Mpr News With Kerri Miller

When we first meet Cristabel, the heroine of Joanna Quinn’s debut novel, “The Whalebone Theatre,” she is only three. But she is already sure of herself, in the pure and defiant way that young children often are. She knows she was born to be a leader. But how does she get there? That’s the story at the heart of Quinn’s delightful book, which follows Cristabel and her half-siblings as they grow up on the family’s lush estate in 1920s England. The grownups are dizzy with relief that World War I has ended, so they mostly exist in a haze of alcohol and amusements. The children are mostly left to themselves. That’s how they end up staging their own theater, in the skeleton of a beached whale, which provides a backdrop and a direction to their young lives.When World War II breaks out, Cristabel and her siblings, now grown, find themselves in a more serious production: playing roles in the allied military effort. And they don’t know how this story ends. Quinn’s novel takes us from seaside England to occupied Paris, f

Do you recognize a meme when you see one? Online disinformation expert Joan Donovan defines memes as pithy words or images — like “Black Lives Matter” or “Build That Wall” — that contain a coded meaning. They often work as badges of identity, and they can be powerful shortcuts to provoking an emotional response in the viewer. And thanks to the internet, they’re more influential than ever. Her new book, “Meme Wars,” details how memes and the online communities that produce them intensify the culture wars, erode trust in institutions, and even drive acts of violence, like the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. On the anniversary of that attack, MPR News host Kerri Miller talks with Donovan about the history of memes in America, how various conspiracy theorists use them to advance their ideologies, and how the current power of memes threatens to undermine democracy.Guest:Joan Donovan is the research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Big Books and Bold Ideas is usually the show where readers meet writers. But for this final show of 2022, we decided to do something unexpected. Instead of talking to writers about books they wrote, we asked them about their favorite literary characters someone else wrote. It’s an assignment these Minnesota authors took seriously, and their selections both surprised and delighted host Kerri Miller. She also asked each author to recommend their favorite book of 2022, so get your “need to read” list ready! Guests:Peter Geye writes and lives in Minneapolis and is the author of many books. His latest novel is “The Ski Jumpers.”Shannon Gibney is a writer and a professor of English at Minneapolis College. Her books include the novel, “Dream Country” and the upcoming memoir-inspired novel, “The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be.”Ben Percy is a novelist and screenwriter based in Northfield, Minn. His novels include “The Unfamiliar Garden” and a collection of stories titled, “Suicide Woods.” He also writes for Marvel

“Between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business.” So says Madam Parks to young Eliza Ripple, who is now working as a prostitute in Gold Rush-era California after her brutish husband was killed in a bar fight. Eliza knows this truth all too well. But instead of letting that truth paralyze her, she leans into the danger that freedom brings. When some of her fellow working girls go missing, Eliza and friend Jean take it upon themselves to investigate the murders — a mystery the male authorities in Monterey are content to ignore. Jane Smiley’s newest novel, “A Dangerous Business,” is murder mystery lite, topped with a hefty dollop of feminist energy. Both Smiley and her heroines are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” but unlike Poe, Smiley gives her characters a delightful sense of possibility. This week, on Big Books and Bold Ideas, MPR News host Kerri Miller talked with Smiley about the California landscape that so often gives shape to her books , how her discovery of the

If you want to know canine psychologist Alexandra Horowitz’ best advice for training a puppy, it can be summed up in one sentence: “Expect that your puppy will not be who you think, nor act as you hope.”That truth — which can both delight and confound new puppy caretakers — is at the center of her new book, “The Year of the Puppy.” A longtime researcher of canine behavior, Horowitz realized she had never examined those critical first months of a dog’s life. So in 2020, she started to observe litters from birth on. When the pandemic shut down the world, she brought one of those puppies into her already animal-centric home — and almost immediately had second thoughts. But adapting to Quiddity, their new pup, gave her fresh insight into doggie development. Ultimately, it reinforced her belief that human companions need to respect and enjoy these creatures that live with us but are fundamentally different. If all we do is focus on how to train the puppy, we miss them becoming themselves. This is a can’t-miss conv

Many dog owners get to enjoy knowing their pet from puppyhood to maturity. Turns out, that life cycle also has a lot to teach us. New research that looks at how dogs age finds parallels between dogs and their human companions. For example, dogs are squirrelly when they are young and calm as they enter midlife. Changes to canine DNA mirror the changes in our own. Could our best friends teach us how to age better — and maybe even live longer? That was the central question MPR News host Kerri Miller discussed with researchers at the Dog Aging Project on her daily show back in November of 2020.This Friday, on Big Books and Bold Ideas, she’ll look at the other end of a dog’s life, when she talks with canine researcher Alexandra Horowitz about her new book, “The Year of the Puppy.”Guests:Daniel Promislow is co-director of the Dog Aging Project and a biologist at the University of Washington.Kellyn McNulty is a veterinarian and researcher with the Dog Aging Project.To listen to the full conversation you can use the

When faced with a tough situation, do you walk away? Or do you press on? Most of us are inclined to stay the course. After all, quitting — especially in American culture — is seen as a character defect. But Annie Duke thinks that’s wrong. Her new book, “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away,” is a guidebook for learning how and when to quit. She explores the psychology and social forces that keep us stuck in bad situations for too long — and what we lose when we equate quitting with failure. Don’t miss MPR News host Kerri Miller’s conversation with Duke, a cognitive behaviorist who learned a thing or two about quitting during her years as a professional poker player on this Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas.Guest:Annie Duke is an author and a consultant on the behavior of decision making — in addition to being a world-class poker player. Her new book is “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away.”To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Ke

Why do we do what we don’t want to do? And why can’t we make ourselves do what we want?Humans have puzzled over this one for ages. But science is starting to clear a window into the motives and biology behind self-control.Science journalist John Tierney teamed up with psychologist and researcher Roy F. Baumeister in 2011 to write about it in their book “Willpower.” For this week’s archive broadcast, you’ll hear a conversation between Tierney and MPR News host Kerri Miller from early 2012 where they talk about how to understand this coveted human virtue.It hints at the discussion coming this Friday on Big Books and Bold Ideas — a chat with cognitive behaviorist and former professional poker player Annie Duke about the science of quitting.Guest: John Tierney is a science journalist and one-half of the duo behind the book, “Willpower,” published in 2011. To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or

Thirty years ago, David Treuer was a young writer, taking classes at Princeton University, far from his home on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He was eager to polish his craft — and maybe a little brash. In 1995, a few months before he turned 25, Graywolf Press published his first novel. Now, decades later, Graywolf is rereleasing that book, “Little.” In the introduction, Treuer — now a widely respected, award-winning author — reflects on his writing roots and how both he and his work have changed over the years. This Friday, on Big Books and Bold Ideas, MPR News host Kerri Miller chatted with Treuer about what he’s learned. What does he know now that he didn’t know when “Little” was first released? What does he think about his younger self? And how does he view the burgeoning field of Native writers and books today?Guest:David Treuer is the award-winning author of seven books. His first novel, “Little” was rereleased this month by Graywolf Press. He is Ojibwe from the Leech Lake Reservatio

This month, Graywolf Press republished author David Treuer’s first novel, “Little.” Originally printed in 1995, when Treuer wasn’t yet 30, “Little” tells the story of a Native American family struggling with loss, poverty and prejudice. What does Treuer think about his debut novel now, 27 years after it was published? MPR news host Kerri Miller will talk with him about that on this Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas.In the meantime, enjoy this 2019 conversation from Miller and Treuer about his award-winning book, “The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee.” Treuer wrote it as a response to Native American history too often being told through a tragic lens. Instead, in “The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee,” Treuer traces Native American history, from the Battle of Wounded Knee to the present, with a focus on transformation in each new era.Guest: David Treuer is Ojibwe, from the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He is a celebrated author of many books, including “The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee” and “Little.” To listen