Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.”

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.

Only one day after Jen Hatmaker discovered her husband of 26 years was having an affair, her intuition lead her to dissolution, not restoration. In an early chapter of hew new memoir, Hatmaker writes: “What instinct drove me to an attorney instead of back to a marriage therapist? I was acting purely on intuition — which I only figured out later is the most trustworthy character in the play.” Learning to listen to and trust her “inner knowing” is just one powerful lesson Hatmaker learned in the crucible. In “Awake,” she also talks about her split from the evangelical Christian church that first gave her a platform, her realigned views on sexuality and gender norms and how she was forced to learn to grieve. At it’s core, “Awake” is a midlife memoir about how to reinvent and reconnect to yourself when the world burns down around you.

Big Books and Bold Ideas host Kerri Miller interviews a lot of authors over the course of a year. But some conversations stand out for being especially fascinating, delightfully fun or unexpectedly candid.Last week, we unveiled three of Miller’s top five favorites from 2025. This week, the final two — plus one surprise. 2025 Best Book Roundups MPR News staff picks The 43 best books MPR News staff read in 2025 From NPR Hunker down with these 13 mysteries and thrillers from 2025 From U.S. libraries Genre fiction and female authors top most-borrowed lists in 2025 If you want to hear the full episodes, you can find them here: Misty Copeland at Talking VolumesCatherine NewmanKate DiCamillo Big Books and Bold Ideas is produced by Kelly Gordon and engineered by Cliff Bentley. Here’s to more great books and more fascinating interviews in 2026. 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.

Big Books and Bold Ideas host Kerri Miller interviews a lot of authors over the course of a year. But some conversations stand out for being especially fascinating, delightfully fun or unexpectedly candid. So this week and next, Miller and producer Kelly Gordon share their favorite, most surprising shows from the last 12 months. This week’s conversations include authors: Sarah HooverCharles BockFabienne Josaphat Stay tuned for the final two favorites of 2025 — and a bonus surprise — next week. 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.

Dictionary.com’s word of the year isn’t really a word — it’s a number that went viral on TikTok. The selection caused a ruckus among lexicographers. But editors argued that social media is a major force in creating new words these days, and the whole point of choosing a word of the year is to “reveal the stories we tell about ourselves and how we've changed.”It’s no surprise to author Stefan Fatsis, who chronicles the rise of the modern dictionary in his new book, “Unabridged: The Thrill of and Threat to the Modern Dictionary.” He joined Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to nerd out over words and to talk about the power the humble dictionary has to shape our lives. “Language bubbles up from below,” Fatsis says. “For at least the last 60 years, the dictionary’s function is to be descriptive, to reflect back on culture the way we humans use language — as opposed to prescriptive, the belief for many generations, which was that dictionaries should tell people how to use language.”Fatsis also talks about his time being embedded as a lexicographer-in-training at America’s most famous dictionary publisher, Merriam-Webster, and how the internet and AI threaten this most foundational of books. Guest:Stefan Fatsis is a journalist and the author of many books. He’s also responsible for defining 15 words in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, including a Kerri Miller favorite — sheeple. His new book is “Unabridged: The Thrill of and Threat to the Modern Dictionary.”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.

Bad omens abound. But it’s not enough to dissuade 13 tourists on a luxury cruise to Antarctica — including protagonist Striker, a Black film scout on the ship to search for a location to shoot a movie about Ernest Shackleton — from a kayak excursion on a chilly Christmas Eve. As the group paddles past towering icebergs and desolate landscapes, a sense of unease gives way to full on dread. And then it all goes terribly awry. “Antarctica is the land of illusion,” writes author Quan Barry. “All of this endless white tricks the eye.” What is hidden and what is revealed is the true terror of her new novel, “The Unveiling.” Quan labels it literary horror — equal parts “Lord of the Flies” and “Get Out.” She discusses her wildly original and downright scary new book with host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. Guest:Quan Barry is an English professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the author of many books, including “When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East” (featured on Big Books and Bold Ideas in 2022) and “We Ride Upon Sticks.” Her new novel is “The Unveiling.” 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.

In Catherine Newman’s bestselling novel, “Sandwich,” main character Rachel (nicknamed Rocky), her unflappable husband and newly adult kids decamp to a ramshackle cottage in Cape Cod for a week of sprawling on the sand, late night swims and lazy mornings. Rocky’s aging parents join them halfway through. It sounds perfect — and in many ways, it is. But as anyone who’s ever take a family vacation knows, complicated feelings get stirred up when you spend 24 hours a day with the people you love the most. Rocky is devoted to her family, almost compulsively. She’s also super annoyed with them, thanks to the dark cloud of perimenopause that hangs over her every day. But that doesn’t stop her from gushing over them, from worrying about them, or from making countless hysterical observations about the achingly beautiful gift of life. We get to revisit Rocky in Newman’s new novel, “Wreck,” along with the rest of the crew (minus one). Like “Sandwich,” the title does double duty. “Wreck” is set two years after “Sandwich.” Rocky is navigating the chaos of adult children who move back home while also caring for her father, who temporarily resides under her roof. A growing awareness of mortality causes her to fixate on a tragic accident that happens nearby, while an unexplained rash tries to take over her body. Newman brings her own take on her beloved characters to Big Books and Bold Ideas this week. She and host Kerri Miller talk about Rocky’s new penchant for weepiness, the payment that comes due in our bodies as we age and how to recognize and appreciate a golden time when you’re in it. Guest: Catherine Newman is the author of many books, including “We All Want Impossible Things” and “Sandwich.” Her new novel is “Wreck.” 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.

For 17 years, Mary Lucia was the voice of The Current, MPR’s music-first radio station. Her afternoon drive shifts were beloved for their rock-and-roll vibes, unpredictable humor and human connection. But then a stalker exploited Lucia’s on-air vulnerability, and everything changed. In her new memoir, “What Doesn’t Kill Me Makes Me Weirder and Harder to Relate To,” Lucia tells the full story of how she dealt with escalating harassment in private while she tried to maintain a very public life. Along the way, Lucia retraces her path to becoming a DJ, how she kicked a drug addiction cold turkey and why she felt completely forsaken by law enforcement, friends and colleagues during the years she was being stalked. This week, Lucia’s familiar voice returns to MPR’s airwaves when she joins Kerri Miller on Big Books and Bold Ideas. The self-described “cilantro of radio” shares memories, stories and frustrations from her memoir. Ultimately, she shares herself — one of the things she’s best at doing. Guest: Mary Lucia is a broadcast media personality, writer, actor and voiceover artist. She was a DJ at The Current from 2005 to 2022. Currently, she’s program adviser for Radio K, the University of Minnesota’s student-run radio station. 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.

Kate Baer wore sequins to Talking Volumes.It was a fitting close to the 2025 season — and not-so-subtle reminder that today is all we are promised. Might as well wear the sequins. Talking Volumes: Kate Baer Baer’s latest book of poetry, “How About Now,” captures the mundane beauty of what it means to be a modern woman in midlife. She writes of shifting roles and shifting bodies, of the joy she finds in her family — even if she’d rather stand outside and look at them through the window, and the unique bond in female friendships. MPR News reporter Catharine Richert stepped into the host chair for this Talking Volumes, and talked with Baer about bad childhood poetry, Amish romance novels, the power of getting older and how Baer’s latest poetry collection is both personal and resoundingly universal. Musicians Faith Boblett and Seth Duin closed out the evening with their own kind of poetry. 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.

Curses have long animated literature. Cassandra labors under a curse in “The Iliad.” Although her prophecies are true, she is never believed. Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” endure the curse of a tragic fate, predetermined, in part, because their families despise each another. In Oyinkan Braithwaite’s long awaited second novel, “Cursed Daughters,” generation after generation of women are cursed to lose their true loves. This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Kerri Miller welcomes Braithwaite back to the MPR airwaves for a conversation about curses and karma. Can a curse can be eluded, or does it become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy? What if ancestors refuse to acknowledge a curse? Would it disappear? Or is a curse of kind of generational trauma, passed down from family to family until someone steps into the gap and breaks it? Guest: Oyinkan Braithwaite is the author of the best-selling, “My Sister, The Serial Killer.” Her new novel is “Cursed Daughters.” 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.

“Nuremberg” opens in the spring of 1945. Hitler is dead. Many of his henchmen have died by suicide, have been arrested or have fled. The world is just beginning to grapple with the horrors committed by the Third Reich. Hermann Göring, Hitler’s second in command, is arrested by American troops in Austria, who discover him heading west in a convoy of family and friends. Ostensibly, he intends to surrender to the Allies. The film tells the story of the American lead prosecutor, Robert Jackson, who believed captured Nazi leadership — including Göring — should stand trial at Nuremberg. He wanted the men to answer publicly for their crimes. But before they can have their day in court, each one will be examined by a military psychiatrist, to determine if they are mentally fit. The psychiatrist assigned to Göring, the ambitious Robert Kelley, has a secondary intent. He wants to find out what linked the defendants. Did they have a common psychiatric disorder that would explain their heinous crimes? Could their evil be diagnosed, and if so, be prevented from infecting future generations? “Nuremberg,” which opens nationwide this weekend, stars Russell Crowe as Göring and Rami Malek as Kelley. The film is based on Minneapolis writer Jack el-Hai’s 2011 book, “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.” To mark the release of “Nuremburg,” Kerri Miller hosted el-Hai at MPR’s St. Paul studios to talk about the book and the movie adaptation. They also discuss the central question that animates both: If the potential for evil lurks inside all of us, how do we stop it? Guest:Jack el-Hai is the author of many books, including “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.” He lives and writes in Minneapolis. 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.

The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul was packed with John Grisham fans on Thursday, Oct. 23, when the prolific author made his debut at Talking Volumes. Host Kerri Miller started the night by asking the audience and then Grisham himself to confirm or deny a series of facts. Does Grisham breed champion sheepdogs at his home in Virginia? Has he been knighted? Does he write a sizzling sex scene for each of his books, just to prove that he can — only to take it out before he sends the manuscript to his editor? Talking Volumes: John Grisham They discussed all that and more — including his new novel, “The Widow,” which is actually more mystery than thriller, and how his first as a small-town lawyer in Mississippi led him to become an author. They also delved into how writing about the criminal justice system in America transformed the way he thought about justice. Music was provided by Molly Maher, who brought her blend of Americana and the blues to the Fitz, and even debuted a song inspired by “The Widow.”

The two women at the center of Anna North’s new novel, “Bog Queen,” are separated by time but inexorably bound. One is a druid who lived during the Iron Age. The other is the modern forensic scientist who is called upon to investigate the druid’s perfectly preserved body after it is unearthed from a British bog. Agnes is drawn to the mystery and even sacredness of her work. Who was this woman, and how is her body still telling her story? But it is, as we say today, complicated. Should ancient bodies be poked and prodded for information? Should the land where they have laid for centuries be explored or left undisturbed? And what of the bog itself, with its intricate biosystems of peat and sphagnum moss? Is it, in itself, a living thing that deserves to be heard? In “Bog Queen,” North gently probes those questions and more. She joins Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about what ancient wisdom offers our contemporary world. Guest: Anna North’s previous novels include “Outlawed” and “America Pacifica.” Her new novel is “Bog Queen.”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.

Even before Misty Copeland became the first Black woman to be named a principal dancer at the illustrious American Ballet Theatre, she electrified the world of ballet. A prodigy who didn’t start dancing until she was 13, she grew up in a transient and often chaotic home. But after she was discovered in a Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles by a ballet teacher who wanted to expose more kids to the art form, she quickly shot into the national spotlight. As a teen, she studied at the prestigious San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive. She joined American Ballet Theatre in 2000 and was promoted to principal just five years later, becoming the first Black woman ever to earn the title in the company’s 75-year history. Talking Volumes: Misty Copeland Copeland stepped away from the stage in 2020, after an injury and then the pandemic forced a pause. She officially retires this October, but as she told Kerri Miller at Talking Volumes in September, she’s eager to enter the next chapter of her life where she can focus on giving back.“Bunheads,” her book series for young dancers, is just one example. At Talking Volumes, a warm and playful Copeland talked about her love of ballet, how dance transformed her life and what comes next. Musical guests for this special Sunday matinee Talking Volumes were Aby Wolf and Eric Mayson.

Twenty-five years ago this fall, a generation of readers met 10-year-old India Opal Buloni and her loveable, scruffy dog, Winn-Dixie — so named because Opal found the canine while he was causing chaos in the produce aisle of the local grocery store.Winn-Dixie transformed Opal’s life, as only a dog can do. And their story changed those who read it, as only a book can do.“Because of Winn-Dixie” received a Newbery Honor the year it was published — a significant award for a debut children’s book. Since then, it has been translated into almost 30 language and been made into a major motion picture. It also catapulted Minneapolis author Kate DiCamillo into the national spotlight and launched her remarkable career. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this modern classic, DiCamillo joined Big Books and Bold Ideas host Kerri Miller in the studio to reflect on what “Because of Winn-Dixie” meant to her. Between bouts of laughter and teasing, DiCamillo and Miller talked about the transformative experience of writing for children, which DiCamillo believes makes her a better, more hopeful person. “I didn't know how much that hope was a part of me until I started to write books for children,” she tells Miller. “So that's part of how ‘Winn-Dixie’ changed the whole of my life — not just by letting me become a writer, but by letting me see myself a little bit better.”