NPR's Book of the Day Folgen

Father's Day is this Sunday, giving us a good opportunity to reflect not only the art of fatherhood but also on the struggles that come after dads leave us. First, Helen McDonald talks to Robin Young on Here and Now about grieving her father's death by training a hawk – and finding her path again after grief. Then, Keggie Carew discusses her memoir Dadland, which talks about her relationship with her father, his fascinating stories from his time as a spy, and his struggle with dementia. In a way, these two nostalgic interviews are an invitation to give fathers their due, especially when they're still around.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You've probably seen it: Reese Witherspoon playing ambitious, throat-cutting Tracy Flick in the 1999 movie Election. It's the film adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel of the same name. Now, Perrotta has written a sequel called Tracy Flick Can't Win. In it, we meet Tracy Flick in middle age and just a tad bit away from accomplishing her high school dreams of becoming president of the United States. In an interview with All Things Considered, Perrotta told Sascha Pfiffer that he wanted to revisit this character's story to reflect on ambition, success, and the softening that happens in middle age.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Keri Blakinger says there are no rules behind bars. In 2010, she was arrested on a drug charge and spent two years in prison. And although that statement might sound counterintuitive, Blakinger says that inside the prison, no one is watching when it matters. In her memoir Corrections in Ink, she writes about her path from high-achieving teenager to incarcerated woman to reporter and writer. In an interview with Ailsa Chang on All Things Considered, she says reporting on the prison system has been meaningful because she gets to amplify the stories of those who are just where she used to be.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy