NPR's Book of the Day Folgen

When she was only a teenager, South African runner Caster Semenya won gold at the 2009 World Championships. But she was soon faced with intense scrutiny over her gender and testosterone levels and forced to endure intrusive questions and tests about her eligibility to compete. In her new memoir, The Race to Be Myself, Semenya opens up about having her skill and merit challenged on a global stage and choosing self-love over it all. She speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about breaking down expectations for women athletes, and raising her own daughters with that experience in mind.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Early on in today's interview with author Paul Lynch, he says he was careful not to specify whether his dystopian novel Prophet Song is set in the future. Instead, the gripping tale of an Irish family sticking together through the fall of democracy focuses on the present moment and the personal relationships affected by it. In today's episode, Lynch speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the power of fiction to break through the noise of news and social media – and the weight of his own platform after winning the Booker Prize.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode is all about two books that find parallels across long stretches of time. First, an interview with Barbara Kingsolver and former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro about Kingsolver's novel Unsheltered, which finds striking similarities between an 18th century "utopian" community and 2016 America. Then, NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Daniel Mason about his novel North Woods, which follows the inhabitants of a plot of land across hundreds of years.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy