Search results for

George Johnson talks about his new book, Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe. Henrietta Leavitt, while working at Harvard College's observatory in the early 20th century, discovered a way to measure distances between stars, which led astronomers to calculate the size of the universe.

Jennifer Ludden talks to Edward McPherson about his new biography of silent film star Buster Keaton, known as the "Great Stone Face." He says Keaton handcrafted every aspect of his movies in a way that would be unimaginable today

Nearly a year after President Bush declared the Taliban had been ousted from power, Afghanistan has seen its bloodiest year yet since the American occupation. NPR's Philip Reeves, in Kabul, discusses the Taliban's recent resurgence.

News of Thursday's bomb attacks in London meet with condemnation in Kabul. A moderate former Taliban official says he watched the TV coverage with anger -- like many in his area, he has relatives in London. But he also believes that the attacks will strengthen terrorist organizations, providing it's another reminder to their grassroots supporters that al Qaeda is capable of mounting sophisticated attacks on Western powers.

For 34 years, Bob Woodward has been a reporter and editor at The Washington Post. His new book is about the confidential source he and reporting partner Carl Bernstein relied on in the Watergate story, The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat.

Journalist and historian Martin Meredith has written extensively on Africa and its recent history. His new book is The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair.

Michela Wrong's new book is I Didn't Do It For You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation. She presents a case study of the nation of Eritrea, but the problems she writes about, including colonialism and border wars, are prevalent on the entire continent. Wrong is also the author of the PEN award-winning book, In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo. She has been a correspondent for Reuters news agency, the BBC and the Financial Times of London.

The ideals that have shaped what it means to be American are the subject of Neil Baldwin's latest book, The American Revelation: Ten Ideals That Shaped Our Country From the Puritans to the Cold War.

David McCullough tells Steve Inskeep about his new book 1776. The book chronicles the battles George Washington's army fought to win independence for America from Britain.

Paul Feig is the creator of the cult classic TV series Freaks and Geeks. His new book Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin, is the follow-up to his 2002 book Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence. Feig was an actor before moving on to writing for TV and film.