NPR
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A Superhero’s Origin Story
David Rector was your average, everyday NPR producer and comic book nerd. Then he suffered a series of health problems that ultimately left him unable to walk or speak. Now, with the help of his fiancee, he’s a superhero. NPR…
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This Week in Short Fiction
On Tuesday, Margaret Atwood released Stone Mattress, a collection of “wonderfully weird short stories.” Stone Mattress is Atwood’s eighth collection of stories, not to mention her 14 novels and other formidable volumes of poetry, children’s literature, and nonfiction. Reviewers across the…
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Singer-Novel Writer
“It’s sort of like comparing making a fire and building a house,” he says. “A song is fire. You react to it primarily, instantly. You don’t have to decide whether you like it, and you don’t really have to sit…
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This, That Mean More Than You Think
The words we never think about reveal a lot about what we’re saying. Filler words—this, though, I, an, and, that, and there—are so common we never really think about them, but they give away a lot of information. Psychologist James…
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A Floating Library Comes to New York City
NPR reports that floating library pop-up is coming to New York City in the Hudson River. The Floating Library is the work of artist Beatrice Glow and will feature books and chapbooks of underrepresented authors and poets as well as an outdoor reading room. The…
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Fine the Way You Are
Homogeneity in the literary scene isn’t a recent development. Earlier this year, Junot Diaz caused a stir by branding the unbearable too-whiteness of his workshop experience. Justin Torres and Ayana Mathis couldn’t help but contribute: “One of the characters is…
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Being Plagued
In a quest for meaning, NPR compares the Ebola epidemic to Albert Camus’s The Plague. The Plague doesn’t have a happy ending, of course, though it’s not quite as hopeless as you might think. Initially, Dr. Rieux is a little resigned…
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The Importance of Diversity in Workshop
Workshop can be a stressful experience for anyone, but it can be especially stressful for a person of color. Matthew Salesses wrote this piece for NPR, highlighting the importance of making the workshop a safe space for everyone.
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Beckett Resurrected
Even a writer as great as Samuel Beckett faced some rejection. “Echo’s Bones,” a rejected short story from Beckett’s early days, has just been released. NPR spoke with Beckett scholar Mark Nixon to find out the story behind the story.
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This American Life, Moving Forward
Ira Glass loses his voice; Ira Glass gets it back: The New York Times reports on This American Life’s risky split from PRI and venture into the world of independent programming (and don’t worry—it doesn’t sound like the storytelling is going away).
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Our Pets, Ourselves
After her dog leapt out of a third story window, writer Laurel Braitman became fascinated by animal psychology. Check out her interview with NPR to see what animal behavior reveals about humans and why gorillas at the Bronx Zoo love…
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Brown Bag Your American Literature, Quick
Michael Gove, Britain’s Education Secretary, is rewriting Britain’s public school curriculum to be more British. To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and The Crucible are among the titles being dropped from required reading lists. “I put this in…