Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller
Episodes
Memorable moments with women of faith
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
MPR News host Kerri Miller has never skirted the topic of faith.On her former weekday show, she regularly dialoged with leaders like Jenan Mohajir fro...
Family lore becomes rich historical fiction in 'The Storm We Made'
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Choices made in a moment reverberate for generations, despite best intentions.Vanessa Chan adeptly explores this concept in her debut novel, “The St...
How women of the CIA changed history
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Women spies pop up in Hollywood movies all the time. But as Liza Mundy’s new book reveals, it took determined persistence, personal risk and a lot o...
Tracy K. Smith delivers a plea for the American soul
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy K. Smith is known for her powerful poetry. She's a Pulitzer Prize winner and former U. S. Poet Laureate.Yet her newest book, “To Free the Cap...
Can higher education be saved from itself?
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Americans’ faith in the value of higher education is faltering.Unlike our global peers, the U.S. is seeing a steady decline in college enrollment an...
The inside story of the government’s search for alien life
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Are you convinced the U.S. government knows more than it will reveal about UFOs? After doing a deep dive into the history, journalist Garrett Graff is...
Three historians and authors reflect on this American moment
05 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This year, Big Books and Bold Ideas is introducing an occasional series that will feature books on democracy. That series begins as we mark the third ...
How a pastor's faith survived 'Beautiful and Terrible Things'
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Here is the world,” writes theologian Frederick Buechner. “Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”Those words rooted A...
Can a 5,000-mile journey help a mother and son survive their differences?
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For years, author Jedidiah Jenkins and his mother, Barbara, have flirted with the idea of a cross-country road trip together. The goal: to retrace Bar...
Poet Major Jackson on writing poetry that connects
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Members of MPR and supporters of The Slowdown came together in mid-October to celebrate poetry with Major Jackson. The poet was in the Twin Cities to ...
Rethinking roads
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To humans, roads are so ubiquitous, they are almost invisible. They crisscross every continent and allow for travel, exploration and connection.But to...
Decoding the 'familect'
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What word or phrase conjures immediate understanding in your family — but puzzled looks from everyone else? In one family, pizza crust is known as “...
Safiya Sinclair liberates herself in 'How to Say Babylon'
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To the strict Rastafari father of Jamaican poet Safiya Sinclair, Babylon was not just an ancient city. It was a symbol for corruption, for wickedness,...
Kerri Miller and two book lovers share their favorite books of 2023
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What book did you read this year that you immediately recommended to all your friends?That was the topic MPR News host Kerri Miller tackled Monday at ...
Tour the galaxy with the 'Bad Astronomer'
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can you imagine a day when families visit the moon for summer vacation? When travel to see Saturn’s rings up close is a romantic getaway? When human...
Talking Volumes: Margaret Renkl on 'The Comfort of Crows'
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The season finale of Talking Volumes brought author and columnist Margaret Renkl to Minnesota, hours after the first snow carpeted our Northern landsc...
A hard look at gun violence in 'The Bodies Keep Coming'
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On July 7, 2016, a Black gunman ambushed Dallas police officers working a peaceful protest, shooting 14 and killing five. The trauma surgeon who worke...
Talking Volumes: Viet Thanh Nguyen on being 'A Man of Two Faces'
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Viet Thanh Nguyen has a critical mind. He’s critic of populist politics. He’s a critic of history. He’s a critic of the country where he was bor...
'Land of Milk and Honey' depicts a future without the pleasure of food
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In C Pam Zhang’s dystopian not-too-distant future, the planet is covered in a crop-killing smog. Food as we know it is rapidly disappearing to be re...
Talking Volumes: Ann Patchett on 'Tom Lake'
06 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ann Patchett is a perennial favorite at Talking Volumes. So it’s no surprise that she sold out the Fitz for her conversation with host Kerri Miller ...
A young girl runs from Jamestown in Lauren Groff's new book, 'The Vaster Wilds'
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lauren Groff’s new novel, “The Vaster Wilds,” begins in the bleak winter of 1609, when the residents of the early American colony of Jamestown a...
Talking Volumes: Abraham Verghese on 'Covenant of Water'
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Dr. Abraham Verghese released his debut novel in 2009 it was an literary marvel. “Cutting for Stone” captivated readers, sold more than 1.5 m...
Healing from trauma in the northern Wisconsin woods
15 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Carol Dunbar didn’t set out to be an writer. For more than a decade, she was an actress based in the Twin Cities. She told stories by embodying them...
Minnesota novelist Julie Schumacher on 'The English Experience'
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Fitger is not a likeable character. A creative writing professor at the fictitious Payne University, an aptly named small liberal arts college i...
Nostalgia becomes a weapon in the sci-fi thriller 'Prophet'
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The first time Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché met, it was to finish the book they had been cowriting for a year. Macdonald, author of the best-sellin...
Novel asks: ‘What if your two favorite people hate each other with a passion?’
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A pair of best friends determine to leave behind their conservative families and societal expectations, and live by a new motto: By Myself, For Myself...
Christian Cooper on what it means to be a Black man in the natural world
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Christian Cooper’s visibility as a lifelong birder exploded after a woman in Central Park refused to leash her dog and reported, wrongly, that she w...
Minnesota's supper clubs set the table for a delicious family drama
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
J. Ryan Stradal knows supper club culture. Growing up in Hastings, Minn., his family milestones were marked by dressing up, sitting in a leather booth...
Luis Urrea's new novel is inspired by his mother's wartime experiences
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Until writer Luis Alberto Urrea inherited his mother’s journals, he knew very little about what she’d seen and done in World War II. He knew she s...
In 'Shy,' a troubled teenage boy gets a last chance
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Shy, the teenage boy at the heart of Max Porter’s latest novel, defies classification. He is moody and violent, traits which heartbreak his mother a...
'Of White Ashes' brings the WWII Japanese-American experience to life
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Ruby Ishimaru and her family are sent away from Hawaii to a mainland internment camp in 1942, Ruby packs her treasures — photographs, seashells...
Rachel Louise Snyder's memoir is as beautifully complex as her life.
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Cancer took my mother. But religion would take my life.”So writes journalist Rachel Louise Snyder in her new memoir, “Women We Buried, Women We...
A historical swashbuckler from author David Grann
30 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The latest book from journalist and bestselling author David Grann details the true story of a 1741 shipwreck that he believes has "surprising reson...
Women bootleggers in the time of Prohibition
23 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Editor’s note: This program was originally preempted by breaking news coverage. The post has been updated to reflect the new broadcast date.Jeannett...
What it really means to be all-American
09 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Milan Jr.’s debut novel, “The All-American,” is about immigration — but it’s not a story about what it means to leave a foreign land and...
Minnesota writer William Kent Krueger on the importance of place
02 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Minnesota author William Kent Krueger has written 19 books that star his primary protagonist, private investigator Cork O’Connor. But just as centra...
From the archives: William Kent Krueger on 'Lightning Strike'
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Minnesota writer William Kent Krueger is a fan favorite, thanks largely to his series of crime novels featuring private investigator Cork O'Connor. ...
Journalist Jeff Sharlet on America's slow civil war
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene proposed the United States would benefit from a “national divorce,” many scoffed and labeled her statements as in...
Drew Brockington takes fans into 'meowter' space at Talking Volumes
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cats … in space? It’s not a crazy notion for fans of Drew Brockington’s “CatStronauts,” who’ve devoured his graphic novels the way pilot W...
From the archives: 'CatStronauts' author Drew Brockington blasts off into fun
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cats are known to like their space.But outer space? That we didn’t learn until Minneapolis author and illustrator Drew Brockington’s put a crew of...
'Symphony of Secrets' is an ode to music stolen and composers erased
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In his new novel, “Symphony of Secrets,” Brendan Slocumb once again tucks a mystery inside a musical thriller. But underscoring the plot are some ...
How dogs become themselves and other wonders of puppyhood
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to know canine psychologist Alexandra Horowitz’ best advice for training a puppy, it can be summed up in one sentence: “Expect that yo...
Environmental journalist Oliver Milman on why you should care about 'The Insect Crisis'
28 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
April is Animal Month on Big Books and Bold Ideas. But this time, we’re not talking about dogs, monkeys or bats — but bees, beetles and butterflie...
From the archives: Insect expert Marla Spivak on how to save the bees
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Insects — or the lack thereof — are the focus of this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. On Friday, host Kerri Miller will talk with environmental...
Encore presentation: Science journalist Ed Yong on how animals sense the world
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
All animals use their senses to perceive the world, humans included. But not every animal senses the same thing. In Pulitzer prize-winning science jou...
Veterinarian Karen Fine on the special role pets play in our lives
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It helps for a veterinarian to be an animal lover.It doesn’t help for her to be allergic to cats. But Karen Fine didn’t let that stop her. Nor was...
From the archives: Underwater nature photographer David Doubilet
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Renown underwater photographer David Doubilet has been donning a mask and flippers and descending into what he calls “the secret garden of the sea”...
Erica Berry on what wolves teach us about fear
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Once you start looking, wolves are everywhere. A wolf plays the the villain in “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs.” The boy w...
Diana Abu-Jaber on family myths and inheritance
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Diana Abu-Jaber’s family has deep roots in Jordan. Her father came to America after a failed marriage proposal — an act of “revenge immigration,...
From the archives: Diana Abu-Jaber on 'Birds of Paradise'
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Author Diana Abu-Jaber returns to MPR News this week. Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas will feature a conversation between host Kerri Miller and Ab...
Paul Harding explores the archetype of displacement in 'This Other Eden'
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Harding says it’s no accident that the residents of the small interracial community he imagined for his new book are uprooted from their island...
Professor Dacher Keltner on the significance of awe
17 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you felt awe? For many of us, awe is the result of an experience in nature. Or maybe it’s due to a sudden chill up the spine ...
From the archives: Ross Gay on 'Inciting Joy'
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Poet Ross Gay believes in joy. But he pays careful attention to how one defines that word.It is not simply happiness or delight, he says in his new bo...
New author Jamila Minnicks on the resilience and history of all-Black towns
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many Americans are unaware that all-Black enclaves popped up and even flourished during the early 20th century. They did so by following the convictio...
Historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela on America's obsession with fitness
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela was a self-proclaimed bookish kid growing up in the 1990s. She didn’t exercise, she didn’t play sports and she ...