Books | Author Q&As
A biographer celebrates Benjamin Franklin’s curiosity and joy in scienceThe ‘ingenious’ Founding Father Benjamin Franklin receives his due as scientist-inventor in Richard Munson’s sparkling biography.
Why J. Edgar Hoover’s biographer worries about Kash Patel running the FBIAn author who studied J. Edgar Hoover’s complicated legacy at the FBI says she sees warning signs in the overt political statements by Trump nominee Kash Patel.
Neal Stephenson mixes polo, politics, and power in the novel ‘Polostan’A Russian American girl straddles the worlds of her Ukraine-born Bolshevik father and her Montana-raised cowgirl mother in the 1920s and ’30s in Neal Stephenson’s “Polostan.”
Curtis Chin grew up in a Chinese restaurant. He’s on a 300-city tour to save others.In cities across the United States, Chinatowns are struggling. American storyteller Curtis Chin, author of “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” is on a mission to save these vibrant cultural enclaves.
More Author Q&As
VIEW ALL
How ‘History Alice’ is getting Gen Z to learn about the pastAlice Loxton doesn’t believe history should be boring or academic. As “History Alice,” she connects with millions of people on social media, and her second book, “Eighteen,” already reached No. 1 in the U.K.
Good is ‘the strongest gravity,’ says ‘Wicked’ author MaguireFairy tales often present characters as either good or bad. “Wicked” author Gregory Maguire asks readers to let go of binary thinking as they consider morality.
She empowers people with disabilities to feel pride in their storiesGrowing up, Tiffany Yu felt shame about her disability and hid it. Now, the author of “The Anti-Ableist Manifesto” uses her experience to change the narrative.
Romancing the tome: How romance writers surprised the publishing worldIn “Love in the Time of Self-Publishing,” researcher Christine Larson explores the strength of Romancelandia, the community of mostly women who write romance novels.
How to have better conversations with people across the aisleBob Stains has dedicated his life to helping transform conflicts, urging us to soften our “hearts of stone” and go beyond “simple stories” about others. In a Q&A, he offers tips on how to do it.
This chef is fighting a culinary battle for Ukrainian identityIn “The Authentic Ukrainian Kitchen: Recipes from a Native Chef,” Yevhen Klopotenko celebrates the foods that separate Ukraine from Russia.
‘Turning off the porch lights’ to reveal nature’s hidden marvelsHow often do you venture into the dark? Author Leigh Ann Henion shares her journey in ‘Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark."
Bohemian rhapsody: Two writers celebrate Greenwich Village of the ’60sGreenwich Village in the ’60s attracted musicians like Joan Baez. Novelist Sarah Seltzer (“The Singer Sisters”) and music journalist David Browne (“Talkin’ Greenwich Village”) chat about the Village’s enduring appeal.
‘Poetry is true to the human story’: An interview with Ajibola Tolase“In life we migrate. You leave one relationship for another,” says prize-winning poet Ajibola Tolase. His debut collection, “2000 Blacks,” tackles migration and Blackness.
For ‘The Bookshop’ author, bookstores were ‘sites of resistance’In the 1960s and ‘70s, small bookshops provided spaces where ideas and activism could flourish. Today, while indie bookstores can be considered “endangered species,” their vitality as community gathering places is thriving.
Monitor's Best: Top 5
Should the US give visas to highly skilled immigrants? Unpacking the debate.
Difference MakerThe ‘Repair Café’ movement has become a powerful force for a fix-it culture
In pursuit of a modern capital, Ethiopian leader razes history
War shut down Sudan’s universities. But its students refused to give up.
‘Cold is death.’ For Gazans in flimsy tents, a winter of sorrow and loss.
