In 1949, aspiring writer Nelle Harper Lee moved from her home in small-town Alabama to New York City. She was following in the footsteps of her childhood friend, author Truman Capote. Within a few years she had penned a novel of her own, and called it To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird catapulted Harper Lee to the heights of literary fame. But ... Show More
Jan 2024
Great American Authors | The Enduring Message of James Baldwin | 7
<p>In 1948, James Baldwin left for France, hoping to find an escape from the racism he experienced in America. But Baldwin returned to the U.S. frequently, to witness and write about the struggle of the Civil Rights movement. Today, Lindsay is joined by Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., ... Show More
38m 10s
Jan 2024
The Manhattan Project | Chain Reaction | 1
<p>In December 1938, a team of German physicists achieved an astonishing scientific breakthrough: they split the nucleus of a uranium atom. In the United States, news of the discovery sparked fear in the scientific community. Atomic fission could power a devastating new weapon, a ... Show More
40m 4s
Jan 2024
The Manhattan Project | Secret Cities | 2
<p>In Spring of 1943, hundreds of scientists and technicians moved to a remote location in the mountains of New Mexico to work at a secret laboratory. Under the guidance of their leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, they rushed to figure out how to channel the power of an atomic c ... Show More
38m 21s
Sep 2015
Ep 133 - Go Set a Watchman (Live from Philadelphia)
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic of American literature, and for good reason. The follow-up-slash-first-draft, Go Set a Watchman, doesn't have the same impact, but it's a fascinating look at how books change during the editing process.
This show was recorded live i ... Show More
52m 39s
Feb 2022
Joseph Heller's Catch-22: A novel of twisted logic and absurd bureaucracy
"That’s some Catch, that Catch 22". It’s a novel that gave rise to a new term in the English language and gave voice to American soldiers serving in Vietnam in the 1960s. Since its publication in 1961, Catch-22, Joseph Heller’s best-selling novel, has not only come to symbolise t ... Show More
39m 36s
Feb 2022
Feed Drop: Well-Read Black Girl - Min Jin Lee on Becoming a Writer
<p>We're sharing a special preview of the new podcast, <em>Well-Read Black Girl</em> from Pushkin Industries. <br><br><em>Well-Read Black Girl</em> is the literary kickback you never knew you needed. Glory Edim, author and founder of the Well-Read Black Girl community, sits in de ... Show More
7m 10s
Mar 2018
Ep 291 - Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
<p>Gone With The Wind is an American classic, both in that it is a classic book written by an American author and in that it does a bad job wrangling with America's original sin, slavery. We try to do justice both to Mitchell's characterization and sense of place while also accou ... Show More
1h 30m