Tag Archives: book podcast

Podcast

The Five Senses of the Wildscape with Nancy Lawson & A Mystery about Pandora’s Box with Susan Stokes Chapman

Spring is here and the birds are returning. But the roar of the leaf blowers is a big turn-off to our feathered friends:

Right now they’re starting to migrate back in from Central and South America and either coming through or stopping to stay and breed. And if they’re going to a spot where there’s this constant noise, well, why are they going to want to nest there?

We talk with Nancy Lawson about her book, Wildscape: Trilling Chipmunks, Beckoning Blooms, Salty Butterflies, And Other Sensory Wonders Of Nature. It’s about the vibrant web of nature outside our back door—where animals and plants perceive and communicate using marvelous sensory abilities we are only beginning to understand.

Then, a novel links the Pandora myth to a young namesake in Jane Austen’s London — and a mystery that must be solved. Susan Stokes Chapman tells us about Pandora. Continue reading

Podcast

The Wonders of Beavers: Leila Philip, BEAVER LAND plus Transgender Appreciation Day: Mimi LeMay, WHAT WE WILL BECOME

Oh, those pesky beavers, Interfering with our property values! Right?

Wrong. We talk with Leila Philip about beavers, a keystone species that we need to protect as we face the challenges of climate chaos. Her book is Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America.

Then, we missed it last week: the Day of Transgender Visibility. But with all the vicious rightwing attacks on transgender people and the fascist laws being passed against them, we thought “better late than never.”

So, we bring you a piece from our archives that we first aired in 2019. It’s an excerpt from our interview with Mimi LeMay about her memoir What We Will Become. It’s about how her family learned to come to terms with the fact that their young child was transgender—and how they came to support him.

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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Podcast

Elsa Panciroli on mammal evolution, BEASTS BEFORE US & gardening author Maggie Stuckey, THE CONTAINER VICTORY GARDEN

We talk with Elsa Panciroli about her book, BEASTS BEFORE US: The Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution. Delving into the fascinating and little-known history of mammal evolution, she provides a fascinating and uplifting look at the resilience of life on this planet, through the lens of how mammals came to be.

Then, motivated by the pandemic lockdown, many people renewed a gardening tradition that was all the rage during WWII, the Victory garden. We kick off the gardening season talking with gardening book author Maggie Stuckey about The Container Victory Garden: A Beginners Guide To Growing Your Own Groceries.

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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Keywords: mammal evolution, paleontology, Elsa Panciroli, Beasts Before Us, University of Oxford, research fellow, science writers, container gardening, victory gardens, Maggie Stuckey, vegetable gardening

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Podcast

How The Democrats Lost Their Soul & The End of the American Dream: Ed Burmila & Alissa Quart

Why does the Democratic Party struggle so much to win elections by comfortable margins (when it isn’t losing them) despite the fact that the Republicans are so extreme?

Could there be a hint in the fact that so many ordinary Americans keep losing ground economically, no matter who holds the reins of power? Clearly, the myth of the American Dream isn’t working.

In this episode, we talk first with Ed Burmila about his book, Chaotic Neutral: How the Democrats Lost Their Soul in the Center. Then, Alissa Quart of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project tells us about her just released new book, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream.

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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Podcast

A Personal History of Modern Ireland with Fintan O’Toole

We talk with Fintan O’Toole about his scathing — and tender — personal history of modern Ireland, We Don’t Know Ourselves. Then we hear Seamus Heaney reading a poem and a rare recording of storyteller Susan Porter reading from the Irish legend of Cuchulain.

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.

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Podcast

Stewart Udall and The Politics of Beauty with John de Graaf & Tony Mazzochi, Labor Leader And Environmentalist

We talk with John de Graaf about his new film, Stewart Udall, The Politics of Beauty. It takes an in-depth look at the life and work of Stewart Udall, a man who played a pivotal role in shaping America’s conservation and environmental policies.

Then we listen back to our 2007 interview with Les Leopold about his biography of labor leader and environmentalist Tony Mazzochi.

Key Words: environment, conservation, labor, OSHA, biography, documentary film

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.

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Podcast

Celebrating Black History Month: Interview with Biographer James McGrath Morris on Ethel Payne, First Lady of the Black Press

To celebrate Black History Month, we re-air our 2015 interview with acclaimed biographer James McGrath Morris about his biography, Eye on The Struggle: Ethel Payne, First Lady Of The Black Press.

Description

Black History Month honors the vital contributions made by African Americans throughout history, including the important role they played in the civil rights movement.

One of the unsung heroes of this movement was Ethel Payne. In this special podcast episode, acclaimed biographer James McGrath Morris discusses his biography of Payne, Eye on the Struggle, and sheds light on her remarkable life and legacy.

Through Morris’s captivating storytelling, listeners can gain a deeper understanding of the crucial role of the black press in the civil rights movement and the ongoing fight for equality.

Keywords: Black History Month, Ethel Payne, First Lady of the Black Press, civil rights movement, James McGrath Morris, biography, Eye on the Struggle, Washington Press Corps, White House Press Corps, Chicago Defender, Martin Luther King Jr., Emmet Till, McCarthyism, Pulitzer.

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Podcast

Exploring Grief, Sisterhood & Sport: Chetna Maroo, WESTERN LANE & Black History Month: Ta-Nahisi Coates, THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE

We speak with Chetna Maroo about her debut novel, Western Lane. It’s a beautifully written coming of age story about a young girl and her British Indian family who are trying to come to terms with the recent death of the family matriarch.

Then, for Black History Month, we hear my 2008 interview with Ta-Nahisi Coates about his first book, The Beautiful Struggle: Between the World and Me.

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.

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Podcast

How To Reckon With Patriarchy: V, RECKONING & Black History Month: DaMaris Hill, A BOUND WOMAN IS A DANGEROUS THING

We talk with V, formerly known as Eve Ensler about her collection of essays and poems, Reckoning.

Then in honor of Black History Month, we listen back to my 2019 interview with DaMaris Hill about her narrative in verse, A Bound Woman Is A Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration Of African-American Women From Harriet Tubman To Sandra Bland.

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.

I sometimes wonder, is it harder to go through violence or to witness violence? Is it harder to see those that you love go through a terrible experience or to actually go through it yourself? I think sometimes they’re equally painful, but I think I’ve also had this incredible privilege and honor to travel this world and to sit with women across this planet who told me their stories, shared their deepest secrets with me, opened their hearts to me, so I could be part of the listening part of the receiving of those stories. And you know, at times it’s been very, very hard. But I also feel I’ve also been privy to those women transforming that pain into so much beauty, so much wisdom, gardens and healings and organizations and struggle that has grown into this massive global movement.
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Podcast

Ray Nayler, THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SEA & Victor Navasky Remembered

We talk with Ray Nayler about his novel of speculative fiction, The Mountain In The Sea. It was named by Slate Book Review as one of the Best Books of 2022.

Then, we remember Victor Navasky, the long time editor of the Nation magazine. He died January 24 at the age of 90. We listen back to my 2006 interview with him about his memoir, A Matter of Opinion.

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.

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Podcast

Danielle Clode, KOALA & Russell Banks, VOYAGER

We remember Russell Banks, who passed away on January 7 at the age of 82. We last spoke with him in 2016, about his memoir Voyager, and re-air that interview today.

But first, we talk with Danielle Clode, award-winning natural history writer, about her new book Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future.

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.

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Podcast

Dr. Ann-Christine Duhaime, MINDING THE CLIMATE & Darr Reilly, The Carbon C.R.E.W. Project

Why is it so hard to get the hair-on-fire action on climate we need to deal with the crisis? Could it have something to do with our brains? We talk with Dr. Ann-Christine Duhaime about her book, Minding The Climate: How Neuroscience Can Help Solve Our Environmental Crisis.

Then, we talk with one climate activist who’s putting Duhaime’s lessons on how to change minds about the crisis to work: Darr Reilly, co-founder of the Carbon Crew Project.

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. Find Francesca at mastodon.social[at]FRheannon.

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

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Podcast

Jeff Lowenfels, TEAMING WITH BACTERIA & Best of 2022

It’s the last week of December 2022. The days are already starting to get longer. A great time to start thinking about next year’s garden. And, with next year around the corner, a good time to look back at some of our favorite interviews of 2022.

Today, we talk with garden columnist Jeff Lowenfells about his book, Teaming with Bacteria. It’s the fourth in his groundbreaking series about building the soil microbiome to create a flourishing soil food web.

Then we hear excerpts from our 2022 interviews with Bill McKibben, Mohsin Hamid and Keri Blakinger.

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.

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Podcast

Holiday Special: THE FOOD PHILOSOPHE, A Story for the Solstice

Francesca Rheannon reads her story “The Food Philosophe.” It’s about a Winter Solstice feast in Provence that led to some delicious life lessons.

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.

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Podcast

Elsa Sjunneson, BEING SEEN & Kathryn Nicolai, NOTHING MUCH HAPPENS

We talk with Elsa Sjunneson about life as a deaf-blind person and the rights every disabled person should have. Her book is Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism.

Later in the show we talk with podcaster and author Kathryn Nicolai about her book of stories for better sleep, Nothing Much Happens: Cozy & Calmng Stories to Soothe Your Mind & Help You Sleep. It’s based on her wildly successful podcast of the same name.

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. Find Francesca at mastodon.social/@FRheannon

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

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