Mo Rocca is into examining the dead. The TV correspondent and writer has long been fascinated with obituaries, and with “Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Living,” (the book companion to his podcast of the same name) he dives deep into examining the lives of dead people we should know on a deeper level. From fleshing out Thomas Paine’s woefully brief writeup, to expanding upon little-known elements of Audrey Hepburn’s wartime upbringing, Rocca presents rigorously researched and charmingly irreverent accounts. This journalist, humorist, and history buff is an Emmy winner, the author of “All the Presidents’ Pets,” a correspondent for “CBS Sunday Morning,” and a frequent panelist on NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” He was a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” and currently hosts “The Henry’s Ford’s Innovation Nation” Saturday mornings on CBS. Take it from Mo – these are the people you want to know.

Heather Christle’s new book is a guaranteed tearjerker. Why? Because it’s called “The Crying Book,” and it researches the act of crying – what it is, why we do it, and how grief and joy are intertwined throughout our lives. Her investigation gets into science, history, and her own lived experiences as she explores how tears and what’s behind them can shape our choices and lives. This is Christle’s first book of nonfiction; she’s the author of the poetry collections The Difficult Farm; The Trees The Trees, which won the Believer Poetry Award; What Is Amazing; and Heliopause. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, London Review of Books, Poetry, and many other journals, and she teaches creative writing at Emory University.

When you listen to Jimmie Herrod sing, you know you’re hearing a master. The Pacific Northwest-based artist, who now splits time between Portland and Paris, has toured throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, and is a regular guest vocalist with legendary superband Pink Martini. He recorded “Exodus,” his first single with Pink Martini, in 2018, along with a solo album of original works, “Falling in Love and Learning to Love Myself.” Herrod’s soaring voice and masterful command of the stage is something to experience for yourself.