We knew that reading levels were in fluctuation, but we had no idea there was a Middle School reading crisis. According to the NWEA (The Northwest Evaluation Association which measures academic and student standards) only 30% of 8th graders are reading at grade level or above. Why? How did we get here and how do we get back on track raising great readers ... Show More
Nov 20
John Irving Creates a Queen
We DO love talking to John Irving. In our winding, wandering and wonderful conversation we cover it all from his newest, Queen Esther, the art of writing backwards, skiing in Vienna and the eccentricities of bike pump usage. If this description doesn’t entice you to listen, we ... Show More
35m 8s
Nov 6
Catherine Newman and Bittersweet Motherhood
Catherine Newman’s latest, Wreck, is a beautiful meditation on the act of motherhood. Revisiting the family from Sandwich as they enter a new phase of familial life. We all know that successful parents raise kids just to lose them to the world, and that this launch into independe ... Show More
36m 30s
Oct 2024
Episode 2: Black History Month with Zeinab Badawi
<p>Joining us in our book-filled studio is broadcaster and author Zeinab Badawi, who shares her journey chronicling Africa's spectacular history through the voices of African historians, archaeologists, and local storytellers. Plus, we put your reading requests to award-winning a ... Show More
29m 29s
Dec 2024
Episode 509 || Best Books of the Year with Hunter Mclendon
<p>This week on From the Front Porch, Annie and Hunter (<a href='https://www.instagram.com/shelfbyshelf/'>@shelfbyshelf</a>) discuss their top 10 favorite books of 2024.</p>
<p>To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, <a href='https:/ ... Show More
57m 36s
Jan 2025
The Lady, or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton
<p><em>In a distant, semi-barbaric kingdom, a young lover’s fate hinges on a cruelly ingenious trial: choosing between two doors, one hiding a ferocious tiger and the other concealing a beautiful bride. As the Kings daughter secretly signals her beloved toward a door, we are left ... Show More
21m 6s
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
Nov 2013
Albert Camus - The Outsider
One hundred years after his birth this month’s World Book Club, will be discussing Albert Camus' seminal novel The Outsider with his acclaimed biographer Oliver Todd, and Professor of French at Sheffield University, David Walker. And appropriately the programme comes from the hea ... Show More
53m 21s