Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Minnesota Public Radio
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Where Readers Meet Writers. Conversations on books and ideas, Fridays at 11 a.m.

  1. 18H AGO

    Daniyal Mueenuddin pulls from his life for an upstairs-downstairs novel set in Pakistan

    Daniyal Mueenuddin grew up in two vastly different worlds. As a child, he lived with his paternal relatives in Lahore, Pakistan. As a teenager, he spent summers on his maternal family’s farm in Elroy, Wis. A product of both of those worlds, Mueenuddin sees himself as a translator of sorts. He intimately knows both U.S. and Pakistani culture — particularly the more rural, faintly feudal villages in southern Pakistan, where he now farms. He knows the distinctives and the overlaps between East and West, between rich and poor, between scarcity and comfort. He’s channeled all of his knowledge into his new novel. Set largely in rural Pakistan, “This is Where the Serpent Lives” tells four interwoven stories that contrast the lives of servants desperate to escape their class, and the wealthy, Westernized elites who employ them. This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Kerri Miller talks with Mueenuddin about how his disparate childhood environments shaped his writing, what it’s like to constantly code-switch as he travels between his farm in Pakistan and his current home in Oslo, and why the class system survives the fading of Pakistani feudalism. Guest: Daniyel Mueenuddin’s first book, a collection of stories titled “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His new book — his first novel — is “This is Where the Serpent Lives.” Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    52 min

  2. FEB 27

    Between a rock and adulthood: Risk and reward in Gabriel Tallent's novel 'Crux'

    Rock climbing is risky. But so is life. And friendship. And following your dreams. Nothing is promised. Success is not assured. In Gabriel Tallent’s new novel, “Crux,” two 17-year-old best friends are facing down those fears as they climb self-described death rocks. Climbing is both their passion and their escape from futures that feel predestined. They both come from dysfunctional families. They both feel called to climbing and the vulnerability, grit and trust it demands. But risk doesn’t disappear once they get off the rocks. Tallent is, himself, a climber — but as he tells Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, “Crux” isn’t really a climbing book. Instead, it was a chance for him to explore friendship, vulnerability and the risk inherent in wanting more. Guest: Gabriel Tallent is the author of the New York Times-bestselling novel “My Absolute Darling.” His new novel is “Crux.” Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    52 min

  3. FEB 20

    Tracy K. Smith prescribes poetry as a balm to our wounds in 'Fear Less'

    When Tracy K. Smith was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2017, the country was in a fragile place. In her new book, Smith writes that, by then, “we’d come to find ourselves in a climate of language — I’d call it a national vocabulary — grounded in fear, derision, and the notion of an intractably divided nation.” But Smith believes that poetry rises above the grim jargon. In “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times,” she describes poetry as a vehicle equipped to transport us beyond facts and figures to places where we may not even know we want or need to go. Smith joins Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to explore how poetry is uniquely positioned to transform our understanding of each other. Along the way, they trade favorite poems, talk about why it’s crucial that poetry be read out loud and discuss ways to make poetry more approachable — especially for those who only learned to diagram it in school. Guest: Tracy K. Smith is the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States and is the author of five poetry collections, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning “Life on Mars.” Her newest book is “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times.” Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    55 min

  4. FEB 13

    Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar on 'The Other Side of Change'

    Change is inevitable. But that doesn’t stop us from fearing it. We fear the uncertainty. We fear the pain. We fear who we might become. But cognitive scientist Maya Shankar says — while understandable — that’s the wrong posture. In her new book, “The Other Side of Change,” Shankar invites us to shift how we view life’s curve balls. What if curiosity was stronger than fear? What if we saw upheaval as an opportunity to reimagine ourselves? On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, Shankar joins host Keri Miller to talk about how to harness brain science to build resiliency in the face of change and come out on the other side a kinder, stronger and more open-hearted person. Guest: Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist and host of the podcast “A Slight Change of Plans.” Her new book is “The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans.” Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    49 min

  5. FEB 6

    'Moby-Dick' is recast with a woman at its center in 'Call Me Ishmaelle'

    It takes courage to reimagine a classic. Xiaolu Guo was drawn to Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick,” from the first time she read it in her native Chinese. The writing was lyrical — hard to translate — and the descriptions of sailing were dense. But the symbolism of the great white whale and the sea-faring captain obsessed with revenge captivated her. Her new novel is a retelling of this classic with a young girl at its center. Protagonist Ishmaelle goes to sea, disguised as a boy, in a desperate grasp for freedom. She wants to leave poverty, gender norms and religious traditions behind. When she ends up on a whaling ship, captained by a free Black man named Seneca, she meets a swash-buckling crew of people who broaden her world — and ours. Guo joins host Kerri Miller this week to talk about her reimagined “Moby-Dick” which probes gender, race, humanity’s connection to animals and the nature of belonging. Guest: Xiaolu Guo is the author of “Radical” and “Nine Continents.” Her new novel is “Call Me Ishmaelle.” Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    54 min

  6. JAN 30

    A journalist uncovers her family secret: They were spies for the Nazis

    “You have a good life,” her aunt said. “You don’t want to ruin it with the past.” Those words were deeply unsettling to journalist Christine Kuehn. She always suspected there was more to her paternal family history. Her father was kind but evasive, and her aunt flat out refused to discuss it. But no one would talk. Then she got a letter from a screenwriter who asked if her family could be the same Kuehns who spied on Pearl Harbor for the Nazis and shared intel with the Japanese. When she confronted her father, he denied everything. But within an hour, he called back, sobbing, and confessed. So began Kuehn’s quest to uncover the truth. It took her and her husband Mark decades to sort through FBI files, letters, historical records and family journals — and even longer for her to absorb and process the fact that her grandparents and aunt were accomplished Nazi spies, largely responsible for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her new book, “Family of Spies,” tells her family’s shocking history. Turns out, at age 19, Kuehn’s aunt Ruth had an affair with Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels. When he learned she was half Jewish, he sent the family to Hawaii — the better to preserve his purity — with a mandate that they spy on the Americans for the Japanese. Kuehn’s family obliged and changed the course of history. This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Kuehn talks with Kerri Miller about the shame of discovering her family’s history and what helped her move beyond it. Guest: Christine Kuehn is a journalist and writer who lives outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Her book is “Family of Spies.” Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    52 min

  7. JAN 23

    An aspiring novelist faces off against a spiteful and famous author in 'The Award'

    When an aspiring novelist moves into an apartment above a famous author, the younger writer thinks it’s a sign that literary stardom is right around the corner. He’s partly right. But his luck is about to turn in ways he can’t expect. Matthew Pearl, himself an award-winning author, writes what he knows in his new novel, “The Award” — which is why the book swerves into some wildly dark places. He returns to Big Books and Bold Ideas this week to talk with Kerri Miller about the absurdity of the publishing industry today (without naming names, of course) and the inspiration behind “The Award.”

    57 min

  8. JAN 16

    Made to mingle: Why your brain is happier with friends

    When MPR News host Kerri Miller travels to small towns around Minnesota for her Rural Voice series, she hears over and over again about the crisis of loneliness and social isolation. People say that even in communities where they know everyone, it’s easy to feel adrift. It’s no surprise to neuroscientist Ben Rein, who studies the inner workings of the human brain. He writes in his new book that our brains have been shaped for social contact, both inside and out. When we don’t get enough social interaction, our bodies are stressed. And in our post-COVID, screen-obsessed world, a good chunk of the population is suffering from too much alone time. Rein joins Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about why friendships are as important to health as how often you exercise and how much you sleep, and why online relationships aren’t enough for a brain that’s evolved to expect face-to-face.

    53 min
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Where Readers Meet Writers. Conversations on books and ideas, Fridays at 11 a.m.

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