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Denmark holds a weeklong festival in honor of fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen, who was born 200 years ago on April 2. Scott Simon talks with Diana Crone Frank and Jeffrey Frank, translators of the author's work.

Frank Delaney joins Scott Simon to talk about Ireland: A Novel, which is steeped in the storytelling tradition of the novelist's homeland.

In a new book, Feet on Street: Rambles around New Orleans, humorist Roy Blount, Jr. celebrates the corners and characters of the city. Blount takes Debbie Elliott for a stroll through the French Quarter.

Eric Rudolph's decision to plead guilty to the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta and three other attacks ends a long saga for law-enforcement officers. Rudolph was a fugitive for more than five years. CNN producer Henry Schuster and Charles Stone, former head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation talk about the chase. They're the authors of the book Hunting Eric Rudolph.

History buffs are accustomed to their favorite books having a certain heft to them. But the trend of micro-histories, books that explore specific subjects in depth, is changing that. Librarian Nancy Pearl lists her favorites.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is considered one of baseball's top strategists — and a likely resident of baseball's Hall of Fame. Pulitzer-winning author Buzz Bissinger's new book is about three games La Russa managed in a tense pennant race.

Ian McEwan talks about Saturday, which tracks a neurosurgeon over a single day. McEwan says the parallels to Virginia Woolf and James Joyce may seem obvious in limiting a narrative to 24 hours, but he was more influenced by Saul Bellow and John Updike.

Andrew Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War, argues that the U.S. is too willing to send its troops around the world. He discusses the increasing use of military power in U.S. foreign policy and how it is threatening national security. Bacevich is a historian and a Vietnam veteran.

To most people, a marathon represents an epic physical challenge, a draining test of one's conditioning, such as the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. Then there are athletes like Dean Karnazes, who has run for 262 miles straight. He has written a new book, Ultramarathon Man.

In His Excellency: George Washington, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis examines the myths and realities surrounding our nation's first president. Ellis suggests Washington was motivated as much by enlightened self-interest as idealism. Ellis speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.