Fresh Air
Book Recommendations

Fresh Air

Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries. Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy...

Episodes 879
Books 1,286

Recently mentioned

Latest Recommendations

The Alchemist - Gift Edition cover

The Alchemist - Gift Edition

Paulo Coelho

Mentioned 3 months ago

Malala Yousafzai

Malala mentioned reading The Alchemist as one of the few books she had access to as a teenager, expressing pride in having read it.

I read The Alchemist, and like one or two other books like that, and I was so proud of myself.

Buy on Amazon
I Wasn't Supposed to Be Here: Finding My Voice, Finding My People, Finding My Way cover

I Wasn't Supposed to Be Here

Jonathan Conyers

Mentioned 3 months ago

Malala Yousafzai

The memoir was highlighted as the source that revealed how the bullet altered Malala's life and continued her journey, and it was repeatedly referenced as her recent book throughout the interview.

It's when I read her recent memoir, Finding My Way, that I learned how the bullet changed the course of her life, thrusting her into a new culture and changing her in ways that didn't quite fit her public image as an inspirational hero.

Buy on Amazon
Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria cover

Defiance

Loubna Mrie

Mentioned 5 months ago

A daughter's rebellion against a regime and her father

This memoir detailed the author's awakening, rebellion against the Syrian regime, and her survival in the country. The interviewer found the toxic family dynamics within the book to be familiar, while also noting how thoroughly the author documented the country falling apart.

Lubna Murai's new book is called Defiance, a memoir of awakening, rebellion, and survival in Syria.

Buy on Amazon
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth cover

Here We Are

Oliver Jeffers

Mentioned 5 months ago

A daughter's rebellion against a regime and her father

This was mentioned as the migrant memoir written by the guest interviewer, Aarti Shahani, which was about fighting ICE to protect her father.

You may have also heard her interviews on her podcast, Art of Power, or read her migrant memoir, which is about fighting ice to protect her father. It's called Here We Are.

Buy on Amazon
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together cover

The Sum of Us

Heather McGhee

Mentioned 5 months ago

Best Of: Mixed Marriage Project / How Racism Costs Everyone

Heather McGhee's book examines why many Americans believe progress for one group signifies loss for another, tracing how the country has chosen to destroy public goods rather than share them. The author argued that racism hurts everyone, including white Americans, by costing the country significant GDP, and presented the book as both a diagnosis and a way out.

Her book, 'The Sum of Us,' examines a question at the heart of American life: Why do so many Americans believe that progress for one group means loss for another?

Buy on Amazon
Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World cover

Torn Apart

Dorothy Roberts

Mentioned 5 months ago

Best Of: Mixed Marriage Project / How Racism Costs Everyone

This was one of Dorothy Roberts' landmark books that helped reshape how the policing of reproduction, parenting, and race in America was understood.

Her landmark books, Killing the Black Body and Torn Apart, helped reshape how we understand the policing of reproduction, parenting, and race in America.

Buy on Amazon
The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family cover

The Mixed Marriage Project

Dorothy Roberts

Mentioned 5 months ago

Best Of: Mixed Marriage Project / How Racism Costs Everyone

This is Dorothy Roberts' memoir which she wrote after discovering boxes of her late father's research interviews with interracial couples dating back to the 1930s. The discovery challenged her lifelong assumption that her father's research was inspired by his marriage to her Black Jamaican mother. She realized her father's interest in interracial marriage predated his relationship with her mother, leading her to write a book exploring her family and identity instead of just finishing his sociological work.

The memoir is called 'The Mixed Marriage Project.'

Buy on Amazon
Black Power: The politics of liberation in America, cover

Black Power

Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)

Mentioned 5 months ago

Best Of: Mixed Marriage Project / How Racism Costs Everyone

Dorothy Roberts read this book in the seventh grade, which caused her to begin developing a different perspective than her father regarding structural racism and the power of interracial love to transcend it.

And I do believe that beginning at that young age, I recognized the power of structural racism and could not accept his view that interracial love by itself would be strong enough to transcend it or overcome it or dismantle it. And so from that time on, we began to have debates about it.

Buy on Amazon
Wuthering Heights cover

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

Mentioned 5 months ago

‘Sinners’ Songwriter Raphael Saadiq

The novel was highlighted as a classic that has been adapted many times for the screen, with the latest film version starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

Emily Bronte's 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights, has been adapted for the screen numerous times. The latest version stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Bronte's ill-fated lovers, Catherine and Heathcliff, and opens in theaters this week.

Buy on Amazon
American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology cover

American Struggle

Jon Meacham

Mentioned 5 months ago

‘Sinners’ Songwriter Raphael Saadiq

The book was noted as a new collection of important speeches, letters, and other texts spanning from colonial times to today.

His new book, American Struggle, is a collection of important speeches, letters, and other texts from colonial times to today.

Buy on Amazon
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century cover

Fatal Invention

Dorothy Roberts

Mentioned 5 months ago

Love, Race & the ‘Mixed Marriage Project’

The host referenced it as Roberts's 2011 book that argues race is a political construct.

You know, your 2011 book, Fatal Invention, I want to talk about it just for a moment in the context of this work, because you argued that race is a political category, something Europeans invented to oppress other groups.

Buy on Amazon
Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage cover

Fear and Fury

Heather Ann Thompson

Mentioned 5 months ago

Best Of: Fighting for free press in Russia / ‘Fear and Fury’

This book revisited the 1984 New York City subway shooting involving Bernhard Goetz and four Black teenagers. The historian argued the case marked a political turning point where white racial fear was sanctioned by law and leveraged by elites. The book explored fear as a powerful force in American life, capable of shaping policy and excusing violence.

We are watching someone tell us exactly who they are, exactly what they did, and it will not matter. Up will become down, down will become up. And that also felt very, very familiar to where we are today.

Buy on Amazon

Most Recommended

Fantastic Four: Full Circle: A Graphic Novel (Marvel Arts) Cover

Alex Ross

Fantastic Four

Full Circle

The novel was mentioned as the first Danielle Steel book Daria read as a child, noted for its pink cover.

"

Full Circle was the first book of hers that I read.

— Episode: How Trauma Shapes Us

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: How Trauma Shapes Us

The novel was mentioned as the first Danielle Steel book Daria read as a child, noted for its pink cover.

"

Full Circle was the first book of hers that I read.

The Dream Hotel: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel Cover

Laila Lalami

The Dream Hotel

A Read with Jenna Pick

The host introduced Lalami's new suspenseful novel about a woman detained for a crime she might commit and noted its comparison to a classic scifi novella.

"

In her new novel, The Dream Hotel, author Leila Lalami plunges us into the story of a woman who is imprisoned solely on the basis that she might commit a crime.

— Episode: Best Of: 'The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle / 'Si...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Best Of: 'The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle / 'Sinners' Dir...

The host introduced Lalami's new suspenseful novel about a woman detained for a crime she might commit and noted its comparison to a classic scifi novella.

"

In her new novel, The Dream Hotel, author Leila Lalami plunges us into the story of a woman who is imprisoned solely on the basis that she might commit a crime.

She won the American Book Award for her 2014 historical novel, The Moor's Account.

The Dream Hotel has been compared to Philip K. Dick's 1956 science fiction novella, The Minority Report.

The Dream Hotel is a suspenseful novel.

The book's simmering tension is whether Sarah will be able to find a way out of this trap.

The Moor's Account: A Novel Cover

Laila Lalami

The Moor's Account

A Novel

The host mentioned Lalami's awardwinning 2014 historical novel, noting it earned an American Book Award.

"

She won the American Book Award for her 2014 historical novel, The Moor's Account.

— Episode: Best Of: 'The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle / 'Si...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Best Of: 'The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle / 'Sinners' Dir...

The host mentioned Lalami's awardwinning 2014 historical novel, noting it earned an American Book Award.

"

She won the American Book Award for her 2014 historical novel, The Moor's Account.

The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us Cover

Paul Tough

The Years That Matter Most

How College Makes or Breaks Us

It was identified as Paul Tuff's most recent book, mentioned alongside another of his recent titles.

"

Paul Tuff ... author of four books, most recently, The Inequality Machine, How College Divides Us.

— Episode: Are Kids With ADHD Being Treated Effecti...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Are Kids With ADHD Being Treated Effectively?

It was identified as Paul Tuff's most recent book, mentioned alongside another of his recent titles.

"

Paul Tuff ... author of four books, most recently, The Inequality Machine, How College Divides Us.

The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us Cover

Paul Tough

The Years That Matter Most

How College Makes or Breaks Us

It was identified as Paul Tuff's most recent book, mentioned alongside another of his recent titles.

"

Paul Tuff ... author of four books, most recently, The Inequality Machine, How College Divides Us.

— Episode: Are Kids With ADHD Being Treated Effecti...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Are Kids With ADHD Being Treated Effectively?

It was identified as Paul Tuff's most recent book, mentioned alongside another of his recent titles.

"

Paul Tuff ... author of four books, most recently, The Inequality Machine, How College Divides Us.

The Dream Hotel: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel Cover

Laila Lalami

The Dream Hotel

A Read with Jenna Pick

The novel was described as a dystopian story about a woman imprisoned because an algorithm flags her as a future crime risk, and it was praised as a suspenseful, gripping work.

"

In her new novel, The Dream Hotel, author Leila Lalami plunges us into the story of a woman who is imprisoned solely on the basis that she might commit a crime.

— Episode: Ryan Coogler Paid A Steep Price For The...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Ryan Coogler Paid A Steep Price For The Films He M...

The novel was described as a dystopian story about a woman imprisoned because an algorithm flags her as a future crime risk, and it was praised as a suspenseful, gripping work.

"

In her new novel, The Dream Hotel, author Leila Lalami plunges us into the story of a woman who is imprisoned solely on the basis that she might commit a crime.

This is the dystopian premise of Leila Lalami's gripping new novel, The Dream Hotel.

The Dream Hotel has been compared to Philip K. Dick's 1956 science fiction novella, The Minority Report.

Lalami was inspired to write the novel after receiving a notification from her smartphone... The Dream Hotel is a suspenseful novel. The book's simmering tension is whether Sarah will be able to find a way out of this trap.

The Moor's Account: A Novel Cover

Laila Lalami

The Moor's Account

A Novel

The book was noted as Lalami's 2014 historical novel that won the American Book Award and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

"

Lalami, who was born in Morocco and is now based in Los Angeles, won the American Book Award for her 2014 historical novel, The Moors Account.

— Episode: Ryan Coogler Paid A Steep Price For The...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Ryan Coogler Paid A Steep Price For The Films He M...

The book was noted as Lalami's 2014 historical novel that won the American Book Award and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

"

Lalami, who was born in Morocco and is now based in Los Angeles, won the American Book Award for her 2014 historical novel, The Moors Account.

How Democracies Die Cover

Steven Levitsky

How Democracies Die

The hosts noted that Levitsky had previously discussed the book he coauthored with Daniel Ziblatt, highlighting its relevance to the current erosion of democratic norms.

"

He was last on Fresh Air to talk about the book he coauthored with Daniel Ziblatt titled How Democracies Die.

— Episode: America's Path To 'Competitive Authorita...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: America's Path To 'Competitive Authoritarianism'

The hosts noted that Levitsky had previously discussed the book he coauthored with Daniel Ziblatt, highlighting its relevance to the current erosion of democratic norms.

"

He was last on Fresh Air to talk about the book he coauthored with Daniel Ziblatt titled How Democracies Die.

Besides the book How Democracies Die, Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt coauthored the 2023 book Tyranny of the Minority.

Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point Cover

Steven Levitsky

Tyranny of the Minority

Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point

Levitsky and Ziblatt's later 2023 book was referenced as another key work examining how democratic institutions can be undermined by minority rule.

"

Besides the book How Democracies Die, Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt coauthored the 2023 book Tyranny of the Minority.

— Episode: America's Path To 'Competitive Authorita...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: America's Path To 'Competitive Authoritarianism'

Levitsky and Ziblatt's later 2023 book was referenced as another key work examining how democratic institutions can be undermined by minority rule.

"

Besides the book How Democracies Die, Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt coauthored the 2023 book Tyranny of the Minority.

In your book, The Chirney of the Minority, you write about politicians who are semiloyal to democracy.

I Still Believe in Miracles: Poems to Find Meaning in Difficult Times Cover

Lucas Jones

I Still Believe in Miracles

Poems to Find Meaning in Difficult Times

Maureen Corrigan highlighted Parker's witty 1920s poetry, noting that the Everyman's Library had released a pocketsized paperback edition drawn from her collections.

"

Dorothy Parker is a demigod. In her poems, short stories, and surgicalknifesharp reviews for magazines like Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, Parker brought into being one of the signature voices of the...

— Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

Maureen Corrigan highlighted Parker's witty 1920s poetry, noting that the Everyman's Library had released a pocketsized paperback edition drawn from her collections.

"

Dorothy Parker is a demigod. In her poems, short stories, and surgicalknifesharp reviews for magazines like Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, Parker brought into being one of the signature voices of the 1920s. The Everyman's Library has just brought out a pocket edition of her work, culled from Parker's bestselling collections Enough Rope and Sunset Gun.

She reviewed poems by Dorothy Parker and The Unusual Desire to Kill by Camilla Barnes.

The Usual Desire to Kill: A Novel Cover

Camilla Barnes

The Usual Desire to Kill

A Novel

Corrigan described Barnes's debut novel as a droll, psychologically sharp work that mixes humor with family dysfunction, noting its unusual language and vivid, often grotesque, details.

"

The humor of Britishborn novelist Camilla Barnes is more in the droll, psychologically astute tradition of a Barbara Pym novel. Barnes' debut is called The Usual Desire to Kill. It's...

— Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

Corrigan described Barnes's debut novel as a droll, psychologically sharp work that mixes humor with family dysfunction, noting its unusual language and vivid, often grotesque, details.

"

The humor of Britishborn novelist Camilla Barnes is more in the droll, psychologically astute tradition of a Barbara Pym novel. Barnes' debut is called The Usual Desire to Kill. It's what two sisters here, Charlotte and Miranda, acknowledge that that's what they feel whenever they visit their eccentric, exhausting, retired parents at their tumbledown farmhouse in rural France.

The constant pleasure of reading The Usual Desire to Kill is Barnes' unexpected language. A bed with a hard mattress is likened to sleeping on old toast. Dried eggs, which the father recalls eating during World WarII, are said to have tasted a bit like dandruff.

Enough Rope (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition) Cover

Dorothy Parker

Enough Rope (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

The pocket edition referenced by Corrigan pulls material from Parker's wellknown collection "Enough Rope".

"

The Everyman's Library has just brought out a pocket edition of her work, culled from Parker's bestselling collections Enough Rope and Sunset Gun.

— Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

The pocket edition referenced by Corrigan pulls material from Parker's wellknown collection "Enough Rope".

"

The Everyman's Library has just brought out a pocket edition of her work, culled from Parker's bestselling collections Enough Rope and Sunset Gun.

Sunset Gun Cover

Dorothy Parker

Sunset Gun

Corrigan noted that the new pocket edition also includes poems from Parker's collection "Sunset Gun".

"

The Everyman's Library has just brought out a pocket edition of her work, culled from Parker's bestselling collections Enough Rope and Sunset Gun.

— Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'

Corrigan noted that the new pocket edition also includes poems from Parker's collection "Sunset Gun".

"

The Everyman's Library has just brought out a pocket edition of her work, culled from Parker's bestselling collections Enough Rope and Sunset Gun.

Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America Cover

Joy-Ann Reid

Medgar and Myrlie

Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America

The book was presented as a love story about Medgar and Myrlie (Murley) Evers and was noted to be currently available in paperback.

"

How to Be a Civil Rights Widow is one chapter title in a book by Joy Reid, the former MSNBC evening show host. ... Reid's book is called Medgar and Merle and is now out in paperback.

— Episode: A Love Story At The Center Of The Civil...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: A Love Story At The Center Of The Civil Rights Mov...

The book was presented as a love story about Medgar and Myrlie (Murley) Evers and was noted to be currently available in paperback.

"

How to Be a Civil Rights Widow is one chapter title in a book by Joy Reid, the former MSNBC evening show host. ... Reid's book is called Medgar and Merle and is now out in paperback.

Joy Reid spoke to Terry Gross last year. Her book about Medgar and Murley Evers titled Medgar and Murley is now out in paperback.

Joy Reid, speaking with Terry Gross last year. Her book about Medgar and Murley Evers is called Medgar and Murley.

Joy Reid spoke with Terry Gross last year. The former MSNBC host's book is called Medgar and Murley, Medgar Evers and the Love Story that Awakened America. It's now out in paperback.

In the Moment: 40 Years of Reuters Photojournalism Cover

Reuters

In the Moment

40 Years of Reuters Photojournalism

It was mentioned as another of Francis Davis's jazz books.

"

He is the author of many books on jazz, including Bebop and Nothingness, In the Moment, and Outcats, jazz composers, instrumentalists, and singers.

— Episode: Starvation In American Jail Cells

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Starvation In American Jail Cells

It was mentioned as another of Francis Davis's jazz books.

"

He is the author of many books on jazz, including Bebop and Nothingness, In the Moment, and Outcats, jazz composers, instrumentalists, and singers.

The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West Cover

Shaun Walker

The Illegals

Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West

Walker discussed his new book that examined the Soviet illegals programme, describing the training, longterm missions and its revival under Vladimir Putin.

"

His new book is The Illegals, Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West.

— Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired 'The Amer...

Walker discussed his new book that examined the Soviet illegals programme, describing the training, longterm missions and its revival under Vladimir Putin.

"

His new book is The Illegals, Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West.

The Long Hangover: Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past Cover

Shaun Walker

The Long Hangover

Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past

Walker was identified as the author of The Long Hangover, a work that looks at the lingering effects of the Soviet era.

"

He is the author of The Long Hangover, Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past.

— Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired 'The Amer...

Walker was identified as the author of The Long Hangover, a work that looks at the lingering effects of the Soviet era.

"

He is the author of The Long Hangover, Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past.

The Long Hangover: Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past Cover

Shaun Walker

The Long Hangover

Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past

Walker was mentioned as the author of Putin's New Russia, a book that surveys the country's political landscape under Putin.

"

He is the author of The Long Hangover, Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past.

— Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired 'The Amer...

Walker was mentioned as the author of Putin's New Russia, a book that surveys the country's political landscape under Putin.

"

He is the author of The Long Hangover, Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past.

Ghosts of the Past: Ghost Stories from the Adelaide Gaol Cover

Alison Oborn

Ghosts of the Past

Ghost Stories from the Adelaide Gaol

Walker was noted as the author of The Ghosts of the Past, which explores how Soviet history continues to shape presentday Russia.

"

He is the author of The Long Hangover, Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past.

— Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Real-Life Russian Spies Who Inspired 'The Amer...

Walker was noted as the author of The Ghosts of the Past, which explores how Soviet history continues to shape presentday Russia.

"

He is the author of The Long Hangover, Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past.

No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson Cover

Gardiner Harris

No More Tears

The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson

The investigative reporter examined Johnson & Johnson's business practices, linking its talc baby powder to cancer and exposing aggressive marketing that fueled the opioid epidemic. The book revealed that the company had known about asbestos contamination for decades.

"

In No More Tears, The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson, Harris investigates J&J's business practices. The link to its baby powder and cancer. And the urgent questions about the safet...

— Episode: The Dark Secrets Of Johnson & Johnson

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Dark Secrets Of Johnson & Johnson

The investigative reporter examined Johnson & Johnson's business practices, linking its talc baby powder to cancer and exposing aggressive marketing that fueled the opioid epidemic. The book revealed that the company had known about asbestos contamination for decades.

"

In No More Tears, The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson, Harris investigates J&J's business practices. The link to its baby powder and cancer. And the urgent questions about the safety of many of its other products.

Well, Gartner, I really can't wait to delve into the details of this book with you.

If you're just joining us, my guest is investigative journalist Gardner Harris. We're talking to him about his new book, No More Tears, The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson.

Investigative journalist Gartner Harris. His new book is called No More Tears, The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.