Irina Mashinski is a bilingual Russophone American writer, poet, essayist, teacher, and translator, whose works include Giornata and eleven books of poetry and essays in Russian. She is also the co-editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry. In this episode, Irina talks with Jacke about her childhood in the Soviet Union, her journey to becoming a poet livi ... Show More
Oct 12
836 Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (with Robin Waterfield and John Sellars) | My Last Book with Daniel Olivas
What does it mean to live a good life? How can we accomplish it? For more than two thousand years, Western civilization has looked to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics to help answer those questions. In this episode, Jacke talks to translator Robin Waterfield and scholar John Sellar ... Show More
56m 58s
Oct 8
835 Blackness in Iran (with Amy Motlagh) | My Last Book with Nicholas Boggs
What do Iranians - both home and abroad - think of race? Does "blackness" exist in Iran? And what can we learn about race and slavery in Iran from folklore, ethnography, literature, and films? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Amy Motlagh about her book Colorblind: Racial Th ... Show More
46m 4s
Oct 5
834 Shakespeare's Scholars (with Sean Keilen) | My Last Book with Nan Z. Da
Shakespeare himself didn't attend a university - and yet, for centuries, the world's greatest scholars have studied his works to learn about everything from poetry to politics. But have they missed the lessons that Shakespeare had for them in particular? In this episode, Jacke ta ... Show More
57m 9s
Jan 2021
The Anatomy Of Autocracy: Masha Gessen
Russian-born journalist Masha Gessen talks to us about how the rule of the people becomes the rule of the one, the role of the media, and what we can learn about the building blocks of autocracy from the work of philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt, and what history tells us are ... Show More
43m 54s
Jun 2023
Feeling A Bit Attacked with Maria Konnikova
Maria Konnikova, Revisionist History’s ombudsman—who's also an author, psychologist and professional poker player—is back for another round. This time she reads letters from the audience on the power of debate, and whether or not certain four letter words belong in Pushkin’s podc ... Show More
42m 51s
Mar 2024
What Professional Poker Taught Maria Konnikova About the American Dream
In this episode of Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady, Maria Konnikova joins Roxanne Coady to discuss her book, The Biggest Bluff, out now from Penguin Press. Buy the book from RJ Julia: The Biggest Bluff - Maria Konnikova Sign up for our podcast newsletter Just The Right Boo ... Show More
1h 3m
May 2022
Our longing for cosmic truth and poetic beauty | Maria Popova
Linking together the histories of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Edwin Hubble and Tracy K. Smith, poet and thinker Maria Popova crafts an astonishing story of how humanity came to see the edge of the observable universe. (Followed by an animated excerpt of "My God, It's Full of Stars," ... Show More
7m 13s
Apr 2025
#9 - The Levant Through War & Words: Mishka Mourani on Culture, Identity & Exile
In this episode of Tak on the Pod, Andrea sits down with Mishka Mourani, a writer, educator, and storyteller whose life has been deeply shaped by the history of the Levant. Born in Alexandria and rooted in Beirut, Mishka has lived through war, displacement, and resilience, using ... Show More
50m 38s
Apr 2024
The Reconciliation Won't Be Easy, But It's Necessary Work with Claudia Rankine
In this episode of Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady, Claudia Rankine joins Roxanne to discuss her new book, Just Us. Claudia Rankine is a poet, essayist, and playwright. Just Us completes her groundbreaking trilogy, following Don't Let Me Be Lonely and Citizen. She is a ... Show More
46m 32s