Special Program

On  "A Way with Words", nothing brightens up an email like an emoticon. But is it appropriate to include a smiley face in an email to your boss? Also, what do time management experts mean when they say you should start each day by "eating the frog"? Plus, we’ll explore the story behind the phrase "the whole kit and caboodle," and some book recommendations for language lovers.  Information is available at http://www.waywordradio.org/

NPR is pleased to announce "The Hidden World of Girls," two new hour-long specials hosted by Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Tina Fey.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are sending our veterans home with wounds and obstacles not always clearly visible to the rest of the country. These two current wars also illuminate how veterans of previous eras are still trying to come home years after returning from war. In this episode, State of the Re:Union explores how veterans are serving each other after they come back home from serving the country.

State of the Re:Union program info

Joseph Ellis, Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian, reads from his new book, First Family. He also talks about why the likes of Abigail and John Adams will never come again.

Links:

• The book
• Christian Science Monitor review

The bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman, and Krakatoa visited the Music Hall in Portsmouth to talk about his new book, Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Disasters, Titanic Storms and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. It’s a biography of the ocean, from its origins 195 million years ago, through centuries of discovery, trade, war, and harvest to what he calls “the forgotten ocean” of today.

Links:

Today on Word of Mouth, a conversation with Margaret Atwood, recorded live at the Music Hall in Portsmouth as part of the “Writers on a New England Stage” series.  Virginia spoke with the award winning author of the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. They talked about pessimism, hope for the future, and learning survival skills in Canada. 

Today on Word of Mouth, a conversation with Isabel Allende, live from the series. Allende is the best selling Latin-American author in the world. Beginning with her 1982 debut, House of the Spirits, Ms. Allende’s novels have been praised for their historical accuracy, deep sensuality and what critics call "magical realism." She has written 17 more books including novels, memoirs and young adult stories since she was forced to leave her native Chile. She and her family fled after a military coup toppled the presidency of her father’s cousin, Salvador Allende.