On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.

Rachel Ostrom of Acorn Bookshop in St. Paul says TJ Klune’s new novel “We Burned So Bright” might make you cry. Klune is author of charming and hopeful New York Bestselling fantasies “The House in the Cerulean Sea” and “Under the Whispering Door,” among several others.

This new stand-alone novel has a starker premise than some of Klune’s other works: the end of the world.

A black hole has been gobbling up the solar system, and in a month’s time, life on Earth will end. Faced with a clear deadline, husbands Don and Rodney take a road trip across the U.S. to reach an important destination before time runs out.

On the way, Ostrom says, they encounter memorable characters with their own varied responses to the end of life on earth. She describes one memorable conversation Rodney and Don have around a campfire with a younger couple, where they recall a previous catastrophic experience:

“When they were first together, it was in the 80s, in the midst of the AIDS crisis. They're talking about their friends who died during the AIDS epidemic, and how, like, the government did nothing to help them, and it's just really devastating to hear about that. The conversations they have around that were really incredible and even sparked me to want to learn more about that time.”

Acorn Bookshop is the most recent addition to the Twin Cities’ rich indie bookstore scene. It opened in late March in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul.

Ostrom says it’s a feminist bookstore, with 75 percent of titles written by women. The store has a sizeable children’s, middle grade and young adult section.

Ostrom says the store also has a strong nature focus; Acorn Bookshop gives a percentage of sales every month to Voyageurs Conservancy and Friends of the Mississippi River.

The 79th Annual Tony Awards celebrated the best of Broadway performances on Sunday in New York City, but the night was stolen by a performer who's never starred in a Broadway show at all: the singer-songwriter P!nk.

P!nk, who hosted the evening, started the show dressed like Peter Pan, swinging from the ceiling, but soon donned a pink bustier to sing a raucous version of "Lady Marmalade" that celebrated women in theater. She was joined by Megan Thee Stallion, Broadway stars, and a cast of about 170 others stretching across the huge stage at Radio City Music Hall. That opening number was written by Dear Evan Hansen's Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, plus Mark Sonnenblick, who wrote songs for KPOP Demon Hunters.

There was no big winner this year. Instead, awards were spread among several shows — best new musical went to Schmigadoon!, which won four awards; best play revival and direction went to Death of a Salesman (it won six Tonys in all.)

Plenty of celebrities showed up to share the stage, including cameos from former hosts Neil Patrick Harris and Ariana DeBose, plus presenters Sting, Paul Rudd, Billy Crystal, Bernadette Peters and Adrien Brody.

Later, P!nk sang "All That Jazz" from the long-running musical Chicago, along with the current Broadway cast. Other performances that received rapturous receptions from the crowd included The Rocky Horror Show cast singing "Time Warp" and a number from CATS: The Jellicle Ball — a musical that brings Andrew Lloyd Webber's show into the world of drag ballroom. Members of the audience were given branded fans from the production, and they snapped them happily.

The ceremony also offered a few surprises, like best new play going to Bess Wohl's Pulitzer-winning Liberation, beating out Giant, about Roald Dahl. Wohl's win was the first by an American woman playwright in 37 years.

The design awards were given out in the pre-show on Pluto TV, which made room for the CBS broadcast to focus primarily on performances of new and longer-running shows. In the pre-show, Qween Jean, who won for best costume design for CATS: The Jellicle Ball, became the first openly transgender woman to win a Tony. In 2023, J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell were the first nonbinary actors to win Tonys.

The full list of winners is below.

Best New Musical

WINNER: Schmigadoon!
The Lost Boys
Titaníque
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Best New Play

WINNER: Liberation
The Balusters
Giant
Little Bear Ridge Road

Best Revival of a Musical

WINNER: Ragtime
CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show

Best Revival of a Play

WINNER: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Becky Shaw
Every Brilliant Thing
Fallen Angels
Oedipus

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

WINNER: Joshua Henry, Ragtime
Nicholas Christopher, Chess
Luke Evans, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

WINNER: Caissie Levy, Ragtime
Sara Chase, Schmigadoon!
Stephanie Hsu, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Marla Mindelle, Titaníque
Christiani Pitts, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

WINNER: Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Christopher Abbott, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime
Brandon J. Dirden, Waiting for Godot
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Richard Thomas, The Balusters

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

WINNER: Lesley Manville, Oedipus
Rose Byrne, Fallen Angels
Carrie Coon, Bug
Susannah Flood, Liberation
Kelli O'Hara, Fallen Angels

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

WINNER: Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys
André De Shields, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Bryce Pinkham, Chess
Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime
Layton Williams, Titaníque

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

WINNER: Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
Hannah Cruz, Chess
Rachel Dratch, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Ana Gasteyer, Schmigadoon!
Nichelle Lewis, Ragtime

Best Direction of a Play

WINNER: Joe Mantello, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Nicholas Hytner, Giant
Robert Icke, Oedipus
Kenny Leon, The Balusters
Whitney White, Liberation

Best Direction of a Musical

WINNER: Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
Lear deBessonet, Ragtime
Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!
Tim Jackson, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

WINNER: Laurie Metcalf, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Marylouise Burke, The Balusters
Aya Cash, Giant
June Squibb, Marjorie Prime

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

WINNER: John Lithgow, Giant
Will Harrison, Punch
Nathan Lane, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing
Mark Strong, Oedipus

Best Book of a Musical

WINNER: Schmigadoon!, Cinco Paul
The Lost Boys, David Hornsby and Chris Hoch
Titaníque, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Jim Barne and Kit Buchan

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

WINNER: Schmigadoon!, Music & Lyrics: Cinco Paul
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Music: Caroline Shaw
August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Music: Steve Bargonetti
The Lost Boys, Music & Lyrics: The Rescues
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Music & Lyrics: Jim Barne and Kit Buchan

Best Scenic Design of a Play

WINNER: Chloe Lamford, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Hildegard Bechtler, Oedipus
Takeshi Kata, Bug
David Korins, Dog Day Afternoon
David Rockwell, Fallen Angels

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

WINNER: Dane Laffrey, The Lost Boys
dots, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Soutra Gilmour, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Rachel Hauck, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Scott Pask, Schmigadoon!

Best Costume Design of a Play

WINNER: Jeff Mahshie, Fallen Angels
Brenda Abbandandolo, Dog Day Afternoon
Qween Jean, Liberation
Emilio Sosa, The Balusters
Paul Tazewell, August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Best Costume Design of a Musical

WINNER: Qween Jean, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Linda Cho, Ragtime
Linda Cho, Schmigadoon!
Ryan Park, The Lost Boys
David I. Reynoso, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show

Best Lighting Design of a Play

WINNER: Jack Knowles, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Isabella Byrd, Dog Day Afternoon
Natasha Chivers, Oedipus
Stacey Derosier, August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Heather Gilbert, Bug
Heather Gilbert, The Fear of 13

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

WINNER: Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
Kevin Adams, Chess
Jane Cox, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Donald Holder, Schmigadoon!
Adam Honoré, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Adam Honoré and Donald Holder (Lighting Design) and 59 Studio (Projection Design), Ragtime

Best Sound Design of a Play

WINNER: Mikaal Sulaiman, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Justin Ellington, August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Tom Gibbons, Oedipus
Lee Kinney, The Fear of 13
Josh Schmidt, Bug

Best Sound Design of a Musical

WINNER: Kai Harada, Ragtime
Kai Harada, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Adam Fisher, The Lost Boys
Brian Ronan, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Walter Trarbach, Schmigadoon!

Best Choreography

WINNER: Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, CATS: The Jellicle Ball
Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!
Ellenore Scott, Ragtime
Ani Taj, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show
Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, The Lost Boys

Best Orchestrations

WINNER: Doug Besterman and Mike Morris, Schmigadoon!
Ethan Popp, Kyler England, Adrianne "AG" Gonzalez and Gabriel Mann, The Lost Boys
Lux Pyramid, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Brian Usifer, Chess
Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Wilson, Trevor Holder and Doug Schadt, CATS: The Jellicle Ball

Copyright 2026, NPR

Flying vampires. A musical spoof of the megahit movie “Titanic.” Another spoof, this time of golden-age Broadway musicals. And a new “Death of Salesman,” one of America's most decorated and mournful plays. It's Tony Awards time.

Twenty-four Broadway shows will hope to nab at least one win Sunday across the 26 Tony categories, which can mean the difference between keeping the doors open and pulling down the curtain.

Grammy Award-winner Pink is the host of the show, which will be broadcast live on CBS and streaming for Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. to both coasts on Sunday from 8-11 p.m. Eastern/5-8 p.m. Pacific.

Three generations of Pink's family

Pink promises a big, honking opening number — written by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Mark Sonnenblick that ends with some 170 people on stage — with lots of costume changes and some wire work, which she is familiar with from her acrobatic concerts. She has tapped Amber Ruffin, a writer and performer for “Late Night with Seth Meyers” for help with jokes.

In the audience will be Pink's mother — who took her to shows growing up in Philadelphia, instilling a love of musicals — and Pink's two children, a passing of the musical theater baton. Pink's 15-year-old daughter, Willow, is an aspiring theater actor and urged her to host the Tonys.

“The biggest reason she wanted me to say ‘yes’ was so that she could have a seat at the show because she loves the show so much,” says Pink. “I was like, ‘I can probably get you a seat anyway.’”

Plenty of performances

There will be performances from the seven best new musical and best musical revival nominees: “The Lost Boys,” “Schmigadoon!,” “Titanique,” “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” “Ragtime” and “The Rocky Horror Show.”

Other performances include the original lead cast members of “The Book of Mormon” — Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, Rory O’Malley and Nikki M. James — this year celebrating its 15th anniversary. Leslie Odom, Jr. will sing “Without You” from “Rent” during the In Memoriam section, in honor of that show’s 30th anniversary.

Another show celebrating a milestone, “Chicago” now at 30, will have a performance slot featuring Pink, as well as Queen Latifah, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Alex Newell, Adrienne Warren, Julianne Hough, Whitney Leavitt and Dylan Mulvaney. Plus, “A Chorus Line,” which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, will get a special tribute by Rachel Zegler.

The musical and play races

The competition for best new musical is between four very different shows: “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” an opposites-attract rom-com; “The Lost Boys,” a stage adaptation of a 1987 teen movie vampire thriller; “Schmigadoon!,” which gently mocks golden-age Broadway shows; and “Titanique,” a camp musical comedy that reimagines the 1997 movie “Titanic.”

The two top best play nominees are “Giant,” exploring accusations of antisemitism against children's author Roald Dahl, and “Liberation,” about a consciousness-raising women’s group in the 1970s that explores inequality, gender roles and racism.

There are intriguing races in both the revival categories: A “Death of a Salesman” led by Nathan Lane is competing for best play revival with a modern-set “Oedipus” led by Marc Strong and a sweet “Every Brilliant Thing” starring Daniel Radcliffe.

The best musical revival pits a new “Cats” reimagined as a “Pose”-like competition show, the sweeping American history show “Ragtime” and a rollicking, frisky “The Rocky Horror Show.”

Bill Rauch, who secured his first Tony nomination for co-directing the reimagined “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” was a nominator for three seasons until this one and is impressed by the range now on Broadway.

“I look at everything as an artist within the season, but also as somebody who has seen the wealth of work on Broadway for three years running,” he said. “I just think there’s so much variety on Broadway and so many artistic risks that people take. I left my three years as a nominator really impressed by the landscape, I have to say. And I feel that this year as well.”

June Squibb became the oldest Tony-nominated actor in history at 96 and could become the oldest Tony winner if she hears her name called, surpassing Lois Smith who was 90 when she won in 2021. And Lane is hoping for his fourth Tony for “Death of a Salesman,” which would make him tied as the most-awarded male performer in Tony history, alongside Boyd Gaines and Frank Langella.

For the last five years, the sharpening of a giant pencil sculpture has dominated social calendars for the first week of June.

The 20-foot tall No. 2. pencil sits in the yard of John and Amy Higgins. The story goes that a few years ago an oak tree was damaged in a storm and instead of removing it, they consulted wood sculptor Curtis Ingvoldstad who turned it into a pencil.

Now, thousands of people gather annually for a party in the Lake of the Isles neighborhood with costumes, pencil hats and of course, commemorative No. 2 pencils to take home.

Amy said at first, her expectations were low. Would people really come out on a summer day to watch a pencil sculpture be sharpened? She did not expect the event to become a viral local moment.

“We thought maybe a couple 100 would be a lot, and the first year I think maybe we had 300 or 400 but then it’s just gotten bigger as more people hear about it, and now last year I think it was about 4,000,” she said. “I mean, it’s crazy that it’s grown that much but it speaks to people’s yearning for some fun and you know, just joy.”

Amy said people from up to 30 different states and even a few countries have made the journey to the pencil. Her favorite part of the sharpening is the sense of community the day has created, and pride to live in Minneapolis.

“We just love Minneapolis. We love the people here, it's a very welcoming community and very community-minded as everyone knows from the past year. It brings us a lot of happiness to do this,” she said.

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

13 of 13

1 of 13

2 of 13

Next Slide

Fans gathered Saturday for a free, all-ages block party and sing-along as part of Prince Celebration 2026.

A couple thousand people dressed in purple packed the intersection in front of the Prince mural Saturday evening to sing along to his greatest hits. Puppets from Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, including a large white dove and a puppet version of Prince, moved through the crowd.

A 100-voice community choir led the sing-along to Prince’s biggest hits, directed by Sanford Moore, musical director of jazz ensemble Moore By Four, outside of First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. The event is part of several days of celebrations for what would have been Prince's 68th birthday. April marked the 10th anniversary of his death.

Ben Johnson, the arts and cultural affairs director for the city, got the idea of the sing-along from festivals in Estonia where tens of thousands of people sing. The Estonian Song Festival started in 1869 and inspired resistance against Soviet control of the country.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, if we could just make the ground shake in Minneapolis with thousands of people singing Prince, that would be a really glorious moment,” Johnson said.

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

7 of 7

1 of 7

2 of 7

Next Slide

The space can fit about 10,000 people, but Johnson expects it to reach over 15,000. Prince performed frequently at First Avenue and it served as the central location in Prince’s blockbuster film “Purple Rain.” When Prince died in 2016, thousands of fans gathered outside First Avenue and sang his songs.

Nearby is the 100-foot mural of Prince that debuted in 2022.

“Nothing Compares 2 U” will be sang as a tribune to the city of Minneapolis and “Sometimes it Snows in April” as a dedication to Prince’s death, according to Johnson.

Moore said for months he has been in the depths of Prince’s catalog to focus on the meanings of the songs and learning all of the lyrics. Ages of those in the choir range from middle schoolers to late 70s. Moore said even if you don’t know all the words — don’t worry. There will be lyrics on screens and the point of the sing-along is to honor Prince.

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

8 of 8

1 of 8

2 of 8

Next Slide

“I’m really looking forward to having this experience and all those voices just singing along and paying tribute to this genius of a man,” he said. “I really want them [attendees] to feel that they have celebrated Prince in a magnificent way and that the community of this great city in the Twin Cities has come together to really acknowledge his contribution to the music scene.”

He’s most looking forward to performing hits like “1999,” “When Doves Cry” and “Kiss.”

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.

Kari Meutsch of Yankee Bookshop in Woodstock, Vt., loves recommending Katherine Arden’s novels to readers who enjoy historical fiction and want to dip their toes into fantasy. “The history is so well researched that it almost makes the magic and the folklore seem just as real,” Meutsch says.

Arden’s bestselling Winternight Trilogy was set in medieval Russia, and Meutsch says Arden’s new novel, “The Unicorn Hunters,” out this week, “feels like spring: it just feels like growth and promise.”

“The Unicorn Hunters” follows Anne of Brittany (1477-1514), a politically savvy Duchess of Brittany and twice queen consort of France, who did everything in her power to preserve Brittany’s independence. She died without a male heir, and Brittany ultimately became part of France.

But what would have happened if she had magic?

That’s the question of “The Unicorn Hunters.” The novel does indeed involve a unicorn hunt as well as the fairy realm.

“So Anne has the opportunity to try all of these other ways to save her kingdom. Or, it might destroy her; you don't know,” says Meutsch.

“Katherine has such a beautiful way of writing. I really loved the whole package of this book.”

Boom Island Park is now the home of a new temporary art exhibit by Franco-Swiss artist Saype called “Beyond Walls.” Saype has painted the massive mural of linked hands in 22 countries, but this is the first time his work is in the U.S. The project debuted Friday afternoon.

The artist said he decided to pick Minneapolis for the project during the federal immigration enforcement surge after seeing neighbors helping each other.

“In the recent events in Minneapolis, even in Europe, we spoke a lot of the recent events this winter and before. I think it’s really revealing of the fracture of the society still going on in the U.S.,” he said. “My project is to connect people more than to divide. So, I thought maybe it’s a great place to start this project for this reason.”

Saype started the mural on Monday. Since beginning, he said he’s felt very welcomed by the people of Minneapolis, with some even bringing him lunch or coffee to express their gratitude.

“I got chills when I speak with the people, some people cry, so it’s very moving and honestly I’m so happy, grateful that people welcome me like that,” he said. “I feel at my right place on Earth today.”

There are celebrations 3 to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday for the opening of the mural with a speech by Saype, a food truck, music and drone photography capturing the art. Guests will also be invited to link arms around the mural at 4 p.m. both days.

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

6 of 6

1 of 6

2 of 6

Next Slide

Prince fans can celebrate his life and music this weekend on what would have been his 68th birthday.

The weeklong celebration, culminating on Prince’s June 7 birthday, will include performances, block parties and more to recognize the 10th anniversary of his 2016 death.

Organizers said to come ready to sing — and bring their best purple and sequins. Here’s how you can party like it’s 1999.

Friday

Prince Celebration of Life 10th Year Anniversary Concert

NPG and The Revolution with performers Bilal, Tevin Campbell, Morris Day, Miguel and Kat Graham will perform 8 p.m. at The Armory in Minneapolis. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets start at $94.10. Find more information at The Armory website.

Saturday

Prince’s Downtown walking tour

Join SoundAround's Kristen Zschomler and Sarah Lee on a walking tour of Prince places in downtown Minneapolis.

Learn the in-depth histories, fun stories and deep connections between Prince, the place he called home for most of his life and where his star went supernova. Tickets are limited.

Prince Celebration Block Party and Sing-Along

The block party begins at 2 p.m., with the Sing-Along scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Prince Mural at 101 North 9th St. in Minneapolis.

A 100-voice community choir will sing Prince’s biggest hits, led by musical director Sanford Moore of jazz ensemble Moore By Four.

All ages are welcome and the event is free to attend. The event is hosted by Paisley Park and the City of Minneapolis.

Find more at Paisley Park website.

Let’s Glow Crazy: A Prince-Inspired Candle Making Experience

Inspired by the energy, music, style and cultural impact of Prince, "Let’s Glow Crazy" is an immersive experience from 3 p.m. to 5p.m. at The W Foshay in downtown Minneapolis.

The event includes a soundtrack showdown competition, candle pouring ritual, specialty cocktails and curated bites.

Tickets for the Gold Experience are still available, other levels are currently sold out. Find more information at the Kobi Co. website.

Block Party Celebration with DJ Jake Rudh and DJ Miss Brit

Doors at First Avenue open at 7 p.m.

Tickets are limited and are on sale at the First Avenue website.

Dr. Mambo’s Combo - Forever in my life: A Birthday Tribute to Prince

“Forever In My Life: A Birthday Tribute to Prince” features a diverse collection of songs across the many eras and styles of Prince, including his work with The Revolution and The New Power Generation, as well as songs he wrote for other artists.

The performance is at the Parkway Theater. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. Find tickets and more information at The Parkway Theater website.

The current band lineup features Julius Collins and Monique Blakey on lead vocals; Sonny Thompson on bass; Brian Ziemniak on keys; Geoff LeCrone on guitar; and Peter Suttman on drums.

Sunday

The People’s Museum for Prince - Opening Day

Opening on Prince’s birthday, the People’s Museum for Prince will honor him through an experimental museum experience featuring your stories and art.

The museum opens across two north Minneapolis venues, a special southside satellite exhibition and presentation at the University of Minnesota.

Learn more about the exhibit, including a free walking tour at noon. All exhibitions and events are open and free to the public.

Exhibitions will be open through June 27. Learn more at the museum website.

All weekend and beyond

Latest Prince album release

As part of Minneapolis’ celebration of Prince's birthday, the musician's estate announced a new compilation record on Thursday featuring 10 songs from his vault.

The record “Timeless” is out at the end of August. One of those songs, “Stone,” was released as a single with the announcement.

Read Prince books

A wide collection of published works explores Prince’s life and work. If you’re more of a book worm, check out some of these titles to discover more.

• “Prince and Purple Rain: 40 Years” by music journalist Andrea Swensson

• “The Beautiful Ones” by Prince, published posthumously with work by editor Dan Piepenbring.

• “Prince: A Private View” by photographer Afshin Shahidi

• “This Thing Called Life: Prince’s Odyssey On and Off the Record” by Neal Karlen

Has mythology given Medea a bad rap? Has her story been distorted because it was more appealing to portray her as a lusty, vengeful, violent woman married to a golden-boy hero?

The essential conundrum, writes novelist Natalie Haynes, is Medea’s shift from superpowered sorceress to helpless, abandoned wife.

Medea is at the center of Haynes’ new novel about Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece and the tragedy that flows from their love affair. She joins host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk Medea’s essential juxtapositions and what ancient myths have to say to modern culture. They also talk about how Haynes’ time doing stand-up comedy informs her writing.

Guest:

• Natalie Haynes is a mythologist and the author of many novels, including “Stone Blind” and “A Thousand Ships.” Her new book is “No Friend to This House.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

At an end-of-school-year rally at Normandale Hills Elementary, things kicked off with hundreds of students singing the school song.

“In the town of Bloomington, there's a school where the kids have fun,” they sing with full-hearted joy.

It’s a bright spot, considering this school year was marked by several events that weighed heavily on students and families, including a shooting at the Annunciation Church and School and increased immigration enforcement across the Twin Cities.

“I feel like since COVID, I've been waiting for the normal year,” said Mr. Zupfer, the school’s music teacher who composed the school song years ago.

“This was going to be the normal year, and Annunciation started out our year, and that was a gut punch.”

But in those difficult moments, Zupfer–or Mr. Z as he’s known by his students–has been using songs to remind kids that they aren’t alone.

“We had a rally right in the midst [after federal agents killed] Alex Pretti, and all those things. And you don't know what kids know or what they don't know,” said Zupfer. “But you just want to acknowledge that there are really hard things going on, and that you will get through it.”

Zupfer’s ability to create community through music was highlighted this year, when his song “One Minnesota” went viral on Instagram.

“I don't know how the algorithm works, but something happened with that, and just to see some of those verses go crazy was a lot of fun and exciting,” said Zupfer.

Despite having written it in 2019, Zupfer posted videos this year featuring his students singing the song’s verses, with little dance moves and gestures. The song highlights famous people from Minnesota, and pokes fun at the state’s sports teams and their losing streaks. It also includes lyrics like “there is a true tapestry of people gathered here from Sweden to Somalia.”

“It was fun to see kids in the room light up to be seen in that way,” said Zupfer.

Still, it was hard to ask the students to sing a joyful song in the midst of the immigration enforcement surge, which forced some students to stay home from school. Zupfer said, however, that singing it helped keep everyone grounded.

“And to somehow find some celebration in the joy in the midst of really hard stuff,” he said.

While “One Minnesota” might be his best-known song, Zupfer has a whole catalog of works that aim to help students develop their emotional intelligence. One of them, titled “OYA,” teaches kids that it’s okay to make mistakes—but that you have to own your actions. Another teaches them how to watch their rising emotions like they watch the weather.

“My passion has been writing songs that create a social emotional kind of infrastructure,” said Zupfer. “It's hard for kids to learn when they're dysregulated.”

The songs aren’t just for the kids though, Zupfer said. He also thinks he helps out the adults in the room with his creative work.

“In a public school, whatever's going on, you're going through it together,” he said. “To kind of have that outlet and that expression is a huge privilege.”

"The Great Gatsby" centennial continues at the Orpheum. Pillsbury House + Theatre uses puppetry to explore the impact of ICE on south Minneapolis. A group show explores mutual aid. A feminist choir turns 50 and more in this week’s MN Shortlist.

‘The Great Gatsby’ at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis through June 7

While a major Prince celebration is taking over downtown Minneapolis this week, another Minnesota legend is getting his flowers at the Orpheum Theatre. F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was born in St. Paul, wrote “The Great Gatsby” over 100 years ago, and a musical adaptation of his great American novel is now on tour across North America.

The show doesn’t have the depth of the novel—save for a few moments where the devastating consequences of the pursuit of the American dream leaves a lump in your throat. The homoerotic subtext of narrator Nick Carraway is also for the most part excised from this adaptation. However, the musical numbers are slick and sparkly, and the music is well composed, leaving you humming several of the songs.

— Jacob Aloi

A gay ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at The Modern Rep through June 20

When William Shakespeare first mounted his plays, only men were allowed to perform on stage, requiring them to play both male and female roles. While it is now standard practice to see people of all genders portray a variety of roles in Shakespeare’s canon, some productions hearken back to those Renaissance times with an all-male cast in what is called “original practice.”

For Grant Sorenson, a theater director and founder of the relatively new performing company “The Modern Rep,” the idea of performing Shakespeare in this way intrigued him, leading to his version of one of the Bard’s best-known plays.

“I started to look at how could you cast ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ with a group of male actors?” Sorenson said, adding that he wanted to explore the queer elements that seem inherent to the play, given that it would have been all men portraying the show’s love stories back in the day.

“When you have men speaking romantic poetry to each other … it felt like that was sort of ripe for reimagining, so I was excited to cast an incredible group of local actors, the majority of whom identify as gay or queer,” Sorenson said.

— (Jacob Aloi)

Katy Vernon and Favourite Girl at Aster Cafe in Minneapolis, June 5

London born musician Katy Vernon has made Minnesota her home for 30 years. She’s mainly known for her singer-songwriter vibes, and for performing with her self-titled band for many years. But when the band broke up in 2021, Vernon decided to take on a new project.

“I almost immediately started dreaming up, you know, what would be next, and kind of pulled myself up off the floor,” Vernon told MPR News.

What blossomed out of that sad moment for her was Favourite Girl, a new rock band fronted by Vernon, featuring a mostly female lineup.

“We have one guy who plays trumpet,” Vernon said, explaining that she wanted “more female energy” for this band than previous projects.

Favourite Girl released their first album earlier this year. The self-titled debut record has elements of English Rock, mixed in with the sound of other female fronted bands like the Go-Gos, along with shades of musical theater. Favourite Girl is available via CD and streaming, and will also be available on vinyl. To celebrate the vinyl release, the band will be playing a show at the Aster Cafe in Minneapolis on June 5. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and the show kicks off at 8:30 p.m. (Jacob Aloi)

‘Boundless / Sin límites’ at Pillsbury House + Theatre through June 14

The Twin Cities-based All at Once Puppet Company, run by puppeteers of color Sofía Padilla, Oanh Vu, Andrew Young and Erica Warren, aims to create narrative performances based in transformation and culture. Using shadow, tabletop and rod puppetry the company has created “Boundless / Sin límites,” a story rooted in south Minneapolis, which follows Sol, “a young person sheltering in place from ICE, is swept into a time-traveling journey by Coyote, a trickster deity.”

The production was developed using story circles with South Minneapolis neighbors. Pillsbury is located about three blocks away from where an ICE agent killed Renee Good in January. A month later, Pillsbury senior artistic producing director Signe Harriday told MPR News: “Trauma is showing up in every corner of our work, whether it’s with our participants, our families, our artists, our kids, our staff, everyone is touched and impacted in some way.” (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘Carrying Each Other’ exhibition at Lanesboro Arts, June 6-Aug. 2

Many current art exhibitions are examining how artists and community members help one another (including two ongoing exhibitions about neighbors highlighted in a May Shortlist). The group show “Carrying Each Other” picks up that torch by asking participating artists to “submit work exploring these visible and invisible forms of support, exchange, and mutual care that shape community life and why it matters to them.” And so, on view, there will be everything from quilted textiles and leather work to photo collages and audio records. There will be an opening reception 6 to 8 pm June 6. (Alex V. Cipolle)

Calliope Women’s Chorus 50th anniversary show at Hamline University — June 6

Calliope said it's the second oldest feminist choir in the U.S. with a founding in 1976 (The Twin Cities are a hub for very longstanding choruses). On Saturday at Hamline University’s Sundin Music Hall, to kick off PRIDE month, the chorus will celebrate a half-century of creating “a comfortable place for the LGBTQ+, ally and feminist communities to gather, celebrate and renew spirits. Calliope will also perform the Golden Valley Pride Festival on June 13.

You can learn more about the history of the chorus in a recent episode of “Queer Voices: The Official Podcast of Gala Choruses,” which features an interview with Calliope artistic director Klo Garoute, president Maddy Hull and secretary Laurel Rand Lewis.

“Part of this 50th anniversary is really honoring the people who started the choir and honoring the legacy of the women who would meet in their living rooms and just gather and want a space for themselves,” Rand Lewis said. The anniversary “really just celebrates people being whoever they are.” (Alex V. Cipolle)

As part of Minneapolis’ celebration of Prince's birthday, the musician's estate announced a new compilation record on Thursday featuring 10 songs from his vault.

The record "Timeless" is out at the end of August. One of those songs, “Stone,” was released with the announcement as a single.

MPR News host Clay Masters spoke with music journalist Andrea Swensson about the release and what to expect from the upcoming album.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Three Minnesota literary organizations are among the first recipients nationwide of new grants aimed at closing a gap in arts funding.

The Literary Arts Fund announced Thursday that the Loft Literary Center, Graywolf Press and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop are among 40 recipients that will share $7.7 million.

Traditionally in the arts world, literary arts organizations receive the least philanthropic funding — dramatically so. Of the roughly $5 billion given privately to arts and culture groups in the U.S., only 1.9 percent went to fund literary endeavors in the past five years.

That finding was cited by the Literary Arts Fund, a partnership of seven philanthropic organizations which formed in October 2025 to address that issue.

The grant recipients will receive unrestricted funds for general operations over the next five years.

Arleta Little, executive and artistic director of the Loft, called general operating funds like that “the most critical type of lifeblood support that nonprofit and arts organizations need to pay staff to support programming, especially programs that are not covered by other grant funding or earned revenue.”

The Loft offers workshops and space in downtown Minneapolis that support writers at all levels of their craft. Little said the $300,000 in flexible funding supports their ability to be an “incubator for creatives.”

Another recipient, Graywolf Press in Minneapolis, punches above its weight class as a literary press, publishing fiction and poetry that routinely get nods for national literary awards. Executive Director Carmen Giménez said in a statement that “Graywolf’s nonprofit status allows our editors to acquire and edit books that speak to the human condition while taking creative risks.”

Each organization varies in size, as does their grant. For the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, which offers creative writing classes and support in all adult prisons in the state, the $150,000 grant accounts for five to 10 percent of their operating budget over the next five years, according to Executive Director Mike Alberti.

“There’s still a really high demand for the kind of programming that we provide in Minnesota prisons. Post-COVID, the demand for the pro-social, in-person classes that are really our specialty has just continued to be very high,” Alberti said. “This [funding] will really help us to continue to scale up to meet the demand.”

The funding comes at a challenging time for the arts in general. Organizations that were still rebounding after the COVID shutdown have in some cases lost funding due to disruptions at the National Endowment for the Arts over the past year.

In addition to the seven national foundations that comprise the Literary Arts Fund, the Minnesota-based Jerome Foundation and McKnight Foundation are contributing members to the fund.

Little said she’s been in conversation with local funders to ask whether this national support will cause Minnesota funders to step back.

“I have heard from funders that ... they have no intentions of doing that,” Little said. “I hope that that is true, and that this will be as it is intended to be — something that addresses a gap, not something that supplants existing sources of support.”

Only New York and California had more Literary Arts Fund grant recipients than Minnesota, which was tied with Texas.

Marjane Satrapi, author of the acclaimed graphic novel “Persepolis” and a leading champion for women's rights in Iran, died on Thursday. She was 56.

The office of the French presidency confirmed her death in a statement, highlighting the universal message of freedom her work carried.

Satrapi was born in Tehran in 1969. Her childhood was one shadowed by polarization: Though she grew up in a communist-leaning household and studied abroad in Vienna and France as a young adult, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and its resulting theocratic regime indelibly altered her life.

Satrapi wrote about her adolescence in the new Islamic Republic — her rebellion, exile, return, and permanent departure — in “Persepolis.” Published in four French volumes between 2000 and 2003, Satrapi's autobiographical comic book became an international bestseller. It has since been translated into more than 20 languages.

"A comic has this advantage," Satrapi told NPR in 2024. "Because the first language of the human being is drawing."

In 2007, Satrapi co-wrote and directed an animated film adaptation of “Persepolis” with her creative partner Vincent Paronnaud. The film won the coveted Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and earned Satrapi an Academy Award nomination in 2008. She was the first woman in history to receive a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category.

"The real issue for me is human rights, it's the freedom of expression," Satrapi told NPR in 2007. "It's the freedom of thinking, you know."

Following the Iranian Revolution, a young Satrapi (alongside every woman in Iran) found herself forced to wear a hijab. Satrapi said the covering barred her from her right to free expression: "Having to wear something I don't want to wear, just not being able to express exactly what I want to do, that was — that was something — I just couldn't handle it."

Satrapi continued to draw, write, act, direct and advocate throughout her adult life. Her last book, “Woman, Life, Freedom” (2024) is a collaborative anthology — assembled in just five months — bringing together works of artists and academics on the death of Mahsa Amini and the protests that followed in 2022.

Copyright 2026, NPR

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above.

Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.

Six new plays from Arab American Theaterworks

Deborah Copperud of Minneapolis hosts the podcast “Read Minnesota Books.” She’s looking forward to a new event, the Festival of New SWANA Plays, this weekend.

SWANA stands for Southwest Asian and North African, and it's a culmination of the New Arab American Theater Works Playwright Incubator Program. Open Book in Minneapolis will host staged readings of six new plays by Midwestern SWANA playwrights.

Three play readings happen each day at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. with a moderated audience talkback following each show. Tickets are $15 per day.

Deborah says the plays are all different: There's a psychological thriller, a fairy tale adaptation, a domestic drama and a travel quest.

Sana Wazwaz is a playwright from Minneapolis, and she is presenting “Birthright Palestine” [Saturday at 7 p.m.]. The play was inspired by her experience organizing for Palestinian liberation as a college student.

— Deborah Copperud

5-Minute Film Festival in Duluth

Denise Voie de Vie is a working artist in Duluth specializing in mixed media and acrylics. She’s expecting to be part of a good crowd at Prøve Collective this Saturday for their 5-Minute Film Festival.

The free event will screen 17 or 18 very short films by local artists, ranging in style from animation to documentary to abstract and beyond. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Denise admires the work coming out of Prøve: There is a really lively art scene here in Duluth, and Prøve has carved out that niche for new and upcoming talent.

There are a lot of really young and talented people on the board, and they are willing to take chances on art. It's a place where some of the most exciting things happen.

— Denise Voie de Vie

Art meets healthcare in Med City

Lauren Hutchinson lives in Rochester, having previously worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She recently enjoyed seeing the exhibition “Forms of Care: The Art of Representing the Body” at Rochester Center for the Arts.

It’s a thought-provoking multi-artist exhibition that explores the field of medicine and its interaction with human bodies as well as the ethics of representing human bodies in medical texts. The show includes 2D work, sculptures and an opportunity for visitors to sit for portraits. It runs through January 2027.

Lauren says: It really makes you question: Can one body be used to represent an entire population of diverse individuals?

I hope lots of doctors and medical staff will get to experience the exhibition and see the creativity and artistry that's hidden behind a lot of their work.

— Lauren Hutchinson

August Wilson is one of America's most-produced playwrights. He's best known for his 10-play series, the “Century Cycle,” which includes “Fences” and “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.”

While many of his plays are set in Pittsburgh, Wilson began his career as a playwright at Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul. One of his earlier plays in the cycle, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," is running at Penumbra through June 21.

MPR News arts reporter Jacob Aloi spoke with director of the production and Penumbra founder Lou Bellamy about the play and Wilson's legacy in Minnesota.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Luke Gulbranson had just gotten off the phone with his parents, was sipping his morning coffee, reciting his daily prayers and watching President Trump speak with reporters when he had a realization: he was going to run for Congress.

"In that moment I was like, 'Wait, I'm going to do this. I'm going to actually throw my hat in the ring and do this,'" Gulbranson told NPR about his decision to challenge Republican Rep. Peter Stauber in Minnesota's 8th Congressional District as a Democrat.

Gulbranson is a political newcomer. This is his first campaign for elected office. But he's no stranger to life in the public eye. Before he entered the race, millions watched Gulbranson for three seasons on Bravo's reality television series "Summer House" and two seasons of its spin-off "Winter House."

He isn't the only former reality TV star making a political debut in 2026 — at least two others are hopping into the political arena. Farrah Abraham, former star of MTV's "Teen Mom," announced she is running for Austin City Council, though she has not filed the necessary paperwork to officially run. And perhaps most well-known this election cycle, Spencer Pratt, the "villain" of MTV's early 2000s hit show "The Hills" is vying to become the next mayor of Los Angeles. While some people may consider reality shows unserious, dramatic and even trashy, the genre seems to have become a training ground for politics.

David Bresenham is an executive producer of reality TV Shows. Bresenham — who is also a lecturer at Stanford University where he teaches a class about reality shows and society — believes reality TV stars have what it takes to withstand the metaphorical bloodbath that politics can become.

These stars know how to navigate conflict, work a camera and often have experience dealing with public backlash. While traditional politicians are figuring out how to handle criticism, build name recognition and reach audiences through newer mediums, like social media, reality tv stars already have those credentials.

"Politics, certainly today, you need to be able to interact well with cameras. You need to be able to speak in soundbites. And you need to be able to present your ideas as succinctly as possible," Bresenham said. "If you've had success in reality TV, you're probably pretty good at those."

Gulbranson doesn't see his time on television as an advantage against his opponents but he does believe it prepared him for politics in a way. In his view, politics isn't for the faint of heart and neither is being cast on a reality show.

"I definitely think it helps me in having thick skin because I've noticed that politics is actually worse than reality television, " Gulbranson said.

The characters on the screen are, by nature of the genre, constantly and viciously judged by a distant audience; everyone who watches has an opinion about what is unfolding in the latest episode and it impacts how the public perceives a person. On "Summer House," Gulbranson was known as the small town, dreamy guy with a reputation of toying with the emotions of some of his female housemates and being cast in that role can be difficult. Still, Gulbranson lives beyond the edit.

"I'm confident in who I am as a man and as I continue to meet people on the campaign trail, they see that, too," he said.

After his time on TV, Gulbranson moved back to his hometown of Eveleth, Minn., where he manages his own maple syrup business and coaches hockey.

Instead of trying to connect with constituents through the parasocial relationship created by television, he's leaning into his upbringing.

Gulbranson describes himself as a "welfare kid" who grew up on powdered milk and food stamps. Now, at 42-years-old, he said he is noticing that same struggle in the community he grew up in and across Northern Minnesota. His parents, who he said should be retired by now, still work because they can't afford not to. Gulbranson's mom has leukemia and his dad is disabled with diabetes. He's not worried about his reality TV persona. He said he's worried about affordability, the shrinking middle class, the loss of union jobs and access to child care and healthcare.

"In reality television, it affects me. It affects the way I'm perceived on how I'm edited and produced and stuff. But with Congress, it affects the lives of other people. You can watch a TV show and you might care about it, but it's not affecting your health care, right? It's not affecting the cost of goods or every time you're putting gas in the car," he said.

Bresenham, the reality show executive producer and lecturer at Stanford, said for all of the genre's faults, it has placed a great amount of social currency on being reliable, authentic and shameless. Even if the person on the other side of the screen disagrees with their position, there is usually a mutual respect for the star standing in their convictions.

Enter Spencer Pratt.

Pratt, who didn't respond to NPR's interview requests, told Joe Rogan in an April interview that he never "wanted to run for political office or have anything to do with politicians." But that all changed on Jan. 7 of last year, when his house burned to the ground in a wildfire that swept through LA's affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

"I see that nobody is stepping up to run against the mayor who's responsible for this disaster and so many other disasters. So it came to the point where I got so sick of just being, as the younger people say in the comments section, a yapper," Pratt told Rogan.

Pratt is seemingly able to separate online chatter from real life. Since he participated in the LA mayoral debate against incumbent Karen Bass and city councilor Nithya Raman, he's gained notoriety online, especially among Republican commentators.

On Instagram's Threads, Pratt distanced himself from either party, even though he is a registered Republican.

"There's no R next to my name, there's no D next to my name. I'm not part of a political party, because I hate politicians," he wrote. "I'm a pissed off Angeleno who loves my city and is fed up with what corrupt politicians have done to her."

Pratt is running on a platform he considers, as he told Us Magazine, "common sense American." He said he would deal with crime and homelessness in America's second largest city, while cultivating the construction of housing with less red tape. Pratt has also embraced his public figure status. Pratt hasn't shied away from his reality TV past, writing on social media that he's been "in the public eye most of my life and there isn't any dirt you can find on me that hasn't already been aired."

Bresenham said one of the powers of reality TV is the stars being able to reinvent themselves. That's what he sees Pratt doing – taking the skills he's learned from spending his adult life in the public eye and shamelessly creating a new Pratt era.

Bresenham said people like Pratt and Gulbranson are relatable in a way. That alone is a huge benefit to voters.

"We vote for people we want to have a beer with," he said. "If you watch the shows, these people have been in your living rooms, you've spent a lot of time ... talking about them. Even if you don't like them, they're familiar to you."

Copyright 2026, NPR

It feels fitting that, on the cusp of summer vacation, the notable books we can expect this month are a well-traveled bunch. Below you can find books set in Ireland and South Korea, Los Angeles and Tuscany, the Western Front of WWI and … whatever you want to call the ecological wastelands of “Earth 7.”

The point being, there is ample reason to spare yourself those engorged gas prices, the rental car fees, the uncannily shrinking airplane seats — all those nightmares required to reach "dream destinations" — and just walk to your local public library instead. The place probably has air conditioning too, for what it's worth.

‘Land,’ by Maggie O'Farrell (June 2)

Ireland lost almost a quarter of its population to its Great Famine in the mid-19th century. That stunning total includes those killed by potato blight and the malfeasance of its absentee British landlords; and the waves of refugees lost to emigration, often to the U.S.

"We know those stories, in a sense — and they're terrible, tragic stories," O'Farrell told NPR's Scott Simon on Saturday, "but I think what interested me was the people who neither died nor left, the ones who stayed in Ireland and survived." “Land,” the Northern Irish author's first novel since the release of “Hamnet's” Oscar-winning adaptation, is a chronicle of the lives of two such survivors Tomás and his wife, Phina. Their twists and tribulations open the window onto a truly brutal history.

‘Whistler,’ by Ann Patchett (June 2)

In her review of Patchett's 2019 novel, “The Dutch House,” NPR's reviewer Heller McAlpin observed that the author, bookseller and generous blurber "may well be the most beloved book person in America."

The author of “Bel Canto” and most recently “Tom Lake” only burnishes that sterling reputation with “Whistler,” her finely crafted account of a reunion between daughter and stepfather after a divorce-inflicted separation of several decades. What emerges is the portrait of a broken family — riven by emotional fault lines and time itself, but still vital and confusing and needed.

‘Sublimation,’ by Isabel J. Kim (June 2)

The premise of Kim's debut novel makes for quite the opening gambit: When a person leaves one country for another in her spec-fic world, the immigrant literally undergoes a kind of binary fission, becoming two separate people: the one who stays, and the one who goes.

"Instancing," as it's called in this world, certainly gets at the cognitive dissonance commonly felt by immigrants. As you'd imagine, things get complicated just about as soon as the Soyoung Kim who remained in South Korea meets her other Soyoung Kim, when she returns from the U.S. for the first time in two decades.

‘1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World,’ by Liaquat Ahamed (June 2)

Ahamed's first book “Lords of Finance” won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize with what the jury called a "compelling account" of the role central bankers played in bringing on the Great Depression. With his new one, he rewinds his focus more than a half a century to explore another economic implosion with lasting consequences: the Panic of 1873 and the Long Depression that followed.

Ahamed applies a telescoping approach to the history, foregrounding the human characters at the eye of the maelstrom but also tracing its branching, sometimes-surprising effects throughout the world.

‘Daughters of the Sun and Moon,’ by Lisa See (June 9)

It's rare one gets the chance to feature books about the 1870s back to back. So rare, in fact, that I believe I'm legally obligated to do it. So here we are, back in that tumultuous decade – only, the halls of power that foregrounded in Ahamed's book couldn't be farther from the world inhabited by the three Chinese women starring in See's latest novel.

Settled uneasily in Los Angeles, buffeted by the racial animus of their white neighbors, Petal, Dove and Moon hurtle toward still another terrible episode of American history: the Night of Horrors in 1871, during which lynch mobs murdered 10 percent of the Chinese immigrant population in Los Angeles.

‘Earth 7,’ by Deb Olin Unferth (June 9)

Bear with me here, because synopsizing this slim, strange novel won't be easy. Unferth's latest contains multitudes: Martians, tardigrades, Backrooms-esque complexes, sulfur cannons and more than half-a-dozen replicas of Earth.

I guess the backup copies make sense, given the wretched state of the original — contaminated, irradiated, interred in human waste and beset by ecological cataclysm. Dark as that sounds, and dark as it often proves to be, this disquieting vision of the future also contains love, humor, and a fascinating lead in Dylan, whose scattershot path from seafloor to endless desert anchors this mesmerizing gem of a novel.

‘Villa Coco,’ by Andrew Sean Greer (June 9)

Meet the Baronessa, the 90-something proprietress of the Tuscan home in Greer's title. Imperious, incandescent, she's described thusly by an old friend: "You have to think of her as a magic door. Every time you open it, it leads somewhere new. To the Ottoman Empire, for instance. To a princess or a dockworker or a dog."

An apt description of the fascinating woman employing our rudderless narrator, a hapless fish out of water she imported from the U.S. shortly after his college graduation. What follows is a smart, sweetly wistful comedy from the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner, which goes down like fine olive oil. Buono!

‘Contrapposto,’ by Dave Eggers (June 9)

The prolific author (and screenwriter, Caldecott medalist, editor, publisher, national nonprofit co-founder, etc.) returns to long-form fiction with his newest novel, the portrait of an artist named Cricket. Born Robert Dibb, and redolent of David Copperfield, the hero of Eggers' first novel intended for adults since 2019 navigates the challenges of coming of age in the art world and all the difficult questions it embodies.

But he at least has the good fortune to not to go it alone; with him is Olympia, childhood friend, muse, patron and so much else to him besides.

‘Children of the Wild,’ by Kevin Powers (June 9)

A combat veteran, Powers is personally familiar with war: its sights and sounds, its nightmare landscapes and the unhealable harm — physical, psychological, moral — that it inflicts even on survivors. Perhaps that's why scenes of war haunt his poetry and fiction, as in his acclaimed novel of the Iraq War, “The Yellow Birds.”

In this devastating new novel of love and loss, it's World War I that ruptures the lives of its three principal characters, whose idyll on the cusp of adulthood in rural Virginia is irretrievably shattered by a conflict an entire ocean away.

‘As If,’ by Isabel Waidner (June 16)

"Isabel Waidner collides the real and the mythic, the beautiful and the grotesque, to mind-bending effect," observed a member of the jury that awarded Waidner's “Sterling Karat Gold” the Goldsmiths Prize. The prize's mandate is to reward particularly daring fiction that "extends the possibilities of the novel form." It's easy to see why their books have caught the attention of the prize's jury more than once; occasionally the experience of reading them could be legitimately likened to an acid trip.

This time around, though, Waidner trades in the surreality for a more lucid story, with this tale of two happenstance doppelgangers who fall into the ol' life-swap scheme, whether they meant to or not.

Copyright 2026, NPR

The Minnesota Now team recently recorded a live show at the new public library in Moorhead. To get there, the team took scenic Highway 10 from St. Paul to learn more about the state from the road.

The Moorhead show will air Thursday, and each day until then, we will make a stop along the way, with audio postcards from notable roadside attractions.

This time, we visit Barefoot Frida, an enormous wooden troll that lives in the Ortenstone Gardens and Sculpture Park in Detroit Lakes. We were guided by Amy Stearns, executive director of Project 412, who says the trolls are part of a larger effort to make Detroit Lakes a more vibrant place.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

For millions of fans around the world, Prince was a musical innovator. He blended rock, funk, pop, R&B and soul in ways that were uniquely his own.

For Minnesotans, he was also one of our own — an artist who helped put the state on the global music map, and whose influence remains as powerful today as it was during his lifetime.

Prince’s legacy will be celebrated with a five-day tribute starting June 3 and including a block party and singalong in downtown Minneapolis.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks to someone who knew Prince well — his attorney, business advisor and friend.

They discuss what’s planned for the celebration, Prince’s impact on music and culture and some of the unforgettable songs that continue to inspire.

Guest:

• L. Londell McMillan is a business manager, producer and entertainment attorney. He was Prince’s lawyer, manager and friend. He is a co-manager of Prince’s estate and is also the founder and chair of The NorthStar Group which owns and operates The Source magazine.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

Minneapolis’ Boom Island Park is getting ready to host a new temporary art exhibit: a massive mural of linked hands, painted directly onto the grass.

Mural artist Saype is bringing his “Beyond Walls” project to Minneapolis. The Franco-Swiss artist, known for his giant outdoor frescoes, has painted the murals in 22 places since he started the project in 2019. Each one depicts detailed black-and-white hands clasping across a natural landscape — usually sand or grass.

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

1 of 2

2 of 2

Next Slide

Saype picked Minneapolis for this project a few months ago during the federal immigration enforcement surge, after seeing stories of neighbors helping each other.

“Beyond Walls speaks to the invisible connections that unite people beyond borders, cultures, and differences,” Saype said in a statement. “Minneapolis is a city where questions of community, resilience, and living together carry a particular meaning and strength.”

Minneapolis is the mural’s first home in the U.S. Saype has picked several past host sites for their historical and cultural significance: he painted one in Berlin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, one in Benin at a former slave trade hub and one in the rubble of an earthquake-stricken city in Turkey.

Saype will start painting the Minneapolis mural Monday. He uses a biodegradable paint mix he designed for the project, meant to fade naturally over time with wind and rain.

Kristin Anderson is the recreation supervisor for downtown parks with Minneapolis Parks and Recreation. She said the parks team spent months coordinating the project and vetting the materials to make sure they were safe to use on the banks of the Mississippi river.

“It's all natural materials, so anything from ash and bone meal and natural lime materials,” Anderson said. “It’s ephemeral art, so it will absorb back into the grass, and we expect maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a month at most, that it'll last.”

The city will host a community celebration on June 6 for the opening of the mural, with a food truck, music and drone photography capturing the art.

Anderson said she’s looking forward to seeing people get together to view the art.

“This art is all about community, and it's really significant because Saype chose Minneapolis specifically,” Anderson said.

People can also come watch Saype paint it during the week. The area around the mural will be roped off, but viewers can walk the perimeter. Anderson said visitors can also get a good view from the park’s pavilion area, where staff will have an information tent.

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.

There’s been a trend on Ask a Bookseller these past few months of books that make you feel good about the world. This week, we’re in for something different.

John Shableski of The Otto Bookstore in Williamsport, Penn., says the book that kept him up reading too late at night recently is a collection of YA short stories by Barry Lyga entitled “Before the Hunt.”

The book is the first prequel of Lyga’s YA thriller “I Hunt Killers” trilogy. Both books feature 17-year-old Jasper “Jazz” Dent, whose father is a serial killer.

“If you like Dexter and Hunger Games with a twist of humor, this book is spot on,” says Shableski.

“Before the Hunt” takes place before Jazz’s father is discovered and jailed. Set in a small town in Georgia, Shableski says, “It's a wonderful take on a 17-year-old's perspective of life and love and happiness — and also dealing with the fact that his father is a serial killer. He struggles with the nurture-versus-nature thing, because as he likes to say in one of the books, ‘Take Your Kid to Work Day was different in my house.’”

Jazz, Shableski says, has a wickedly dry sense of humor. The book classifies as horror, given its serious subject matter, but Shableski says the violence is implied rather than splashed across the page.

The second book in the prequel series, “Every Hunter is Hunted,” is billed as an adult mystery featuring Jasper Dent. It comes out June 23.

It may be the largest gathering of Ryans in Minnesota history.

Ryan Meetup — described on its website as “run by Ryans, for Ryans, with the ultimate goal of assembling as many Ryans as possible” — is holding an event at the Mall of America on July 24.

Organizers invite people named Ryan from across the world to help break the world record for the most people with the same name to ride a roller coaster in succession.

All Ryans will ride free on the Pepsi Orange Streak roller coaster in Nickelodeon Universe that Friday evening.

No Bryans allowed, per the event page, though other non-Ryans are welcome to support.

The not-for-profit organization has hosted events for Ryans since 2023. Its website includes a map of Ryan-owned businesses and cities where Ryans reside across the United States. This July marks Ryan Meetup’s first event in Minnesota, according to Ryan Fisher, chief communications Ryan for the organization.

Its ultimate goal is to break the world record for the largest same first name gathering of all time.

In addition to the Mall of America event, Ryan Meetup is coordinating Ryans for a Minnesota Twins game on July 25 and to a shared hotel block in downtown Minneapolis over that weekend.

Kate Bowler is officially over being grateful.

Not because gratitude doesn’t matter. But because it’s been pushed as the latest iteration in a long series of self-help projects that are more obligation than opportunity.

“It’s become a new form of toxic positivity or a despairing hopefulness,” says Bowler on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, “that if you list enough things, you can stack up everything you are grateful for and then determine to be happy.”

That’s a sharp contrast to joy, which Bowler says is available even in the midst of the messy muck of every day.

“Joy is going to make you say thank you. It is so good to be,” she says to Kerri Miller. “But it’s not something you can achieve by climbing this grueling ladder called gratitude to the top rung.”

Bowler’s candid, funny and refreshing treatise on joy is captured in her new book, “Joyful, Anyway” — and on this week’s Big Books conversation.

Guest:

• Kate Bowler is the author of many books including, “Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved,” host of the podcast “Everything Happens” and a professor at Duke University’s Divinity School. Her new book is “Joyful, Anyway.”

Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

People serving time in Minnesota prisons are helping choose this year’s Inside Literary Prize, a national book award determined by a jury of entirely incarcerated readers.

The prize was first awarded in 2024 and was co-created by Freedom Reads, which aims to get more books in prisons.

Three hundred incarcerated people at 12 prisons around the country, including correctional facilities in Rush City and Shakopee, will decide the 2026 winner.

“There were times where I walked in the room and I'm like, ‘I'm not with this book, I don't get it,’” said Makayla Richardson, 22.

“But then, to sit in a room with other people and get their perspectives … it's just very helpful and educational.”

The award is a collaboration between Freedom Reads, the Center for Justice Innovation and the National Book Foundation. The idea is to include incarcerated readers in national literary discussions and foster connections and personal growth behind prison walls.

Richardson is part of a group of 26 women and transgender people serving time at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee, the state’s only women’s prison, who met over the past few months to discuss five critically acclaimed novels: “Ӕdnan,” “The Book Censor’s Library,” “All Fours,” “Martyr!” and “My Friends.”

Fueled by glazed donuts and holding books filled with multi-colored Post-it notes, the group gathered for a final deliberation and vote Wednesday.

Coty Martinez decided her top pick was “Ӕdnan,” a novel about two Indigenous Sámi families navigating Scandinavian colonialism over a century.

“This book is so intimidating, because it seemed like it was the bigger out of all five. But when I opened it up, I just could not put it down,” Martinez said.

Martinez is Indigenous and her tribe is the Houma Nation in Louisiana.

“I think that, a lot of times, people tend to not want to remember all the things that happen to Indigenous people. But (I) also think it's important to remember, because this is where we come from,” Martinez said. “We can acknowledge that and walk through that pain.”

Final award deliberations at Shakopee prison

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

4 of 4

1 of 4

2 of 4

Next Slide

Winter Smith is from Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota and also chose “Ӕdnan” as her top pick.

“I feel like everyone should be educated in generational trauma,” Smith said.

Smith also liked the book “All Fours,” and it inspired her to have deeper conversations with her daughter.

“All Fours” features a woman in her 40s and explores themes of middle-aged sexuality and identity. When Smith told her 13-year-old daughter about the plot, she learned her daughter didn’t know what menopause was.

“I'm starting to realize that I have to start telling my daughter more about what happens to women growing up throughout life,” Smith said.

Smith added she plans to send all five books to her daughter to read so they can discuss them together.

Also on Wednesday, Freedom Reads installed mini libraries with hand-carved wooden shelves in every housing unit in Shakopee prison and another for prison staff.

The literary prize program is one way Freedom Reads fosters relationships with prisons to accomplish the organization's main goal: putting micro libraries in every housing unit in every prison in the country.

Literacy and literature programs can help incarcerated people rehabilitate and reduce recidivism rates. However, traditional prison libraries can have limited selections and hours.

Each micro library has hundreds of books of different genres, from “The Hobbit” to Emily Dickenson’s poetry.

Craig Gore helped install the bookshelves in Shakopee prison. Gore served time and said reading gave him hope while in prison and transformed his life when he got out because he got a job with Freedom Reads.

“I'm doing work in the community, it's making me a better person, it's put me in a position to take better care of my family,” Gore said.

“So just let that be a hope shot for you in the ideas you have about your future.”

"Freedom Library"

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

3 of 3

1 of 3

2 of 3

Next Slide

A major American playwright’s work returns to the stage that started it all — plus, an art exhibition that explores what trees mean to Indigenous communities, a special screening of “Purple Rain,” and a world premiere musical are in store for this week’s MN Shortlist.

‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ at Penumbra Theatre — Through June 21

August Wilson is considered one of the great American playwrights. Known for plays like “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Fences,” Wilson’s works explore the African American experience. Some of them have also been adapted into Oscar nominated films.

While he often sets his plays in Pittsburg — including the majority of his seminal 10 play series “the Century Cycle” —Wilson launched his career as a company member at Penumbra Theatre, which focuses on social justice and platforms Black theatrical works.

“I remember, for instance, when Wilson was working on ‘Ma Rainey,’ and he was right out here in our hall, acting out and sort of showing us what Levee was going to do,” said Lou Bellamy, the founder of Penumbra.

“I remember telling him, August, you can't do that, you can't say stuff like that, and he just, he'd grin.”

Wilson’s work is returning to Penumbra with a production of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.”

“Joe Turner is one of the plays that August Wilson penned while living in St. Paul, so it's special in that sort of way,” Bellamy said.

Bellamy is also directing this production of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” This year is also Penumbra’s 50th anniversary, so it feels fitting to see the company return to its roots by performing the work of its most famous alumni. (Jacob Aloi)

Thomas Sticha at Earth Rider Brewery in Superior — May 30

Musician Thomas Sticha’s music has a spectral quality to it and evokes the spirit of a Midwest cowboy. Sticha is based in Minnesota, and his home state comes through in pieces like “Mississippi Down,” a single he put out last year, a slow love ballad that uses clever lyric that evoke the mighty river. The show begins at 8:00 p.m., and fellow folk musician Laura Sellner will open for him. (Jacob Aloi)

‘Spirit Trees’ at Rochester Art Center — Through Nov. 29

This exhibition features the work of three artists who use natural materials to investigate what trees mean in Indigenous communities and how the plant-form has been a “longstanding witness to human history.” The show will include multimedia artworks by Twin Cities artists Chanelle Gallagher, Lela Pierce and Stephanie Lindquist.

The exhibition also includes photographs of sacred and historical trees by co-curator Valerie DeCora Guimaraes and Rochester community members.

“The trees I photographed range in age from 126 to 251 years. They saw the Dakota people while they lived in this area, they saw the founding of Rochester and Mayo. We need more reverence for them,” DeCora Guimaraes said in a press release. (Alex V. Cipolle)

Print Fest at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis — May 30-31

Highpoint is hosting its inaugural (and free!) Print Fest, which will take over its studios, parking lot and Lake Street sidewalk in Uptown. There are loads of hands-on activities and demos, including a weekend-long bilingual (English/Spanish) public art project led by printmaker Lynda Grafito on the center’s facade (presumably next to Peyton Scott Russel’s iconic 2020 mural of a young girl raising her fist).

Other highlights include a demo led by Minneapolis printmaker Jasper Duberry on woodcuts and Black identity and custom bandana printmaking with Bohemian Press.

In conjunction with the new fest, Highpoint has an exhibition in its gallery celebrating the 25th anniversary of the center, which over its lifespan has hosted major international heavy hitters including Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Julie Mehretu. “MEGA CO-OP SHOW: Celebrating 25 years of the Highpoint Artists’ Cooperative” features some fantastic prints by local artists Hend Al-Mansour, Jenny Schmid, Charles Spitzack and more. The show has an opening reception 6:30 to pm Friday, May 29.

"Printmaking is an inherently resilient medium. It is democratic; print is for everyone. Highpoint has endured because it reflects those same values,” Highpoint executive director Jehra Patrick told MPR News.

“It’s a place where fine art print editions by leading artists are being produced while fourth graders cheer after they pull their first print from a press. We are here for artists who seek community and access to equipment, and we are here for the neighbor who walked by on Lake Street every day and finally stopped in.” (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘My Ántonia’ at Theater Latté Da — June 3-July 12

The northeast Minneapolis theater describes this production as “a timely celebration of the contributions of immigrants to the nation’s identity and spirit as America marks its 250th anniversary” and I wholeheartedly agree.

Latté Da commissioned the world premiere musical adapted from the 1918 Willa Cather novel, which follows the story of the eldest daughter of a Bohemian immigrant family as they settle on the unforgiving prairies of Nebraska at the turn of the 19th century, as well as the lifelong friendship that ensues between Ántonia and the neighbor boy Jim. The California-based band The Kilbanes wrote a “sweeping indie-folk” score, and the cast includes local actors Sara Masterson and Will Dusek.

“For a company rooted in the Midwest, ‘My Ántonia’ feels almost inevitable,” Latté Da artistic director Justin Lucero told Broadway World. (Alex V. Cipolle)

‘Purple Rain’ screening at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis — June 4

When “Purple Rain” premiered in 1984, it made Prince a household name, and as author Frank Bures argues, shifted the pop culture image of Minneapolis from Mary Tyler Moore’s TV station to the neon signs of First Avenue. Aside from the Grammy and Oscar wins it picked up, it’s also withstood the test of time (a Broadway-bound stage adaptation had its premiere in Minneapolis last fall)

Ahead of what would have been Prince’s 68th Birthday, the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis will be screening “Purple Rain,” giving audiences an opportunity to return to the world of “the Kid” as he grapples with his rising fame and tortured past. The film begins at 8 p.m., but trivia will start at 7:30 p.m. (Jacob Aloi)

Correction (June 1, 2026): An earlier version of this story misstated where Earth Rider Brewery is located. The story has been updated.

Tiffany Hanssen's debut novel "My Name was Gerry Sass" reads like a nod to a Coen Brothers’ movie. The novel is a stream of big crime, vengeance and car chases streaking across 1980s Iowa, with a dash of dark humor.

As the past-tense title indicates, Gerry Sass doesn’t survive the first chapter. He still manages to be a main character as he spends the rest of the book in purgatory, reliving his actions as a hit man, while his adult daughter sets out on a drug-fueled car chase to avenge his murder.

Hanssen will read from her novel Thursday at Once Upon a Crime Bookstore in Minneapolis.

And while the story is fictional, Hanssen pulled from a grain of truth.

“Gerry is based very, very, very, very, very loosely on my own father,” Hanssen said. “He was just not a very good person, and that’s kind of putting it generously.”

Hanssen didn’t grow up with her father, but she’d always invented stories about him. A DNA test during the pandemic connected her with half-siblings, and from them she gathered additional bits of his information. They weren’t flattering.

“No one had a full picture of him, and so what that allows for is a lot of speculation. In that way, the details were just enough to spark some fun,” she said.

Part of the fun is the novel’s Iowa setting. The story opens in a small farm town at the start of deer hunting season, as Gerry is heading to oversee the classic country AM radio station he owns in order to launder dirty money. Hanssen enjoyed pulling details from her own experience working at a similar — albeit above-board — family-owned radio station.

She grew up in Davenport, Iowa, and later moved to Minnesota, where she spent 15 years working on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion.” She’s now a radio host in New York City. She said she looked back longingly at the Midwest as she wrote.

“The rural farm stuff was just so meaningful for me. I just wanted to throw it all in and go buy a farm again,” Hanssen joked.

Being a crime novel, we know from the opening moment, as Gerry revises the obituary he habitually carries pre-written in his pocket, that things are going to go south fast. Readers alternate among the viewpoints of Gerry, his daughter and the soft-hearted Father Dan who witnesses Gerry’s murder outside a deer stand. Each choice they make brings them deeper into trouble.

Hanssen said writing this novel was “less about creating complicated characters and more about creating characters who have to reckon with something. Each of them is now in a situation where they are dealing with the hand that they’ve been dealt. Gerry is having to come to terms with that, and he’s having to maybe make amends. It’s unclear whether he does or will or could—or even thinks he should. These are characters who just do the best with what they have, and I think that that's really all that we're all trying to do anyway.”

After a long winter, readers look to summer for a respite — an opportunity to sink into stories that are magical, mysterious and memorable. If some downtime is in your plans, we have some reading to suggest.

Our book critics have previewed what's coming to the library and bookstores this summer. Here's what they are most looking forward to reading — and seeing you read too.

‘Water in the Desert: A Pilgrimage’ by Gary Paul Nabhan

I love books that explore nature through a sociocultural lens. Lebanese American Gary Paul Nabhan's new book traces the story of his unusual life. Nabhan grew up along Lake Michigan's southern dunes and was negatively singled out as a student with "disabilities."

He found his path through ecology, poetry, travel, studying Indigenous Mexican communities, becoming an Ecumenical Franciscan brother and exploring his own ancestry — all of which shape his view that Earth is "the original scripture." An ethnobotanist, Nabhan was awarded a MacArthur "genius grant" for "insights into the relationship between culture and land." I can't wait to read this book. (June 2) — Martha Anne Toll

‘Muñeca’ by Cynthia Gómez

Natalia Fuentes has a plan. Violeta, the only child of the Miramontes family and the last in a long line descended from Spanish settlers and Mexican rancho owners, is magically trapped in her own body, and Nati is going to break her out. For a fee, of course.

With the help of a doll, she finds a way to communicate with her client, and an unexpected romance sparks between them. But she also attracts the attention of the person who cursed Violeta, and they would do anything to stop Nati from interfering.

This gothic horror tale touches on colonialism and colorism, queerness and feminism, generational trauma and familial curses. It's at once romantic and frightening. We may be only just heading into summer, but this one is already in my top 10 for the year. (June 2) — Alex Brown

‘The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss’ by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

Whenever I encounter a belted kingfisher here in coastal Virginia, my spirits rise as I gaze at a bird with a spiky mohawk and an attitude to match. My summer nonfiction reading will kick off with “The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss” by nature writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris, which celebrates the lives of declining or endangered birds from kingfishers to avocets, nightingales and yellowhammers.

Though British species remain the book's focus, the joys of bird-watching span the globe, as does this pair's invitation to revel in and protect the multispecies worlds of which we humans are one part. (June 9) — Barbara J. King

‘Earth 7’ by Deb Olin Unferth

I discovered Deb Olin Unferth's work years ago via her flash-fiction piece "Likable," which became a staple on my syllabi. Years later, and now firmly a fan, I was thrilled to learn about her forthcoming novel, “Earth 7.”

A story about a decimated future Earth and those working to collect DNA samples from its past in order to rebuild it, the novel is also about love — between two people, yes, but also the broader, more universal love their work entails. After all, preservation of what was and hope for what will be are both acts of immense care for the world. (June 9) — Ilana Masad

‘Twenty Minutes of Silence’ by Hélène Bessette, translated by Kate Briggs

“Twenty Minutes of Silence” at once slays and reinvents the mystery genre. Set in La Manche, France, this 1955 "poetic novel" reconstructs the clashing narratives around the 20-minute interval between a patricide and the arrival of the police.

While suggesting the erasure of evidence, the titular silence is actually a red herring. The seemingly uncounseled testimonies of the deceased's adulterous wife and abused son, along with biased speculations by the chief inspector, his deputy, the journalists and the bookseller — who collectively serve as the Greek chorus — are replete with open-ended, operatic revelations, reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's “Rashomon.” (July 14) — Thúy Đinh

‘Charity and Sylvia’ by Tillie Walden

Tillie Walden's long-anticipated “Charity & Sylvia” is a graphic biography in five parts, tracking the love story of two women who openly lived together for 44 years in Weybridge, Vt., in the 1800s. Walden builds on an archive of letters, journal entries and various biographical material to offer this moving portrait told in vignettes, most captured as delicately drawn, copper-tinted, nine-panel comics.

Family affairs, religious musings and intimate scenes between the two women are set against the backdrop of a young country, and state, moving through constant, and colossal, transformation. The effect is a slow, dense, contemplative read — a rare gem of a book. (June 16) — Tahneer Oksman

‘Names Have Been Changed’ by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow

There have been a slew of entertaining novels in the past few years about average people stumbling into criminality — think Kirstin Chen's “Counterfeit: and Nina McConigley's “How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder,” to name just two. But I'm especially looking forward to “Names Have Been Changed.”

Ophir, the Singaporean protagonist, is on the run from the law for her involvement in a money-laundering scheme, and she podcasts about it from an undisclosed location. This picaresque is off to a rocking start, the first-person narration is charmingly self-effacing, and the story promises depth as well, exploring the emotional toll of being a fugitive. (June 23) — Leland Cheuk

‘Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep’ by Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay has made a career out of reinventing himself as an author with every novel, and in his upcoming “Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep,” he does it yet again.

The book is a creepy and unexpectedly humorous science-fiction romp about a young woman who takes a job using a cellphone/remote control to pilot a man in a vegetative state from California to the East Coast while the man goes through a surreal nightmare. A master storyteller, Tremblay's b(l)ending of genres here truly is a perfect beach read. (June 30) — Gabino Iglesias

‘Country People’ by Daniel Mason

I so loved Daniel Mason's “North Woods,” which spans four centuries in the life of a Massachusetts house, that I'm eager to read whatever he writes. “Country People” is quite different. His first contemporary novel spans just one year — the length of a visiting professorship that brings Kate and her family from California to Vermont.

The hope is that her husband will finally finish his long-overdue dissertation on Russian folktales, but instead he gets pulled in by some colorful locals and a bizarre, fantastical legend. It's apparent from a quick peek that Mason has fun exploring marriage, friendship, parenthood and the beguiling allure of storytelling and fantasy in this upbeat romp. (July 7) — Heller McAlpin

‘An Infinite Love Story’ by Chanel Cleeton

An “Infinite Love Story” is a sweeping romantic drama with a touch of magical realism from the bestselling author of “The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes.” Chanel Cleeton is one of my auto-buy authors — and I was hooked on this new book immediately. Cleeton's ability to pull readers in quickly and deeply through her storytelling makes her a go-to author for an immersive reading experience.

Set during the Space Race of the 1960s, this story follows the wife of an astronaut who is lost in space, who refuses to believe her husband is gone forever. Vivian and Joe's love is unforgettable, and so is Cleeton's writing. She had me from the dedication. (July 7) — Denny S. Bryce

‘The Great Wherever’ by Shannon Sanders

After winning the LA Times Book Prize for her story collection “Company,” expectations were running high for Shannon Sanders' first novel. A playful and poignant intergenerational saga about a haunted farm in which ancestors watch over and critique the living for posterity and entertainment, “The Great Wherever” leaps over that bar.

The story pays tribute to the lasting legacy of Sanders' ancestors (land that's been in the family for a century), while creating something inventive and new. From an undead perspective, haunting is believably bittersweet; it's "better than the best reality TV," but "lesser, of course, than the thrill of both seeing and being seen." I was hooked from the first sentence. (July 7) — Carole V. Bell

‘Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate’ by Roopika Risam

Data centers have been making me anxious for a while, largely because of the environmental impacts — the massive draw on the electrical grid, the millions of gallons of clean water they require for cooling, the massive carbon footprint. The harm caused by data center infrastructure is only part of the problem, though.

Roopika Risam's newest book, “Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate,” explores "how data has always been the seed of power," tracing its centrality from Mesopotamia to today. A book that promises not to just show how empires have collected and weaponized data over the ages, but also how we can resist, is an easy must-read for me. (July 14) — Ericka Taylor

‘Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast’ by Pamela Colloff

I have been a fan of Pamela Colloff’s investigative journalism since 2018, when ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine published a narrative feature on junk forensic science. Her first book builds on her 2019 feature about a con artist who became one of America's most prolific jailhouse informants.

Despite his reputation as a liar and grifter, prosecutors were all too willing to believe the "useful" stories he spun — including about defendants who were ultimately sentenced to death. Unfolding in cinematic detail, “Catch the Devil” offers a riveting and disturbing account of the potentially fatal consequences of a criminal legal system that is more concerned with securing convictions than determining the truth and delivering justice. (July 14) — Kristen Martin

‘Yellow Pine’ by Claire Vaye Watkins

I've been an admirer of Claire Vaye Watkins since her debut book, the story collection “Battleborn,” was published in 2012. As good as that book was, I was blown away by her novels, “Gold Fame Citrus” and “I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness,” both of which brought the American West to life with Watkins' formidable wit and audacity.

I can't wait for her new novel, which follows a single mother living in an intentional community in the Mojave Desert. Watkins is known for taking risks, and she never repeats herself — I'm betting that her latest book will showcase her genius at storytelling and her love for the rugged landscape of the West. (July 21) — Michael Schaub

‘Dèy’ by Edwidge Danticat

Edwidge Danticat is an author whose work truly captures the Haitian American immigrant experience with prose that is so languid and all-consuming that one never wants to be released from its grasp. In her first novel in over a decade, she offers a beautiful exploration of migration, gentrification and political instability.

The title — “Dèy,” the Haitian Creole word for "mourning" — immediately caught my attention, as many Americans are in this state today, for their own country. The novel introduces us to Magnolia, a successful real estate agent in Miami whose outlook on life changes after she is caught in a mall shooting. A story that allows us to reassess love and grief, “Dèy” is a novel of now. (Aug. 25) — Keishel Williams

Copyright 2026, NPR

What does it mean to grow up in a family haunted by a tragedy?

That’s one of the central themes in a new memoir by Laurie Hertzel, the former book review editor for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

In “Ghosts of Fourth Street: My Family, a Death, and the Hills of Duluth,” Hertzel writes about growing up in Duluth in the 1960s, the seventh child in a family of 10 children.

Her father was a college English instructor with a quick temper. Her mother was often overwhelmed. And her family was changed forever when she was 9, after the sudden death of her 18-year-old brother.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Laurie Hertzel about how we’re shaped by our family’s stories, sorrows and silences.

Guests:

• Laurie Hertzel was a journalist and the longtime book review editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune, retiring in 2023. She teaches creative nonfiction in the MFA program at the University of Georgia in Athens. She’s the author of three books, including the memoir "News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Journalist," which won a 2011 Minnesota Book Award, and “Ghosts of Fourth Street: My Family, a Death, and the Hills of Duluth,” which was published earlier this year.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.    

The way some musicians play, you think they'll never die. Theodore "Sonny" Rollins was such a man: A saxophonist revered for his huge tone and seemingly inexhaustible improvisations. Rollins died Monday afternoon at his Woodstock, N.Y. home at the age of 95.

Rollins was a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, a recipient of a Kennedy Center honor and a recipient of the National Medal of the Arts. And he was the very incarnation of a modern jazz musician. His art was his life.

"All these prizes are nice, I appreciate them," he told NPR in 2007. "I don't go crazy about them — you have to do your work whether you're recognized or not. The real deal is doing it the best you can do it and that's it. That's its own reward."

For Rollins, the real deal was playing the tenor saxophone. He became beloved internationally as the last man standing, the reigning star of the generation that turned jazz from bluesy entertainment into a personally expressive, ever-changing art form — without losing its bluesy, entertaining side.

He was born Sept. 7, 1930, in New York City and grew up on Sugar Hill, Harlem's "strivers' row," where some of the most successful and daring jazz men of the era lived, with neighbors such as Jackie McLean, Art Taylor and Kenny Drew. Rollins was drawn to the experimentation and new style developing around him. Sonny's parents, who were from the Virgin Islands, were uneasy about his interests. But he was already on his way to one of the greatest careers in jazz history.

Rollins looked commanding, with a hearty build, strong features and a mohawk haircut long before it became a punk fashion. He was on the cutting edge of music — at the peak of the jazz world.

But in the late 1950s, Rollins withdrew. Seeking a new direction, he practiced his horn by himself, at night, on the city's Williamsburg Bridge. His return in 1962 — with an album titled The Bridge — was welcomed as a cultural event.

"I think when I'm playing completely spontaneous, just something comes out from somewhere, that's my best work," Rollins told NPR. "Say, for instance, if I'm doing a song, any song — I practice it, I learn it, I learn the lyrics, I learn everything that's possible to learn about the physical piece of the composition, or whatever it is. Then, when I get on a concert stage, I forget about it. I try not to think about it. Then I let the music play me."

Rollins was no elitist or purist. He enjoyed blowing on calpysos as much as extending himself in unaccompanied cadenzas. He composed a jaunty theme for the movie Alfie, sat in with the Rolling Stones and recorded an exuberant version of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely."

Whatever he played, Rollins was always identifiable, says his friend, pianist Joanne Brackeen.

"Well he's got this sound, it's like his sound," Brackeen told NPR in 2007. "He's got a sound that is him. And that's rare – it's funny, but that's rare. You hear just a couple of seconds and you know who that is. And not only who that is, but how he is? You can hear the whole energy of his being, in every note."

Rollins' repertoire and personal style were driven by his personal taste, not by commerce. Toward the end of his life, he ran his own record label, Doxy Records (though it was distributed by a much larger, corporate label, Sony Masterworks), and he was well aware of the tensions between business and art.

"The corporate culture is anathema to jazz," Rollins told NPR. "We don't like the cookie-cutter, everything exactly the same way. We're about creation, freedom, thinking things out in the moment, like life is. Life changes every minute. A different sunset every night, that's what jazz is about."

Sonny Rollins knew what jazz is about.

Copyright 2026, NPR