously filmed the visually stunning Icelandic drama \u003cem>Godland\u003c/em>, and her use of natural light and precise, fine-grained details feel transportingly cinematic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aBF_v0gvpQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The movie is divided into three loose chapters, each one focused on a friend or significant other of Janet’s who becomes a houseguest for a spell. First up is her boyfriend Wayne, played by a gruff Will Patton, who has a daughter around Lacy’s age but doesn’t take too kindly to Lacy herself. He’s soon out the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second chapter we meet Regina, played by a wonderful Sophie Okonedo, a free-spirited drifter who comes to stay with Janet and Lacy after leaving a local hippie commune — basically a cult, though everyone is careful not to use that word. Regina initially brings a breath of fresh air into the house, though she proves insensitive and tactless, especially around Janet, and soon overstays her welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960151']The third houseguest — Avi, played by Elias Koteas — is Regina’s ex-partner and the leader of that hippie commune. Avi is the most mysterious presence in the movie, and it’s through his short-lived relationship with Janet that we fully grasp how profoundly unhappy she is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The title \u003cem>Janet Planet\u003c/em> has many meanings — it’s the name of the acupuncture studio that Janet operates out of the house. It’s also a passing reference to the nickname that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15396571/van-morrison\" target=\"15396571\" rel=\"noopener\">Van Morrison\u003c/a> gave the songwriter Janet Rigsbee, who inspired a lot of his love songs during their five-year marriage. But the title is most meaningful as it frames our understanding of Janet, whose quiet magnetism really does seem to draw other people, especially men, into her orbit. As we see in Nicholson’s heartbreaking performance, it’s been as much a curse as it is a blessing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the movie’s subtlest achievements is the way it clues us into Janet’s perspective, even as it keeps Janet herself at a bit of a distance. Much of the time we’re studying Janet through Lacy’s eyes, and what’s uncanny is the way Baker captures a sense of the girl’s growing disillusionment — that intensely specific moment when a child begins to see even a doting parent in a clear and not always flattering new light. By the end of \u003cem>Janet Planet\u003c/em>, not much has happened, and yet something momentous seems to have taken place. You want Baker to return to these characters, to show us how Janet and Lacy continue to change and grow, together and apart, in the years — and the summers — to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Janet Planet’ is released nationwide on June 28, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Amid the current crop of summer movies, I can’t think of one that captures the \u003cem>feeling\u003c/em> of summer more evocatively than \u003cem>Janet Planet. \u003c/em>Much of the story takes place in a rustic house in woodsy Western Massachusetts; by day, sunlight streams in through enormous windows, and at night, chirping crickets flood the soundtrack. The celebrated playwright Annie Baker, here writing and directing her first film, has uncanny powers of observation and a talent for evoking time and place. She also has two memorable lead characters and a sharply funny and moving story to tell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the summer of 1991. The story begins when 11-year-old Lacy, played by the terrific newcomer Zoe Ziegler, calls her mom from camp and demands to be taken home early; her exact words are “I’m gonna kill myself if you don’t come get me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/_aBF_v0gvpQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/_aBF_v0gvpQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The movie is divided into three loose chapters, each one focused on a friend or significant other of Janet’s who becomes a houseguest for a spell. First up is her boyfriend Wayne, played by a gruff Will Patton, who has a daughter around Lacy’s age but doesn’t take too kindly to Lacy herself. He’s soon out the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second chapter we meet Regina, played by a wonderful Sophie Okonedo, a free-spirited drifter who comes to stay with Janet and Lacy after leaving a local hippie commune — basically a cult, though everyone is careful not to use that word. Regina initially brings a breath of fresh air into the house, though she proves insensitive and tactless, especially around Janet, and soon overstays her welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The third houseguest — Avi, played by Elias Koteas — is Regina’s ex-partner and the leader of that hippie commune. Avi is the most mysterious presence in the movie, and it’s through his short-lived relationship with Janet that we fully grasp how profoundly unhappy she is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The title \u003cem>Janet Planet\u003c/em> has many meanings — it’s the name of the acupuncture studio that Janet operates out of the house. It’s also a passing reference to the nickname that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15396571/van-morrison\" target=\"15396571\" rel=\"noopener\">Van Morrison\u003c/a> gave the songwriter Janet Rigsbee, who inspired a lot of his love songs during their five-year marriage. But the title is most meaningful as it frames our understanding of Janet, whose quiet magnetism really does seem to draw other people, especially men, into her orbit. As we see in Nicholson’s heartbreaking performance, it’s been as much a curse as it is a blessing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the movie’s subtlest achievements is the way it clues us into Janet’s perspective, even as it keeps Janet herself at a bit of a distance. Much of the time we’re studying Janet through Lacy’s eyes, and what’s uncanny is the way Baker captures a sense of the girl’s growing disillusionment — that intensely specific moment when a child begins to see even a doting parent in a clear and not always flattering new light. By the end of \u003cem>Janet Planet\u003c/em>, not much has happened, and yet something momentous seems to have taken place. You want Baker to return to these characters, to show us how Janet and Lacy continue to change and grow, together and apart, in the years — and the summers — to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Janet Planet’ is released nationwide on June 28, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In ‘The Bear’ Season 3, Experimentation Is Still on the Menu",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Season 3 of The Bear is out now from FX on Hulu. The review below contains details from the season.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Bear \u003c/em>is a show about scars and ghosts, because it is in so many ways a show about consequences and grief. Not all the scars are visible, of course, and not all the ghosts are dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the opening of the excellent third season, we find Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) alone in the dark, the morning after his new restaurant’s tryout night, staring at a gnarly old scar on his palm and thinking about people who aren’t there. People who have died, but also people he’s hurt, people he doesn’t know how to talk to, people who have changed him for good and for ill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960144']The episode unfolds from there not in a straight line but as a looping, layered look at multiple pieces of Carmy’s life that sit on top of each other like a stack of pancakes you can cut through and expose all at once. One is this difficult morning after he got locked in the walk-in fridge. Some involve events in his family — Mikey’s death and telling Nat goodbye when he moved to New York years ago. Some involve Claire (Molly Gordon), whom he kisses in quick flashes. But mostly, we watch Carmy’s experiences in various kitchens in Chicago, on the east and west coasts, and in Copenhagen. We watch him and Luca (Will Poulter) working for chef Terry (Olivia Colman). We see him learn from chefs Daniel Boulud, Rene Redzepi and Thomas Keller, all of whom appear as themselves. We see more of the damage that was inflicted on him by the cruel New York chef played by Joel McHale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it doesn’t offer up the same pleasures we’re used to, like seeing this big cast yell back and forth, the episode is an example of \u003cem>The Bear\u003c/em>‘s greatest strength. Despite its success, the show is creatively restless, always. This is not a conventional episode of TV, let alone a conventional season opener. It’s moody and disorienting, it doesn’t advance the plot a whole lot, and it may take a couple of viewings to understand where in time you’re located. If episodes dropped one at a time, this opener might leave an audience cold. But with multiple episodes available at once, including a much more typical second episode where the restaurant is trying to get ready for its real opening night, creator Christopher Storer and the rest of the creative team can get away with this kind of experimentation, and so they do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960386\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1292px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960386\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM.png\" alt=\"A middle-aged white man with a scruffy beard stands with his head close to a closed door.\" width=\"1292\" height=\"692\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM.png 1292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-800x428.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-1020x546.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-160x86.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-768x411.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1292px) 100vw, 1292px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Cousin Richie. \u003ccite>(FX)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The same is true of the episodes that step away from Carmy and Sydney and Richie, even though those three characters are so beloved and mesmerizing. There aren’t any epics in this season on the scale of season two’s brilliant “Forks” and “Fishes,” but there are more intimate opportunities to visit with the rest of the cast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ayo Edebiri (who plays Sydney) directs “Napkins,” a standout episode about Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas). Not for nothing, “Napkins” also includes the strongest scene the show has ever done with Mikey (Jon Bernthal), \u003cem>The Bear\u003c/em>‘s greatest ghost of all. Abby Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis hold down “Ice Chips,” in which Nat’s mother, Donna — also, in her way, a ghost — is not the person Nat wants on hand as she prepares to give birth, but Donna is who she’s got.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s this constant push-push-push against the obvious next move that makes \u003cem>The Bear \u003c/em>compelling. What earned so much praise in the first season was the grimy, loving clamor of The Beef, so they abandoned it for the team’s pivot to fine dining in season 2, which opened up new possibilities for stories about learning and self-actualization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13959918']And now that The Bear exists and can serve food, the focus shifts again. Because what’s at stake, particularly in the late part of this third season, are questions about creativity and excellence. There is, in the real world, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/burn-it-down-maureen-ryan?variant=41105489330210\">push to de-romanticize\u003c/a> abusive behaviors that have long been written off as part of an initiation process that one has to endure in order to become great. And \u003cem>The Bear \u003c/em>dives headlong into its own exploration of toxicity and hard work without ever stepping over the line into didactic posturing. Instead, it goes back to those two big weapons that give it the gravity and emotional scale it maintained over its first two seasons: scars and ghosts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carmy’s industry ghosts are good and bad. He has worked for Chef Terry, who is kind and creates an environment of high standards but humane treatment — and her restaurant, Ever, transformed Richie’s life, too. But Carmy has also worked for the abusive nightmare of a boss played by Joel McHale. The scars from that job are in his anxiety and self-flagellation, but also in little habits like the neatly cut labeling tape that he attaches to deli containers and the handles of saucepans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would be lovely to believe Carmy could never become Joel McHale. But when he unveils his list of “non-negotiables” for The Bear, it’s less the items on the list and more the way he delivers the list — as an impatient authoritarian — that seems ominous. He has become obsessed with getting a Michelin star, and declares that the menu will change every single day, which upends the economics of the business and the work that’s done by Sydney, Richie, Nat, Tina, Marcus, and everybody else who works there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960387\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1292px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960387\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM.png\" alt=\"A Black woman stands in a kitchen looking stressed. She is wearing a white t-shirt and black apron.\" width=\"1292\" height=\"706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM.png 1292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-800x437.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-1020x557.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-160x87.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-768x420.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1292px) 100vw, 1292px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu. \u003ccite>(FX)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is also a very strong season for Sydney and Richie. Edebiri perfectly captures Sydney’s hesitation about attaching herself to Carmy as his obsessive focus on quality and achievement turns self-destructive. And Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who discovered he was a born fine-dining service guy when he staged at Ever, finds himself trying to protect his dining room and his right to run it. It’s their complicated love for Carmy (and each other), as well as his for them, that makes all of this feel so emotionally urgent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13959577']The idea of Carmy becoming one of Sydney’s unhappy ghosts, after all, is almost too much to take, and the lack of reconciliation after the bitter fight between Carmy and Richie through the walk-in door casts a pall over any success they have together. (The character of Claire, who felt under-written even last season, is a far less effective emotional lever, particularly now, when she is almost entirely talked about but never seen.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are, of course, things in the season that don’t work quite so well, though most of them feel less like failure than like excess. There is a little too much of the Fak family, headed by Neil, played by Matty Matheson. Neil is a brilliant creation, played brilliantly, and when he’s part of conversations with the whole staff, his presence is critical to getting the balance of those scenes right. But as the Faks multiply over the course of this season, they get a little too silly, and they also are the source of the only guest appearance out of \u003cem>many \u003c/em>big ones in the show’s history that has ever tipped over into feeling like stunt casting — into seemingly doing a thing just to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960388\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1290px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960388\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM.png\" alt=\"Close up of a rotund man with a moustache and tattooed head.\" width=\"1290\" height=\"886\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM.png 1290w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-800x549.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-1020x701.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-160x110.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-768x527.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matty Matheson as Neil Fak. \u003ccite>(FX)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We are also getting diminishing returns by the end of this season from the frequent appearances by real chefs. A lesson to Carmy from Thomas Keller goes on for too long, and a late-season gathering of real chefs, while it has its delights, also feels indulgent. It’s understandable that the show wants to make a spectacle of how beloved it is by the real food world and how much star chefs want to elbow their way into episodes. But unsurprisingly, \u003cem>The Bear\u003c/em> gets its best acting work from actors. And detouring into celebrity cameos is tricky at a moment when time with the main cast feels precious and the story is gaining steam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13959635']Speaking of which: This is not really a season; it is half a season. It ends with a cliffhanger, “To Be Continued.” It doesn’t resolve either the main plot threads or the emotional tangles that have been built over these ten episodes. That’s a choice the people behind the show have made, and it candidly seems like a perilous one for a project that presumably won’t come back for many months. Because of the exceptional acting and writing, they will perhaps get away with the anticlimax of it (so different from the big thunderclaps of the last two seasons ending), but it might have worked better to give \u003cem>some \u003c/em>resolution to \u003cem>something\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All in all, though, this remains a tremendously creative, audacious show that is full of pleasures both expected and unexpected. The fact that it doesn’t repeat its successes as much as it tries to reshape itself each time around is perhaps like Carmy’s ever-changing menu: It can lead to a certain number of misfires, but it’s a way to show and share all that you can do.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All Season 3 episodes of ‘The Bear’ are streaming now via FX and Hulu.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Season 3 of The Bear is out now from FX on Hulu. The review below contains details from the season.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Bear \u003c/em>is a show about scars and ghosts, because it is in so many ways a show about consequences and grief. Not all the scars are visible, of course, and not all the ghosts are dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the opening of the excellent third season, we find Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) alone in the dark, the morning after his new restaurant’s tryout night, staring at a gnarly old scar on his palm and thinking about people who aren’t there. People who have died, but also people he’s hurt, people he doesn’t know how to talk to, people who have changed him for good and for ill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The episode unfolds from there not in a straight line but as a looping, layered look at multiple pieces of Carmy’s life that sit on top of each other like a stack of pancakes you can cut through and expose all at once. One is this difficult morning after he got locked in the walk-in fridge. Some involve events in his family — Mikey’s death and telling Nat goodbye when he moved to New York years ago. Some involve Claire (Molly Gordon), whom he kisses in quick flashes. But mostly, we watch Carmy’s experiences in various kitchens in Chicago, on the east and west coasts, and in Copenhagen. We watch him and Luca (Will Poulter) working for chef Terry (Olivia Colman). We see him learn from chefs Daniel Boulud, Rene Redzepi and Thomas Keller, all of whom appear as themselves. We see more of the damage that was inflicted on him by the cruel New York chef played by Joel McHale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it doesn’t offer up the same pleasures we’re used to, like seeing this big cast yell back and forth, the episode is an example of \u003cem>The Bear\u003c/em>‘s greatest strength. Despite its success, the show is creatively restless, always. This is not a conventional episode of TV, let alone a conventional season opener. It’s moody and disorienting, it doesn’t advance the plot a whole lot, and it may take a couple of viewings to understand where in time you’re located. If episodes dropped one at a time, this opener might leave an audience cold. But with multiple episodes available at once, including a much more typical second episode where the restaurant is trying to get ready for its real opening night, creator Christopher Storer and the rest of the creative team can get away with this kind of experimentation, and so they do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960386\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1292px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960386\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM.png\" alt=\"A middle-aged white man with a scruffy beard stands with his head close to a closed door.\" width=\"1292\" height=\"692\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM.png 1292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-800x428.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-1020x546.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-160x86.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.45.38-AM-768x411.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1292px) 100vw, 1292px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Cousin Richie. \u003ccite>(FX)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The same is true of the episodes that step away from Carmy and Sydney and Richie, even though those three characters are so beloved and mesmerizing. There aren’t any epics in this season on the scale of season two’s brilliant “Forks” and “Fishes,” but there are more intimate opportunities to visit with the rest of the cast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ayo Edebiri (who plays Sydney) directs “Napkins,” a standout episode about Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas). Not for nothing, “Napkins” also includes the strongest scene the show has ever done with Mikey (Jon Bernthal), \u003cem>The Bear\u003c/em>‘s greatest ghost of all. Abby Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis hold down “Ice Chips,” in which Nat’s mother, Donna — also, in her way, a ghost — is not the person Nat wants on hand as she prepares to give birth, but Donna is who she’s got.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s this constant push-push-push against the obvious next move that makes \u003cem>The Bear \u003c/em>compelling. What earned so much praise in the first season was the grimy, loving clamor of The Beef, so they abandoned it for the team’s pivot to fine dining in season 2, which opened up new possibilities for stories about learning and self-actualization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>And now that The Bear exists and can serve food, the focus shifts again. Because what’s at stake, particularly in the late part of this third season, are questions about creativity and excellence. There is, in the real world, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/burn-it-down-maureen-ryan?variant=41105489330210\">push to de-romanticize\u003c/a> abusive behaviors that have long been written off as part of an initiation process that one has to endure in order to become great. And \u003cem>The Bear \u003c/em>dives headlong into its own exploration of toxicity and hard work without ever stepping over the line into didactic posturing. Instead, it goes back to those two big weapons that give it the gravity and emotional scale it maintained over its first two seasons: scars and ghosts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carmy’s industry ghosts are good and bad. He has worked for Chef Terry, who is kind and creates an environment of high standards but humane treatment — and her restaurant, Ever, transformed Richie’s life, too. But Carmy has also worked for the abusive nightmare of a boss played by Joel McHale. The scars from that job are in his anxiety and self-flagellation, but also in little habits like the neatly cut labeling tape that he attaches to deli containers and the handles of saucepans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would be lovely to believe Carmy could never become Joel McHale. But when he unveils his list of “non-negotiables” for The Bear, it’s less the items on the list and more the way he delivers the list — as an impatient authoritarian — that seems ominous. He has become obsessed with getting a Michelin star, and declares that the menu will change every single day, which upends the economics of the business and the work that’s done by Sydney, Richie, Nat, Tina, Marcus, and everybody else who works there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960387\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1292px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960387\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM.png\" alt=\"A Black woman stands in a kitchen looking stressed. She is wearing a white t-shirt and black apron.\" width=\"1292\" height=\"706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM.png 1292w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-800x437.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-1020x557.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-160x87.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.49.39-AM-768x420.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1292px) 100vw, 1292px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu. \u003ccite>(FX)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is also a very strong season for Sydney and Richie. Edebiri perfectly captures Sydney’s hesitation about attaching herself to Carmy as his obsessive focus on quality and achievement turns self-destructive. And Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who discovered he was a born fine-dining service guy when he staged at Ever, finds himself trying to protect his dining room and his right to run it. It’s their complicated love for Carmy (and each other), as well as his for them, that makes all of this feel so emotionally urgent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The idea of Carmy becoming one of Sydney’s unhappy ghosts, after all, is almost too much to take, and the lack of reconciliation after the bitter fight between Carmy and Richie through the walk-in door casts a pall over any success they have together. (The character of Claire, who felt under-written even last season, is a far less effective emotional lever, particularly now, when she is almost entirely talked about but never seen.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are, of course, things in the season that don’t work quite so well, though most of them feel less like failure than like excess. There is a little too much of the Fak family, headed by Neil, played by Matty Matheson. Neil is a brilliant creation, played brilliantly, and when he’s part of conversations with the whole staff, his presence is critical to getting the balance of those scenes right. But as the Faks multiply over the course of this season, they get a little too silly, and they also are the source of the only guest appearance out of \u003cem>many \u003c/em>big ones in the show’s history that has ever tipped over into feeling like stunt casting — into seemingly doing a thing just to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960388\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1290px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960388\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM.png\" alt=\"Close up of a rotund man with a moustache and tattooed head.\" width=\"1290\" height=\"886\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM.png 1290w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-800x549.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-1020x701.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-160x110.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-27-at-11.52.41-AM-768x527.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matty Matheson as Neil Fak. \u003ccite>(FX)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We are also getting diminishing returns by the end of this season from the frequent appearances by real chefs. A lesson to Carmy from Thomas Keller goes on for too long, and a late-season gathering of real chefs, while it has its delights, also feels indulgent. It’s understandable that the show wants to make a spectacle of how beloved it is by the real food world and how much star chefs want to elbow their way into episodes. But unsurprisingly, \u003cem>The Bear\u003c/em> gets its best acting work from actors. And detouring into celebrity cameos is tricky at a moment when time with the main cast feels precious and the story is gaining steam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Speaking of which: This is not really a season; it is half a season. It ends with a cliffhanger, “To Be Continued.” It doesn’t resolve either the main plot threads or the emotional tangles that have been built over these ten episodes. That’s a choice the people behind the show have made, and it candidly seems like a perilous one for a project that presumably won’t come back for many months. Because of the exceptional acting and writing, they will perhaps get away with the anticlimax of it (so different from the big thunderclaps of the last two seasons ending), but it might have worked better to give \u003cem>some \u003c/em>resolution to \u003cem>something\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All in all, though, this remains a tremendously creative, audacious show that is full of pleasures both expected and unexpected. The fact that it doesn’t repeat its successes as much as it tries to reshape itself each time around is perhaps like Carmy’s ever-changing menu: It can lead to a certain number of misfires, but it’s a way to show and share all that you can do.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All Season 3 episodes of ‘The Bear’ are streaming now via FX and Hulu.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Shhhh... the Novelty is Gone in ‘A Quiet Place’ Prequel",
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"content": "\u003cp>Not all successful movies need to be franchises. Most really shouldn’t be. That’s not how Hollywood works, of course, but it’s worth repeating. Because in the case of \u003cem>A Quiet Place\u003c/em>, now on its third movie with a prequel about a few new characters in New York on the first day of the invasion, the thrill of that fresh idea has waned. And when that happens, what are we left with?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960151']There were certainly many questions about the how and the why of the killing monsters with hypersensitive hearing. The internet is full of logic questions and holes if you’re curious. But the beauty of \u003cem>A Quiet Place\u003c/em> was the silly mystery. We were just dropped into this apocalyptic world with a very simple but challenging rule: If you make a noise, you die. Got it. Scarcity of information worked in its favor as we got to know this family just trying to survive (and deliver a baby quietly!) Its sequel worked mostly because it smartly chose to continue that same journey, picking up exactly where we had left off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A Quiet Place: Day One\u003c/em>, directed and co-written by Michael Sarnoski (sharing a credit with John Krasinski), shifts focus from the Abbott family to a new character, Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), who is dying of cancer. She is bitter, sarcastic and mean. And taking the “save the cat” idea to its literal extreme, Sam does have one friend: A cat named Frodo. This seems like an unnecessary crutch, simply because if anyone is going to make a hostile character a compelling hero, it’s Nyong’o. Both she and Joseph Quinn, playing a British law student named Eric, have deeply expressive, saucer-sized eyes that make dialogue almost unnecessary. But without a newborn in the mix, the cat adds an extra element of chaos by surviving for more than 3 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-WIb4ATfT8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is something compelling about the idea of what a terminal person might do on the first day of the apocalypse, and Nyong’o is powerful and heartbreaking on this quest for the perfect slice. There’s a beauty in the simplicity and insanity of it. What Eric is doing there, however, is anyone’s guess. He’s a little too underwritten to make much sense of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960332']Also, there are competing forces at play, with \u003cem>Day One\u003c/em> wanting to be both a meditative character study and a thrilling horror movie that gives us more monsters, more carnage, more jump scares and unsettling memories of 9/11. They never quite mesh, and several choices make it seem like the filmmakers were just trying to shoehorn in excitement without much justification. One of the most exciting sequences that captures the terror of Krasinski’s films is when Eric goes to a pharmacy to try to get meds for Sam. It’s simple, efficient and full of dread and tension because it’s a necessary risk, unlike many of the bigger set pieces that feel more strained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately \u003cem>Day One\u003c/em> could have been set around any old apocalypse. Tethering it to the rules of \u003cem>A Quiet Place\u003c/em>, a smart premise whose novelty is impossible to recreate let alone build a world upon, just holds it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ is released nationwide on June 27, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Not all successful movies need to be franchises. Most really shouldn’t be. That’s not how Hollywood works, of course, but it’s worth repeating. Because in the case of \u003cem>A Quiet Place\u003c/em>, now on its third movie with a prequel about a few new characters in New York on the first day of the invasion, the thrill of that fresh idea has waned. And when that happens, what are we left with?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There were certainly many questions about the how and the why of the killing monsters with hypersensitive hearing. The internet is full of logic questions and holes if you’re curious. But the beauty of \u003cem>A Quiet Place\u003c/em> was the silly mystery. We were just dropped into this apocalyptic world with a very simple but challenging rule: If you make a noise, you die. Got it. Scarcity of information worked in its favor as we got to know this family just trying to survive (and deliver a baby quietly!) Its sequel worked mostly because it smartly chose to continue that same journey, picking up exactly where we had left off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A Quiet Place: Day One\u003c/em>, directed and co-written by Michael Sarnoski (sharing a credit with John Krasinski), shifts focus from the Abbott family to a new character, Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), who is dying of cancer. She is bitter, sarcastic and mean. And taking the “save the cat” idea to its literal extreme, Sam does have one friend: A cat named Frodo. This seems like an unnecessary crutch, simply because if anyone is going to make a hostile character a compelling hero, it’s Nyong’o. Both she and Joseph Quinn, playing a British law student named Eric, have deeply expressive, saucer-sized eyes that make dialogue almost unnecessary. But without a newborn in the mix, the cat adds an extra element of chaos by surviving for more than 3 minutes.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/E-WIb4ATfT8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/E-WIb4ATfT8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>There is something compelling about the idea of what a terminal person might do on the first day of the apocalypse, and Nyong’o is powerful and heartbreaking on this quest for the perfect slice. There’s a beauty in the simplicity and insanity of it. What Eric is doing there, however, is anyone’s guess. He’s a little too underwritten to make much sense of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Also, there are competing forces at play, with \u003cem>Day One\u003c/em> wanting to be both a meditative character study and a thrilling horror movie that gives us more monsters, more carnage, more jump scares and unsettling memories of 9/11. They never quite mesh, and several choices make it seem like the filmmakers were just trying to shoehorn in excitement without much justification. One of the most exciting sequences that captures the terror of Krasinski’s films is when Eric goes to a pharmacy to try to get meds for Sam. It’s simple, efficient and full of dread and tension because it’s a necessary risk, unlike many of the bigger set pieces that feel more strained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately \u003cem>Day One\u003c/em> could have been set around any old apocalypse. Tethering it to the rules of \u003cem>A Quiet Place\u003c/em>, a smart premise whose novelty is impossible to recreate let alone build a world upon, just holds it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ is released nationwide on June 27, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "kinds-of-kindness-yorgos-lanthimos-film-review",
"title": "‘Kinds of Kindness’ Is a Bleak Triptych of Tortured Souls",
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"headTitle": "‘Kinds of Kindness’ Is a Bleak Triptych of Tortured Souls | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>No one would mistake one of Francis Bacon’s triptychs for a dose of painterly realism. \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/293\">Three Studies for a Crucifixion\u003c/a>\u003c/i> is a portrait of a soul, or souls, in distress. The series of contorted bodies dripping with intestinal gore are recognizable as human artifacts — the exhausted aftermath of lives undone by an array of physical and psychological torments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Yorgos Lanthimos’ \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i>, the director has made his own harrowing triptych: a starched, unblinking look at a variety of souls pressed together and blessed with the capacity to cause harm and induce grief. When Annie Lennox starts singing “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/qeMFqkcPYcg?feature=shared\">Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)\u003c/a>” over the opening sequence, Lanthimos announces the movie’s theme with characteristic bluntness. Everybody’s looking for someone to use and abuse — or wants to be used and abused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three distinct segments, each with its own subtitle, Lanthimos foregrounds abusers with malevolent or sadistic imaginations. Their victims are both willing and unwilling. These roles are unfixed: the seven main actors reappear in each storyline as different characters, swapping power dynamics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b.jpg\" alt=\"Two people on couch, one lays with head in the other's lap\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960154\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hong Chau and Jesse Plemons in ‘Kinds of Kindness.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/Fox Searchlight Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While many films structure their narrative arcs around a struggle between good and evil, Lanthimos begins \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i>, as he does most of his films, after goodness has already surrendered. His characters have been bled dry of pure intentions. He builds an unbearable amount of tension in long takes, just to see how bad things can get. The body, and the spirit housed within it, will not triumph. Lanthimos is there to zoom in on his characters’ parallel states of decay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first segment, Robert (Jesse Plemons) deliberately crashes his SUV into another car. The next day at work, we meet Robert’s employer Raymond (Willem Dafoe), their conversation a brittle confrontation between supplicant and omnipotent master. For a decade, Raymond has provided Robert with a written list of instructions that dictate his daily life, including what food he eats and when he can have sex with his wife Sarah (Hong Chau).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Robert visits Raymond’s home to beg off a second car crash, Dafoe, with a measured degree of glee and malevolence, slips into the role of an exacting film director. He repeatedly asks Robert to reenact his scripted entrance into the living room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e.jpg\" alt=\"Person stands in parking lot looking up, person in wheelchair nearby\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960158\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma Stone in ‘Kinds of Kindness.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/Fox Searchlight Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part two amps up the series of absurd situations by implying that a police officer’s wife (Emma Stone) is an imposter, a supernatural replacement. When her shoes no longer fit, her husband (Plemons) becomes suspicious. His theory is confirmed when, at his request, she’s willing to cut off one of her fingers, cook it and then serve it to him for dinner with a side of roasted cauliflower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Self-mutilation and homemade pornography make up the middle section of the film; rape, kidnapping, suicide and a cult dedicated to free love form the basis of part three. Car crashes open and close the trio. (In all this darkness, it’s a wonder Lanthimos manages to avoid bestiality, incest and pedophilia.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Lanthimos’ last film, \u003ci>Poor Things\u003c/i>, Gothic trappings and a fisheye lens made it easy for viewers to categorize it as a fable. It’s the dialogue in \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i>, not the costumes, set design or camera angles, that signals the film’s increasing sense of menace. The actors’ stiff, affectless line readings aren’t meant to conjure up relatable emotions. Lanthimos empowers his actors to forsake the conscience and moral center of the characters they play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960078\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1470px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM.png\" alt=\"A man and woman stand side-by-side behind a large outdoor receptacle of water. There are a few women standing behind them.\" width=\"1470\" height=\"972\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM.png 1470w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-800x529.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-1020x674.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-768x508.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1470px) 100vw, 1470px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons play cult members in one story segment from ‘Kinds of Kindness.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/Fox Searchlight Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Throughout the film, Jerskin Fendrix’s plangent piano soundtrack haunts Plemons’ three characters, but little else connects his roles. The entire cast of multiple selves are unified solely by their raw and unyielding appetites. Like Francis Bacon, Lanthimos favors a brutal vision of humanity that makes realistic portraiture pale in comparison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three parts of \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i> add up to a theater of cruelty that should appeal to nihilists, pessimists and anyone willing to indulge in 165 minutes of unremitting bleakness.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Kinds of Kindness’ opens in Bay Area theaters on Friday, June 28, 2024.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>No one would mistake one of Francis Bacon’s triptychs for a dose of painterly realism. \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/293\">Three Studies for a Crucifixion\u003c/a>\u003c/i> is a portrait of a soul, or souls, in distress. The series of contorted bodies dripping with intestinal gore are recognizable as human artifacts — the exhausted aftermath of lives undone by an array of physical and psychological torments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Yorgos Lanthimos’ \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i>, the director has made his own harrowing triptych: a starched, unblinking look at a variety of souls pressed together and blessed with the capacity to cause harm and induce grief. When Annie Lennox starts singing “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/qeMFqkcPYcg?feature=shared\">Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)\u003c/a>” over the opening sequence, Lanthimos announces the movie’s theme with characteristic bluntness. Everybody’s looking for someone to use and abuse — or wants to be used and abused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three distinct segments, each with its own subtitle, Lanthimos foregrounds abusers with malevolent or sadistic imaginations. Their victims are both willing and unwilling. These roles are unfixed: the seven main actors reappear in each storyline as different characters, swapping power dynamics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b.jpg\" alt=\"Two people on couch, one lays with head in the other's lap\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960154\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_b-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hong Chau and Jesse Plemons in ‘Kinds of Kindness.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/Fox Searchlight Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While many films structure their narrative arcs around a struggle between good and evil, Lanthimos begins \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i>, as he does most of his films, after goodness has already surrendered. His characters have been bled dry of pure intentions. He builds an unbearable amount of tension in long takes, just to see how bad things can get. The body, and the spirit housed within it, will not triumph. Lanthimos is there to zoom in on his characters’ parallel states of decay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first segment, Robert (Jesse Plemons) deliberately crashes his SUV into another car. The next day at work, we meet Robert’s employer Raymond (Willem Dafoe), their conversation a brittle confrontation between supplicant and omnipotent master. For a decade, Raymond has provided Robert with a written list of instructions that dictate his daily life, including what food he eats and when he can have sex with his wife Sarah (Hong Chau).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Robert visits Raymond’s home to beg off a second car crash, Dafoe, with a measured degree of glee and malevolence, slips into the role of an exacting film director. He repeatedly asks Robert to reenact his scripted entrance into the living room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e.jpg\" alt=\"Person stands in parking lot looking up, person in wheelchair nearby\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960158\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Kinds_e-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma Stone in ‘Kinds of Kindness.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/Fox Searchlight Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part two amps up the series of absurd situations by implying that a police officer’s wife (Emma Stone) is an imposter, a supernatural replacement. When her shoes no longer fit, her husband (Plemons) becomes suspicious. His theory is confirmed when, at his request, she’s willing to cut off one of her fingers, cook it and then serve it to him for dinner with a side of roasted cauliflower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Self-mutilation and homemade pornography make up the middle section of the film; rape, kidnapping, suicide and a cult dedicated to free love form the basis of part three. Car crashes open and close the trio. (In all this darkness, it’s a wonder Lanthimos manages to avoid bestiality, incest and pedophilia.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Lanthimos’ last film, \u003ci>Poor Things\u003c/i>, Gothic trappings and a fisheye lens made it easy for viewers to categorize it as a fable. It’s the dialogue in \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i>, not the costumes, set design or camera angles, that signals the film’s increasing sense of menace. The actors’ stiff, affectless line readings aren’t meant to conjure up relatable emotions. Lanthimos empowers his actors to forsake the conscience and moral center of the characters they play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960078\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1470px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM.png\" alt=\"A man and woman stand side-by-side behind a large outdoor receptacle of water. There are a few women standing behind them.\" width=\"1470\" height=\"972\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM.png 1470w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-800x529.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-1020x674.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-20-at-3.45.46-PM-768x508.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1470px) 100vw, 1470px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons play cult members in one story segment from ‘Kinds of Kindness.’ \u003ccite>(Atsushi Nishijima/Fox Searchlight Pictures)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Throughout the film, Jerskin Fendrix’s plangent piano soundtrack haunts Plemons’ three characters, but little else connects his roles. The entire cast of multiple selves are unified solely by their raw and unyielding appetites. Like Francis Bacon, Lanthimos favors a brutal vision of humanity that makes realistic portraiture pale in comparison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three parts of \u003ci>Kinds of Kindness\u003c/i> add up to a theater of cruelty that should appeal to nihilists, pessimists and anyone willing to indulge in 165 minutes of unremitting bleakness.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘Kinds of Kindness’ opens in Bay Area theaters on Friday, June 28, 2024.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960333\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1698px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-26-at-10.46.52-AM.png\" alt=\"A male taxi driver looks over his shoulder and looks at the woman in the back of his cab.\" width=\"1698\" height=\"1130\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-26-at-10.46.52-AM.png 1698w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-26-at-10.46.52-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-26-at-10.46.52-AM-1020x679.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-26-at-10.46.52-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-26-at-10.46.52-AM-768x511.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-26-at-10.46.52-AM-1536x1022.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1698px) 100vw, 1698px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn star in ‘Daddio.’ \u003ccite>(Sony Pictures Classics via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s late at night when Dakota Johnson hops into a yellow taxicab at Kennedy airport in the new film \u003cem>Daddio\u003c/em>. She’s just going home to Manhattan, 44th Street, between 9th and 10th avenues. And her cab driver (Sean Penn) decides to strike up a conversation that will last the duration of this nearly 100-minute ride. There is no “quiet” setting cab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not a horror movie, though for some a chatty driver on an unexpectedly long trip might be close. It’s not the beginning of a wild \u003cem>Collateral\u003c/em>-style night either. No, these two people from different generations, different life experiences and different classes just talk about everything — life, mistakes, technology, human nature, what makes a New Yorker, absentee fathers, affairs, human nature and love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13959268']\u003cem>Daddio\u003c/em> was written and directed by Christy Hall, a playwright. Though we are also technically stuck in a cab with Girlie (Johnson) and Clark (Penn), Hall makes it feel rather cinematic, whether her camera is in close up on her actors, a rear-view mirror, a phone screen or letting us breathe for a moment with a shot outside of the cab, on the New York skyline. Claustrophobic it is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not to say that some of the conversations won’t have you squirming in your skin a bit. The vast majority of those come from Clark, a Boomer with a heart of gold and some ideas about life that haven’t aged particularly well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taboo subjects and ideas that might get a person “cancelled” on social media are of course part of the point of this journey, in which two people who wouldn’t ever find themselves in an extended, soul-bearing conversation with each other under normal circumstances do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJrr2amlFyc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clark is one of those self-proclaimed truth-tellers who believes in his ability to read a person immediately, well-honed after 20 years of driving taxis in New York. He lures his passenger in with flattery about her New York savvy (giving cross streets instead of an address and not worrying about the meter) and shocks her when he’s able to immediately discern that the person she’s dating, and texting, is married. Her guard up a bit at the beginning with short, impersonal responses to Clark, who would ungenerously be described as a chronic mansplainer, but pretty soon they’re both in a therapy session (though mostly for her).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960040']It’s an interesting and captivating pairing of actors, borne out of Johnson’s friendship with Penn (they’re neighbors in Malibu). He’s believable as this working class guy with no filter and she is as a woman with a lot on her mind. Movies like this and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959268/am-i-ok-review-dakota-johnson-coming-out-movie-comedy-friendship\">\u003cem>AM I OK?\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, are a nice reminder how Johnson thrives with material she connects with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Daddio\u003c/em>, in theaters Friday, is ultimately a fascinating and imperfect experiment in rich lineage of modest two-handers that take on an epic scope. There are dull moments and off-putting tangents that seem to exist only to provoke, but the message at its core is a nice one about connection and empathy and occasionally uncomfortable intergenerational conversations that don’t end with someone being silenced. It might just have you thinking about starting a random chat with a stranger, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Daddio’ is released nationwide on June 28, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cem>Daddio\u003c/em> was written and directed by Christy Hall, a playwright. Though we are also technically stuck in a cab with Girlie (Johnson) and Clark (Penn), Hall makes it feel rather cinematic, whether her camera is in close up on her actors, a rear-view mirror, a phone screen or letting us breathe for a moment with a shot outside of the cab, on the New York skyline. Claustrophobic it is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not to say that some of the conversations won’t have you squirming in your skin a bit. The vast majority of those come from Clark, a Boomer with a heart of gold and some ideas about life that haven’t aged particularly well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taboo subjects and ideas that might get a person “cancelled” on social media are of course part of the point of this journey, in which two people who wouldn’t ever find themselves in an extended, soul-bearing conversation with each other under normal circumstances do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s an interesting and captivating pairing of actors, borne out of Johnson’s friendship with Penn (they’re neighbors in Malibu). He’s believable as this working class guy with no filter and she is as a woman with a lot on her mind. Movies like this and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959268/am-i-ok-review-dakota-johnson-coming-out-movie-comedy-friendship\">\u003cem>AM I OK?\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, are a nice reminder how Johnson thrives with material she connects with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Daddio\u003c/em>, in theaters Friday, is ultimately a fascinating and imperfect experiment in rich lineage of modest two-handers that take on an epic scope. There are dull moments and off-putting tangents that seem to exist only to provoke, but the message at its core is a nice one about connection and empathy and occasionally uncomfortable intergenerational conversations that don’t end with someone being silenced. It might just have you thinking about starting a random chat with a stranger, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Daddio’ is released nationwide on June 28, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960318\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 810px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960318\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74.jpeg\" alt=\"A book cover showing a family gathered around a pool being filmed by TV cameras. \" width=\"810\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74.jpeg 810w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74-768x1024.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV’ by Emily Nussbaum. \u003ccite>(Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pulitzer Prize-winning \u003cem>New Yorker\u003c/em> critic Emily Nussbaum first conceived her sweeping chronicle of the rise of reality TV in 2003 — shortly after the debut of \u003cem>The Bachelor \u003c/em>and three years into \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em>. But back then the reception from fellow writers was as icy as public attitudes towards the genre. “You better write that one fast,” she recalls a friend warning her. “Reality television was a fad … a bubble that would pop before I could get anything on the page.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twenty years later, Nussbaum’s \u003cem>Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV\u003c/em> is a near definitive history of the genre that forever changed American entertainment. The book’s 20-year journey to publication is a tiny mirror of its subject’s rise to the center of American culture. As Nussbaum shows, “Critics had written off reality programming as a fad back in the 1940s, when mouthy civilians first shook up the economics of radio; and in the 1970s, during the flareups over \u003cem>An American Family \u003c/em>and \u003cem>The Gong Show\u003c/em>; and then again in the 1990s, when Fox and MTV set out to disrupt the major networks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960267']The dismissive pattern continued for decades — and critics were wrong every time. The much maligned reality genre has “always been a trap” for someone in Nussbaum’s profession — as a critic you would either “clutch your pearls,” failing to “see the fun in it” or succumb to the temptation to “treat reality too lightly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across 14 chapters, Nussbaum successfully walks a tightrope. Avoiding censure and trivialization, her narrative keenly captures the reality genre “through the voices of the people who built it” — “step by step, experiment by experiment” in riveting, energetic detail. Determined to see it as the makers and audiences did, and to translate the genre’s diversity, appeal and significance to the page, Nussbaum conducted interviews with a staggering 300 people who worked in every conceivable capacity — from network executives to show creators to crafts people and cast members — on some of the most important reality shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From these interviews, Nussbaum fashions a compelling oral history, transforming the scattered highs, lows, and tipping points of a genre constantly in flux into a cohesive exploration of the invention, evolution and importance of the modern reality show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As juicy and provocative as it is analytical, \u003cem>Cue the Sun!\u003c/em> exposes the seamy underbelly of reality TV where that’s needed but also corrects unduly negative, and unfounded, assumptions. For example, on the motivations of the people who become the casts of these shows, Nussbaum concludes: “For many people, doing this kind of television wasn’t a naïve misstep at all — it was a conscious choice to participate in an extreme sport, one whose risks they embraced.” This insight emerges as a common theme across most of these chapters in the voices of wildly diverse on-screen participants — across programs as disparate as the 1970s \u003cem>An American Family\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire\u003c/em>, and \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many critics have painted reality TV in broad strokes, Nussbaum captures fascinating complexity and nuance. Perhaps the most poignant chapter focuses on PBS’s pioneering precursor to modern reality programming. The tip of the spear in an emerging genre dubbed the “dirty documentary,” in a single season \u003cem>An American Family\u003c/em> exploded the traditional nuclear ideal through California’s prosperous Loud family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13959693']Putting a microscope to five teenage kids and two parents at odds, for seven months, the show delivered a microcosm of America’s rapid cultural shifts as the Louds navigated infidelity, a son’s sexuality, and divorce. While the filmmakers played it straight, according to Nussbaum, the Louds felt stung by the 24/7 cameras and scathing public reaction. It was a startling precursor of what was to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades later, with the possible exception of a \u003cem>Dating Game\u003c/em> contestant who turned out to be a serial killer, perhaps no episode is as jaw-dropping as the story of \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em>. Nussbaum’s storytelling reaches the height of its powers in a blow by blow of \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em> season one that will give you the creepy crawlies: fleas under the skin, snakes on the belly, parasites in the intestines. But it’s hard to figure what’s more treacherous, the wildlife or the humans committed to making compelling TV at any cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the book’s strengths, at crucial times the accounts of insiders prove insufficient; context and a critical counterpoint are needed. But in its commitment to handing the mic to the makers, the book eschews outside perspectives. There are exceptions: With \u003cem>An American Family,\u003c/em> we gain insight into the challenge of being gay man on TV in the ’70s through snippets of contemporaneous media and viewer letters. The book also nods to criticism of \u003cem>Queer Eye for the Straight Guy \u003c/em>from the gay community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to the situation with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/02/20/1232527337/tv-critics-association-bachelor\">race on \u003cem>The Bachelor\u003c/em> franchise\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Cue The Sun!\u003c/em> is noticeably quiet. It acknowledges that creator Mike Fleiss stepped down after an internal investigation into allegations of racial discrimination led to a “racial reckoning.” And Nussbaum spoke to one of the two Black contestants from \u003cem>The Bachelor\u003c/em>‘s first season, LaNease Adams. Following her stint on\u003cem> The Bachelor,\u003c/em> Adams buckled under relentless public scrutiny and racist online attacks, with mental health concerns \u003ca href=\"https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a33075184/bachelor-alex-michel-lanease-adams-depression/\">eventually sending her to the hospital\u003c/a>. Still, she blames herself for being “naive about racism” and defends the show’s treatment and handling of race. Adams’ comments are fascinating, but not exactly illuminating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13959550']Nussbaum declines to explore the perspectives of Black critics and viewers. Given that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/21/969943721/in-a-season-highlighting-diversity-the-bachelor-lands-in-controversy-around-race\">\u003cem>The Bachelor’\u003c/em>s racial conflicts were legion\u003c/a>, and Black women are both a vibrant part of the audience and of the critical community, that seems an odd choice. In a complex chapter with plenty of controversy about gender, ethics, and exploitation, maybe there wasn’t room, but it still reads like something is missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite that blind spot, overall \u003cem>Cue the Sun!\u003c/em> is both entertaining and enlightening — full of eye-popping insight and rollicking prose. An enthusiast herself, Nussbaum makes even a reality-show-skeptic understand the appeal. She describes \u003cem>The Bachelor\u003c/em> as “a schmaltzy, sexist carnival that doubled, for viewers, as a swoony stunt, the Evel Knievel canyon leap of matrimony.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she writes just as vividly about how \u003cem>Queer Eye\u003c/em> led to the reinvention and precipitous rise of the Bravo network as executive Lauren Zalaznick “gentrified the sketchy neighborhood of reality programming, with all those basic bachelorettes and bug-eating contests,” transforming it into a “glimmering Tribeca of the mind.” There are dueling interpretations of how this new Bravo emerged from the invention of \u003cem>Queer Eye. \u003c/em>But the brilliance of the show, as Nussbaum smartly highlights, is that it was — in the words of \u003cem>Queer Eye \u003c/em>Director of Photography Michael Pearlman — “a pleasant change of pace: a reality show that was all about empowerment, rather than humiliation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bravo’s successes might be the ultimate symbol of a sunnier story about the genre that upended television. But Nussbaum ends in a darker place, explaining how the genre remade American politics by reinventing Donald Trump on \u003cem>The Apprentice\u003c/em>. Love it or hate it, that titillating and consequential tale is the writer’s mic drop to a virtuoso performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A slow runner and fast reader, Carole V. Bell is a cultural critic and communication scholar focusing on media, politics and identity. You can find her on Twitter \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bellcv\">@BellCV\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960318\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 810px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960318\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74.jpeg\" alt=\"A book cover showing a family gathered around a pool being filmed by TV cameras. \" width=\"810\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74.jpeg 810w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/untitled-design-74-768x1024.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV’ by Emily Nussbaum. \u003ccite>(Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pulitzer Prize-winning \u003cem>New Yorker\u003c/em> critic Emily Nussbaum first conceived her sweeping chronicle of the rise of reality TV in 2003 — shortly after the debut of \u003cem>The Bachelor \u003c/em>and three years into \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em>. But back then the reception from fellow writers was as icy as public attitudes towards the genre. “You better write that one fast,” she recalls a friend warning her. “Reality television was a fad … a bubble that would pop before I could get anything on the page.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twenty years later, Nussbaum’s \u003cem>Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV\u003c/em> is a near definitive history of the genre that forever changed American entertainment. The book’s 20-year journey to publication is a tiny mirror of its subject’s rise to the center of American culture. As Nussbaum shows, “Critics had written off reality programming as a fad back in the 1940s, when mouthy civilians first shook up the economics of radio; and in the 1970s, during the flareups over \u003cem>An American Family \u003c/em>and \u003cem>The Gong Show\u003c/em>; and then again in the 1990s, when Fox and MTV set out to disrupt the major networks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The dismissive pattern continued for decades — and critics were wrong every time. The much maligned reality genre has “always been a trap” for someone in Nussbaum’s profession — as a critic you would either “clutch your pearls,” failing to “see the fun in it” or succumb to the temptation to “treat reality too lightly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across 14 chapters, Nussbaum successfully walks a tightrope. Avoiding censure and trivialization, her narrative keenly captures the reality genre “through the voices of the people who built it” — “step by step, experiment by experiment” in riveting, energetic detail. Determined to see it as the makers and audiences did, and to translate the genre’s diversity, appeal and significance to the page, Nussbaum conducted interviews with a staggering 300 people who worked in every conceivable capacity — from network executives to show creators to crafts people and cast members — on some of the most important reality shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From these interviews, Nussbaum fashions a compelling oral history, transforming the scattered highs, lows, and tipping points of a genre constantly in flux into a cohesive exploration of the invention, evolution and importance of the modern reality show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As juicy and provocative as it is analytical, \u003cem>Cue the Sun!\u003c/em> exposes the seamy underbelly of reality TV where that’s needed but also corrects unduly negative, and unfounded, assumptions. For example, on the motivations of the people who become the casts of these shows, Nussbaum concludes: “For many people, doing this kind of television wasn’t a naïve misstep at all — it was a conscious choice to participate in an extreme sport, one whose risks they embraced.” This insight emerges as a common theme across most of these chapters in the voices of wildly diverse on-screen participants — across programs as disparate as the 1970s \u003cem>An American Family\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire\u003c/em>, and \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many critics have painted reality TV in broad strokes, Nussbaum captures fascinating complexity and nuance. Perhaps the most poignant chapter focuses on PBS’s pioneering precursor to modern reality programming. The tip of the spear in an emerging genre dubbed the “dirty documentary,” in a single season \u003cem>An American Family\u003c/em> exploded the traditional nuclear ideal through California’s prosperous Loud family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Putting a microscope to five teenage kids and two parents at odds, for seven months, the show delivered a microcosm of America’s rapid cultural shifts as the Louds navigated infidelity, a son’s sexuality, and divorce. While the filmmakers played it straight, according to Nussbaum, the Louds felt stung by the 24/7 cameras and scathing public reaction. It was a startling precursor of what was to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades later, with the possible exception of a \u003cem>Dating Game\u003c/em> contestant who turned out to be a serial killer, perhaps no episode is as jaw-dropping as the story of \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em>. Nussbaum’s storytelling reaches the height of its powers in a blow by blow of \u003cem>Survivor\u003c/em> season one that will give you the creepy crawlies: fleas under the skin, snakes on the belly, parasites in the intestines. But it’s hard to figure what’s more treacherous, the wildlife or the humans committed to making compelling TV at any cost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the book’s strengths, at crucial times the accounts of insiders prove insufficient; context and a critical counterpoint are needed. But in its commitment to handing the mic to the makers, the book eschews outside perspectives. There are exceptions: With \u003cem>An American Family,\u003c/em> we gain insight into the challenge of being gay man on TV in the ’70s through snippets of contemporaneous media and viewer letters. The book also nods to criticism of \u003cem>Queer Eye for the Straight Guy \u003c/em>from the gay community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to the situation with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/02/20/1232527337/tv-critics-association-bachelor\">race on \u003cem>The Bachelor\u003c/em> franchise\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Cue The Sun!\u003c/em> is noticeably quiet. It acknowledges that creator Mike Fleiss stepped down after an internal investigation into allegations of racial discrimination led to a “racial reckoning.” And Nussbaum spoke to one of the two Black contestants from \u003cem>The Bachelor\u003c/em>‘s first season, LaNease Adams. Following her stint on\u003cem> The Bachelor,\u003c/em> Adams buckled under relentless public scrutiny and racist online attacks, with mental health concerns \u003ca href=\"https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a33075184/bachelor-alex-michel-lanease-adams-depression/\">eventually sending her to the hospital\u003c/a>. Still, she blames herself for being “naive about racism” and defends the show’s treatment and handling of race. Adams’ comments are fascinating, but not exactly illuminating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Nussbaum declines to explore the perspectives of Black critics and viewers. Given that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/21/969943721/in-a-season-highlighting-diversity-the-bachelor-lands-in-controversy-around-race\">\u003cem>The Bachelor’\u003c/em>s racial conflicts were legion\u003c/a>, and Black women are both a vibrant part of the audience and of the critical community, that seems an odd choice. In a complex chapter with plenty of controversy about gender, ethics, and exploitation, maybe there wasn’t room, but it still reads like something is missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite that blind spot, overall \u003cem>Cue the Sun!\u003c/em> is both entertaining and enlightening — full of eye-popping insight and rollicking prose. An enthusiast herself, Nussbaum makes even a reality-show-skeptic understand the appeal. She describes \u003cem>The Bachelor\u003c/em> as “a schmaltzy, sexist carnival that doubled, for viewers, as a swoony stunt, the Evel Knievel canyon leap of matrimony.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she writes just as vividly about how \u003cem>Queer Eye\u003c/em> led to the reinvention and precipitous rise of the Bravo network as executive Lauren Zalaznick “gentrified the sketchy neighborhood of reality programming, with all those basic bachelorettes and bug-eating contests,” transforming it into a “glimmering Tribeca of the mind.” There are dueling interpretations of how this new Bravo emerged from the invention of \u003cem>Queer Eye. \u003c/em>But the brilliance of the show, as Nussbaum smartly highlights, is that it was — in the words of \u003cem>Queer Eye \u003c/em>Director of Photography Michael Pearlman — “a pleasant change of pace: a reality show that was all about empowerment, rather than humiliation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bravo’s successes might be the ultimate symbol of a sunnier story about the genre that upended television. But Nussbaum ends in a darker place, explaining how the genre remade American politics by reinventing Donald Trump on \u003cem>The Apprentice\u003c/em>. Love it or hate it, that titillating and consequential tale is the writer’s mic drop to a virtuoso performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A slow runner and fast reader, Carole V. Bell is a cultural critic and communication scholar focusing on media, politics and identity. You can find her on Twitter \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bellcv\">@BellCV\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>There’s something about the shadowy moral recesses of crime and suspense fiction that makes those genres especially appealing as temperatures soar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 842px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960275\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a burning street with a police officer raising a club over a Black man's head.\" width=\"842\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM.png 842w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM-800x1152.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM-160x230.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM-768x1105.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Ash Dark as Night,’ by Gary Phillips. \u003ccite>(Soho Crime)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘Ash Dark as Night’ by Gary Phillips\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I’m beginning my recommendations with two distinctive novels that appeared this spring. Gary Phillips introduced the character of LA crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram in the 2022 novel, \u003cem>One-Shot Harry\u003c/em>. The second novel of this evocative historical series is called \u003cem>Ash Dark as Night \u003c/em>and it opens in August 1965 during the Watts riots. Harry, who’s one of two African American freelancers covering the riots, has looped his trademark Speed Graphic camera around his neck and headed into the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13959945']We’re told that Harry’s situation is, of course, riskier than that of his white counterparts: “[M]aybe one of these fellas might well get a brick upside their head from a participant, but were less likely to be jacked-up by the law. Ingram realized either side might turn on him.” Indeed, when Harry captures the death of an unarmed Black activist at the hands of the LAPD, the photo makes him famous, as well as a target.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This novel is steeped in period details like snap-brim hats and ragtop Chevy Bel Air convertibles, along with walk-ons by real life figures like pioneering African American TV journalist Louis E. Lomax. But it’s Harry’s clear-eyed take on the fallen world around him that makes this series so powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 832px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover illustrated to look like a nun holding a polaroid camera in the style of stained glass.\" width=\"832\" height=\"1206\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM.png 832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM-800x1160.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM-768x1113.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Blessed Water,’ by Margot Douaihy. \u003ccite>(Zando – Gillian Flynn Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘Blessed Water’ by Margot Douaihy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You might think a mystery about an inked-up lesbian punk musician-turned-nun is a little far-fetched; but New Orleans, the setting of the Sister Holiday series, is the city of far-fetched phenomenon, both sacred and profane. Margot Douaihy’s second book in this queer cozy series is called \u003cem>Blessed Water \u003c/em>and it finds the 34-year-old Sister Holiday up to her neck in murky flood waters and priests with secrets. Douaihy’s writing style — pure hard-boiled \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2010/01/19/122722618/just-kids-punk-icon-patti-smith-looks-back\" target=\"122722618\" rel=\"noopener\">Patti Smith\u003c/a> — contains all the contradictions that torment Sister Holiday in her bumpy journey of faith. Here she is in the Prologue recalling how she survived swallowing a glass rosary bead:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>After my prayers for clarity, for forgiveness, for a cigarette, … deep inside the wet cave of my body was an unmistakable tickle. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bead fought my stomach acid for hours, leaching its blessing or poison or unmet wish. Anything hidden always finds a way to escape, no matter its careful sealing.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Amen to that, Sister Holiday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960277\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960277\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.28.12-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a young Asian man wearing a suit.\" width=\"700\" height=\"1064\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.28.12-AM.png 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.28.12-AM-160x243.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Expat’ by Hansen Shi. \u003ccite>(Pegasus Crime)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘The Expat’ by Hansen Shi\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The main character in Hansen Shi’s excellent debut spy novel is an alienated young man named Michael Wang. He’s a first generation Chinese American a few years out of Princeton who’s hit the bamboo ceiling at General Motors in San Francisco, where he’s been working on technology for self-driving cars. Enter a femme fatale named Vivian who flatters Michael into believing that his brilliance will be recognized by her enigmatic boss in China. Once Michael settles into life in Beijing, however, he realizes he’s been tapped, not as a prodigy, but a patsy. \u003cem>The Expat \u003c/em>wraps up too abruptly, but it’s also true that I wanted this moody espionage tale to go on longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960278\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960278\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a wooded area.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM-800x1166.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘The God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Liz Moore’s extraordinary new literary suspense novel reminds me of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2002/11/05/832803/donna-tartt\" target=\"832803\" rel=\"noopener\">Donna Tartt\u003c/a>’s 1992 debut, \u003cem>The Secret History. \u003c/em>There are superficial similarities: Both are thick intricate novels featuring young people isolated in enclosed worlds — in Tartt’s story, a Vermont college campus; in Moore’s, a summer camp in New York’s Adirondack mountains. But, the vital connection for me was a reading experience where I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a touch of Gothic excess about \u003cem>The God of the Woods, \u003c/em>beginning with the premise that not one, but two children from the wealthy Van Laar family disappear from Camp Emerson in the Adirondacks 14 years apart. Moore’s story jumps around in time, chiefly from the 1950s into the ’70s and features a host of characters from different social classes — campers, counselors, townspeople and local police — and the Van Laars themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13960178']The precision of Moore’s writing never flags. Consider this reflection by Tracy, a 12-year-old camper who recalls that: “Her father once told her casually that she was built like a plum on toothpicks, and the phrase was at once so cruel and so poetic that it clicked into place around her like a harness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore’s previous book, \u003cem>Long Bright River\u003c/em>, was a superb social novel about the opioid crisis in Philadelphia; \u003cem>The God of the Woods\u003c/em> is something weirder and stranger and unforgettable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Happy summer reading wherever your tastes take you.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There’s something about the shadowy moral recesses of crime and suspense fiction that makes those genres especially appealing as temperatures soar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960275\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 842px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960275\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a burning street with a police officer raising a club over a Black man's head.\" width=\"842\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM.png 842w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM-800x1152.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM-160x230.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.22.35-AM-768x1105.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Ash Dark as Night,’ by Gary Phillips. \u003ccite>(Soho Crime)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘Ash Dark as Night’ by Gary Phillips\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I’m beginning my recommendations with two distinctive novels that appeared this spring. Gary Phillips introduced the character of LA crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram in the 2022 novel, \u003cem>One-Shot Harry\u003c/em>. The second novel of this evocative historical series is called \u003cem>Ash Dark as Night \u003c/em>and it opens in August 1965 during the Watts riots. Harry, who’s one of two African American freelancers covering the riots, has looped his trademark Speed Graphic camera around his neck and headed into the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>We’re told that Harry’s situation is, of course, riskier than that of his white counterparts: “[M]aybe one of these fellas might well get a brick upside their head from a participant, but were less likely to be jacked-up by the law. Ingram realized either side might turn on him.” Indeed, when Harry captures the death of an unarmed Black activist at the hands of the LAPD, the photo makes him famous, as well as a target.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This novel is steeped in period details like snap-brim hats and ragtop Chevy Bel Air convertibles, along with walk-ons by real life figures like pioneering African American TV journalist Louis E. Lomax. But it’s Harry’s clear-eyed take on the fallen world around him that makes this series so powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 832px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover illustrated to look like a nun holding a polaroid camera in the style of stained glass.\" width=\"832\" height=\"1206\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM.png 832w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM-800x1160.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM-160x232.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.25.15-AM-768x1113.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Blessed Water,’ by Margot Douaihy. \u003ccite>(Zando – Gillian Flynn Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘Blessed Water’ by Margot Douaihy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You might think a mystery about an inked-up lesbian punk musician-turned-nun is a little far-fetched; but New Orleans, the setting of the Sister Holiday series, is the city of far-fetched phenomenon, both sacred and profane. Margot Douaihy’s second book in this queer cozy series is called \u003cem>Blessed Water \u003c/em>and it finds the 34-year-old Sister Holiday up to her neck in murky flood waters and priests with secrets. Douaihy’s writing style — pure hard-boiled \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2010/01/19/122722618/just-kids-punk-icon-patti-smith-looks-back\" target=\"122722618\" rel=\"noopener\">Patti Smith\u003c/a> — contains all the contradictions that torment Sister Holiday in her bumpy journey of faith. Here she is in the Prologue recalling how she survived swallowing a glass rosary bead:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>After my prayers for clarity, for forgiveness, for a cigarette, … deep inside the wet cave of my body was an unmistakable tickle. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bead fought my stomach acid for hours, leaching its blessing or poison or unmet wish. Anything hidden always finds a way to escape, no matter its careful sealing.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Amen to that, Sister Holiday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960277\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960277\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.28.12-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a young Asian man wearing a suit.\" width=\"700\" height=\"1064\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.28.12-AM.png 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.28.12-AM-160x243.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The Expat’ by Hansen Shi. \u003ccite>(Pegasus Crime)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘The Expat’ by Hansen Shi\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The main character in Hansen Shi’s excellent debut spy novel is an alienated young man named Michael Wang. He’s a first generation Chinese American a few years out of Princeton who’s hit the bamboo ceiling at General Motors in San Francisco, where he’s been working on technology for self-driving cars. Enter a femme fatale named Vivian who flatters Michael into believing that his brilliance will be recognized by her enigmatic boss in China. Once Michael settles into life in Beijing, however, he realizes he’s been tapped, not as a prodigy, but a patsy. \u003cem>The Expat \u003c/em>wraps up too abruptly, but it’s also true that I wanted this moody espionage tale to go on longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960278\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960278\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM.png\" alt=\"A book cover featuring a wooded area.\" width=\"830\" height=\"1210\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM.png 830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM-800x1166.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM-160x233.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-25-at-11.30.33-AM-768x1120.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘The God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore. \u003ccite>(Riverhead Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘The God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Liz Moore’s extraordinary new literary suspense novel reminds me of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2002/11/05/832803/donna-tartt\" target=\"832803\" rel=\"noopener\">Donna Tartt\u003c/a>’s 1992 debut, \u003cem>The Secret History. \u003c/em>There are superficial similarities: Both are thick intricate novels featuring young people isolated in enclosed worlds — in Tartt’s story, a Vermont college campus; in Moore’s, a summer camp in New York’s Adirondack mountains. But, the vital connection for me was a reading experience where I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a touch of Gothic excess about \u003cem>The God of the Woods, \u003c/em>beginning with the premise that not one, but two children from the wealthy Van Laar family disappear from Camp Emerson in the Adirondacks 14 years apart. Moore’s story jumps around in time, chiefly from the 1950s into the ’70s and features a host of characters from different social classes — campers, counselors, townspeople and local police — and the Van Laars themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The precision of Moore’s writing never flags. Consider this reflection by Tracy, a 12-year-old camper who recalls that: “Her father once told her casually that she was built like a plum on toothpicks, and the phrase was at once so cruel and so poetic that it clicked into place around her like a harness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore’s previous book, \u003cem>Long Bright River\u003c/em>, was a superb social novel about the opioid crisis in Philadelphia; \u003cem>The God of the Woods\u003c/em> is something weirder and stranger and unforgettable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Happy summer reading wherever your tastes take you.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Bumpy Return Trip to Oklahoma for Tom Joad’s Descendants",
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"content": "\u003cp>There is a searing urgency to the lyrical poetry and luscious prose of playwright Octavio Solis. In his Berkeley Repertory Theatre debut production of \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em>, each character has a mission to “dale gas,” a Spanish phrase that urges a firm pedal to the metal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite some storytelling that veers into quizzical directions, it’s that very urgency that provides \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em> with its sharpest moments, informed by one of literature’s most decorated novels. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Steinbeck’s Pultizer- and Nobel-winning \u003cem>The Grapes of Wrath\u003c/em> provides the texture for this modern sequel, borne of Solis’ grand imagination and brought to the stage via David Mendizábal’s sharp direction. The 1939 novel’s flawed yet virtuous hero Tom Joad is heavily present in \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em>, as his bloodline runs deep inside his descendant, Martín Jodes (Emilio Garcia-Sanchez). \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960264\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960264\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cher Álvarez (Amelia), James Carpenter (William Joad), and Emilio Garcia-Sanchez (Martín Jodes) in ‘Mother Road,’ by Octavio Solis, at Berkeley Rep. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Martín doesn’t have much going for himself in California. He struggles to make ends meet as a migrant farmworker, moving from crop to crop. A marriage engagement to Amelia (Cher Álvarez) has gone kaput. So when a man named William Joad (James Carpenter) arrives with a mysterious proposition to bequeath 2,000 acres of Oklahoma land to Joad descendant Martín, the young man joins his older relative in a return trip to Oklahoma on Route 66, which Steinbeck dubbed “The Mother Road.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That legendary stretch of highway, which held so much peril for the Joad clan, offered the false and cruel hopes of a California where golden crops and crisp bills grew everywhere. While the Dust Bowl caused tenant farmers to flee Oklahoma in the 1930s due to economic hardship, drought and agricultural shifts, Martín, despite seeing the state as less than desirable, sees it giving his fortunes a massive boost. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That boost is not just reserved to these two road-trip compatriots, with Martín hopeful and William battling life-threatening health issues. The newfound power of Martín means hiring his passion-fueled cousin Mo (Lindsay Rico), who provides a burst of energy essential to any good road trip story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960265\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960265\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Duque-Estrada (Abelardo), Lindsay Rico (Mo), and Emilio Garcia-Sanchez (Martín Jodes) in ‘Mother Road,’ by Octavio Solis, at Berkeley Rep. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joyous moments come as the trio barrels down Route 66 in their beat-up pickup truck. (The truck itself is one of the stars of the show, with many bells and whistles — even a restaurant complete with neon sign, inside the vehicle — designed by Tanya Orellana.) Yet the road is still filled with the dangers of modern society, especially when a brown man and queer brown woman are riding in a sketchy vehicle through unwelcoming locales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who loves \u003cem>The Grapes of Wrath\u003c/em> will be pleased to engage in this adaptation. Several Easter eggs recall the harrowing nature of the Joad family. As in the novel, the dream of acquiring land and the role of protectors expanding in this modern universe is ever-present. There is a luscious excitement in connecting the brutal parallels of Tom and Martín, with each tasked to deliver critical oration that punctuates the story. (Sound by Jake Rodriguez and original music by Ritmos Tropicosmos provide scintillating texture.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Garcia-Sanchez’s performance lacks in variety is made up for by his brooding intensity. Paired with Carpenter, a veteran of the highest order, their chemistry can sometimes be hit-or-miss. They craft a bond that isn’t always fluid, but their willingness to engage and share each of their character’s vulnerabilities pushes the story toward a satisfying, powerful denouement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960263\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960263\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Moreland Milligan (Roger), Benny Wayne Sully (Curtis), Emilio Garcia-Sanchez (Martín Jodes), Courtney Walsh (Ivy), and Branden Davon Lindsay (James) in ‘Mother Road,’ by Octavio Solis, at Berkeley Rep. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The multiple characterizations of the cast are highlighted beautifully by Álvarez, who lets her various characters breathe inside some powerful discoveries. Solis emphasizes multiple stylings and humor in his narrative; one of the most effective moments comes when Álvarez delivers some critical words in Spanish. Rico’s Mo offers up laughs in some nice setups, while in one embattled moment, her range powerfully comes into play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em> could use a bit of trimming to tighten its narrative, the story still has a gripping power, coming from some of the greatest source material in literature. Solis handles his inspiration from Steinbeck with aplomb, and \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em> accentuates one devastating fact consistently: In a world that has always offered more danger than respite to its most marginalized, sometimes the best thing to do is hit the pavement hard and “dale gas,” no matter what.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Mother Road’ runs through Sunday, July 21 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyrep.org/shows/mother-road/\">Details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There is a searing urgency to the lyrical poetry and luscious prose of playwright Octavio Solis. In his Berkeley Repertory Theatre debut production of \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em>, each character has a mission to “dale gas,” a Spanish phrase that urges a firm pedal to the metal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite some storytelling that veers into quizzical directions, it’s that very urgency that provides \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em> with its sharpest moments, informed by one of literature’s most decorated novels. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Steinbeck’s Pultizer- and Nobel-winning \u003cem>The Grapes of Wrath\u003c/em> provides the texture for this modern sequel, borne of Solis’ grand imagination and brought to the stage via David Mendizábal’s sharp direction. The 1939 novel’s flawed yet virtuous hero Tom Joad is heavily present in \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em>, as his bloodline runs deep inside his descendant, Martín Jodes (Emilio Garcia-Sanchez). \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960264\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960264\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_074-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cher Álvarez (Amelia), James Carpenter (William Joad), and Emilio Garcia-Sanchez (Martín Jodes) in ‘Mother Road,’ by Octavio Solis, at Berkeley Rep. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Martín doesn’t have much going for himself in California. He struggles to make ends meet as a migrant farmworker, moving from crop to crop. A marriage engagement to Amelia (Cher Álvarez) has gone kaput. So when a man named William Joad (James Carpenter) arrives with a mysterious proposition to bequeath 2,000 acres of Oklahoma land to Joad descendant Martín, the young man joins his older relative in a return trip to Oklahoma on Route 66, which Steinbeck dubbed “The Mother Road.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That legendary stretch of highway, which held so much peril for the Joad clan, offered the false and cruel hopes of a California where golden crops and crisp bills grew everywhere. While the Dust Bowl caused tenant farmers to flee Oklahoma in the 1930s due to economic hardship, drought and agricultural shifts, Martín, despite seeing the state as less than desirable, sees it giving his fortunes a massive boost. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That boost is not just reserved to these two road-trip compatriots, with Martín hopeful and William battling life-threatening health issues. The newfound power of Martín means hiring his passion-fueled cousin Mo (Lindsay Rico), who provides a burst of energy essential to any good road trip story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960265\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960265\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_104-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Duque-Estrada (Abelardo), Lindsay Rico (Mo), and Emilio Garcia-Sanchez (Martín Jodes) in ‘Mother Road,’ by Octavio Solis, at Berkeley Rep. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joyous moments come as the trio barrels down Route 66 in their beat-up pickup truck. (The truck itself is one of the stars of the show, with many bells and whistles — even a restaurant complete with neon sign, inside the vehicle — designed by Tanya Orellana.) Yet the road is still filled with the dangers of modern society, especially when a brown man and queer brown woman are riding in a sketchy vehicle through unwelcoming locales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who loves \u003cem>The Grapes of Wrath\u003c/em> will be pleased to engage in this adaptation. Several Easter eggs recall the harrowing nature of the Joad family. As in the novel, the dream of acquiring land and the role of protectors expanding in this modern universe is ever-present. There is a luscious excitement in connecting the brutal parallels of Tom and Martín, with each tasked to deliver critical oration that punctuates the story. (Sound by Jake Rodriguez and original music by Ritmos Tropicosmos provide scintillating texture.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Garcia-Sanchez’s performance lacks in variety is made up for by his brooding intensity. Paired with Carpenter, a veteran of the highest order, their chemistry can sometimes be hit-or-miss. They craft a bond that isn’t always fluid, but their willingness to engage and share each of their character’s vulnerabilities pushes the story toward a satisfying, powerful denouement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13960263\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13960263\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/MTR_137-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Moreland Milligan (Roger), Benny Wayne Sully (Curtis), Emilio Garcia-Sanchez (Martín Jodes), Courtney Walsh (Ivy), and Branden Davon Lindsay (James) in ‘Mother Road,’ by Octavio Solis, at Berkeley Rep. \u003ccite>(Kevin Berne)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The multiple characterizations of the cast are highlighted beautifully by Álvarez, who lets her various characters breathe inside some powerful discoveries. Solis emphasizes multiple stylings and humor in his narrative; one of the most effective moments comes when Álvarez delivers some critical words in Spanish. Rico’s Mo offers up laughs in some nice setups, while in one embattled moment, her range powerfully comes into play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em> could use a bit of trimming to tighten its narrative, the story still has a gripping power, coming from some of the greatest source material in literature. Solis handles his inspiration from Steinbeck with aplomb, and \u003cem>Mother Road\u003c/em> accentuates one devastating fact consistently: In a world that has always offered more danger than respite to its most marginalized, sometimes the best thing to do is hit the pavement hard and “dale gas,” no matter what.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Mother Road’ runs through Sunday, July 21 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyrep.org/shows/mother-road/\">Details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-victory-lap-for-megan-thee-stallion-at-sfs-chase-center",
"title": "A Victory Lap for Megan Thee Stallion at SF’s Chase Center",
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"content": "\u003cp>From the moment the lights went down at Chase Center in San Francisco, it was clear that Megan Thee Stallion was ready to leave it all on the floor for her Bay Area Hotties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On June 23, the rap titan ascended on a platform during her trash-talking, latest No. 1 single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVgCLQ_JQfU\">HISS\u003c/a>,” delivering venomous bars a cappella as an enthusiastic crowd rapped along. The track clapped back at her former collaborator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953284/nicki-minaj-review-oakland-arena-pink-friday-2-tour\">Nicki Minaj\u003c/a> and Canadian menaces \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/drake-controversial-support-tory-lanez-megan-thee-stallion-shooting-appeal-1234975634/\">Drake\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1181702809/tory-lanez-megan-thee-stallion\">Tory Lanez\u003c/a>, leaving no doubt that this tour represents a boisterous victory lap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Megan Thee Stallion captured the zeitgeist in 2019 with her sex-positive lyricism and superhuman knee strength. After a global pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163603837/megans-rule-being-exceptional-doesnt-make-you-the-exception\">surviving a shooting\u003c/a> and enduring a battle with her former record label, the rapper at long last embarked on her first headlining tour, flying her “Hot Girl Summer” banner across the country in support of her self-titled third studio album, due out Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Megan Thee Stallion performs at BottleRock Napa Valley festival on Friday, May 24, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 26-song setlist covered a lot of ground, and had a lot of payoff for new and old-school fans alike. Megan Thee Stallion reached as far back as her 2017 track “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/gvSD05Yu7Ig?si=195uTm3kfDZ6ZHtg\">Stalli (Freestyle)\u003c/a>,” where she questions the penmanship of her peers while impressively using the word “onomatopoeia” in her flow: “Your favorite rapper only use onomatopoeias / You don’t wanna hear it ’cause you only wanna see her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superstardom has not been easy for the Houston rapper, who has received misogynistic and racist backlash following her breakthrough. “My motherfuckin’ body, my choice / Ain’t no lil’ dick takin’ my voice,” she rapped to the menacing beat of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA9M928sL5Y\">Gift & A Curse\u003c/a>.” The roaring crowd echoed her words back in a moment that felt both timeless and extremely timely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later in the night, fans of all genders, shapes and sizes — many dressed in their best cheek-baring outfits — joined her on stage for an epic twerk-off that celebrated individuality and pride in their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958607\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Megan Thee Stallion performs at BottleRock Napa Valley festival on Friday, May 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>GloRilla, who delivered a high-octane opening set earlier in the night, returned to the stage to perform her addictive new track featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT_83vSP1es\">Wanna Be\u003c/a>.” The duo’s synergy elevated the cocky tune to new heights, and a symphony of “Go Meg!” and “Get ’em Glo!” chants erupted as they got low. [aside postid='arts_13960019']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the show, Megan Thee Stallion interacted with the crowd as if they were her best friends, which created some hilarious moments. A fan seemingly proposed to her with a banner: “Petite Black woman who will sign an NDA.” Another fan’s sign read “Both of my boyfriends are Captain Hook,” referencing the rapper’s explicit 2020 hit. “I’m jealous,” Thee Stallion commented after initially being taken aback — the best we can do is hope the boyfriends don’t mind sharing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the show drew to a close with Megan Thee Stallion’s gargantuan Beyoncé collaboration “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEIqjoO0-Bs\">Savage Remix\u003c/a>,” for which she had a cameo in the singer’s \u003cem>RENAISSANCE\u003c/em> tour film, all I could think about was what a huge triumph this tour has been for her. If anyone had any doubt that Megan Thee Stallion is an impeccable live performer, bar spitter, knee bender and entertainer, there’s no way they could’ve left Chase Center thinking anything but that.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>From the moment the lights went down at Chase Center in San Francisco, it was clear that Megan Thee Stallion was ready to leave it all on the floor for her Bay Area Hotties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On June 23, the rap titan ascended on a platform during her trash-talking, latest No. 1 single, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVgCLQ_JQfU\">HISS\u003c/a>,” delivering venomous bars a cappella as an enthusiastic crowd rapped along. The track clapped back at her former collaborator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953284/nicki-minaj-review-oakland-arena-pink-friday-2-tour\">Nicki Minaj\u003c/a> and Canadian menaces \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/drake-controversial-support-tory-lanez-megan-thee-stallion-shooting-appeal-1234975634/\">Drake\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1181702809/tory-lanez-megan-thee-stallion\">Tory Lanez\u003c/a>, leaving no doubt that this tour represents a boisterous victory lap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Megan Thee Stallion captured the zeitgeist in 2019 with her sex-positive lyricism and superhuman knee strength. After a global pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163603837/megans-rule-being-exceptional-doesnt-make-you-the-exception\">surviving a shooting\u003c/a> and enduring a battle with her former record label, the rapper at long last embarked on her first headlining tour, flying her “Hot Girl Summer” banner across the country in support of her self-titled third studio album, due out Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_MeganTheeStallionMAIN_EG_34-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Megan Thee Stallion performs at BottleRock Napa Valley festival on Friday, May 24, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 26-song setlist covered a lot of ground, and had a lot of payoff for new and old-school fans alike. Megan Thee Stallion reached as far back as her 2017 track “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/gvSD05Yu7Ig?si=195uTm3kfDZ6ZHtg\">Stalli (Freestyle)\u003c/a>,” where she questions the penmanship of her peers while impressively using the word “onomatopoeia” in her flow: “Your favorite rapper only use onomatopoeias / You don’t wanna hear it ’cause you only wanna see her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superstardom has not been easy for the Houston rapper, who has received misogynistic and racist backlash following her breakthrough. “My motherfuckin’ body, my choice / Ain’t no lil’ dick takin’ my voice,” she rapped to the menacing beat of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA9M928sL5Y\">Gift & A Curse\u003c/a>.” The roaring crowd echoed her words back in a moment that felt both timeless and extremely timely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later in the night, fans of all genders, shapes and sizes — many dressed in their best cheek-baring outfits — joined her on stage for an epic twerk-off that celebrated individuality and pride in their bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958607\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240524_BottleRock_EG_28-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Megan Thee Stallion performs at BottleRock Napa Valley festival on Friday, May 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>GloRilla, who delivered a high-octane opening set earlier in the night, returned to the stage to perform her addictive new track featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT_83vSP1es\">Wanna Be\u003c/a>.” The duo’s synergy elevated the cocky tune to new heights, and a symphony of “Go Meg!” and “Get ’em Glo!” chants erupted as they got low. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the show, Megan Thee Stallion interacted with the crowd as if they were her best friends, which created some hilarious moments. A fan seemingly proposed to her with a banner: “Petite Black woman who will sign an NDA.” Another fan’s sign read “Both of my boyfriends are Captain Hook,” referencing the rapper’s explicit 2020 hit. “I’m jealous,” Thee Stallion commented after initially being taken aback — the best we can do is hope the boyfriends don’t mind sharing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the show drew to a close with Megan Thee Stallion’s gargantuan Beyoncé collaboration “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEIqjoO0-Bs\">Savage Remix\u003c/a>,” for which she had a cameo in the singer’s \u003cem>RENAISSANCE\u003c/em> tour film, all I could think about was what a huge triumph this tour has been for her. If anyone had any doubt that Megan Thee Stallion is an impeccable live performer, bar spitter, knee bender and entertainer, there’s no way they could’ve left Chase Center thinking anything but that.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
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"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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},
"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
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"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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