NPR's Book of the Day

On today’s show, we mark the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 with two books that historicize the attacks. First, All the Presidents’ Wars focuses on anti-terror campaigns waged around the world over the past quarter century. Author Peter Bergen spoke with Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep about the expansion of executive branch powers that have enabled these wars. Then, Scattered Steel investigates how material from the World Trade Center ended up in memorials across the country. All Things Considered’s Scott Detrow spoke with Sam Holleran – who co-authored the book with his brother, Max Holleran.

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Sen. Ted Cruz’s new book isn’t a political memoir but an exploration of the life and career of Justice Clarence Thomas. In Going Further, Cruz praises Thomas as an “independent thinker” who is willing to go against the grain. And he argues the Justice has been criticized by the political left because he did not conform to what liberals expected him to be. In today’s episode, Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep asks Cruz about his own aspirations for the Supreme Court and Thomas’ history of overturning precedent.

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For author Jade Chang, the vibe of summer isn’t encapsulated at the pool or by the beach, but in time itself — “and how time kind of stops.” In today’s episode, she joins All Things Considered’s Ailsa Chang to discuss the books she recommends to help keep the summer season alive, even as fall approaches. Jade Chang recommends books like The Corn King and the Spring Queen by Naomi Mitchison and Stories of the Sahara by Taiwanese author Sanmao. Then, they discuss Jade Chang’s novel What a Time to Be Alive.

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Jill Lepore says our liberal democracy has been replaced by corporations and technology. But what can we do about it? In today’s episode, the historian joins Morning Edition’s Michel Martin for a conversation about her new book The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State. Lepore says she wanted to put a name to a new kind of governance she’s observed in which functions of nation states are being taken over by private interests and run by machinery. She and Martin discuss the way technology has historically maligned representative democracy – and what we can do about it.

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After the big success of the 2014 novel Big Little Lies, which included an award-winning HBO adaptation, author Liane Moriarty says everyone kept asking her for a sequel. Now, that sequel has arrived. Big Little Truths picks up the drama between five women as their children navigate high school. Meanwhile, the school’s principal receives a troubling package. In today’s episode, Moriarty tells Here & Now’s Emiko Tamagawa about how performances by Laura Dern and Meryl Streep influenced the sequel, the author’s interest in aging, and how she still writes novels without adaptation in mind.

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