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Writer Peter Hessler spent two years teaching English to young men and women who wanted to be teachers in rural schools. He reads an excerpt from his new book about one particularly memorable future teacher, and the English name he chose for himself.

As part of The Long View series of conversations on Morning Edition, author Kevin Phillips talks with Steve Inskeep about the influence of the oil industry. Phillips is a former aide to Nixon whose new book American Theocracy examines the emerging Republican majority and where it is taking America.

Cookbook author and TV personality Giada De Laurentiis has been having a hard time buying a new table for her renovated kitchen — and her deadline is Easter. She reflects on the decision and how, for her, the kitchen table signifies family.

Every language has words that express unique ideas — words that just don't translate very well into English. At the same time, those can be the exact ideas that tell us the most about another culture. Author Christopher J. Moore discusses these concepts and his new book In Other Words.

Nic Harcourt, host of KCRW's popular Morning Becomes Eclectic and author of Music Lust, talks about his book, along with some of the best music you've probably missed this past year.

Is gentrification a bad word or a good influence? Lance Freeman, an assistant professor at Columbia University, talks with Farai Chideya about his new book exploring the gentrification of two predominately black neighborhoods in New York City — Manhattan's Harlem and Brooklyn's Clinton Hill.

Twenty years after Live Aid, Geldof launches another group of international concerts aimed at fighting famine in Africa. The musician and activist recently announced plans for concerts to be held on July 2, in five countries.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's new autobiography has just been published. Titled My Grandfather's Son, it covers his life up to his swearing in as a member of the high court.

During World War II, Warsaw zoo director Jan Zabinski and his wife, Antonina, sheltered hundreds of Jews from Nazi forces on the grounds of the zoo and in their home. Diane Ackerman has documented the remarkable and unlikely story in her new book, The Zookeeper's Wife.

In the 1960s and 70s, CBS News was considered to be the best in the business. Former CBS anchormen Roger Mudd and Bob Schieffer talk about today's quickly changing news climate, and Mudd's new book, The Place To Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News.

Ongoing anti-government protests have sparked violence in Tibet, and China accuses the Dalai Lama of instigating the unrest. Journalist Pico Iyer has known the Dalai Lama for three decades and written a new book about the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

John Dean, former counsel to President Richard Nixon, and former congressman Barry Goldwater Jr., son of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, discuss their new book about the five-term Arizona senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee.

This week, Hurricane Dean stormed Jamaica then slammed Mexico's coast, earning a place in the record books. When it reached the Yucatan Peninsula, Dean was a Category 5 hurricane — the first since 1992's Andrew to make landfall in the Atlantic region.

Thirty years ago this week, NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft on a trip to Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 1 followed two weeks later. Both spacecraft are still going strong, heading toward interstellar space.

As the U.S. Open officially begins, fans are remembering Althea Gibson. Fifty years ago, Gibson was the first African-American to win the prestigious competition. Sue Stauffacher, author of Nothing but Trouble: The Althea Gibson Story, talks about the tennis legend's life and her unique challenges in the sport.

Jesse Jackson had strong words for Mexican President Vicente Fox after Fox's controversial comments about black Americans. Hear a discussion on the relevance of modern leadership in the African-American community.

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama routinely made promises that he would "restore our moral standing in the world." But, now that he occupies the White House, is his administration unveiling a new era in foreign policy?

As the presidential election approaches, Talk of the Nation will ask guests to make the case for the two candidates on foreign and domestic policy. Michael J. Gerson, a former speechwriter for President Bush, makes the conservative argument for a McCain presidency.

Pundits and public alike are comparing President-elect Barack Obama with the sixteenth U.S. president. Fred Kaplan's new book takes a look at President Lincoln as a scribe, from his personal letters to poems to epic speeches. Does he see Obama in Lincoln's words?

In 1669, a Paris bookseller published Portuguese Letters. Who wrote them? It's the subject of much debate. Myriam Cyr dives into a literary mystery in her first book, Letters of a Portuguese Nun.

David Nadelberg, author of the book, Mortified: Real Words. Real People. Real Pathetic and Neil Katcher, co-producer of the stage show Mortified, talk about first-hand tales of love and pain.

Former adman James Othmer spent two decades working in the ad industry as it was in the throes of a dramatic transformation. As more consumers zap commercials on DVRs and read magazines and newspapers online, Othmer has concluded that the Madison Avenue industry as he knew it is dying.

Ad man Tom Burrell calls out negative images of African Americans in the media for perpetuating the myth of black inferiority. In Brainwashed, he examines the history of the myth and how contemporary culture reinforces it.

Who is that person you've passed each day over the last few years, never knowing her name? How do we cross the class and racial boundaries in our neighborhoods and communities?

NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates talks with Scott-Martin Kosofsky about his new work, The Book of Customs: A Complete Handbook for the Jewish Year. The author researched several centuries-old guidebooks on Jewish rituals and customs to write a contemporary version for American readers.