All posts by Francesca Rheannon

About Francesca Rheannon

Francesca Rheannon is an award-winning independent radio producer. In addition to hosting Writer's Voice, she's a freelance reporter for National Public Radio and its affiliates. Recipient of the prestigious Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for reporting on substance abuse issues for her news series, VOICES OF HIV, produced for 88.5 WFCR public radio in western Massachusetts. She is also finishing a book on Provence (PROVINCE OF THE HEART) and working on a memoir of her father, THE ARGONAUTS. View all posts by Francesca Rheannon →

John Tepper Marlin, TAKE UP THE SONG & Marge Piercy, SEX WARS

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August 26 is Women’s Equality Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1920 adoption of theÂ Nineteenth AmendmentÂ to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. In this episode, WV features two women who were important to the fight for women’s suffrage but whose names are less known than those of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

We talk with John Tepper Marlin about his great aunt, suffragette Inez Milholland. Â He’s the author of a play aboutÂ the women’s suffrage movement, Take Up The Song. Then we re-play our 2007 interview with writer Marge Piercy about her novel, Sex Wars. Â It’s about another great figure of the first women’s equality movement, Victoria Woodhull — the first woman to run for president. Continue reading →

Cory Doctorow, WALKAWAY & Zach Roberts on De’Andre Harris Assault in Charlottesville

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When disaster strikes, will we descend into dystopia — or cooperate?Â We talk with Cory Doctorow about his new work of speculative fiction, Walkaway (Macmillan). It’s an “optimistic disaster novel” about what motivates humans to do good in the face of civilizational crisis.

Then, De’Andre Harris was assaulted August 12 by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. We talk with videographer and photojournalist Zach Roberts about his witnessing of the assault. His image of the beating (above) went viral. Continue reading →

Alexandra Chasin, ASSASSIN OF YOUTH & Mason Tvert, MARIJUANA IS SAFER

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With his threats to ramp up the war on drugs, is Attorney General Jeff Sessions channeling the spirit of the man who started us down this perilous path?

We speak with Alexandra Chasin about her biography/cultural-political critique of America’s first drug czar, Harry J. Anslinger, Assassin of Youth: A Kaleidoscopic History of Harry J. Anslinger’s War On Drugs. Then we re-air our 2010 interview with cannabis legalization advocate Mason Tvert about his book, Marijuana Is Safer. Continue reading →

Anthony Horowitz, MAGPIE MURDERS, Saving Net Neutrality & Summer Reading Picks

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Anthony Horowitz talks about his latest novel, Magpie Murders and about writing great mystery fiction. Then, the Battle to Save Net Neutrality is gearing up. We reach back into our archives for some very prescient conversations about the threats to the open internet and what to do about them. We talk with Rebecca McKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked and with Josh Silver, formerly of Free Press. Then we give our picks for summer reading. Continue reading →

Protecting Ourselves From Tyranny: Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny & Ryan Alford, Permanent State of Emergency

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We talk with historian Timothy Snyder about his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. The book is a kind of vaccine to inoculate us against acquiescing to authoritarianism.

Then, we talk with legal scholar Ryan Alford about his chilling study of how national security claims on the part of the executive branch have undermined the rule of law. His book is Permanent State of Emergency: The Demise of The Rule Of Law In The United States. Continue reading →

AMERICA & WORLD WAR ONE: Margaret Wagner & Richard Rubin

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On the 103rd anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, we talk with two authors who have written books about the war. Margaret Wagner talks about herÂ illustrated history, America and The Great WarÂ (Bloomsbury 2017). ThenÂ Richard Rubin tells us about his journey to visit the former battlefields of WWI, recounted in his book, Back Over There. Continue reading →

James Forman, Jr., LOCKING UP OUR OWN

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Writer’s Voice spends the hour with James Forman, Jr., talking about his groundbreaking book, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black AmericaÂ (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, April 2017).Â

It’s a groundbreaking look at how black civil rights leaders and other leaders in the black community contributed to the phenomenon of mass incarceration out of the best of intentions: a fierce desire to protect their communities and the young people in them. Continue reading →

Thrity Umrigar, EVERYBODY’S SON & Marianne Lavelle, Carl Safina

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Thrity Umrigar talks about her new novel, Everybody’s Son. It’s about the adoption of a poor black child by a powerful rich white family.

Then, we talk with climate journalist Marianne Lavelle about Trump’s Paris pullout and the Exxon shareholder revolt. Finally, we celebrate World Ocean Week with Carl Safina. Continue reading →

Susan Quinn, ELEANOR AND HICK & Naomi Oreskes, THE COLLAPSE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

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Susan Quinn talksÂ about her acclaimed book, Eleanor and Hick. It’s about the romance between Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Leonora Hick.

Then, on May 31 as this show was being produced, it was announced that Donald Trump is likelyÂ to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. We re-air our interview with Naomi Oreskes about the novel she co-wrote with Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future. It’s a speculative look at what inaction on the climate has done to our world, looking back from the year 2393.

And be sure to check out our Web Only interview with Inside Climate News Reporter Marianne Lavelle about the implications of pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and another blockbuster announcement May 31: the vote by Exxon shareholders to compel the company to report the impact of climate change on its bottom line. Continue reading →

Marianne Lavelle: Pulling Out of the Paris Accord & Exxon Shareholders’ Revolt

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Marianne Lavelle discusses two blockbuster climate change breaking news stories: Trump’s Paris pullout and Exxon’s rebellious shareholders. Continue reading →

Andrew Forsthoefel WALKING TO LISTEN & Rob Okun, VOICE MALE.

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Andrew Forsthoefel tells us about his book, Walking To Listen (Bloomsbury Press.) It’s the amazing story of what happened when he decided to walk across America to listen and learn life wisdom from whomever he encountered.

Then, we re-broadcast an edited version of ourÂ 2014 interview with Rob Okun about his book Voice Male: The Untold Story of the Pro-feminist Men’s Movement (Interlink Books.) Continue reading →

Corban Addison, A HARVEST OF THORNS & Heather White, COMPLICIT

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Bestselling author Corban Addison discusses his gripping new novel, A HARVEST OF THORNS. It’s a gripping thriller that reveals the ugly underbelly of fast fashion.

Then,Â Heather White talks about COMPLICIT, the film she co-produced with Lynn Zhang. It’s an explosive undercover exposÁ© about deadly hazards in China’s electronics industry.Â Continue reading →

Peter Moskowitz, HOW TO KILL A CITY & Steve Stollman on the Mulberry Street Gang

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We talk with Peter Moskowitz about his book, How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood. Then we talk withÂ Steve Stollman about his pop-up exhibit on East Houston Street in New York, The Mulberry Street Gang. Continue reading →

Melissa Febos, ABANDON ME & Trump’s Attack on Social Security &Medicare

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Melissa Febos talks about her acclaimed new memoir, Abandon Me. Then we talk with
Los Angeles Times business journalist Michael Hiltzik and Nancy Altman of Social Security Works about Trump’s attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Continue reading →

Ellen Meeropol, KINSHIP OF CLOVER & Dan Natale, BAD TIDINGS

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Novelist Ellen Meeropol talks about her new work of fiction, Kinship of Clover. Then we talk with filmmaker Dan Natale about his documentary Bad Tidings. It looks at the impact of sea level rise on one vulnerable community in New Jersey. Continue reading →