150 episodes

Where Readers Meet Writers. Conversations on books and ideas, Fridays at 11 a.m.

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller Minnesota Public Radio

    • Arts
    • 4.4 • 183 Ratings

Where Readers Meet Writers. Conversations on books and ideas, Fridays at 11 a.m.

    How memory works

    How memory works

    If you’ve ever struggled to remember where you set down your phone, or how you know the person you just ran into at the grocery store, you’re not alone. Everyday forgetfulness is a part of living — and of aging.

    But for neuroscientist Charan Ranganath, more compelling than what we remember is why we remember.

    “The human brain is not a memorization machine; it's a thinking machine,” he writes in his new book “Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters.”

    Ranganath, a leading memory researcher, joined MPR News host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about how memory works (spoiler: we’re not designed to remember everything) and how it shapes who we are today.

    Guest:


    Charan Ranganath is a neuroscientist and a director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at UC Davis. His new book is “Why We Remember.”




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    • 1 hr 4 min
    Tommy Orange’s new ‘Wandering Stars’ traces a long trail of trauma and belonging

    Tommy Orange’s new ‘Wandering Stars’ traces a long trail of trauma and belonging

    At the center of Tommy Orange’s new novel sits a family nearly destroyed. It’s suffering the long-term effects of government-ordered separation, from decades of displacement and neglect, and from the white American philosophy best summed up by the phrase: Kill the Indian, save the man.

    It’s a theme familiar to readers who loved Orange’s first novel, “There There.” In fact, “Wandering Stars” functions as both a prequel and a sequel to that best-seller.

    Orange joined MPR News Host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to discuss how he weaves stories that are both historical and modern in an attempt to highlight the importance of family and honoring ancestors as a way to rebuild identity and belonging.

    Guest:


    Tommy Orange is an author and a teacher at the Institute for American Indian Arts. His first book, “There There,” was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award. His new novel is “Wandering Stars.”




    Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

    • 49 min
    A prescription to modernize public health

    A prescription to modernize public health

    In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic was public health’s finest hour. Millions of lives were saved, thanks to isolation measures. Vaccines were developed in record time. Systems were developed for contract tracing and testing. But it was also an apocalyptic moment for a system under strain.

    As a result, trust in doctors and scientists has plummeted. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that Americans who say they have a great deal of confidence in scientists dropped from 39 percent in 2020 to 23 percent in 2023. And that decline happened across party lines.

    What went wrong? How did public health officials alienate a populace they aimed to protect? Can an eroded sense of trust be restored?

    Dr. Sandro Galea, epidemiologist and dean at the Boston University School of Public Health, seeks to some of those questions in his new book "Within Reason: A Liberal Public Health for an Illiberal Time."

    Galea joined host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to share his post-pandemic diagnosis and offer remedies for how public health can transcend absolutism and intolerance in order to promote well-being for all.

    Guest:


    Dr. Sandro Galea is a physician, an epidemiologist and the dean at Boston University's School of Public Health. His new book is, "Within Reason: A Liberal Public Health for an Illiberal Time."




    Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

    • 51 min
    Heather Cox Richardson on 'Democracy Awakening'

    Heather Cox Richardson on 'Democracy Awakening'

    This week, Big Books and Bold Ideas is launching an election year series that asks: What is American democracy in 2024?

    Americans come to that question with significantly different views. And what American democracy was when this country was founded isn’t necessarily what it is today or what it will be in the future. Democracy is dynamic.

    Heather Cox Richardson spends a lot of time thinking about democracy. She’s a historian and the force behind the most popular newsletter on Substack, with more than 1.3 million subscribers. In 2023, she released her latest book, “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America,” which is a reflection on the the evolution of American democracy.

    On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, Richardson joined host Kerri Miller to parse the current condition of democracy in America and lay out how the system can be exploited by authoritarians or supported by the populace.

    Guest:


    Heather Cox Richardson is an author, a historian, a professor Boston College and the writer of Letters from an American, the most popular newsletter on Substack. Her latest book is “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.”




    Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

    • 51 min
    Memorable moments with women of faith

    Memorable moments with women of faith

    MPR News host Kerri Miller has never skirted the topic of faith.

    On her former weekday show, she regularly dialoged with leaders like Jenan Mohajir from Interfaith America, activist and author Anne Lamott, theologian Jemar Tisby, Sister Joan Chittister, and evangelical disrupter Rachel Held Evans. She even did a year-long series with women from a variety of faith backgrounds in 2019.

    So it seemed fitting, during the 2024 winter member drive, to return to this theme and remember a few of the best conversations.



    Included are portions of Miller’s recent discussion with Pastor Amy Butler, who penned the memoir, “Beautiful and Terrible Things;” Miller’s 2019 conversation with podcaster Misha Euceph about being Muslim in America; and a snippet of the 2023 Talking Volumes season finale with author Margaret Renkl about why Renkl left the Catholic church of her upbringing and found a new one in nature.

    • 52 min
    Family lore becomes rich historical fiction in 'The Storm We Made'

    Family lore becomes rich historical fiction in 'The Storm We Made'

    Choices made in a moment reverberate for generations, despite best intentions.

    Vanessa Chan adeptly explores this concept in her debut novel, “The Storm We Made” — a work of historical fiction set in her home country of Malaysia, which was inspired by stories her grandmother would tell.

    The main character is Cecily, a discontented housewife in 1930s Malaya, who is charmed into becoming a spy for the Japanese during the British occupation. She is increasingly disillusioned with the colonizing force and intrigued by a vision of “an Asia for Asians.” But her decisions ripple through the lives of her children in unforeseen and disastrous ways.

    Chan doesn’t judge.

    “Morality is very much dependent on circumstances,” the author tells host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. “You cannot tell when faced with survival whether or not you’ll be as heroic or as cowardly as you think you’re going to be.”

    Tune in this week for a warm conversation about roots, family lore and unanswered questions.

    “I wrote about the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake,” Chan says in her forward. “I wrote because, at the end of the day, remembering is how we love.”

    Guest:


    Vanessa Chan is a Malaysian author. Her debut novel, “The Storm We Made,” was one of the most anticipated books of 2024 and has sold rights in more than 20 countries.




    Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

    • 51 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
183 Ratings

183 Ratings

Thunderforge ,

Informative and a joy to listen to

The topics are varied, the guests are wonderful, and the callers provide new perspectives that expand the discussion. A wonderful podcast for anyone who wants to expand their understanding on complex ideas.

e85gal ,

Happy to have this podcast

I miss hearing Kerri Miller more often. And Tom Weber too. I do like Angela Davis’ show but also miss the former hosts.

APFineday ,

Insightful and well read

Thanks so much for the insightful questions and conversation which are based on the perceptions of well read and thoughtful readers

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