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 →

Podcast

Mark Schapiro, CARBON SHOCK

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Journalist Mark Schapiro discusses his new book, CARBON SHOCK: A Tale of Risk and Calculus on the Front Lines of the Disrupted Global Economy. It’s about how global warming isn’t just causing climate chaos — it’s creatingÂ economic chaos, as well.

Climate action opponents sayÂ climate changeÂ is too expensive to tackle. But they never talk about the cost of not dealing with it. Higher taxesÂ andÂ food prices, steeper insurance payments, and more costly travel come on top of the loss of jobs and income when droughts, floods, and other impacts of global warming hit us in the pocketbook. But who should pay? Polluters or the public?

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Tana French, THE SECRET PLACE & Shannon Moroney, THROUGH THE GLASS

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What drives some of us to commit murder? That question is on the roster today as we talk with crime fiction writer Tana French about her terrific new novel, The Secret Place.Â Â And Shannon Moroney’s memoir Through The Glass tells a searing story about a brutal crime and her journey toward restorative justice.

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Vint Virga, THE SOUL OF ALL LIVING CREATURES & Mike Graf, ADVENTURES WITH THE PARKERS series

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Animal behaviorist Vint Virga talks about his award-winning book, The Soul of All Living Creatures:What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human. And children’s book author Mike Graf discusses two in his series of adventures guides set in National Parks, To The Top of The Grand, about Grand Teton and Eye of The Whale, about Acadia.

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Podcast

Seth Rosenfeld, SUBVERSIVES & Betty Medsger, THE BURGLARY

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On the fiftieth anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, WV talks with Seth Rosenfeld about his bestselling history of that movement and its surveillance by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, Subversives. Also, WV revisits our April 2014 interview with Betty Medgser about her book, The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI. Continue reading →

Podcast

Karen Abbott, LIAR, TEMPTRESS, SOLDIER, SPY & Lois Leveen, THE SECRETS OF MARY BOWSER

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Karen Abbott talks about her latest book, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. It’s about four courageous women of the Civil War who made history.Â And later, we replay our 2013 interview with Lois Leveen about her novel, The Secrets of Mary Bowser. It’s about an African American ex-slave who was a Union spy right inside the Confederate White House.

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Podcast

Naomi Oreskes, THE COLLAPSE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION & Dr. James Hansen, STORMS OF MY GRANDCHILDREN

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Naomi Oreskes talks about the speculative novel she co-wrote with Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future. Then, as the world prepares for climate talks and the People’s climate march in New York City, we hear our 2010 interview with climatologist Dr. James Hansen.

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Paul Ehrlich, HOPE ON EARTH & Ryan Mitchell, TINY HOUSE LIVING

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World-renowned biologist Paul Ehrlich of The Population Bomb fame talks about his new book (with Michael Charles Tobias) Hope on Earth: A Conversation. And Ryan Mitchell discusses Tiny House Living: Ideas For Building and Living Well In Less than 400 Square Feet.

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Podcast

Thrity Umrigar, THE STORY HOUR & THE WORLD WE FOUND

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WV spends the hour with Indian-born novelist Thrity Umrigar, talking about her latest work of fiction, THE STORY HOUR (Harper Collins, August 2014) and her 2012 novel, THE WORLD WE FOUND. Also, we air a sneak preview from next week’s show: a conversation with scientist Paul Ehrlich about HOPE ON EARTH.

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Web Extras

Kathy Engel reads “Harvesting Strawberries”

Poet Kathy Engel reads her poem “Harvesting Strawberries.”

Harvesting Strawberries

In summer
my teenage daughters
hair waving freckles,
legs and arms swinging,
walk barefoot to the garden in our back yard,
pick greens,
wash them, make salad
or cook with olive oil and garlic
and we eat together
on the wooden table under the mimosa tree
beside hammocks and chimes,
then drive or walk three miles to plunge in the Atlantic.
On January 4, 2005
six Palestinian children ages eleven to seventeen
harvesting strawberries
were killed by Israeli military
paid, in part, with dollars we send in taxes
from our jobs.
A newspaper photo showed an almond eyed boy
carrying the body of his younger brother.
The children were harvesting strawberries.

Kathy Engel January 6, 2005

(Thanks to East End Report for the audio and text.)

Podcast

Nell Bernstein, BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE & Kathy Engel on poetry for peace

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Nell Bernstein

Nell Bernstein talks about her book, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison (New Press.) And we hear from poet Kathy Engel about using poetry to promote peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Podcast

Martin Blank, OVERPOWERED & Greg Palast, VULTURE’S PICNIC

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Martin Blank talks about the dangers of cell phones,microwaves and other devices that emit electromagnetic radiation. His book is Overpowered: The Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) and What You Can Do about It.

And Argentina teeters on the brink of default because of hedge fund vultures like Paul Singer, who buy up national debt for pennies on the dollar and then demand payment in full. Today WV re-airs aÂ 2011 interview with investigative journalist Greg Palast about his book, Vulture’s Picnic. Continue reading →

Podcast

Suzanna Danuta Walters, THE TOLERANCE TRAP & Alex Sinha ,“With Liberty To Monitor All”

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Suzanna Danuta Walters discusses her groundbreaking new book The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions are Sabotaging Gay Equality. And a new report “With Liberty To Monitor All” from Human Rights Watch says government surveillance is threatening the rights of journalists and their public, as well as lawyers and their clients. We talk with the report’s author, Alex Sinha.

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Podcast

Laurie David, FED UP & Nina Planck, THE REAL FOOD COOKBOOK

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Laurie David talks about her new film, FED UP, a documentary about our toxic industrial food system. It’s out with a companion cookbook, THE FAMILY COOKS. And real food maven Nina Planck says grass-fed meat and dairy are good for you. (She loves organic veggies, too.) Her new book of recipes is THE REAL FOOD COOKBOOK.

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