Charles Yu’s “Interior Chinatown,” which book-awards-winners.html">won the National Book Award for fiction in November, is a satire about Hollywood’s treatment of Asian-Americans. It features an actor named Willis Wu, who has a very small role in a TV show. On this week’s podcast, Yu, yu-interior-chinatown.html">himself a writer for TV as well as a novelist, discusses the book and why he wrote it. 

David S. Brown visits the podcast to discuss his new biography of Henry Adams, last-american-aristocrat-henry-adams-david-s-brown.html">“The Last American Aristocrat.” Adams was the great-grandson of John Adams, the grandson of John Quincy Adams and the author of “The Education of Henry Adams,” a posthumously published memoir that is widely considered one of the greatest nonfiction works of the 20th century.

Also, Alexandra Alter answers questions from listeners about the publishing industry, and Gregory Cowles, John Williams and the show's host, Pamela Paul, discuss what they're reading. The books discussed on "What We're Reading" this week: 

guo-nick-hornby-lovers-discourse-just-like-you.html">“Just Like You” by Nick Hornby

“The Watch Tower” by Elizabeth Harrower

last-million-david-nasaw.html">“The Last Million” by David Nasaw

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.