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Transcript: Sandra Steingraber on Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

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Francesca Rheannon: There may be no better time than now to reread Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Originally published in 1962, it sparked the modern environmental movement that led to the clean water and the Clean Air Acts, now endangered like The Endangered Species Act under the Trump Administration and the GOP dominated Congress.

Luckily, there’s a new edition of Silent Spring out from Library from America, the first in a series of publications of Carson’s work. The deluxe Illustrated volume is bundled with an unprecedented collection of letters, speeches and other writings that reveal the extraordinary courage and vision of its author. Continue reading

Podcast

Sandra Steingraber on Rachel Carson’s SILENT SPRING & Carey Gillam on Roundup

We talk today with ecologist and writer Sandra Steingraber about the new edition of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring out from Library of America, Rachel Carson: Silent Spring & Other Writings on the Environment. Steingraber edited the volume and wrote the introduction.

We also play a clip from our February 2018 interview with Carey Gillam about her book: Whitewash: The Story of a Weedkiller, Cancer and the Corruption of Science.

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Podcast

T. J. English, THE CORPORATION & HAVANA NOCTURNE

We talk with T.J. English about his latest book, The Corporation. It’s an epic story of the Cuban American Underworld and what that story tells us about the American political economy. We also air a clip from our 2008 interview with T.J. English about his book about the Mafia and the Cuban Revolution, Havana Nocturne.

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Podcast

Martin Puchner, THE WRITTEN WORLD

We spend with hour with Martin Puchner talking about his fascinating look at the story of world literature. It’s called The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization. Published by Penguin Random House, the paperback version is coming out July 24. Continue reading

Podcast

July 4 Special: Danielle Allen, Our Declaration & Anthony Lewis, Freedom For The Thought That We Hate

On this July 4th, we’re re-playing two interviews about the foundational texts of our Republic. Danielle Allen talks about the foundational ideas of our American Republic in her book Our Declaration, A Reading Of The Declaration of Independence In Defense of Equality (W.W.Norton, 2014).

Then we air our 2008 interview with Anthony Lewis about Freedom For The Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment.

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Podcast

Elizabeth Rush, Rising & Lynn Zinsser of Climate Liability News

We talk with Elizabeth Rush about her beautifully written book, Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.

Then, a judge just ruled that two major California cities can’t sue fossil fuel companies to recover the costs of dealing with sea level rise. We’ll air some clips about the case from our December interview with Lynn Zinsser of Climate Liability News.

Show transcript available on request for $2.99 USD (email francesca@writersvoice.net)

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Podcast

Barbara Lipska, THE NEUROSCIENTIST WHO LOST HER MIND, Audrea Lim on Puerto Rican Farmer Brigades & More

We talk with neuroscientist Barbara K. Lipska about her memoir, The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind. Then, we air a clip from our 2008 interview with neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor about her book, My Stroke of Insight.

We also check in with Nation magazine correspondent Audrea Lim about how farmers in Puerto Rico are building resilience and fighting climate change. And we tell listeners about some great books for summer reading. Continue reading

Podcast

David Margolick, THE PROMISE AND THE DREAM & Alex Perry, THE GOOD MOTHERS

We talk with David Margolick about his groundbreaking examination of the relationship between Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. The book is The Promise and the Dream.

Then, Alex Perry discusses his book, The Good Mothers: The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World’s Most Powerful Mafia. It’s a feminist saga of true crime and justice that shows the power of women, even against the most ruthless of enemies. Continue reading

Podcast

Our Eroding Democracy: Steven Levitsky, Ted Rall, Harmon Leon

We talk with Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die. Then, political cartoonist Ted Rall and author Harmon Leon tell us about their book, Meet The Deplorables: Infiltrating Trump America. Continue reading

Podcast

Larry Tye, BOBBY KENNEDY & Stephen Kiernan, THE BAKER’S SECRET

This week, we commemorate two momentous June 6 anniversaries. First, we explore the life of Bobby Kennedy, a life cut short on June 6, 1968. We talk with Larry Tye about his superb biography of Robert F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon.

Then, we honor D-Day (June 6, 1944) by talking with Stephen Kiernan about his novel The Baker’s Secret. It tells the story of a remarkable young woman who keeps her neighbors alive until the D-Day invasion liberates their Normandy town from Nazi Occupation.

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Podcast

Two Masters of Crime Fiction: Elizabeth George & Anthony Horowitz

We talk with Elizabeth George about the latest in her Inspector Lynley series, The Punishment She Deserves. Then, Anthony Horowitz of Foyle’s War, House of Silk and the Alex Rider mysteries tells us about his new book, The Word Is Murder. It’s a meta-mystery romp that invites the reader in behind the scenes of writing mystery fiction. Continue reading

Podcast

Jay Wertz, THE WORLD TURNS TO WAR & Susan Abulhawa, The Blue Between Sky and Water

Jay Wertz tells us about his pictorial book about World War II, The World Turns To War.

Then, in the wake of last week’s events in Gaza, we re-air our 2015 interview with Susan Abulhawa about her novel The Blue Between Sky and Water. It’s the story of one Palestinian family from the day of the Naqba, or expulsion from Israel, in 1948 to today. Continue reading

Podcast

Lauren Markham, The Far Away Brothers & Others on Immigration

Lauren Markham talks about The Far Away Brothers (Crown 2017), her spellbinding story of two young migrants from El Salvador and the life they are making in America. Then, we hear poet Eduardo Corral read his poem, In Colorado, My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes. And finally, we talk with singer-songwriter Don Arbor about his welcome song to immigrants Everyone Comes From Somewhere. Continue reading

Podcast

Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists, Matt Haig, How To Stop Time, & Vandana Shiva, Creative Civil Disobedience

We talk with Chloe Benjamin about her bestselling novel, The Immortalists. (Penguin Random House.) It’s about four siblings who, in childhood, learn the dates of their death. Or do they? Then, could there be people among us whose lifespan is nearly a millennium? Matt Haig talks about his latest novel, How To Stop Time (Penguin Random House.) And finally, we talk with the great environmental philosopher and advocate Vandana Shiva. A new book of interviews with her, Creative Civil Disobedience, is out from Actes Sud.

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Web Extras

Vandana Shiva, CREATIVE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Vandana Shiva is a force of nature — and a force for nature. Winner of the alternative Nobel Prize, the Right Livelihood Award, Shiva has been at the forefront of the food sovereignty movement; Her greatest fights have been against GMOs and the patenting of seeds that have bankrupted small farmers throughout the world. As Vandana Shiva says, “Life is not an invention.” Continue reading