Hey, it's Empirist Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. It's wild being able to follow the

career of a writer. You know, the guest on the pod today, Hanif Abduyakib. I've been following him

since he was writing about pop punk bands for MTV. Now he is a MacArthur Genius Grant

winning writer with multiple books under his belt, and for my money,

one of the most interesting writers working right now. He's got a new book out called There's Always

This Year, which is on its face about basketball, but like all of his books, it's about

performance and grief and place. Abderkeeb is from Ohio, and so it makes sense that a lot of his basketball book would focus

a lot on LeBron James.

And Abduarikib talked to NPR's Scott Detrow about what LeBron James represents in terms of aging

and mortality.

That's ahead.

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 new book, There's Always This Year, opens with an invitation.

Here's a quote, if you please imagine with me, you are putting your hand into my open palm,

and I am resting one free hand

atop yours, and I am saying to you, and I would like to commiserate here and now about our enemies.

We know our enemies by how foolishly they trample upon what we know as affection, how quickly they find another language for what they cannot translate as love.

And what follows from that is a lyrical book

...