Thursday on Political Rewind: Los Angeles in the early 1970s was a glittering confluence of creative genius, which transformed American society as we know it. Journalist and cultural historian Ronald Brownstein documents this lively history in his new book, Rock Me on the Water: 1974 — The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics.
We speak with Brownstein about how 1974 would change the face of popular culture forever — and create works far ahead of the political status quo of the time.
In her latest collection, Chinese American poet Muriel Leung considers what it means to assimilate, and ultimately heal, against the collective memory of grief and vulnerability.
In How the Word is Passed, Clint Smith visits eight places central to the history of slavery in America, including Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation and Louisiana's Angola prison.
Asian fantasy has been increasingly popular over the past few years, but some authors shelved in that category are wondering whether it's really a useful way of describing a vast and varied subgenre.
Fiery singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor became a star in the MTV era, rewriting the rules while courting controversy. Now, she reclaims an influential legacy with a new memoir, Rememberings.
When author Jewell Parker Rhodes tried to publish a novel retelling the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre, she found that not everyone was ready to reckon with the city's painful, traumatic history.
Zakiya Dalila Harris drew on her book-world background for her new novel, about a Black woman in publishing who thinks, at first, that she has a new ally when her company hires another Black woman.
In 1990, Yusef Salaam was one of the five boys wrongly convicted in the so-called Central Park jogger case. They weren't exonerated until 2002. Salaam tells his story in Better, Not Bitter.
Dawnie Walton's novel is a faux oral history about an interracial rock duo. Opal is a Black proto Afro-punk singer from Detroit, and Nev is a goofy white British singer-songwriter.
David Yoon draws on his own experience working in tech for his new novel, about a disillusioned data whiz who decides to, literally, reboot the internet — with some catastrophic consequences.
Rogen's first comedy teacher taught him to write material based on conflict, so he focused his first stand-up routine on his grandparents. His new book of personal essays is Yearbook.
Punch Me Up To The Gods opens with Brian Broome's father beating him when he was 10. The blows by his father were meant to pound manliness into him — to be the "toughest guy in the room."
In Zen Cho's new novel, a young woman begins to hear a voice in her head: It's the dead, estranged grandmother she never knew. Wronged in life, the grandmother wants revenge after death.
