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NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with author Ann Patchett on her latest novel Tom Lake, which tackles family, maternal love and the secrets a mother may choose not to share with her children.

There is no reason to expect that we can get to the ultimate nature of reality, says physicist Marcelo Gleiser. We must learn to live with the mystery, with the fact that we cannot know everything.

His wife, Fresh Air host Terry Gross, said the longtime contributor to The Village Voice and NPR had been living with emphysema and Parkinson's disease.

A critic whose writing was nearly music itself, Greg Tate — who died this week at 64 — influenced generations of writers. His colleagues, peers and followers offer a guide to his essential works.

Today, a conversation with poet and Shakespearean actor James Keegan about King Leer and madness.In celebration of its 10th anniversary, The Delmarva…

Paul Laurence Dunbar, who died 100 years ago last week, was the first African-American poet to make a living from his writing. He was well known during his lifetime for poetry he wrote in black dialect, a fame he came to despise.

Okkervil River is a body of water near St. Petersburg in Russia. It's also the name of a band based in Austin, Texas. Its songwriter and singer draws from the primal violence heard in some traditional folk tunes and the blues.

NPR Music's Song of the Day features a new track every weekday, with analysis of the music, links to each artist's Web sites and, of course, a chance to hear the song itself. Here, Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson talks about recent selections by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Kurt Elling and more.

Debbie Elliott reads from listeners' letters on the Scouting tradition of the Pinewood Derby, and the 1960 presidential election.

Susan Stamberg talks with three independent booksellers about their choices for summer reading, which range from historical novels to short story collections.