Angie Thomas

Author Angie Thomas: Burn It All Down Or Use Those Emotions In My Art

Articles

The hit young adult author on how she channeled feelings in the wake of a tragedy into her debut novel, "The Hate U Give."More

Latest Stories

Learning Machines: The Wired Teenage Brain

Teen brain
Articles

If teens have trouble remembering where they put their homework, how are they going to marshall a legislative agenda? On the other hand, maybe teens have mental advantages adults don’t. Steve Paulson asked neuroscientist Frances Jensen to weigh in.

Length: 
11:09

When Should An Author Call It Quits?

Articles

British writer Martin Amis is 68 years old. He’s written 14 novels, hundreds of essays, memoirs, even a screen play. But he has strong feelings about writers who work past their prime. So he feels the clock ticking — is it time to pack it in? When will he know?

Length: 
10:15

Is It Time To Change How Americans Think About Prohibition?

A serious backbar
Articles

Prohibition gave us speakeasies, jazz clubs and bathtub gin. But a new revisionist history uncovers a more disturbing legacy: campaigns against immigrants, the War on Drugs, and the rise of America's "incarceration nation," says historian Lisa McGirr.

Length: 
10:08

Preserving J. Dilla's Legacy With A Beat

Ma Dukes and J Dilla
Articles

James Dewitt Yancey – also known as J Dilla — was a hip hop super-producer and pioneering beat-maker. J Dilla died at just 32 years old, and worked right up until the end, making music and creating beats from his hospital bed. His mother was there for every bit of it.

Length: 
11:38

When Time Is The Best Motivator

A push of the clock
Articles

Dan Pink has written several books about motivation, work and behavior. His most recent, called “When,” is all about timing. He says people facing an ending seems to push people in new directions.

Length: 
12:01

The Most Important Job Skill In The New Economy Is Quitting

Tie
Articles

Anthropologist Ilana Gershon argues that if you want to have a successful career in the US today, you have to be a job quitter.

Length: 
9:46

Elena Passarello's Book of Beasts

Starling
Articles

Elena Passarello’s latest book, “Animals Strike Curious Poses,” is a journey through stories of the wild ones: the mammoths, spiders, birds and primates that have left their marks on our society. To the Best of Our Knowledge host Anne Strainchamps talked with Passarello about the “animal gaze” and the legacy of Mozart’s starling, among other animal tales.

Length: 
16:18

What We Really Ask For When We Ask For Relationship Advice

broken heart
Articles

Every week, Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond host the popular "Dear Sugars" podcast, where they read listener letters and give relationship advice. Sometimes, they have to parse the questions people think they're asking from the ones simmering beneath the surface.

Length: 
11:06