Best Of: 'Abbott Elementary' Creator Quinta Brunson / Novelist Julie Otsuka

Fresh Air - A podcast by NPR

Quinta Brunson stars as a rookie second grade teacher in an under-resourced public elementary school in the mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary. Brunson says she conceived of the show with her mother — a teacher — in mind.Kevin Whitehead reviews a new stash of home and live recordings by jazz pianist Lennie Tristano.Though the main character in Julie Otsuka's new novel, The Swimmers, has lost much of her memory to dementia, she still remembers being sent to an incarceration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. We talk with the novelist about her own family's history.

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