When Book Bans Came to Small Town New Jersey
7 December 2022 - 44 mins explicitThis episode contains strong language.
In the contentious debate over who controls what happens in America’s schools, a new battleground has emerged: library books.
This is the story of what happened when parents in one town in New Jersey tried to remove a handful of books that they said were explicit and sexually inappropriate — and the battle that ensued.
Guest: Alexandra Alter, a reporter covering publishing and the literary world for The New York Times.
Background reading:
As highly visible and politicized book bans have exploded across the United States, librarians — accustomed to being seen as dedicated public servants in their communities — have found themselves on the front l...
Series Episodes
When Private Equity Comes for Your Favorite Team
The Los Angeles Lakers have been sold for a record $12.5 billion, the latest sign that huge pools of institutional money are flooding into professional sports.
34 mins
21 August Finished
Who Moves Up, and Who's Pushed Out, in Pete Hegseth's Military
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been replacing top-ranking U.S. military officers with those who, many argue, show more loyalty to Hegseth and his ideas than to the military itself.
30 mins
20 August Finished
El Niño Is Back. And Worse Than Ever.
The recurring climate phenomenon is poised this year to enter a new phase known as a super El Niño, exacerbating the effects of climate change.
23 mins
19 August Finished
What Went Wrong on the U.S.S. Lincoln?
Families of soldiers aboard the aircraft carrier — deployed in the Middle East without a break for 270 days — have raised the alarm.
28 mins
18 August Finished
Luigi Mangione’s High-Risk Legal Strategy
Mr. Mangione pleaded guilty to stalking charges in the killing of Brian Thompson, a health insurance executive, a calculated gamble by his defense team.
24 mins
17 August Finished
What Makes a Killer Thriller?
The New York Times Book Review recently released its list of the 50 best thrillers of the 21st century. To put it together, the team asked almost 300 authors and other experts to vote for the best heart-thumping, page-turning, white knuckle reads published since 2000. In this episode of “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times thrillers columnist, Sarah Lyall, about how the list came together. Then, Natalie speaks with one of the greatest thriller writers of this century — with four books featured on the list — the author Tana French.
42 mins
16 August Finished
