Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Conversations on books and ideas, Fridays at 11 a.m.

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New author Jamila Minnicks on the resilience and history of all-Black towns
Jamila Minnicks’ debut novel is a stunner. “Moonrise Over New Jessup” uses fiction to tell the stories of real all-Black towns that flourished in the American South a century ago, thanks to a policy of separate but equal.
Historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela on America's obsession with fitness
In her new book, “Fit Nation,” historian and part-time fitness instructor Natalia Mehlman Petrzela details how America’s view of exercise went from indifferent to obsessed.
From the archives: Exercise as preventative medicine
How is it that Americans are more obsessed with exercise than ever, yet still unhealthy? This Friday, host Kerri Miller talks with the author of the new book “Fit Nation,” to examine the U.S. fitness industry today.
Deepti Kapoor on her much anticipated novel 'Age of Vice'
MPR News host Kerri Miller says Deepti Kapoor’s novel lives up to the hype. “Age of Vice” introduces us to the extreme wealth, corruption and cynicism of a changing India in a daring new crime thriller.
From the archives: Emily St. John Mandel on her smash book 'Sea of Tranquility'
Deepti Kapoor’s new novel, “Age of Vice,” is one of the most anticipated releases of 2023. We’ll talk to her on this Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. While you wait, enjoy this interview with Emily St. John Mandel, who wrote one of the most anticipated novels of 2022, “Sea of Tranquility.”
Minnesota author Shannon Gibney on her new speculative fiction memoir
How do you tell the story of your life when straightforward memoir isn’t enough? Shannon Gibney chose to get creative. The result is her new book, “The Girl I Am, Was and Never Will Be,” which uses both traditional memoir and speculative fiction to examine her life as a transracial adoptee.
From the archives: Shannon Gibney on 'Dream Country'
Minneapolis author Shannon Gibney just published her memoir. But it’s probably unlike any memoir you’ve read before. She’ll tell MPR News host Kerri Miller about it on Friday’s episode of Big Books and Bold Ideas. Until then, enjoy this 2018 conversation between Miller and Gibney when her second book, “Dream Country,” had just come out.
Anatoly Liberman on the origins of English idioms
Some idioms need no explanation. Sayings like “put it on the back burner” or “don’t rain on my parade” follow common sense. But what about phrases like “drink like a fish” or “by hook or by crook”?