"I think Madison, especially, would be very proud to see that when America deeply disagrees, as it does now, that things grind to a halt," Ricks, author of a new book, First Principles, tells NPR.

Harold McGee talks about how our sense of smell affects taste, why things smell the way they do and the ways different chemicals combine to create surprising (and sometimes distasteful) odors.

Kathleen Rooney's new novel follows an unlikely subject: Cher Ami, the once-famous homing pigeon who helped save a trapped battalion during World War I, and the officer who owed his life to her.

Katherine Standefer was uninsured and working as a hiking guide when diagnosed with a genetic heart condition. She chronicles her experience with an implanted heart device in Lightning Flowers.

Keeping U.S. markets filled with a dazzling array of choices relies on an army of farmers, suppliers, truckers and retail workers. What's gained and lost as all that food makes its way to the shelves?

Rapinoe has also been an outspoken advocate for pay equity and the Black Lives Matter movement. "I see patriotism as constantly demanding better of ourselves," she says. Her new book is One Life.

Bridges was the little girl depicted in that famous Norman Rockwell painting — the first Black student at her New Orleans elementary school. Now, she's written a book to tell kids her story.

Sometimes you want a really good salad, Garten says. But now is not that time. Her new book, Modern Comfort Food, is packed full of recipes for beef stew, chocolate chip cookies and Boston cream pie.

Jess Walter's new novel an adventure tale based on actual events in the early days of the last century's labor movement — which was much wilder and bloodier than most people remember.

The New Yorker's Evan Osnos writes about the candidate's enduring quest to become president. He says Joe Biden has a different mindset today than he once had: "He's a man who is at peace."

Carlos Lozada tells NPR: "It's ironic that a president with such a negative force for race relations" and women's rights has presided over a period where both groups feel more empowered to speak out.

"We've been programmed to say great stuff comes from Europe and not from Africa," Samuelsson says. The chef's new book, The Rise, is a celebration of Black excellence in the culinary world.

Right now, we have "an entire government apparatus designed to foster falsehoods," says editor Ellis Cose, who has written a new book, The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America.

When Derrick Barnes began writing children's books 15 years ago, he didn't see Black kids — boys in particular — depicted in positive, affirming ways. His latest book is called I Am Every Good Thing.

Bryan Washington's debut novel brings together an eclectic cast of characters who redefine family. He says he wanted to write about people operating from a place of love, rather than disdain or hate.