The Best Strangers in the World

As a fan of both NPR (he hosts NPR's “All Things Considered”) and Pink Martini (he sings/tours with the band), Ari Shapiro's new book is a must for me. You don't have to be too familiar with his work and involvement with covering news stories but it certainly helps. It's an enjoyable book that looks into Ari as a person as well as going in depth at some of the stories he's covered as well as some fun facts about him. From reading this, he seems to be a genuine and caring soul and I totally recommend it for anyone interested in reading about some good stories, some that will make your eyes watery and some that will make you grin.

3.5 Interesting enough and I'm glad I listened to it.

As a long time NPR listener (though, I confess, not consistently of All Things Considered, I do the morning shows usually), I eagerly signed up to go to Politics & Prose's event at Sixth&i where Ari spoke about his book with Audie Cornish. It was a great conversation and I was glad I picked up a copy of the book while there.

The book is pleasantly short, and filled with essays glimpsing Ari's life and work. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the Syrian Refugee Crisis and was moved by the essay around the Pulse Nightclub shooting.

I would have loved even more discussion of Sam Sanders' theory on hard and soft news. I'll have to do some of my own searching to see if Sam has talked about this on his podcasts!