Hey, it's NPR's book at the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. My favorite parts of those big biographies of

important people aren't the darkly formative childhood stories or the dramatic play-by-plays of a critical

decision. It's the small, weird anecdotes that you kind of had to laugh at when you think about the amount of legwork the biographer had to put in to verify something so silly.

Today's interview is with the author Katte Martin about her new book, The Chancellor.

It's a biography of Angela Merkel, who served for 16 years as chancellor of

Germany before stepping down. And in this interview, Martin tells NPR Sarah McCammon

about one interaction Merkel had with then-president Donald Trump that involved a starburst,

you know, the candy, that on its face seems so petty, but actually reveals quite a...

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.

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A bit.

It seems as though Angela Merkel has been the leader of Germany forever, and in fact, she's governed the country for close to a

generation. But when the most powerful woman in the world first won the chancellorship some

16 years ago, it marked an unlikely outcome for this female East German scientist who'd

entered politics a little more than a decade earlier. Now, as Merkel prepares to leave office,

journalist writer and one-time NPR correspondent,

Katie Martin, has written a new biography of, as she describes her, this triple outsider.

Katie Martin joins me now. Welcome to the program. Thanks so much. It's wonderful to be back

on NPR. We are glad to have you. And first of all, I want to start with her biography.

How do you think growing up in East Germany, you know, a surveillance state at the time, a communist

...