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.

Podcast

Paul Kix on the fight to end Jim Crow, YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO DIE BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN TO LIVE

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Paul Kix tells us the thrilling story of the fight to end Jim Crow, led by the greatest figures of the Civil Rights Movement—and won by children. We spend the hour with Kix talking about his book, You Have To Be Prepared To Die Before You Can Begin To Live: Ten Weeks In Birmingham That Changed America.

Read Transcript of Interview with Paul Kix

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads  @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.

Read transcripts and subscribe at the Writer’s Voice Substack 

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key words: writers voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction, history, Paul Kix, Civil Rights Continue reading →

Podcast

Buzzy Jackson, TO DIE BEAUTIFUL & A Story from Province of the Heart

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Buzzy Jackson tells us the story of the Dutch anti-Nazi saboteur, Hannie Schaft and the lessons it holds for us as we confront fascism today. Her novel based on true events is To Die Beautiful.

Then Francesca reads a short excerpt from her own father’s story of resistance in the same war.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X  @WritersVoice.

Read transcripts and subscribe at the Writer’s Voice Substack 

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Read The Transcript on the Writer’s Voice Substack

Key Words: WWII, Hannie Schaft, Amsterdam, Writers Voice, Buzzy Jackson, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, fiction, history

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Podcast

Ava Chin, MOTT STREET & Tanis Rideout, THE SEA BETWEEN TWO SHORES

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Ava Chin tells us about her stunning family memoir/history of the Chinese Exclusion Act in America, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.

Then we talk with Tanis Rideout about her new novel The Sea Between Two Shores. It’s about two families, one Canadian and one from an island in Vanuatu, who must deal with the legacy of colonialism in the South Pacific and the responsibilities they have to each other.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Tags: fiction, nonfiction, memoir, Chinese Exclusion Act, Vanuatu, Ava Chin, Tanis Rideout, writer’s voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, history

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Podcast

Annalee Newitz, THE TERRAFORMERS & Doug Tallamy, NATURE’S BEST HOPE

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We talk with Annalee Newitz about their new sci-fi novel, The Terraformers. Taking place some 60,000 years in the future on a planet far, far away it pits a motley crew of designer sentient life forms, including neo-Neanderthals, talking moose, sentient trains, journalist cats and gender-diverse Homo sapiens, against the greedy corporation that wants to gentrify their planet.

We have to design our living spaces, the places where we play, the places where we farm, our corporate landscapes, our roadsides. All of these places have to be designed in ways that welcome nature rather than expel her. — Doug Tallamy

Then we talk with ecologist Doug Tallamy about the Young Reader’s Edition of his bestseller, Nature’s Best Hope. The book outlines his vision for a homegrown national park composed of millions of urban, suburban and exurban yards — a grassroots approach to conservation that everyone can take part in, regardless of age.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.

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Tags: sci-fi, Annalee Newitz, ecology, native plants, Doug Tallamy, pollinators, writers voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, science, science fiction, climate change

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Podcast

Jeff Goodell talks climate change in THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST & Suing the Fossil Fuel Industry

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July 4, 2023 was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth. Are we exceeding the “Goldilocks zone” of a habitable planet?

We ask that question of climate journalist and author Jeff Goodell. His new book is THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet.

We also revisit a conversation about suing the fossil fuel companies for scorching our planet. We play an excerpt from our 2017 interview with Lynn Zinser of Climate Liability News that is still relevant now, five years later.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

READ THE TRANSCRIPT

Tags: climate change, global warming, extreme heat, Jeff Goodell, climate litigation, Lynn Zinser, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction Continue reading →

Podcast

Talking the Trumpocene with Jeff Sharlet & A Review of Dennis Lehane’s Small Mercies

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We talk with Jeff Sharlet about his new book, The Undertow: Scenes From A Slow Civil War.

Then we air part of an interview we did with Sharlet in 2009 about the increasing influence of rightwing extremism into the US military.

And finally, a review of Dennis Lehane’s new novel Small Mercies.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Tags: fascism, Trump, MAGA, Christian Right, Jeffrey Sharlet, Dennis Lehane, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction, fiction Continue reading →

Podcast

Justice for Immigrant Children with Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega & Ram Dass with Amy Beutens

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Family separation continues to devastate the lives of children, as explored in Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega‘s book, Drawing Deportation: Art and Resistance among Immigrant Children. This poignant work delves into the traumatic experiences faced by immigrant children and showcases the healing power of art in their recovery. We talk with Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega in this pod’s first segment.

Then we talk with Amy Beutens about You Are The Universe: Ram Dass Maps The Journey, which  brings to life the profound teachings of renowned spiritual teacher Ram Dass. With captivating illustrations and co-editing by Julie Weinstein, this graphic book conveys a transformative message of love and unity, appealing to both teens and adults.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Tags: immigration, family separation, Ram Dass, spiritual journey, Amy Beutens, Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega, writers voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, nonfiction Continue reading →

Podcast

Writer, Humanist and Physician Abraham Verghese, THE COVENANT OF WATER & CUTTING FOR STONE

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A profoundly humanist novel tackles the tragedies of life:

As a physician I’m perhaps more aware than most people of how perilous our everyday lives are and how quickly they could transition to something quite disastrous. And I think in America especially we exist in a sort of denial of our mortality…As a result we are very shocked when any hint of tragedy comes our way. — Abraham Verghese

We spend the hour speaking with Abraham Verghese, first about his latest novel, The Covenant of Water. Then, we look back to our 2009 conversation with him about his novel Cutting for Stone.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with FrancescaTags Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Tags: Abraham Verghese, Francesca Rheannon, Writers Voice, fiction, India, Kerala, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show Continue reading →

Podcast

Jane Marshall, SEARCHING FOR HAPPY VALLEY & A Story from Francesca

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Travel writer Jane Marshall takes us on her modern quest for Shangri La; her book is Searching for Happy Valley.

Then, Francesca shares a story from her own journey to a Happy Valley in the foothills of the Maritime Alps of Haute Provence, where a market vendor of medicinal herbs taught her something about true vocation.

“I feel like if we can spend time in a place like one of these Happy Valleys that still holds these wisdom cultures that had these technologies and these systems that survived thousands and thousands of years before industrialization, that maybe we can learn how to respect the land again.” Jane Marshall

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Tags: Writers Voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction, travel, Jane Marshall, Shangri-La Continue reading →

Podcast

Peggy Orenstein, UNRAVELING & Katy Simpson Smith, THE WEEDS

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We talk with Peggy Orenstein about her book, Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater.

But first, Katy Simpson Smith tells us about her new novel, The Weeds. It weaves history, botany, feminism and the climate crisis together into a compelling and sharply funny tale.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Episode Transcript

Tags: Writer’s Voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, nonfiction, fiction, botany, knitting Continue reading →

Podcast

Media Literacy: Allison Butler’s MEDIA & ME. Also, EGG with Lizzie Stark

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Today on Writer’s Voice, an eclectic offering. Later in the show, we talk about eggs: actual, mythological and artistic. Author Lizzie Stark tells us about her book, Egg.

But first, we talk about media literacy, something that is vital if we are to preserve and strengthen democracy. We speak with Allison Butler about the book she co-wrote for Project Censored, THE MEDIA AND ME: A Guide To Critical Media Literacy For Young People.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Tags: writers voice, podcast, book recommendations, media, media literacy, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, nonfiction, eggs

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Podcast

An Intimate Portrait of MLK, Jr.: Jonathan Eig, KING

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Writer’s Voice spends the hour with Jonathan Eig talking about his acclaimed new biography, KING: A Life. It’s a captivating portrait of the renowned civil rights leader, unveiling new material and providing an intimate perspective.

“He suffered tremendously from doubt. And he suffered terribly from the effects of the FBI assault on him. He kept doing his work. He kept marching forward. He kept going more and more boldly into the breach. But it had an impact. He was hospitalized several times, maybe, fair to say, many times for exhaustion, for just succumbing to the stress of what he was doing. So that kind of courage in the face of doubt, to me, makes him even more heroic.” — Jonathan Eig

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Key words: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., MLK, Jonathan Eig, history, biography, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction

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Podcast

Americans and the English Language with Ilan Stavans, THE PEOPLE’S TONGUE

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Did you know that American English (not British English) is one of the very few languages that has no dialects? No matter where you are from in this big country, you can easily understand the speech of anyone else. That’s true, even with having different regional accents or ethnic differences such as Black English.

That’s one of the many fascinating things one learns from reading Ilan Stavans’ anthology of writings in American English, spanning 450 years of our history as a nation. We talk with Stavans about The People’s Tongue: Americans and the English Language.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Key words: language, English language, Ilan Stavans, anthology, podcast, book recommendation

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Podcast

The Case For Climate Hope: Joelle Gergis, HUMANITY’S MOMENT

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I’ve been thinking about climate change lately in really simple terms: that it’s really about the people and the places we love. It isn’t actually any more complex than that. So, yes, we talk a lot about parts per million and all these degrees of warming and all these complex things. And they are indeed metrics that scientists use to talk about climate change. But if you just strip it all the way back, it is really about protecting those places that we love and the beautiful planet that we live on as well. — Joelle Gergis

We spend the hour with IPCC climate scientist Joelle Gergis, talking about her powerful and moving book, Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope.

It’s about how she grapples with the grief her scientific findings confront her with — but also the hope she feels as she witnesses how the tide is turning toward climate protection.

Writers Voice, in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.

Key terms: climate change, IPCC, JoÁ«lle Gergis, climate science, podcast

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