Rejected a world record 121 times before finally finding a publisher and going on to sell millions of copies, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one of the most widely read philosophy texts of the 20th-century.
Robert Pirsig's semi-autobiographical, semi-fictional account of a motorcycle road trip with his son covers a lot of ground. America's psy ... Show More
Nov 24
Ep 730 - An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones
<p>What starts as a dismaying story about a wrongful conviction turns into a deep meditation on loyalty, marriage, and independence. Given the subject matter, you might expect a mystery or a courtroom drama. Instead, Jones offers up a moving account of a couple just trying to fin ... Show More
1h 11m
Nov 22
Sit Me Baby One More Time Ep 05 - Dawn and the Impossible Three (The Baby-Sitters Club #5)
<p>Our newest BSC member, Dawn, has a lot to juggle in her debut as a series protagonist. Her mom is dating Mary-Anne's dad. She's low-key feuding with Kristy, the BSC President. And she's been hired by a mother of three who just does NOT have her life together. What a trial by f ... Show More
54m 11s
Nov 17
Ep 729 - I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
<p>A story about a young woman trapped in an underground prison with 39 other women <em>sounds</em> like it could be a stone cold bummer, and it isn’t <em>not</em> that. But this translated French novel from 1995 also hits some affirming, human notes, and it’s those aspects of it ... Show More
1h 13m
Jul 2021
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is the self-told story of a middle-aged man and his son, Chris, who go on a motorcycling trip accompanied by an adult couple. The man describes what it is like to hear the wind moving across the plains, to see birds rise up from marshes n ... Show More
35m 36s
Aug 2019
Harley and the Biker Wars - Japan Takes No Prisoners | 4
<p>It’s 1963. After battling the wave of British bikes vying for the high-dollar U.S. motorcycle market, Harley-Davidson is slammed by a tsunami of machines from Japan. Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki and—the biggest, most popular of them all—Honda. </p><p>It’s a nightmare that wil ... Show More
26m 26s
Dec 2020
Ep 262: Books that deliver a little depth, a little distraction
Today’s guest tells a familiar story: he loved reading as a kid, but as an adult without a Scholastic book fair to look forward to, he fell into the habit of rereading or staying in his “safe zone” of sci-fi and fantasy. Geologist Max Lemoine needed just the right book to pull hi ... Show More
46m 21s
Feb 2023
Episode 144 - HOW TO WRITE A BESTSELLER, WITH JEFFREY ARCHER
A colourful and at times controversial public figure, Jeffrey Archer wrote his first novel in 1976, and now aged 82, has sold a mammoth 320 million books worldwide. How did he become one of the world’s bestselling authors? And what does the future hold for books and reading? Jeff ... Show More
21m 58s
Sep 2019
Harley and the Biker Wars - Live to Ride | 6
<p>By the early 1980s, Harley-Davidson is fighting to survive. Japan has glutted the American market with bikes, creating a war Harley can’t fight alone. The company turns to the U.S. government. It’s something they tried in the ‘50s with no success, but now there’s a man in the ... Show More
25m 7s