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. 17h ago

    Talking Volumes: Colson Whitehead puts his Harlem Trilogy series on ice with 'Cool Machine'

    Colson Whitehead defies definition. The two-time Pulitzer-Prize winner writes across genres, using everything from zombie thrillers to magical realism to explore America's complicated history with race. His newest novel, “Cool Machine,” is the conclusion to his Harlem Trilogy, which follows Ray Carney — part furniture salesman, part dealer in stolen goods — as he hustles and improvises and compartmentalizes his way through the criminal underworld in New York City from 1959 to 1986. Talking Volumes: Colson Whitehead He talked about that series — and the many other books he’s written — at the final Talking Volumes of the 2026 season. Colson joined host Catharine Richert on stage at the O’Shaughnessy Theater in St. Paul on Nov. 11 and instantly charmed the delighted crowd. Click here Besides Ray Carney, he and Richert discussed why New York City features so prominently in his novels, what it means to write a trilogy (“it’s a lot of words”) and if he ever tried to use AI to help him out of stuck place. (Spoiler: He did, and it did not go well.) Chastity Brown also defies definition. The Minneapolis powerhouse’s blend of folk and soul music was the perfect musical accompaniment to the evening. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts. Subscribe to The Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

  2. Nov 6

    Talking Volumes: Emily St. John Mandel on what the multiverse offers in 'Exit Party'

    Emily St. John Mandel is a master at speculative fiction — and at times oddly prescient. Her novel “Station Eleven,” follows a nomadic troupe of actors and musicians two decades after a pandemic wipes out the bulk of humanity. It was released in 2014 — six years before COVID-19 ravaged the globe. So it understandably made people a little nervous when her new novel was announced. “Exit Party” is set in 2031, after the complete collapse of the United States. Click here When she joined Kerri Miller at Talking Volumes on Nov. 4, she said her writing grew out of an unease with the country’s current political moment, and the multiverse approach she deployed felt right in a country where there is almost no “consensual reality.” Talking Volumes: Emily St. John Mandel But Mandel’s novels are more than simple dystopia. Instead, she said, she works hard to imbue her books with hope, even as they wrestle with loss. Singer-songwriter Anna Graves rounded out the evening.

  3. Oct 30

    Ariel Lawhon brings Irish legend Grace O'Malley to life in 'Pirate Queen'

    In the author’s note of her new book, “Pirate Queen,” author Ariel Lawhon asks, "What if the story of your life was written by the people who despised you, who wanted nothing more than to blacken your name?" So it was for Grace O'Malley, an Irish woman in the 16th century who commanded her own ships, led a powerful family clan, and survived imprisonment, a violent marriage, a shipboard birth and a number of battles to both claim and defend her property. But the historical record of O'Malley's life in Irish history is puzzlingly scant. That’s why, as Lawhon writes, “it’s in the folklore that we find the real Grace.” On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, Lawhorn tells Kerri Miller how she brought Grace O’Malley to life, and why her story echoes to those of us today. Guest: Ariel Lawhon is the author of, among other books, “Frozen River.” Her new novel is “Pirate Queen.”

  4. Oct 23

    Barbara Kingsolver's 'Partita' is a symphony of parts being made whole

    Barbara Kingsolver is a lauded writer. But the art doesn’t stop there. She’s also a pianist. Like Livia, the main character in her new novel, “Partia,” Kingsolver also left her humble roots in Appalachia to go to college on a piano scholarship. In part, it’s what inspired her to write this book. “Very few people have written about music from the inside,” she tells host Kerri Miller on Big Books and Bold Ideas. “I’ve never read a novel about a pianist from a pianist point of view. I loved the challenge of translating one art form into another.” Click here Kingsolver composed “Partita” like a musical partita — a series of parts that makes a whole. Livia is enthralled with her music during her early days at college and has big dreams. But then she falls madly in love for the first time, and her path is forever changed. “Partita” is a reflection on the “what ifs” of life, but even more, it’s a story about redemption, love and the power of music. Guest: Barbara Kingsolver the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including “Demon Copperhead,” “Unsheltered” and “The Poisonwood Bible.” Her new novel is “Partita.” Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts. Subscribe to The Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

  5. Oct 16

    Talking Volumes: Min Jin Lee on 'American Hagwon'

    Min Jin Lee was disappointed she didn’t get to come to Talking Volumes in 2017 to talk about her novel “Pachinko.” She says that’s probably because it struggled initially. Her editor quit just three months before the book was published. Her husband lost his job the day “Pachinko” was released. And besides The New York Times and USA Today, no media companies would review her book. But that slow burn eventually ignited into a blazing inferno. The New York Times named it one of the 10 best books of 2017 and, by 2022, it had been made into a TV series by Apple — which propelled another waves of global sales. So it was with great pleasure that Lee came to Talking Volumes this year, to talk about her new novel, “American Hagwon.” Link to American Hagwon on MPR's Bookshop https://bookshop.org/a/125236/9781538752036 During her time on stage at The O'Shaughnessy with host Kerri Miller, Lee talked about her years of researching hagwons — a type of cram school, common in Korea — and how they change education. In particular, she sees an intense global competitiveness in Korean students, which stands in sharp contrast to students in American falling further and further behind. Talking Volumes: Min Jin Lee But Lee and Miller also talked about Lee’s path to becoming a well-known author and how Lee’s own childhood of being an exceptional student who struggled socially influences her work. For one thing: she’s learned to hold her own and fight back, if necessary. “Asian American women are not considered strong,” she told Miller, “but they're wrong. I mean, if you really just like look at the data, it's like: are you kidding me? Do you know any Asian American women? But I think we're perceived to be weak, and they clearly don't know any history. This doesn’t happen in Asia. But here in the U.S., I've had I've had some people do some very stupid things, and I will do what I need to do.” It was a dazzling evening, highlighted by musical guest Sophie Hiroko. There are only two more Talking Volumes shows of the 2026 season: Emily St. John Mandel on Nov. 4, and Colson Whitehead with special guest host Catharine Richert on Nov. 11. Get your tickets online.

  6. Oct 9

    Nature writers choose wonder and resilience, even in the face of climate change

    To mark the fall member drive, Kerri Miller dips back into three conversations she’s had this year with authors who write about nature — and thus, wrestle with what they see climate change doing to our planet. How do we live richly in the midst of a great unraveling? We start by revisiting the Big Books and Bold Ideas with Terry Tempest Williams, a writer and teacher at the Harvard School of Divinity. Her latest book is "The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary," which itself is a meditation on attending to beauty and carrying forward against all odds. Naturalist Robert Macfarlane's new book "The Book of Birds” — done in collaboration with artist Jackie Morris — is an ode to our avian friends. Macfarlane insists he's not a birder; he's just an appreciator. But he's thoughtful and poetic about what he observes. He says he wrote "The Book of Birds" to reignite a sense of wonder about about birds because "we will not save what we do not love." Author Cal Flynn lives on a remote island off the coast of Scotland, so maybe it's no surprise that she's obsessed with wilderness. Research for her new book, "The Savage Landscape," led her to climb mountains, plunge into forests and helicopter to volcanoes. But more than adventure, Flynn was in search of what these wild places mean for humanity. Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts. Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

  7. Oct 2

    Talking Volumes: Lucy Foley talks ‘Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel’

    Miss Marple rides again in Lucy Foley’s new novel, “Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel.” This time, the beloved spinster sleuth finds herself on holiday, at a glamorous and isolated hotel nestled high in the Swiss Alps — where a body is quickly discovered on the first gondola ride of the day. Thankfully for the hotel guests — and mystery readers — Miss Marple is there, observing from the sidelines and taking it all in. As Foley told Kerri Miller at Talking Volumes, “Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel” is the first full-length, commissioned novel featuring Agatha Christie’s beloved Miss Marple in fifty years. The challenge was translating her into a more modern sensibility.

  8. Sep 29

    Voting rights expert Carol Anderson in conversation with Kerri Miller in Red Wing

    Carol Anderson has been sounding the alarm for years. As a historian at Emory University, she is intimately acquainted with America’s legacy when it comes to voting access. Her book, “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy,” was longlisted for the National Book Award in 2018. She brought her deep knowledge of history and concern about what’s happening to voting access now to Red Wing on Sept. 23. During a conversation at the Sheldon Theatre with MPR News host Kerri Miller, Anderson said she’s worried the Jim Crow-era is beginning anew, thanks to persistent attempts to deny communities of color their right to vote. “I see it as the result of a long-term campaign to undermine the strength of our electoral systems,” she told Miller. “How many times can you hear ‘stolen election, stolen election, voter fraud, voter fraud, voter fraud?’ If you say a lie enough times, it becomes the truth, and there's a nasty long history of hollering ‘voter fraud.’” But while Anderson acknowledged the country’s track record on voting access is grim, she also applauded the only thing that has ever held it at bay: voters who are active and civically engaged. She pointed to the Red Wing audience as evidence. Click here “This is, what, a Wednesday evening? And you’re here listening to a talk about voter suppression and voting rights?” she laughed. “This is where our strength is. It is people getting educated about what’s happening and knowing not to listen to the lies about election integrity and voter fraud.” Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts. Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

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

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