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Lois Leveen talks about the remarkable true story of Mary Bowser, a freed slave who became a Union spy right inside the Confederate White House. Her acclaimed new novel, THE SECRETS OF MARY BOWSER, is based on it. And Eve LaPlante talks about her terrific new book, MARMEE AND LOUISA. It’s about the powerful relationship between Louisa May Alcott and her mother Abigail. Continue reading
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Sarah Skinner Kilborne
Silk manufacturing was one of the most important industries to emerge out of the Connecticut River Valley in the 19th century. William Skinner was, perhaps, the most influential of the textile magnates. He lived the American Dream: a poor immigrant, he used grit and skill to build an industrial behemoth– and then lost everything in a catastrophic flood. But he rose like a phoenix, rebuilding his mill on the mighty Connecticut River and thereby putting Holyoke, Massachusetts on the world map.
Francesca Rheannon talks with his great granddaughter, Sarah S. Kilborne, about her book, American Phoenix, The Remarkable Story of William Skinner, a Man Who Turned Disaster Into Destiny, to learn more about the forces that shaped his life and the economy of the Connecticut River Valley.
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Martin Duberman talks about his biography, HOWARD ZINN: A Life On The Left. We’ll also hear an excerpt from a 2005 interview with Zinn, five years before his death, about the book, VOICES OF A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES (co-authored with Anthony Arnove.) Continue reading
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Art historian Gail Levin talks about her acclaimed LEE KRASNER: A Biography; John Van Sickle talks about his translation of VIRGIL’S BOOK OF BUCOLICS, and WV airs a brief excerpt from an upcoming interview with Jeff Sharlet about his book, SWEET HEAVEN WHEN I DIE.
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David S. Reynolds talks about MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Struggle for America and WV airs a 2005 interview with Charles C. Mann about his book 1491: New Revelations of America Before Columbus. Continue reading
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Susan Cheever talks about her acclaimed 2010 biography, LOUISA MAY ALCOTT and about her 2007 book, AMERICAN BLOOMSBURY, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives Their Loves Their work.
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Author James Kaplan talks about his riveting biography of Frank Sinatra, FRANK: The Voice (Doubleday, November 2010.) And clips of Sinatra’s singing are aired, from his early years as part of Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra to James Kaplan’s own Sinatra favorites, arranged by Nelson Riddle.
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Journalist Lesley Hazleton talks about AFTER THE PROPHET. It’s about the wars of succession after Mohammed’s death that led to the split between Shia and Sunni. And author Tracy Kidder talks about Haiti, Dr. Paul Farmer, and the organization Farmer founded, Partners in Health. Kidder’s book is MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS, published in 2003. Continue reading
It’s that time of year to reflect on “The List”: The Ten Best Of list, that is. This year was really tough (not unlike the 2008 best of list!), because there were so many show episodes I could have included. I was a bit chagrined that it was so dominated by men — I strive for gender balance in these lists — but so many of the guys wrote books of such heart and human compassion (Tracy Kidder, Abraham Verghese, Nicholsen Baker, Tyler Boudreau) that I just had to include them. Browse through the list and enjoy!
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We talk with cultural historian David S. Reynolds about his new book, WAKING GIANT: America in the Age of Jackson. And poet Wally Swist reads from his forthcoming collection, MOUNT TOBY POEMS. Continue reading
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Today’s theme is family secrets. We talk first with art historian Benjamin Binstock about VERMEER’S FAMILY SECRETS: Genius, Discovery and the Unknown Apprentice. Then, a poem by Constatijn Huygens. And mystery writer Hallie Ephron delves into another family’s secrets in her debut solo novel, NEVER TELL A LIE. Continue reading
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Host Francesca Rheannon talks with writer Joan Wickersham about her powerful new memoir, [amazon-product text=”THE SUICIDE INDEX: Putting My Father’s Death in Order” type=”text”]0156033801[/amazon-product]. Also, we talk with Jennet Conant about [amazon-product text=”THE IRREGULARS: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington” type=”text”]0743294599[/amazon-product]. Continue reading
We talk with biographer Philip Fradkin about the life of Wallace Stegner, writer and environmentalist extraordinaire. His book is WALLACE STEGNER AND THE AMERICAN WEST.
You can read a New York Times review of Fradkin’s book (which says a lot more about Stegner than about the biography) here. And for the first chapter, go here.
Also, urban geographer Rutherford Platt tells us about how to make cities that are sustainable and a pleasure to live in. Editor of the THE HUMANE METROPOLIS, he’s the founder of the Ecological Cities
Project at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.