Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

The setting for Dwyer Murphy’s new book, “The House on Buzzards Bay,” is classic New England noir: A large and ancient house along the coast is inherited by protagonist Jim, who decides to use it to host his college friends for a summer reunion, hoping to reignite their bonds.

But nothing is quite as it seems.

Both the house and the group are out of sorts. One friend mysteriously disappears. The town deals with a ...

Honoring the dead by washing the body is a ritual nearly as old as humankind. Jews observe taharah, rooting the practice in Ecclesiastes: “As we come forth, so we shall return.” In Islamic tradition, washing the deceased as an act of devotion and love.

Joy Harjo, former poet laureate and citizen of the Muscogee Nation, expected to honor her mother’s death and life by washing her body, but as she reveals in the introduc...

When Sarah Kendzior packs up her family for a road trip across America, she makes sure her kids keep their eyes wide open. She wants them to see this country’s wonders and its flaws.

Her new memoir, “The Last American Road Trip,” recounts the dozens of drives they’ve taken since 2016. They leave their home in Missouri and crisscross the country, even as earth-shaking events remake it.

Along the way, she disentang...

To mark Independence Day, Big Books and Bold Ideas is airing an encore presentation of Kerri Miller’s conversation with historian Patrick O’Donnell about his 2024 book, “The Unvanquished.”

The Civil War is remembered for its sweeping battles: Gettysburg, Atlanta, Antietam. Less known are the small troops of men, enlisted by both sides, to fight far from the battlefields.

These ruthless soldiers relied on stealth to...

Joy Womack made history when she became the first American to join Russia’s famed Bolshoi Ballet Theater. But getting there was a journey that took a grueling physical and emotional toll.

Her new memoir, “Behind the Velvet Red Curtain,” written with MPR News journalist Elizabeth Shockman, is an intimate retelling of what happened when Womack moved to Moscow at age 15 to train under Russian greats and immersed herself ...

Honor Jones’ debut novel, “Sleep,” begins in the damp undergrowth of a blackberry bush, where main character Margaret is playing a game. It’s a quintessential childhood moment that ends with trauma that marks her forever.

But like many kids, Margaret doesn’t quite know how to hold this painful thing, and the adults in her life are no help. So she stuffs it and believes it will stay buried, where it can harm no one.

If you’ve spent time this week doomscrolling on your phone — even though you know it’s not good for you, that it ramps up anxiety and you’d be better off taking a walk or just going to bed — Emily Falk’s new book is for you.

“What We Value” is a peek behind the mental curtain. Why do our brains intend one thing and do another? Why is lasting change, even desired change, so hard? Neuroscientist Falk says it’s because o...

Amanda Nguyen was aiming for the stars when she was accepted as a student at Harvard. She dreamed of becoming an astronaut.

But in her senior year of college, she was raped. That propelled her into a public role as activist to change an infuriating gap in the law when it comes to rape survivors.

“When I found out that my rape kit could be destroyed, untested, in six months — even if the statue of limitations was ...

A neighborhood bar is a peculiar thing. The people who frequent it develop a rapport, a kind of familiarity that makes them feel ownership.

But time rolls on, and no place is untouched by the changes it brings — not the bar nor the people in it.

Texas native Callie Collins knows a thing or two about bars. That’s why she set her newest novel, “Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine,” in an Austin saloon, circa 1970s Te...

How do you carry someone else’s memory — both in body and in mind?

The prairie witch in Karen Russell’s fantastical new novel, “The Antidote,” describes it as a pressure and a weight. She has the ability to receive the memories of her fellow citizens in a small failing town in Nebraska, which offers relief to anyone who feels like their pasts are too heavy to bear.

“Whatever they can’t stand to know,” she says, “...

For many people, a good life is a stable life — a life that’s predictable and filled with purpose. For others, happiness the point. They embrace moments of bliss and satisfaction.

But what about a life that’s focused on curiosity, exploration and a variety of experiences that broaden our world?

University of Chicago psychology professor Shigehiro Oishi says that’s a psychologically rich life — and in his new book...

“A Lesser Light” is Minnesota writer Peter Geye’s sixth novel, and he says he couldn’t have written it earlier in life.

The story revolves around a cold and often hostile marriage. It’s 1910, and husband Theodulf is the newly commissioned caretaker of a grand lighthouse situated on the treacherous shore of Lake Superior. His new bride, Willa, has been forced into the marriage by her scheming mother after a family trag...

We could learn a lot from the good boys (and girls) in our life.

That’s the main thesis of philosopher Mark Rowlands new book, “The Word of Dog.”

He says out loud what many dog owners secretly wonder: Is my dog a better person than me? And while Rowlands certainly agrees that humans remain top of the intellectual pyramid, he does theorize that our canine companions inhabit the world in a uniquely uncomplicated wa...

Rules are good. Discretion is better.

So argues philosophy professor Barry Lam in his new book, “Fewer Rules, Better People.” While Lam acknowledges law as the backbone of society, he says America has forgotten the good of discretion. Be it a sports referee, a parent, a police officer or a prosecutor, decision makers need the freedom to exercise discernment about how the rules get applied.

Lam joins Kerri Miller ...

“The story of America in the 21st century is the story of chosen scarcities.”

So begins “Abundance,” the new book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson that has politicos abuzz.

In it, they argue that progressives have created a culture of scarcity the last few decades, especially when it comes to solving America’s thorniest problem, like homelessness, housing affordability and green energy. The solution, they say, is...

Can one decision be the fulcrum of a life?

Or is destiny really millions of tiny choices swirled with events out of our control?

That’s one of the many questions at the heart of Eric Puchner’s gorgeous new novel, “Dream State.” It’s received a dizzying amount of praise since it was released in February — making the New York Times best seller list, becoming an Oprah Book Club pick. But despite the buzz, the novel i...

For more than 20 years, author Chris Bohjalian carried the seed of a Civil War story in his imagination. It was inspired by the true story of a Southern woman who nursed a Union soldier back to health after he was injured on the battlefield.

But the idea didn’t grow roots until the racial uprisings after the murder of George Floyd, when Confederate statues came tumbling down.

“Years ago, Tony Horowitz wrote a rem...

When superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc on Eiren Caffall’s childhood home of New York City, her first thought was: What about the museums?

That distressing question provoked her first novel, “All the Water in the World.” In this futuristic dystopia, climate change is unchecked. Cities are drowned, people are adrift. But already, some are thinking of the after by looking to the past. The former curators and researchers at ...