Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. I'm at that age where a bunch of my friends

are having their first kids right now. And when my wife and I talk about having one, or more

likely my parents bring it up, the first thought that flashes in my head is always,

bro, this world is crazy right now.

It's something that author Noah Hawley grappled with while writing his new novel, Anthem.

It's a thriller that takes place in a world very much like our own with the same plethora of problems that we've got.

And he told NPR's Aisha Roscoe that what the book is really about is the world we're

going to pass on to our children. You know, his kids, my friend's kids, yours if you got them,

mine if it ever happens, and that we don't always act in their best interest.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

The world Noah Hawley creates in his new novel is familiar, a little too familiar.

There are corporate opioid pushers, billionaire, sexual predators, election-denying politicians, anarchists and survivalists, forgotten children, conspiracy theorists, and more all woven together in a tale that crosses over on itself, almost like a conspiracy theory.

The book is called Anthem, and Noah Hawley joins us now. Thanks for being with us.

My pleasure.

There's a line from an adolescent in the book who goes by the name of Randall Flagg. He's supposed to be a

character who survived the Parkland shootings. And he says he understands on a quote,

fundamental level that unthinkable things happen every day. And yet this book is also sprinkled

with a lot of fantasy otherworldly creatures as witch,

wizard, a prophet. What should the audience take from that mix of like the horror of real life,

but also kind of this fantasy? Yeah, I mean, I described the book as a as a fantasy novel about

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