Shows
WYPL Book TalkManan Ahmed Asif - Disrupted City - Part 1
Guest host Dr. David Mason is back to host a special two-part interview with historian Dr. Manan Ahmed Asif. Dr. Ahmed is an associate professor of history at Columbia University. A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia, Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Pakistan and the American Imagination, and The Loss of Hindustan. He and Dr. Mason will begin their conversation today about his latest title: Disrupted City: Walking the Pathways of Memory and History in Lahore which is published by the New Press.
2025-02-1528 minWYPL Book TalkRachel Kushner - Creation Lake
We are honored to welcome Rachel Kushner to the program today. Rachel is an award-winning novelist, whose previous work includes the novels, Telex from Cuba, The Flame Throwers and The Mars Room, as well as the collection of essays, The Hard Crowd. Today we’ll be discussing her recent acclaimed novel, Creation Lake, which is published by Scribner.
2025-02-0828 minWYPL Book TalkRussell Muirhead - Ungoverning - Part 2
We welcome Dr. Russell Muirhead back to the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Russel is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics and Co-Director, Political Economy Project at Dartmouth College. He has many publications, including two books co-written with Dr. Nancy L. Rosenblum, who is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emerita at Harvard University. Their first title together was 2019’s A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy and recently Princeton University Press released Ungoverning: The Politics of Chaos and the Attack on...
2025-01-2530 minWYPL Book TalkCharles King - Every Valley - Part 2
We welcome Charles King back to the program today for the second of a special three-part interview. Charles is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. Today we will continue to discuss Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which is published by Doubleday, which was just named to the New York Times 100 Best Books of 2024 list.
2024-12-0732 minWYPL Book TalkCharles King - Every Valley - Part 1
Charles King is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. He has written for academic audiences as well as the wider, general readership. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. In 2024, he brings us Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which is published by Doubleday.
2024-11-3031 minWYPL Book TalkWright Thompson - The Barn
Wright Thompson is a writer of non-fiction. His journalism has appeared in The New Orleans Times Picayune, The Kansas City Star and currently at ESPN.com. His previous books are The Cost of These Dreams and Pappyland. Today we’ll be discussing his new effort, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, which looks at the infamous murder of 14 year old Emmett Till in 1955, but also reveals the socio-economic facts that set the scene for this evil act, as well as the repercussions for the guilty and for Till’s family and friends, which go on unti...
2024-11-2339 minWYPL Book TalkSonia Purnell - Kingmaker - Part 2
Sonia Purnell is a former journalist and current author of non-fiction. She first appeared on Book Talk for her previous book, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Her other books include Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill and Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - A Biography of Boris Johnson. Today we conclude our two-part interview for her new book, KINGMAKER: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue, which is published by Viking.
2024-11-1633 minWYPL Book TalkSonia Purnell - Kingmaker - Part 1
Sonia Purnell is a former journalist and current author of non-fiction. She first appeared on Book Talk for her previous book, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Her other books include Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill and Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - A Biography of Boris Johnson. Today we have the first of a two-part interview talking about her new book, KINGMAKER: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue which is published by Viking.
2024-11-0928 minWYPL Book TalkAnne Byrn - Baking in the American South
Guest host Linda Lloyd welcomes back best-selling cookbook author, Anne Byrn. Anne is known by millions as the Cake Mix Doctor, who has shown us how to start with a boxed cake mix and customize it to create truly memorable desserts. In her new book, Anne is expanding her purview with Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories, which is published by Harper Celebrate.
2024-11-0228 minWYPL Book TalkJessica Mills - The English Chemist
Jessica Mills is a journalist who has written for The Wall Street Journal and The Independent. Today, we’ll be discussing her debut novel, The English Chemist. It is based on the life of pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin whose imaging work in capturing the structure of DNA was sidelined and buried by Frances Crick and John Watson who won the Nobel Prize in 1952 and did not credit Franklin. The English Chemist is published by Pegasus Books which is distributed by Simon and Schuster.
2024-10-2641 minWYPL Book TalkDanica Nava - The Truth According to Ember
Danica Nava's debut novel is The Truth According to Ember, a romantic comedy set in central Oklahoma, where a young woman fudges her resume’ hoping to jump start her career and overcome discrimination against people of Native American heritage. The Truth According to Ember is published by Berkley.
2024-10-1931 minWYPL Book TalkHena Khan - We Are Big Time
Hena Khan is a prolific author of children’s books including Amina’s Voice and Amina’s Song, the second of which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature in 2022. She has enjoyed great success with picture books and middle-grade novels, but today we’re talking about her newest endeavor, graphic novels. We are Big Time is the story of a teen girl whose family moves from Florida to Wisconsin. She joins the girls’ basketball team at her new high school, who then try to overcome low expectations from their fellow students and show their neighbors t...
2024-10-1231 minWYPL Book TalkLindsay Chervinsky - Making the Presidency pt. 2
I’m delighted to welcome Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky back to the program for the concluding installment of our two-part interview. Dr. Chervinsky recently was named the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She has previously written The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and co-edited Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. Today we finish our discussion about George Washington’s vice President and successor in her new book, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic which is published by Oxford University Press.
2024-10-0535 minWYPL Book TalkLindsay Chervinsky - Making The Presidency pt. 1
I’m happy to welcome Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky back to the program for the first of a two-part interview. Dr. Chervinsky recently was named the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She has previously written The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and co-edited Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. Today we will begin our discussion about George Washington’s vice President and successor in her new book, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic which is published by Oxford University Press.
2024-09-2829 minWYPL Book TalkAmanda Bellows - The Explorers - Part 2
Dr. Amanda Bellows teaches history at The New School in New York. In addition to many contributions to academic journals and scholarly books, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to many others. Her first book was American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination, and today we conclude our discussion of her recent release, The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions which is published by William Morrow.
2024-09-2128 minWYPL Book TalkAmanda Bellows - The Explorers - Part 1
Dr. Amanda Bellows teaches history at The New School in New York. In addition to many contributions to academic journals and scholarly books, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to many others. Her first book was American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination, and today we begin our discussion of her recent release, The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions which is published by William Morrow.
2024-09-1428 minWYPL Book TalkSteve Wynn - I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True
Steve Wynn is the founder and creative force behind the influential L.A. rock band The Dream Syndicate, which never quite made the leap to mainstream, but they were probably one of your favorite bands’ favorite bands. In addition to a solo career, Steve has played with many of genre’s heaviest hitters, including four albums with The Baseball Project, which also includes Peter Buck and Mike Mills of REM, Scott McGaughey of The Young Fresh Fellows, and Lita Pitmon of Filthy Friends. Steve recently published his first book, I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True: A Memoir Of L...
2024-09-071h 20WYPL Book TalkEli Cranor - Broiler - Part 2
Eli Cranor played college football, and even professionally in Sweden for a bit. He came back to Arkansas to teach high school and coach football. His debut novel, Don't Know Tough, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel and was on The New York Times and USA Today’s best books of the year lists. Eli appeared on Book Talk for his second novel, Ozark Dogs, which landed on The New York Times and The Guardian’s lists of best crime novels of the year. He return to the program today to conclude our discussion about his...
2024-08-1728 minWYPL Book TalkElic Cranor - Broiler - Part 1
Eli Cranor played college football, and even professionally in Sweden for a bit. He came back to Arkansas to teach high school and coach football. His debut novel, Don't Know Tough, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel and was on The New York Times and USA Today’s best books of the year lists. Eli appeared on Book Talk for his second novel, Ozark Dogs, which landed on The New York Times and The Guardian’s lists of best crime novels of the year. He joins us today to talk about his latest novel, Broiler, whic...
2024-08-1028 minWYPL Book TalkPaul Haddad - Inventing Paradise, Pt. 2
Paul Haddad is a television producer as well as a writer, having published novels and non-fiction alike. Born in Hollywood, he has a keen interest in Los Angeles, and some of his previous books include High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania, as well as Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles. Today we’ll begin our two-part conversation about his latest title, Inventing Paradise: The Power Brokers Who Created the Dream of Los Angeles which is published by Santa Monica Press.
2024-08-0838 minWYPL Book TalkPaul Haddad - Inventing Paradise, Pt. 1
Paul Haddad is a television producer as well as a writer, having published novels and non-fiction alike. Born in Hollywood, he has a keen interest in Los Angeles, and some of his previous books include High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania, as well as Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles. Today we’ll begin our two-part conversation about his latest title, Inventing Paradise: The Power Brokers Who Created the Dream of Los Angeles which is published by Santa Monica Press.
2024-07-2730 minWYPL Book TalkBoyce Upholt - The Great River, Pt. 2
Boyce Upholt is a writer whose work has been published in the Atlantic, National Geographic, and the Oxford American, among others, and he was awarded the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism. Today we’ll conclude our two-part discussion about his debut book, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, which is published by W.W. Norton.
2024-07-2030 minWYPL Book TalkBoyce Upholt - The Great River, Pt. 1
Boyce Upholt is a writer whose work has been published in the Atlantic, National Geographic, and the Oxford American, among others, and he was awarded the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism. Today we’ll begin our two-part discussion about his debut book, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, which is published by W.W. Norton.
2024-07-1329 minWYPL Book TalkMark Greaney - Sentinel
Mark Greaney is best known for his Grey Man series starring the burned CIA operator turned assassin Court Gentry. But today we’ll be discussing the second book in his other series, starring Josh and Nicole Duffy. The first book Armored came out in 2022, and today we’ll be talking about Sentinel which is newly available from Berkely Books.
2024-06-2937 minWYPL Book TalkKathleen Duval - Native Nations, Part 3
Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today is the final installment of a special three-part interview about her recently released book, Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, which is available from Random House.
2024-06-2228 minWYPL Book TalkKathleen Duval - Native Nations, Part 2
Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today is the second installment of a special three-part interview about her recently released book, Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, which is available from Random House.
2024-06-1529 minWYPL Book TalkKathleen Duval - Native Nations, Part 1
Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today we begin our conversation about her recently released book, Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, which is available from Random House.
2024-06-0830 minWYPL Book TalkHampton Sides - The Wide Wide Sea, Part 2
Hampton Sides is a veteran journalist and non-fiction writer, with his work appearing in many publications, including National Geographic and Outside magazine. Book Talk listeners may best know him for his appearances discussing his titles like, Hellhound on His Trail, Blood and Thunder, and In the Kingdom of Ice. Today, we will begin a two-part interview talking about his latest book, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, which is published by Doubleday.
2024-05-1129 minWYPL Book TalkHampton Sides - The Wide Wide Sea, Part 1
Hampton Sides is a veteran journalist and non-fiction writer, with his work appearing in many publications, including National Geographic and Outside magazine. Book Talk listeners may best know him for his appearances discussing his titles like, Hellhound on His Trail, Blood and Thunder, and In the Kingdom of Ice. Today, we will begin a two-part interview talking about his latest book, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, which is published by Doubleday.
2024-05-0428 minWYPL Book TalkSara Koffi - While We Were Burning
Sara Koffi is a native of Memphis, who currently calls western Pennsylvania home. We’ll be discussing her debut, a thriller called, While We Were Burning, which is set in Harbor Town, one of the few majority-white neighborhoods in Memphis, and how that lack of integration exacerbates the grief felt by the leading women characters, both black and white.
2024-04-2731 minWYPL Book TalkAlice Randall - My Black Country, Part 2
This is the second of a two-part interview with, Alice Randall, who is best known for her best-selling novels The Wind Done Gone, Rebel Yell, Black Bottom Saints and others. But before writing prose, Alice wrote country songs in Nashville, including "XXXs and OOOs", which went to top the charts for Trisha Yearwood, making Alice the first African-American woman to write a number one country hit record. Her new book, My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future, interweaves her life story and the history of African-American musicians who helped make country music what i...
2024-04-2038 minWYPL Book TalkAlice Randall - My Black Country, Part 1
Book lovers know Alice Randall for her best-selling novels including The Wind Done Gone, Rebel Yell, Black Bottom Saints and others. But before writing prose, Alice wrote country songs in Nashville, including "XXXs and OOOs", which went to top the charts for Trisha Yearwood, making Alice the first African-American woman to write a number one country hit record. Her new book, My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future, interweaves her life story and the history of African-American musicians who helped make country music what it is today, despite attempts at sidelining or erasing t...
2024-04-1331 minWYPL Book TalkDr. SunAh Laybourn - Out of Place
Dr. SunAh M. Laybourn is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Memphis. Her research has been published in Ethnic & Racial Studies, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Sociology Compass, and Asian Pacific American Law Journal. Her co-authored book entitled, Diversity in Black Greek-Letter Organizations: Breaking the Line, was published by Routledge in 2018. Today we will be discussing her new book, Out of Place: The Lives of Korean Adoptee Immigrants which is published by NYU press.
2024-03-3038 minWYPL Book TalkKurt Wagner - Battle for the Bird, Part 2
We welcome Kurt Wagner back for the second of a two-part interview today. Kurt is an award-winning business and technology journalist covering social media for Bloomberg and has been writing about Twitter and other social media companies and their impacts on society since 2013. Kurt’s debut book is Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter's Soul, which is published by Simon & Schuster.
2024-03-2332 minWYPL Book TalkKurt Wagner - Battle for the Bird, Part 1
We happily welcome Kurt Wagner for the first of a two-part interview today. Kurt is an award-winning business and technology journalist covering social media for Bloomberg and has been writing about Twitter and other social media companies and their impacts on society since 2013. Kurt’s debut book is Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter's Soul, which is published by Simon & Schuster.
2024-03-1631 minWYPL Book TalkMark Greaney - The Chaos Agent
Mark Greaney is now best known for his long-running Grey Man series, starring the burned CIA op, Court Gentry. And as a special treat, Mark brought along his editor, Tom Colgan, who is Vice President, Editorial Director for Berkley Books. Today we’ll be talking about entry number 13 in the series, The Chaos Agent.
2024-03-0929 minWYPL Book TalkLouis Ferrante - Borgata: Rise of Empire
Guest host Matt Ward welcomes retired gangster and current historian Louis Ferrante on for an epic two-hour interview. Ferrante's new book is Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia, first part of the planned Borgata Trilogy) covering the Mafia's first one hundred years, from 1860's Sicily to 1960's America.
2024-03-022h 04WYPL Book TalkBrad Taylor - Dead Man's Hand
Prior to becoming a best-selling thriller writer, Brad Taylor served in the U.S. Army for twenty-one years retiring as a lieutenant colonel after serving in several special-forces capacities in multiple deployments around the globe. His Pike Logan thriller series began in 2011 with One Rough Man, and today we’ll talk about the 18th entry, Dead Man’s Hand, which is published by William Morrow.
2024-02-0328 minWYPL Book TalkVanessa Sasson - The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women
Dr. David Mason is back today as guest host. Dave is a professor of religious studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. This week he speaks with a returning guest, Dr. Vanessa Sasson, who is also a professor of religious studies, but at Marianopolis College in Quebec. They last spoke about her debut novel, Yasodhara, and today they will be discussing her most recent work of historical fiction, The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women, which is available from Equinox Publishing.
2024-01-3128 minWYPL Book TalkAvery Cunningham - The Mayor Maxwell Street
Avery Cunningham joins me to discuss her debut novel, The Mayor of Maxwell Street which is published by Hyperion. A native of Jackson, TN and now a resident of Memphis, Avery has crafted a tale set in the early 1920s in Chicago, as the wealthiest African-American families have gathered for the funeral of the son of the richest black man in the nation. The Sawyer family’s daughter, Nelly, only wants to become a journalist, but her parents have other plans for her future, as she chases after the most mysterious criminal in Chicago’s underworld, The Mayor of M...
2024-01-2950 minWYPL Book TalkFergus Bordewich - Klan War - Part 2
Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century. Today we wrap up with the second of our two-part conversation about his latest book, KLAN WAR: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction which is published by Knopf.
2023-12-0228 minWYPL Book TalkFergus Bordewich - Klan War - Part 1
Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century. Today we begin the first of our two-part conversation about his latest book, KLAN WAR: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction which is published by Knopf.
2023-11-2529 minWYPL Book TalkMartin Clark - The Plinko Bounce - Part 2
Martin Clark is a retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia and is the author of six novels, including Plain Heathen Mischief and The Jezebel Remedy. Today is the conclusion of a two-part interview about his newest novel, The Plinko Bounce which is published by Rare Bird Books.
2023-11-1128 minWYPL Book TalkMartin Clark - The Plinko Bounce - Part 1
Martin Clark is a retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia and is the author of six novels, including Plain Heathen Mischief and The Jezebel Remedy. Today is the first half of a two-part interview about his newest novel, The Plinko Bounce which is published by Rare Bird Books.
2023-11-0428 minWYPL Book TalkLaurence Leamer - Hitchcock’s Blondes
Laurence Leamer is a journalist and author with quite an accomplished body of work under his belt. His journalism has appeared in publications including Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, and Newsweek. His books have covered gritty topics like coal mining and lynching, political titans like the Kennedys and Ronald Reagan, and the brightest stars in the arts including, Johnny Carson, Ingrid Bergman, Truman Capote and now Alfred Hitchcock, in the recently released Hitchcock's Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director's Dark Obsession which is published by GP Putnam’s Sons.
2023-10-2828 minWYPL Book TalkMaureen Corrigan - Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works
Maureen Corrigan is the Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism at Georgetown University. She is perhaps bet known as the longtime book critic for the NPR program Fresh Air and is the author of Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading, and So We Read On: How “The Great Gatsby” Came to Be and Why It Endures. Earlier this year continuing education company The Great Courses made available her series of lectures, entitled, Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works.
2023-10-2128 minWYPL Book TalkStephan Pastis - Looking Up
Stephan Pastis is best known as the writer and artist for the wildly successful daily comic strip Pearls Before Swine. The latest collection of strips, Pearls Seeks Enlightenment was recently published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Stephan also writes novels for all ages, but the publisher says that they are great especially for middle schoolers. His Timmy Failure series was successful, even spawning the major motion picture Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. The Trubble Town books followed in 2021 and 22. His new novel, appropriate for middle grade readers and older, is entitled, Looking Up, and it is published by A...
2023-10-1445 minWYPL Book TalkHayley Arcenaux - Wild Ride: My Journey from Cancer Kid to Astronaut
Hayley Arceneaux is a physician's assistant with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Not only an employee, she is also a successful patient who recovered from pediatric cancer at St. Jude. A couple of years ago, she was offered a seat on a Space X flight to orbit the earth for three days and raise money for St. Jude. In 2022, her Memoir Wild Ride: A Memoir of I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships was published, and 2023 sees the young readers' adaptation Wild Ride: My Journey from Cancer Kid to Astronaut, which is published by Convergent Books.
2023-09-1028 minWYPL Book TalkJonathan Eig - King: A Life Pt. 2
I’m happy to welcome Jonathan Eig back to the program today for the second of our two-part conversation about his new, exhaustive biography of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ent, King: A Life which is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Jonathan is a best-selling and award-winning author of non-fiction. His titles are Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster, The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution, and...
2023-08-0533 minWYPL Book TalkJonathan Eig - King: A Life Pt. 1
Jonathan Eig is a best-selling and award-winning author of non-fiction. His titles are Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster, The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution, and the multi-award-winning Ali: A Life, about boxer and activist Muhammad Ali. Today, we’ll begin the first of a two-part interview about his new exhaustive biography of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., King: A Life which is published by Farrar, St...
2023-07-2928 minWYPL Book TalkPolly Stewart - The Good Ones
Polly Stewart is an associate professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute. Her essays have a appeared in The New York Times, Poets and Writers, among others. Today we will be speaking about her new novel, a thriller, entitled The Good Ones which is published by Harper.
2023-07-2231 minWYPL Book TalkJulie Carr - Mud, Blood, and Ghosts - Part 2
This week we have the second of a two-part interview as Dr. David Mason speaks with Dr. Julie Carr about her book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West published by the University of Nebraska Press. David is the director of the Asian Studies Department at Rhodes College. Julie is the director of the Women’s Studies Department and professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder.
2023-07-1528 minWYPL Book TalkJulie Carr - Mud, Blood, and Ghosts - Part 1
This week we have the first of a two-part interview as returning guest host Dr. David Mason speaks with Dr. Julie Carr about her book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West published by the University of Nebraska Press. David is the director of the Asian Studies Department at Rhodes College. Julie is the director of the Women’s Studies Department and professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder.
2023-07-0828 minWYPL Book TalkPaul Kix - You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live Pt. 2
We're happy to welcome Blake McVey back as guest host of the program today. Blake is the public services director of the historic Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis. Today is the second of a two-part interview with journalist and author Paul Kix. Paul's journalism has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New Yorker. His first book is The Saboteur: The Aristocrat Who Became France's Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando, and today he and Blake will conclude their discussion of his latest title, You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before Y...
2023-07-0128 minWYPL Book TalkPaul Kix - You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live Pt. 1
We're happy to welcome Blake McVey back as guest host of the program today. Blake is the public services director of the historic Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis. Today is the first of a two-part interview with journalist and author Paul Kix. Paul's journalism has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New Yorker. His first book is The Saboteur: The Aristocrat Who Became France's Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando, and today he and Blake will begin discussing his latest title, You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to...
2023-06-2429 minWYPL Book TalkPeter Cozzens - A Brutal Reckoning Pt. 2
Peter Cozzens is on the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Peter is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and a historian. He has edited or written almost twenty books, having won many awards along the way. Today we will wrap up our chat about the last book in his trilogy of books looking at U.S. government wars against Native Americans. The first two were: The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West and Tecumseh and the Prophet. The new one is A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the...
2023-06-0328 minWYPL Book TalkPeter Cozzens - A Brutal Reckoning Pt. 1
Peter Cozzens is on the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Peter is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and a historian. He has edited or written almost twenty books, having won many awards along the way. Today we will begin talking about the last book in his trilogy of books looking at U.S. government wars against Native Americans. The first two were: The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West and Tecumseh and the Prophet. The new one is A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians...
2023-05-2728 minWYPL Book TalkElizabeth Passarella - It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway
Memphis native Elizabeth Passarella is a writer and editor. Currently, she is a contributing editor for Southern Living, and previously worked as an editor at Vogue and Real Simple. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Parents, The Wall Street Journal, among many others. In 2021, she published her first collection of essays, Good Apple: Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York, and recently Thomas Nelson Books released her second collection, It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway: And Other Thoughts on Moving Forward.
2023-05-2043 minWYPL Book TalkMichael Farris Smith - Salvage This World
Michael Farris Smith is a novelist who has previously appeared on Book Talk for his books, Rivers, Desperation Road, The Fighter, and Blackwood. His other titles are Nick and The Hands of Strangers. Today we’ll be discussing his latest, Salvage This World, which is published by Little, Brown.
2023-05-1348 minWYPL Book TalkRebecca Boggs Roberts - Untold Power - part two
Rebecca Boggs Roberts is a journalist and author, having been a correspondent for NPR, PRI, and the BBC, including the programs Morning Edition, The World, and Talk of the Nation. She is currently the deputy director of events for The Library of Congress. Her first book in 2012, co-authored with Sandra Schmidt, was Historic Congressional Cemetery. Her second was 2017’s Suffragists in Washington, D.C. : The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote. 2020 brought The Suffragist Playbook : Your Guide to Changing the World, co-authored by Lucinda Robb. Today, we’ll continue our discussion of her newest work, Untold Power: The F...
2023-04-2934 minWYPL Book TalkRebecca Boggs Roberts - Untold Power - part one
Rebecca Boggs Roberts is a journalist and author, having been a correspondent for NPR, PRI, and the BBC, including the programs Morning Edition, The World, and Talk of the Nation. She is currently the deputy director of events for The Library of Congress. Her first book in 2012, co-authored with Sandra Schmidt, was Historic Congressional Cemetery. Her second was 2017’s Suffragists in Washington, D.C. : The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote. 2020 brought The Suffragist Playbook : Your Guide to Changing the World, co-authored by Lucinda Robb. Today, we’ll begin our discussion of her newest work, Untold Power: The F...
2023-04-2228 minWYPL Book TalkEli Cranor - Ozark Dogs
Eli Cranor is a former pro football player and high school football coach. He’s now a writer with a column in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and has recently published his second novel set in the Arkansas River valley. The first one was Don’t Know Tough, and the new one, recently released by Soho Crime, is Ozark Dogs.
2023-04-151h 02WYPL Book TalkOline Eaton - Finding Jackie
Dr. Oline Eaton is a lecturer at Howard University. Today we'll be talking about her first book, Finding Jackie: A Life Reinvented, which is published by Diversion Books.
2023-04-0130 minWYPL Book TalkAdam Brookes - Fragile Cargo - Part Two
Adam Brookes is back on the program for the second of a two-part interview. Adam is a true world traveler, having been born in Canada, grew up in Britain, and worked all over Asia. He is a journalist and novelist. He primarily served as BBC correspondent for Beijing, Jakarta, and Washington, DC. His novels are Night Heron, Spy Games, and The Spy’s Daughter. Today we’ll finish our discussion his new non-fiction title, Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasure of China’s Forbidden City, which is published by Atria.
2023-03-2535 minWYPL Book TalkAdam Brookes - Fragile Cargo - Part One
Adam Brookes is on the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Adam is a true world traveler, having been born in Canada, grew up in Britain, and worked all over Asia. He is a journalist and novelist. He primarily served as BBC correspondent for Beijing, Jakarta, and Washington, DC. His novels are Night Heron, Spy Games, and The Spy’s Daughter. Today we’ll begin discussing his new non-fiction title, Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasure of China’s Forbidden City, which is published by Atria.
2023-03-1833 minWYPL Book TalkMark Greaney - Burner
New York Times Best-Selling author Mark Greaney returns to the program to talk about the latest installment in his Gray Man series, Burner, which finds Court Gentry facing off against a Russian hit team as they both race to find a phone drive full of international, money-laundering secrets.
2023-03-0428 minWYPL Book TalkChuck Thompson - The Status Revolution, Part Two
Chuck Thompson has appeared on Book Talk for his three previous titles, Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer, To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism, and Better Off Without ’Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession. Today, we have the second of a two-part interview about his most recent book: The Status Revolution: The Improbable Story of How the Lowbrow Became the Highbrow which is published by Simon and Schuster, and we’ll also talk about the recent documentary he wrote about soft rock called, Sometimes When We Touch, wh...
2023-02-1828 minWYPL Book TalkChuck Thompson - The Status Revolution, Part One
Chuck Thompson has appeared on Book Talk for his three previous titles, Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer, To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism, and Better Off Without ’Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession. Today, we have the first of a two-part interview about his most recent book: The Status Revolution: The Improbable Story of How the Lowbrow Became the Highbrow which is published by Simon and Schuster.
2023-02-1128 minWYPL Book TalkBrad Taylor - The Devil’s Ransom
Brad Taylor is a retired Army Lt. Colonel who served in what is popularly known as Delta Force. After his service, he became a thriller author, creating the Pike Logan thriller series. We’ll be talking about his brand new one, The Devil’s Ransom, where the covert ops department Logan is part of has been hacked for ransom, to be complicated by Afghan assassins also chasing his target.
2023-02-0428 minWYPL Book TalkAndy Davidson - The Hollow Kind
Andy Davidson is an author of literary horror who has garnered much acclaim for his three published novels. The first was In the Valley of the Sun. He visited the WYPL studios in early 2020 to talk about The Boatman's Daughter. Today, he speaks to us from his home in Georgia about his most recent release, The Hollow Kind, which is published MCDxFSG Originals.
2023-01-0744 minWYPL Book TalkStacy Schiff - The Revolutionary (Part Two)
Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer-winning biographer, having won for Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), among her other works are The Witches: Salem, 1692, Cleopatra: A Life, and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Today we have the second of a two-part interview about her most recent biography, in which she returns to the American Revolution, with The Revolutionary, about the life and times of Samuel Adams, which is published by Little, Brown, and Co.
2022-11-2629 minWYPL Book TalkStacy Schiff - The Revolutionary (Part One)
Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer-winning biographer, having won for Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), among her other works are The Witches: Salem, 1692, Cleopatra: A Life, and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Today we have the first of a two-part interview about her most recent biography, in which she returns to the American Revolution, with The Revolutionary, about the life and times of Samuel Adams, which is published by Little, Brown, and Co.
2022-11-1928 minWYPL Book TalkTeresa Lim - The Interpreter’s Daughter
Teresa Lim is a journalist originally from Singapore, now living in England. She has recently published in America her debut book, a multigenerational memoir of her family’s journey from Southern China in the late 19th century up to the Japanese invasion of Singapore during World War II, entitled: The Interpreter’s Daughter, and it is available in America from Pegasus.
2022-10-0842 minWYPL Book TalkAram Goudsouzian - Man on a Mission : James Meredith and the Battle of OLE Miss
Aram Goudsouzian is a professor and the chair of the history department at the University of Memphis. He’s appeared on Book Talk before to discuss his books, King of the Court about NBA legend Bill Russell, Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear, and The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America. Today we’ll be talking about his latest project, Man on a Mission:James Meredith and the Battle of Ole Miss, an illustrated graphic history of James Meredith’s attempts to attend...
2022-10-0129 minWYPL Book TalkJake S. Friedman - Part Two - The Disney Revolt
Jake S. Friedman is a former animator and current educator, as well as a researcher and writer about the history of animation. His first book was The Art of Blue Sky Studios, and today in the second of a two-part interview, we'll discuss his new book, The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age, which is published by Chicago Review Press.
2022-08-2728 minWYPL Book TalkJake S. Friedman - Part One - The Disney Revolt
Jake S. Friedman is a former animator and current educator, as well as a researcher and writer about the history of animation. His first book was The Art of Blue Sky Studios, and today in the first of a two-part interview, we'll discuss his new book, The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age, which is published by Chicago Review Press.
2022-08-2028 minWYPL Book TalkGrant McCracken - Return of the Artisan
Grant McCracken is an anthropologist and author who researches culture and commerce. His previous books include: Culture and Consumption, Plenitude, and Chief Culture Officer. Today we’ll be discussing his most recent title, Return of the Artisan: How America Went from Industrial to Handmade, which is published by Simon Element, an imprint of Simon and Schuster.
2022-08-1334 minWYPL Book TalkAndrew Lownie - Part Two - Traitor King
Andrew Lownie is the founder of the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency, one of the premier literary agencies in Great Britain. In addition to his status as a fellow of the British Historical Society, Andrew has written several non-fiction books, including, The Mountbattens: The Lives and Loves of Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten and Stalin's Englishman: Guy Burgess, the Cold War, and the Cambridge Spy Ring. Today we have the second of a two-part interview discussing his most recent release, Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, which is published in America by Pegasus Books.
2022-08-0628 min
Y'all ShowAuburn Tigers Football; 'Book Talk' host Stephen UseryStephen Usery, host of "Book Talk" on WYPL-FM 89.3 in Memphis, shares a list of great reads from a variety of Southern authors – just in time for Christmas shopping. Auburn Tigers reporter Taylor Jones returns to discuss the Music City Bowl-bound football team, and the No. 8 men's basketball squad on the Plains. And host Jon Rawl shares a list of the best Southern cities for New Year's Eve celebrations.
2018-12-131h 39
2018-10-3131 minBook TalkPodcast - Gail Godwin
I was recently invited to be in conversation with one of America's greatest writers Gail Godwin at Parnassus books in Nashville, TN. Ms. Godwin was on tour with her latest novel, Grief Cottage, which is published by Bloomsbury. I had some technical difficulties with my recording microphone, so the sound isn't as good as we normally have on Book Talk, but it is a wonderful conversation with Ms. Godwin. - Stephen Usery
2017-07-2000 minBook TalkPodcast - Edan Lepucki
Edan Lepucki is a contributing editor for themillions.com and the founder of Writing Workshops Los Angeles. She is also the author of the novella If You're Not Yet Like Me and the New York Times best-selling novel, California. Today we'll be talking about her second novel, Woman No. 17, which was recently published by Crown.
Download here.
2017-06-1100 minBook TalkPodcast - Lisa Wingate
Linda Lloyd talks to bestselling author author Lisa Wingate about her latest hit novel, Before We Were Yours, which looks at the infamous Tennessee Children's Home Society adoption scandal, and how it could have affected the children and their birth and adopted families.
Download here.
2017-06-0300 minBook TalkPodcast - Peter Cooper
Peter Cooper was a long-time music writer for The Tennessean newspaper. In addition to teaching at Vanderbilt University, and being a performing and recording artist, Peter is now a Senior Director, Producer, and Writer at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Today we'll be talking about his new book, Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride: Lasting Legends and Untold Adventures in Country Music which is published by Spring House Press.
Download here.
2017-05-2800 minBook TalkPodcast - David Wiesner
David Wiesner has a tremendously successful career as a picture book author and artist, having won three Caldecott Medals. But today we'll be talking about his first foray into graphic novels. It's entitled Fish Girl, and he did the art and co-authored it with award-winner author and scholar Donna Jo Napoli.
Download here.
2017-05-2300 minBook TalkPodcast - Julie Buntin
Julie Buntin is the director of writing programs at Catapult and her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, and Slate among others. Today we'll be discussing her debut novel, Marlena. It's the story of a friendship between two teenage girls in rural Michigan and the decades long effects that it has on one of them.
Download here.
2017-05-1400 minBook TalkPodcast - Holly Tucker
Dr. Holly Tucker is a professor at Vanderbilt University in Italian and French, as well in their medical school's Center for Biomedical Ethics & Society. Dr. Tucker is author of Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine & Murder in the Scientific Revolution and Pregnant Fictions: Childbirth & the Fairy Tale in Early-Modern France. Today we will be talking about her most recent book, City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris, which is published by W.W. Norton.
Download here.
2017-05-0700 minBook TalkPodcast - C.J. Box
C.J. Box won the Edgar Award for best novel for Blue Heaven in 2008, but he is best known for his long-running and award-winning series featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. The series began in 2001 with Open Season and today, we'll talk about the seventeenth installment, Vicious Circle.
Download here.
2017-04-3000 minBook TalkPodcast - Linda Williams Jackson
Linda Williams Jackson has many contributions to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, but today we'll be talking about her debut novel, Midnight Without a Moon. While the book is for readers ages 10 and up, it deals with the all too dangerous realities of growing up African-American in the Jim Crow south of the 1950s.
Download here.
2017-04-2300 minBook TalkPodcast - Michael Knight
Michael Knight's published two novels, The Typist and Divining Rod. He has also published four story/novella collections. Today we'll be talking about his latest, Eveningland which includes six stories and a novella, and it is published by the Atlantic Monthly Press.
Download here.
2017-04-1600 minBook TalkPodcast - Greg Iles
Greg Iles is of course one of the biggest thriller writers in America, having written eighteen books which routinely hit the best- sellers lists. We last spoke with Greg about the first installment of his Natchez Burning trilogy about Mayor Penn Cage fighting against a Klan splinter group called the Double Eagles. We missed chatting with him about the second part, The Bone Tree, but he stopped back by to chat about wrapping it up with book three, Mississippi Blood.
Download here.
2017-04-1000 minBook TalkPodcast - Michael Farris Smith
Mississippi native Michael Farris Smith's first book was the novella, The Hands of Strangers. In 2013 he broke out with the near future ecological dystopian novel, Rivers, which won the 2014 Mississippi Author Award. Today we talk about his new novel, Desperation Road, which is published by Lee Boudreaux books.
Download here.
2017-04-0200 minBook TalkPodcast - Donna Everhart
Linda Lloyd talks with Donna Everhart about her debut novel, The Education of Dixie Dupree. Set in 1969 down in Alabama, eleven year old Dixie Dupree is an expert liar who does so to protect herself and her family. Her mother is from New Hampshire and longs to return north, creating anxiety in the home, as more familial secrets come to the fore and threaten a new generation of damage.
Download here.
2017-03-2600 minBook TalkPodcast - Reed Farrel Coleman
Reed Farrel Coleman is probably best known for his long-running Moe Prager series which he ended in 2014 after nine installments. He has also carried on Robert B. Parker's Jessie Stone series, with his fourth contribution coming out in September 2017. But today we'll be talking about his new series featuring retired long island beat cop, Gus Murphy. The first book in the series Where It Hurts was published in 2016 and is a finalist for the 2017 Edgar Award for best novel. The second title has just been published by G.P. Putnam Sons, and it's called What You Break.
D...
2017-03-1900 minBook TalkPodcast - Chanelle Benz
(photo: Christine Jean Chambers)
Chanelle Benz's short stories have appeared in Guernica, Granta.com, The American Reader, and The Cupboard, and she has received an O. Henry Prize. In this edition of Book Talk, we will be talking about her debut collection of stories, The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead, which is published by Ecco/Harper Collins.
Download here.
2017-03-1200 minBook TalkPodcast - Tim Gautreaux
Tim Gautreaux is one of the most respected writers of fiction in America. His novels are The Clearing, The Next Step in the Dance, and The Missing. He's had four short story collections, the newest of which is Signals, which includes new and selected stories.
Download here.
2017-03-0500 minBook TalkPodcast - Susan Rivers
Linda Lloyd interviews Susan Rivers about her debut novel, The Second Mrs. Hockaday. From susanriverswriter.com:
It's 1865 and the Civil War is over. For some survivors, however, the suffering is just beginning. A Confederate field officer walks home from a Union prison to reunite with his teen-aged bride, only to discover that she birthed a child while he was away and buried it somewhere on their South Carolina farm. Through a narrative that unfolds in letters, diary entries and inquest reports, the wife's painful story is eventually revealed, while the far-reaching repercussions of war are e...
2017-02-2600 minBook TalkPodcast - Mark Greaney
Mark Greaney back on the program today. Mark is a New York Best Times bestselling author of international thrillers. He co-authored several Jack Ryan novels with Tom Clancy, and has recently concluded his involvement with the series, with his last solo effort being True Faith and Allegiance. Mark is also the author of the Gray Man series starring for CIA goon Court Gentry. Today, we'll talk about book six in that series, Gun Metal Gray.
Download here.
2017-02-2100 minBook TalkPodcast - Chanan Tigay
Chanan Tigay's journalism has appeared in publications including Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Jerusalem Post. He's an assistant professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University, and today we'll be talking about his first book, The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt for the World's Oldest Bible, which is now available in paperback from Ecco/Harper Collins.
Download here.
2017-02-1200 minmysterypodBonus - Heidi Pitlor - The Daylight Marriage
Stephen Usery talks to Heidi Pitlor about her second novel, The Daylight Marriage, which is new in paperback. It's the story of a woman who goes missing, and then we see timelines of how her disappearance affects her husband and children, as well as how they became a couple and the events of the day leading up to her going missing.
2016-01-0829 min