Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two new books: the short story collection Nice Big American Baby by Judy Budnitz and the novel Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh.
Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR's Fresh Air, is The Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism at Georgetown University. She is an associate editor of and contributor to Mystery and Suspense Writers (Scribner) and the winner of the 1999 Edgar Award for Criticism, presented by the Mystery Writers of America. In 2019, Corrigan was awarded the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing by the National Book Critics Circle.
President Trump has fired several Board Members at Washington DC's John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and indicated that he's naming himself chairman.
NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Matthew Medler of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology about the best bird sounds of 2025 from their vast collection of recordings, and why their selections made the list.