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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
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We talk about Israel’s long and secret history of assassination with Ronen Bergman. His book is Rise and Kill First (Random Penguin House, 2018.) Then, Norman Finkelstein tells us about the devastating impact of Israeli policy on the civilian population of Gaza. His book is Gaza: An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom. Continue reading
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Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz tells us about her new book, Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment.
Then we talk with journalist Gregg Levine about his special investigation for The Nation Magazine into the deaths and illnesses afflicting US sailors exposed to radiation from the Fukushima Daichi meltdown. It’s titled “Seven Years on, Sailors Exposed to Fukushima Radiation Seek Their Day in Court.”
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We talk with Katherine Paterson, the best selling author of The Bridge to Terabithia, about her new YA novel, My Brigadista Year. It’s about the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign and its teenage heroes.
Then, Jessica Yu talks about her book Garden of the Lost and Abandoned: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Woman and the Children She Saves. It’s about a courageous and compassionate Ugandan journalist who rescues children who have become lost or cast out from home. Continue reading
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Katherine Nouri Hughes talks about her novel The Mapmaker’s Daughter. It tells the story of a remarkable historical figure of the 16th century, Queen Mother Nurbanu.
We also get advice from book publicist Claire McKinney on how to promote your book. She’s the author of Do You Know What a Book Publicist Does?: A Guide for Creating Your Own Campaigns. Continue reading
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Damion Searls talks about his translation of 1944 Diary by the late German/Dutch writer Hans Keilson. It’s the first nonfiction work of Keilson’s that Searls has translated. We also air most of our 2010 interview with Damion Searls about his translation of Keilson’s acclaimed novel, Comedy in a Minor Key. Continue reading
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August 26 is Women’s Equality Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. In this episode, WV features two women who were important to the fight for women’s suffrage but whose names are less known than those of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
We talk with John Tepper Marlin about his great aunt, suffragette Inez Milholland.  He’s the author of a play about the women’s suffrage movement, Take Up The Song. Then we re-play our 2007 interview with writer Marge Piercy about her novel, Sex Wars.  It’s about another great figure of the first women’s equality movement, Victoria Woodhull — the first woman to run for president. Continue reading
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With his threats to ramp up the war on drugs, is Attorney General Jeff Sessions channeling the spirit of the man who started us down this perilous path?
We speak with Alexandra Chasin about her biography/cultural-political critique of America’s first drug czar, Harry J. Anslinger, Assassin of Youth: A Kaleidoscopic History of Harry J. Anslinger’s War On Drugs. Then we re-air our 2010 interview with cannabis legalization advocate Mason Tvert about his book, Marijuana Is Safer. Continue reading
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We talk with historian Timothy Snyder about his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. The book is a kind of vaccine to inoculate us against acquiescing to authoritarianism.
Then, we talk with legal scholar Ryan Alford about his chilling study of how national security claims on the part of the executive branch have undermined the rule of law. His book is Permanent State of Emergency: The Demise of The Rule Of Law In The United States. Continue reading
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On the 103rd anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, we talk with two authors who have written books about the war. Margaret Wagner talks about her illustrated history, America and The Great War (Bloomsbury 2017). Then Richard Rubin tells us about his journey to visit the former battlefields of WWI, recounted in his book, Back Over There. Continue reading
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Susan Quinn talks about her acclaimed book, Eleanor and Hick. It’s about the romance between Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Leonora Hick.
Then, on May 31 as this show was being produced, it was announced that Donald Trump is likely to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. We re-air our interview with Naomi Oreskes about the novel she co-wrote with Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future. It’s a speculative look at what inaction on the climate has done to our world, looking back from the year 2393.
And be sure to check out our Web Only interview with Inside Climate News Reporter Marianne Lavelle about the implications of pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and another blockbuster announcement May 31: the vote by Exxon shareholders to compel the company to report the impact of climate change on its bottom line. Continue reading
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Melissa Fleming talks about her book A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival. Then Alan Furst returns with a new thriller about the French Resistance during World War II. The book is A Hero of France. Continue reading
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We talk with journalist Dan Barry about his book The Boys In The Bunkhouse. It’s about the scores of mentally challenged men who were exploited and abused as turkey plant workers and kept as virtual prisoners for decades in a small town in Iowa and how they got rescued.
Then Andrew Nagorski tells us about the hunt to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. His book is The Nazi Hunters. Continue reading
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Richard Zacks talks about his new book about Mark Twain’s world lecture tour to get himself out of debt. It’s called Chasing the Last Laugh: Mark Twain’s Raucous and Redemptive Round-the-World Comedy Tour.
Then we re-air the 2012 interview Zacks gave Writers Voice in 2012 about his book Island of Vice. It’s about Teddy Roosevelt’s stint as New York City’s crusading anti-vice Police Commissioner. Continue reading
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We talk with novelist Robert Harris about the last book in his trilogy about the Roman statesman Cicero, Dictator. Then, economist James Galbraith tells us why he disagrees with the attacks on Gerald Friedman’s analysis of Senator Bernie Sanders’ economic plan. And finally, we pay tribute to Dr.Quentin Young, who passed away this week, with a clip from an interview Francesca did with him in 2009. Continue reading