Americans’ faith in the value of higher education is faltering.Unlike our global peers, the U.S. is seeing a steady decline in college enrollment and graduation rates, especially among young men. Since 1992, the sticker price for four-year private colleges has almost doubled and more than doubled for four-year public colleges, even after adjusting for inflation. Student debt is paralyzing. And Gen Z is watching. About half believe a high school diploma is sufficient to “ensure financial security.”What can higher education do?Macalester College President Emeritus Brian Rosenberg has some thoughts — but he admits, many in academia won’t like them. His provocative new book is “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Resistance to Change in Higher Education,” and he joins host Kerri Miller this week for a discussion that names those things. Is it possible for colleges and universities to stay relevant and adapt to a changing world?Guest:Brian Rosenberg is president emeritus of Macalester College and is currently a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His new book is “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It:” Resistance to Change in Higher Education.”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.

Are you convinced the U.S. government knows more than it will reveal about UFOs? After doing a deep dive into the history, journalist Garrett Graff is too. But he doesn’t think the cover-up is a necessarily hiding alien life. “There are two obvious cloaks of secrecy that surrounds the government cover-up of its understanding of what UFOs and UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) are today,” Graff tells MPR News host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas. “One level is we don’t know what level of public UFO sightings are our own government’s secret development projects.” “The other is that … some chunk of UAPS are advanced adversary technology being tested against us — drones from other countries. So the military doesn’t want to say what it’s detected lest it give away too much.” But is there alien life? Graff feels certain there is. He just doesn’t see proof that it’s visiting earth. His new book looks at the history of UFO sightings in the United States, including the large reports of flying saucers after WWII, UFO conspiracy theories after Watergate and the U.S. government’s efforts in recent years to engage in more open dialogue about extraterrestrial life.Guest: Garrett Graff is a journalist and the author of many books. His latest is “UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here — and Out There.”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.

This year, Big Books and Bold Ideas is introducing an occasional series that will feature books on democracy. That series begins as we mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. To gain context, we invited three historians and authors from different regions of the country to reflect on this American moment. Can history be a guide to where we are? Do we have the chaos and divisiveness we deserve? How do we approach what comes next with clarity and perspective?Guests:Carol Anderson a historian and professor of African-American studies at Emory University. She’s the author of many books, including “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide” and “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy.” Elizabeth Cobbs is a historian, an author and the Melbern Glasscock Chair at Texas A&M University. Her most recent book is “Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé.” Eric Foner is one of the nation’s leading historians and the author of many award-winning books on the Civil War and Reconstruction, including “The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution.” He is also a professor emeritus at Columbia University. 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.

“Here is the world,” writes theologian Frederick Buechner. “Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”Those words rooted Amy Butler through some of the darkest moments of her life. As Butler slowly embraced her call to be a pastor, she was rejected by her conservative evangelical family, who doesn’t believe women should be in pastoral roles. She was the first woman ever appointed to lead the historic Riverside Church in New York City, but the challenges of breaking the “stained glass ceiling” almost caused her to lose her faith. In her new memoir, “Beautiful and Terrible Things,” Butler takes us inside her life story. She covers joyful and painful moments, including the loss of a child, her unexpected divorce and the hardships of being a woman in ministry. But ultimately, as she tells MPR News host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, she found that vulnerability is worth it. Butler writes in the introduction, “The invitation to become who we’re meant to be happens at the intersection of human pain and divine hope, and almost always in the context of relationship.”Guest: Rev. Amy Butler is currently pastoring a Baptist church in her home state of Hawaii. Her new book is “Beautiful and Terrible Things: Faith, Doubt and Discovering a Way Back To Each Other.”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.

For years, author Jedidiah Jenkins and his mother, Barbara, have flirted with the idea of a cross-country road trip together. The goal: to retrace Barbara’s route across America which she walked with her husband, travel writer Peter Jenkins, in the 1970s. But there is one problem: they have wildly disparate world views. Barbara is a baby boomer who lives in rural Tennessee. She supports Trump, listens to conservative media and is a deeply passionate evangelical Christian. Jedidiah is almost the opposite. He’s a gay man, who lives on the West Coast and is politically progressive. But they love each other. And Jedidiah is keenly aware of his mother’s age and the passing of time. So they set off on their joint adventure, hoping for fresh insight into the complex questions many are asking today: How do we stay in relationship when it hurts? When are boundaries needed? Is it possible to love someone who disagrees with you on almost everything? This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Jedidiah Jenkins joined host Kerri Miller for a thoughtful, funny and reflective conversation about mothers, nuance and the key ingredient needed to stay in painful relationships. Guest:Jedidiah Jenkins is an author and adventurer. His latest memoir is “Mother, Nature: A 5000-Mile Journey to Discover if a Mother and Son Can Survive Their Differences.”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.

Members of MPR and supporters of The Slowdown came together in mid-October to celebrate poetry with Major Jackson. The poet was in the Twin Cities to speak at the Twin Cities Book Festival, which is where he also learned that The Slowdown — a daily poetry podcast that he hosts — had won the prestigious Signal Award for Best Daily Podcast of 2023. MPR News' Kerri Miller in Conversation with The Slowdown's Major Jackson It was on that jubilant note that he spoke with host Kerri Miller about his love for the art form of words. In the past, he has said that he finds “the writing of a poem a kind of plunging, a willful dive below the surface of who I am.” The Slowdown with Major Jackson Episode 966 Love Poem, with Birds Episode 952 Failed Essay on Privilege Episode 920 Invented Landscape Episode 852 Forestbathing (or Trees) Episode 821 I Have No Idea What's Going to Happen During their conversation, Jackson explored those ideas with Miller. He spoke about how to avoid solipsism when writing poetry, how his childhood faith taught him the musicality of words and why it’s crucial that poetry be a mode of inquiry, not a collection of answers. Guest: Major Jackson is the author of six books of poetry, most recently “Razzle Dazzle.” He teaches writing at Vanderbilt University and is host of APM’s daily poetry podcast, The Slowdown. Subscribe to the MPR News 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.

To humans, roads are so ubiquitous, they are almost invisible. They crisscross every continent and allow for travel, exploration and connection.But to wildlife, roads are dangerous divisions of habitat. Around a million animals are killed by cars every day. Roads change migration patterns, cut off animals from their food sources and create noise so loud that it drowns out the ability for some animals to communicate with each other or hunt their prey. But road ecologists are working on solutions. In his new book, “Crossings,” Science Journalist Ben Goldfarb lays out the repercussion of roads and invites us to rethink their design. For example, California is planning to build a literal animal crossing over Highway 101, to allow safe passage for a variety of creatures.Goldfarb joined host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to share what he learned when he started to research road ecology and how scientists are using innovative solutions to minimize the damage roads cause.Guest: Ben Goldfarb is an environmental journalist and author. His latest book is “Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet.”Subscribe to the MPR News 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.

What word or phrase conjures immediate understanding in your family — but puzzled looks from everyone else? In one family, pizza crust is known as “pizza bones.” In another, children who weren’t allowed to say fart were instructed to use the word “foof” instead. This Thursday, MPR News host Kerri Miller talked about “familect” with word wizard Anatoly Liberman. Guest: Anatoly Liberman is a linguist and professor of languages at the University of Minnesota. His latest book is, “Take My Word For It: A Dictionary of English Idioms.”Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or RSS.

To the strict Rastafari father of Jamaican poet Safiya Sinclair, Babylon was not just an ancient city. It was a symbol for corruption, for wickedness, for decadence and depravity. And it was everywhere. So he kept his family tightly controlled, separate from outside influences that could contaminate. It was in that environment that Sinclair first grew and then stifled. Her father’s Rastafari faith was all-encompassing. While her mother taught her the music of nature and encouraged her to read, her father became obsessed with keeping his daughters pure. So they had few friends or hobbies, outside of schoolwork. Sinclair dreaded adolescence, when she knew menstruation would make her unclean. She grudgingly kept her dreadlocks — a symbol of Rastafari piety — and chafed under her father’s gospel that good Rasta women are submissive and quiet. But Sinclair found her voice in poetry. In her new memoir, “How to Say Babylon,” Sinclair recounts her journey from a subdued and sheltered daughter into a strong and self-assertive woman. This week on Big Book and Bold Ideas, Sinclair joined host Kerri Miller to talk about the perils of fundamentalism and patriarchy, in all its forms, and how she wrote a memoir about her childhood that both honors her family and her own truth. Guest:Safiya Sinclair is a Jamaican poet and memoirist. Her debut poetry collection, “Cannibal,” won several awards. Her new memoir is “How to Say Babylon.” Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller 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.

What book did you read this year that you immediately recommended to all your friends?That was the topic MPR News host Kerri Miller tackled Monday at 9 a.m. for a special live edition of her regular Friday show, Big Books and Bold Ideas. Instead of chatting with an author, Miller took calls and chatted with Glory Edim, the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, and Julie Buckles, the owner of Honest Dog Books in Bayfield, Wis.Before the show, we asked our social media followers what their favorite books of the year were and the top responses were: “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus, “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett and “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver. The best children’s books to give as gifts for the holidays From NPR Books We Love Kerri’s picks“Age of Vice” by Deepti Kapoor“How to Say Babylon” by Safiya Sinclair“State of Wonder” by Ann Patchett“The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After” by Julie Yip-Williams“The Last Ranger” by Peter Heller"Tom Lake" by Ann PatchettJulie’s picks“Good Night, Irene” by Luis Alberto Urrea“Bel Canto” by Ann Patchett“The Paris Bookseller” by Kerri Maher“The Diary of a Bookseller” by Shaun Bythell“You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir” by Maggie Smith“The River: A Novel” by Peter HellerGlory’s picks“Company: Stories” by Shannon Sanders“Witness” by Jamel Brinkley“The Fraud” by Zadie Smith“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker“Family Lore” by Elizabeth Acevedo“The Unsettled” by Ayana Mathis“Moonrise Over New Jessup” by Jamila MinnicksCaller’s picks“Winter’s Song: A Hymn to the North” by TD Mischke“Foster” by Claire Keegan“West with Giraffes: A Novel” by Lynda Rutledge“Angry Water” by Allen Theisen“The Seed Keeper” by Diane Wilson“The Comfort of Crows” by Margaret Renkl“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus“The Jungle Book: by Rudyard Kipling“Mr. Texas: A Novel” by Lawrence Wright“Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America” by Heather Cox Richardson“The Measure” by Nikki Erlick“A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them” by Timothy Egan“Whiskey When We’re Dry: A Novel” by John Larison “Chenneville” by Paulette JilesSubscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller 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.