As part of its recent "100 Best Books of the 21st Century" project, The New York Times Book Review is interviewing some of the authors whose books appeared on the list. This week, Isabel Wilkerson joins host Gilbert Cruz to discuss her 2010 book about the Great Migration.
Nov 14
Nicholas Boggs on Writing a James Baldwin Biography
<p>Nicholas Boggs’s “Baldwin: A Love Story,” is many things at once. It’s a comprehensive biography of James Baldwin. It’s a nimble excavation of Baldwin’s work, filled with astute literary analysis of his books and prose. And, most pressingly, it’s an argument for a new critical ... Show More
36m 28s
Nov 7
The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 50 Years Later
<p>On Nov. 10, 1975, during a calamitous storm, the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk below the waves of Lake Superior. All 29 men aboard went down with the vessel. With no survivors and no eyewitnesses, there’s always been a sense of mystery to what is arguably the most famous shipwreck in ... Show More
39m 33s
Jul 2025
Ep. 201: Lidija Hilje (Author of Slanting Towards the Sea) + Book Recommendations
<p><strong>In Episode 201, author Lidija Hilje talks with Sarah about her debut novel, <a href= "https://amzn.to/4jaQ3LD"><u>Slanting Towards the Sea</u></a>. Spanning two decades and one transformative summer in Croatia, <a href="https://amzn.to/4jaQ3LD">Slanting Towards the Sea ... Show More
52m 58s
Aug 13
Jason Mott’s new novel ‘People Like Us’ is metafiction that was almost memoir
In 2021, Jason Mott won the National Book Award for Hell of a Book. Now, he’s out with a new novel called People Like Us, in which two Black writers navigate life in the United States in an era of gun violence. Mott says the book is loosely based on himself – and leans into the a ... Show More
9m 26s
Sep 28
David Wright Faladé Reads “Amarillo Boulevard”
<p>David Wright Faladé reads his story “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/06/amarillo-boulevard-fiction-david-wright-falade"><strong>Amarillo Boulevard</strong></a>,” from the October 6, 2025, issue of the magazine. Wright Faladé, the recipient of a Zora Neale H ... Show More
42m 51s
Feb 2025
Andy Corren's memoir 'Dirtbag Queen' expands on a viral tribute to his mother
In 2021, Andy Corren published an obituary for his late mother in The Fayetteville Observer. "A plus-sized Jewish lady redneck died in El Paso on Saturday," he wrote. His colorful, candid remembrance went viral on Twitter, and now Corren has expanded the tribute into a memoir. Di ... Show More
9m 14s
Oct 13
740 Mel Brooks and Other Eminent Jews (with David Denby) | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (#13 GBOAT)
In this episode, Jacke talks to author David Denby about his new book, Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer, a group biography (loosely inspired by Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians) that describes how four larger-than-life figures upended the restrained culture of ... Show More
1h 3m