Share in the childhood tales of A Girl Named Zippy. Hear Kenneth Branagh read Samuel Pepys' exuberant 17th-century diary. Be transformed by the extraordinary women of Half the Sky. You'll find these and other remarkable life stories under biography and memoir.
Picasso's War sheds light on the conflict that was an ominous prelude to WWII and delivers an unforgettable portrait of a genius whose visionary statement about horror and terrible wounds of war still resonates today. Learn More
by Mercy Fontenot, Lyndsey Parker; read by Natasha Soudek
Mercy Fontenot was a Zelig who grew up in the San Francisco Haight-Ashbury scene, where she crossed paths with Charles Manson, went to the first Acid Test, and was friends with Jimi Hendrix (she was later in his movie Rainbow Bridge). Written just prior to her death in 2020, Permanent Damage shows us the world of the 1960s and 1970s music scene through Mercy's eyes. Learn More
The beauty, genius and heroism of the human spirit shines throughout this collection of encounters with exceptional individuals, selected and presented by NPR personalities whose lives have been enriched by a single conversation. Learn More
This authoritative biography of Patrick Henry—the underappreciated founding father best known for saying, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"—restores him and his fellow Virginians to their seminal place in the story of American independence. Learn More
Acclaimed travel writer Jonathan Raban invites us aboard his boat, a floating cottage cluttered with books, curling manuscripts, and dead ballpoint pens. Learn More
Weaving the magical with the mundane, New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik offers a wholly delightful, often hilarious look at what it was to be an American family man in Paris at the end of the twentieth century. Learn More
Overlooking the Border: Narratives of Divided Jerusalem by Dana Hercbergs continues the dialogue surrounding the social history of Jerusalem. Learn More
With humor, alacrity, and profound insight, Amber van de Bunt reveals her deepest, darkest secrets and pulls no punches—least of all with herself. Learn More
Queen Victoria's reign was an era of breathtaking social change, but it did little to create a platform for women to express themselves. But not so within the social sphere of the séance—a mysterious, lamp-lit world on both sides of the Atlantic, in which women who craved a public voice could hold their own. Learn More
Queen Victoria's reign was an era of breathtaking social change, but it did little to create a platform for women to express themselves. But not so within the social sphere of the séance—a mysterious, lamp-lit world on both sides of the Atlantic, in which women who craved a public voice could hold their own. Learn More
A daughter's memoir of her mother evolves beautifully into a narrative of the far-reaching changes in women’s lives in the twentieth century. Learn More
A lively account of how Darwin's work on natural selection transformed science and society, and an investigation into the mysterious illness that plagued its author. Learn More
The Orchid Thief is the true story of John Laroche, an obsessed Florida plant dealer willing to go to any lengths to steal rare and protected wild orchids and clone them, all for a tidy profit. Learn More
