Host Liane Hansen talks with novelist Kevin Baker. His new book Paradise Alley takes place in New York City during the draft riots of 1863 when Irish mobs terrorized Manhattan.
Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.
Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music was more than an hour of feedback and noise with no noticeable structure. A new tribute album called Metal Machine Muzak interprets the spirit behind that work.
China's president is in Europe for the first time in five years, at a point when Sino-European relations are particularly frosty. Will a Beijing charm offensive turn things around?
So far in the New York criminal trial against former President Donald Trump, the court has heard from nine witnesses. What are the big takeaways so far and who will take the stand this week?