Edith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Dra…
Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts …
Neil deGrasse Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in…
Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize winning author of nine books, including THE WORST HARD TIME, which won the National Book Award. His latest book, A PILGRIMAGE TO ETERNITY, is a personal story, a journ…
The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire is among most the influential educational thinkers of the late 20th century. Born in Recife, Brazil, on September 19, 1921, Freire died of heart failure in Sao Paul…
Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer (also credited as Robin W. Kimmerer) (born 1953) is Associate Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science…
Kirsten Miller grew up in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina. At seventeen, she left for college in New York City, where she lives to this day. Kirsten's latest novel, Lula Dean's Little …
Annalee Newitz is an American journalist who covers the cultural impact of science and technology. They received a PhD in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley, and in 1997 published the widel…
Ross Gay is an American poet, essayist, and professor who won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for his 2014 book Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, wh…
Steve Inskeep (/ˈɪnskiːp/; born June 16, 1968) is one of the current hosts of Morning Edition on National Public Radio. He, along with co-host David Greene and Rachel Martin were assigned as interim h…
STEPHANIE DRAY is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of historical women’s fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into eight languages and tops lists for…
Anna North is a novelist and journalist. She is the author of the novels Bog Queen (October 2025), Outlawed (a New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick), The Life and Death of Sophie Stark…
Elizabeth Cheney Perry, commonly called Liz, is an American attorney. During the George W. Bush administration years, she held positions in the State Department of the United States. She has been poli…
Emily Austin is the author of EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD, INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SPACE, GAY GIRL PRAYERS, WE COULD BE RATS, and IS THIS A CRY FOR HELP. She currently resides in Ottawa…
Amanda Montell is a writer, linguist, and podcast host living in Los Angeles. She is the author of three nonfiction books, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Bac…
Marianne was born in 1990 in Warwickshire, England. After gaining a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, she worked in academia until becoming a full-time writer.
Tory Henwood Hoen is a writer based in Vermont, where she is a solo mom to her toddler daughter. She is the author of BEFORE I FORGET (2025) and THE ARC (2022). You can find her on Instagram @toryhenw…
Patrick Bringley is the New York Times bestselling author of ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD, a memoir about his ten years working as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He’s adapted the book into …
Annette "Leslie" Jones (born September 7, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She was a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2014 to 2019, a…
Kristin Koval is a former lawyer who always wanted to be a writer but initially wandered down other paths. Her debut novel, PENITENCE, is a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, a Book of the Month Pick, an I…
Xenobe Purvis was born in Tokyo in 1990. She read English Literature at the University of Oxford, has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, and was part of the London Library’s Emerging Write…
