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There may be no poet more integral to the American identity are more widely known among Americans than Robert Frost. Yet, his life and the extent of his influence are unfamiliar or misunderstood by many. In the new book “Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost’s Poetry” Adam Plunkett challenges previous biographers’ interpretations of Frost’s life and work breaking away from what he sees as “clichés” to construct an original portrait of the poet.

Imagine being shown a two-frame storyboard depicting in the first drawing a white police officer having shot a black man holding a cellphone. In the second frame the officer tells his supervisor that he saw a gun and that he was sure that he fired on a white person if they had made the same threatening gesture. Then you are asked to make a judgement call; “Does this story involve racism?” This is the approach sociologist Betsy Leondar-Wright and Jessi Streib take in their book “Is It Racist? Is It Sexist?: Why Red and Blue White People Disagree, and How to Decide in the Gray Areas.” They bring the proceeding scenario and others like it to over 120 white Americans of different political stripes, genders, regions, and economic classes.

The new book “Suspended by No String,” by Peter Himmelman, is a collection of essays, personal narratives, and poetical reflections for readers of all spiritual stripes, those who are devout and those who are unsure of what to believe, and those who may not be religious in a traditional sense.

Megan Marshall, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography, has long been revered for her narrative skills and deep insights into historical figures. In her new book “After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart” she takes those skills to her own art and life.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.On this episode, we’ll speak with investigative journalist Mariah Blake.Blake’s new book “They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals” chronicles the decade-long fight for clean drinking water in the small community of Hoosick Falls, New York.

Author Matthew Gavin Frank’s new book “Submersed: Wonder, Obsession, and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines” begins with an investigation into the subculture of homemade submersible obsessives. Men and women, mostly men, who are so compelled to sink into the deep sea that they become amateur submarine builders. They do so at great personal risk as the 2023 fatal implosion of OceanGate’s Titan proved to the world.

The latest nation's report card shows that American children’s reading skills reached new lows, while there is a debate about the best way to teach reading in school. Maya Payne Smart is a writer, parent educator, and literacy advocate argues that America’s reading crisis begins well before children enter kindergarten. She says it starts at birth, which is why she wrote a step-by-step guide for parents to do what it takes to set their children up to thrive as readers from day one to early elementary school. The name of the book is “Reading for Our Lives: The Urgency of Early Literacy and the Action Plan to Help Your Child.”

Curtis Sittenfeld is the best-selling author of novels “Romantic Comedy,” “Prep,” “The Man of my Dreams,” “American Wife,” and “Rodham.” In her second story collection “Show Don’t Tell” she conjures up characters that are so real they seem like old friends laying bare the moments when their long-held beliefs are overturned.

In the new novel “Rabbit Moon” author Jennifer Haigh writes a drama set in Shanghai about a fractured American family with secret lives and an unbreakable bond between two sisters.

On April 15th, 2024, the People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump, the criminal trial of the 45th and 47th President of the United States, began in a Manhattan courtroom. It would prove to be one of the most consequential criminal trials in American history, a start of a new era in politics, and American jurisprudence. Now with Donald Trump back in The White House and Judge Juan Merchan’s sentencing complete Bromwich delivers with new reporting a definitive account of the stranger than fiction showdown in his new book “Dragon on Centre Street: New York vs. Donald J. Trump.”