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Dan Fagin talks about his terrific history of what went down at Tom’s River New Jersey after a chemical plant moved in. His book is TOM’S RIVER: A Story of Science and Salvation. And Ed Brown discusses his prizewinning documentary, UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS. It’s about the environmental toxins threatening our kids and ourselves.
Dan Fagin won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2014 for TOM’S RIVER.
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Radio host, monologist and author Mike Feder talks about threading the fine line between tragedy and comedy in writing his memoir, A Long Swim Upstream.
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Radio host, monologist and author, Mike Feder talks about surviving a crazy childhood and finding healing in humor. His book is A Long Swim Upstream. And Helen Thomas died on July 20. We play our 2006 interview with Thomas about her book on the Washington Press Corps, Watchdogs of Democracy?
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Suspense writer Hallie Ephron’s newest page-turner is THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN. Its protagonists are the daughter of a difficult mother and her mother’s ninety-year old neighbor who’s the most delightful sleuth since Miss Marple. A dash of history, attitudes toward the elderly, and the impact of overdevelopment on communities are all part of the story.
And Lionel Shriver delves into the loyalties that can divide families when, in BIG BROTHER, her protagonist’s morbidly obese brother comes to visit and she feels compelled to get him to lose weight. The novel explores power struggles in families, our society’s obsession with food, and the obesity epidemic — all deftly drawn with Shriver’s dry wit.
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David McConnell discusses his true crime exploration of bias murders of gay men, AMERICAN HONOR KILLINGS: Desire And Rage Among Men. And psychotherapist and author Karen Krett talks about THE DARK SIDE OF HOPE: A Psychological Investigation and Cultural Commentary.
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Brian Fagan talks about his book, THE ATTACKING OCEAN: The Past, Present, and Future of Rising Sea Levels, and we also air our 2011 interview with Christine Shearer about Kivalina, an Alaskan community that is already getting hammered by sea level rise.
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Andrew Fisk of the Connecticut River Watershed Council talks about the environmental challenges facing the river, the environmental prognosis for the River in the next fifty years and how to get involved in protecting the river. And science and nature writer Naila Moreira reads from Alaska Massachusetts, a story about a walk she took along the banks of the Connecticut River.
This Week: the fifth episode of our year-long series, The River Runs Through Us. For the first four episodes of the series, we examined the spiritual and economic importance of the Connecticut River.
In the final two episodes we look at the environment of the Connecticut River. We’ll explore the history and challenges of environmental degradation of the River and talk to people at the front of the fight to restore and secure the River’s environmental integrity for generations to come.
We’ll also hear from writers who draw deep and meaningful inspiration from the physical environment of the Connecticut River and how that connection helps them create a sense of place in their work. And, later, we’ll hear from folks who depend on the River’s environment for food, work and health. The River Runs Through Us is funded by a generous grant from Mass Humanities and listeners like you.
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Ruth Ozeki talks about her acclaimed new novel, A Tale For The Time Being. It’s about a Japanese-American teenager, a Canadian-Japanese writer, and the time-twisting connection between them after the Japanese tsunami. And Gretel Ehrlich discusses her riveting new book, Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami.
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Barbara Garson talks about her new book, DOWN THE UP ESCALATOR: How the 99% Live in the Great Recession. And Citizens United gave the 1%, like the Koch Brothers, inordinate influence over our political process. Now they’re moving to take over our media, as well. Filmmaker Tia Lessin discusses the film she co-directed, CITIZEN KOCH, and how its distribution is being threatened by its namesake. Continue reading
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We re-play our 2012 interview with Rebecca MacKinnon about her book Consent of the Networked. Then we look back again at Wikileaks and what it means for press freedom: we air our 2010 interviews with the late Alexander Cockburn and with Tim Karr of the organization, Free Press. And finally, we hear a Spring poem from Philip Schultz: Bleeker Street.
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Marisa Silver talks about her acclaimed new novel, MARY COIN. It’s about a famous photograph of a migrant worker taken during the Great Depression. And Jess Walter discusses his collection of short stories set during the Great Recession, WE LIVE IN WATER. Continue reading
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Curator Roberta Olson talks about her book and the New York Historical Society exhibition, AUDUBON’S AVIARY. It’s about the original watercolors for Audubon’s The Birds of America.
And a new bilingual children’s book takes aim at childhood obesity. Chaz Nielsen talks about HENRY GETS MOVING.
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In this fourth episode of our Writers Voice special series, The River Runs Through Us, Brian Kitely talks about THE RIVER GODS, his novel-in-vignettes of Northampton, Massachusetts from its founding to today; Native American scholar Marge Bruchac tells us about the original inhabitants of the Valley, and Pioneer Valley Planning Commission director Tim Brennan discusses the history and future of the Connecticut River in Massachusetts.
Our thanks to Mass Humanities for their support for this series.
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Amy Larkin discusses her terrific new book, ENVIRONMENTAL DEBT: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy. And Katharine Applegate talks about her new novel for kids of all ages, THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN. Written in the poignant voice of a gorilla, it’s based on the true story of a gorilla held captive for thirty years in a suburban mall.
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Patricia Klindienst talks about her book, THE EARTH KNOWS MY NAME: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans. (Encore interview.)Â And then, America needs more farmers — and more young people are showing up to fill that need. Farmer and author Rebecca Thistlethwaite joins us in the second half of our show to talk about how sustainability-minded farmers can survive and thrive in farming today. Her book is FARMS WITH A FUTURE:Â Creating and Growing a Sustainable Farm Business.