Simon Winchester talks about “Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World,” and Amelia Pang discusses “Made in China.”
Mar 13
Louise Erdrich on Her New Story Collection and the Mystery of Writing
Since the publication of her first novel, “Love Medicine,” in 1984, Louise Erdrich has written fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children’s books. Her work has earned multiple awards, including the National Book Award (“The Round House”) and the Pulitzer Prize (“The Night Watchman” ... Show More
34m 17s
Mar 6
The Avett Brothers’ Bassist on Writing a John Quincy Adams Book
For more than two decades, Bob Crawford has toured the country as the bassist for the Avett Brothers. But long before he began his career as a musician, he was obsessed with American history. After turning that obsession into two podcasts, he has now written his first book, “Amer ... Show More
38m 12s
Feb 27
Book Club: Let's Talk About 'Wuthering Heights,' by Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” is a tale of star-crossed lovers: Catherine, the wild daughter of an aristocratic family, and Heathcliff, an orphan whom Catherine’s father brings home unexpectedly. While Catherine’s brother and mother denigrate Heathcliff, depriving him of an ... Show More
54m 11s
Mar 2023
Adam Sowards, "Making America's Public Lands: The Contested History of Conservation on Federal Lands" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022)
Over one quarter - some 640 million acres - of the United States consists of public land owned, not privately, but by the federal government, much of it in the American West. University of Idaho professor emeritus of history Adam Sowards explains why in his new book, Making Ameri ... Show More
51m 34s
Nov 2021
Melissa Macauley, "Distant Shores: Colonial Encounters on China's Maritime Frontier" (Princeton UP, 2021)
“The Europeans raise all the cattle, but the Chinese get all the milk.”
This joke, told in colonial Singapore, was indicative of the importance of the Chinese diaspora throughout Southeast Asia. Chinese migrants were miners, laborers, merchants and traders: the foundation of many ... Show More
49m 50s
Jul 2023
Laura Spence-Ash Travels Back in Time
Historical fiction is the genre this week, and it centers around a lesser WWII phenomenon. During the Blitz, many British families sent their children abroad to live with families in Canada or the United States to keep them safe until the war was over. Beyond That, the Sea by deb ... Show More
29m 41s