From Erin Keane, editor in chief at Salon, comes Runaway: Notes in the Myths that Made Me (Belt Publishing, 2022), a touching memoir about the search for truths in the stories families tell. In 1970, Erin Keane's mother ran away from home for the first time. She was thirteen years old. Over the next several years, and under two assumed identities, she hitchh ... Show More
Today
Michael Mann Reconsidered: Thief and The Insider
It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we start a series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we set his eight most highly regarded movies single-elimination competition, starting with Thief (1981) Vs. The Insider (1999). We ask what make ... Show More
28m 54s
Yesterday
Eurie Dahn, "Snack" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
In the hierarchy of foods, snacks are deemed trivial – perhaps even childish – especially in contrast to meals, which are seen as substantial and necessary. The multiple aisles devoted to sweet and savory treats in supermarkets, and the availability of snacks even at places like ... Show More
43m 40s
Jan 2017
SC#10: Inspiring a Love of History with Steve Sheinkin
Steve Sheinkin is an award-winning author of thrilling history books for young adults. In this episode of SparkleCast, Steve, David and Rebecca talk about “The View from Above," (the first story in our new story series called “FIFTY: The Stars, the States and the Stories”), explo ... Show More
40m 25s
Apr 2025
The power and the pitfalls of narrative | Matthew Beaumont, Ruth Padel, and Theodore Dalrymple
<p><strong>Lost in stories</strong></p><p>Is life a story or a sequence of events?</p><p>Our narratives enable us to make sense of the complex, often confusing, world that we live in. And yet there is a risk that rather than helping us to truly understand this world, narratives c ... Show More
42m 34s
Sep 2024
Bonus Episode: She Has A Name
We have a special episode for you today. We’re sharing an episode of the podcast She Has A Name. Set against the backdrop of the drug epidemic in 1980s Detroit, She Has A Name blends elements of investigative journalism, memoir, and speculative fiction to tell the story of Anita, ... Show More
37m 57s
Jun 2025
Standing in my own truth, by Moj Mahdara
<p>No boys. No dresses. As a teen, Moj Mahdara, founder of the fashion media company Beautycon, knows she’s different. And growing up in a traditional Iranian household, she struggles to reveal her own true identity. When two long-term houseguests descend — her grandmothers — Moj ... Show More
26m 40s
Mar 2025
Introducing: The Man Who Calculated Death
In 2013, journalist Suzanne Rico gets the call. Her mother, Gabriele, is dying. As time ticks down, Gabriele reveals she has written an incomplete memoir about her traumatic childhood in World War II Germany - and makes a daunting last request: "Finish what I started." When Suzan ... Show More
2m 22s