A Life in Biography

Latest Episodes:

A talk about a great figure in the Civil Rights movement, Fannie Lou Hamer. Sep 18, 2021

Show notes

A talk about a great figure in the Civil Rights movement, Fannie Lou Hamer, with a master biographer, Kate Clifford Larson

What’s New in Biography, Part 2 Sep 11, 2021

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Introductions to five new biographies of miscreants and saints: Louis Lorax, Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Maxwell, Simone Weil, and Queen Victoria

Part 1: What’s New In Biography Sep 04, 2021

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Brief forays into six biographies of Monica Jones and Philip Larkin, D. H. Lawrence, Alfred Hitchcock, Helen Frankenthaler, William Blake, and Napoleon

Season 2, Episode 1: A Preview of Coming Attractions Aug 28, 2021

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More interviews with biographers, biographical novelists, discussions of issues that concern biographers and readers, and my take on several new biographies published in 2021.

Part 5 of my conversation with Tim Christian and Carol Sklenicka about the business of biography Aug 20, 2021

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Part 5 of a long-running series about the principles, practices, and mechanics of biography. This episode concentrates on the business of biography.

Part 4 of a discussion of the principles, practices and mechanics of biography Aug 14, 2021

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Part 4 of a discussion of the principles, practices, and mechanics of biography with Tim Christian, biographer of Mary Hemingway, and Carol Sklenicka, biographer of Raymond Carver and Alice Adams

A conversation with Susan Ronald about her new biography about Joseph Kennedy, The Ambassador Aug 07, 2021

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Susan Ronald explains why FDR chose Joseph Kennedy, a man without diplomatic skills, to be ambassador to Great Britain between 1938 and 1940

Talking with Connie Palmen about her biographical novel, written in the voice of Ted Hughes Aug 04, 2021

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Talking with Connie Palmen about her biographical novel written in the voice of Ted Hughes: Your Story, My Story. We discuss the principles, practices, and mechanics of biographical fiction.

A talk with Jerome Charyn about his novel, Sergeant Salinger, and the aims of biographical fiction. Aug 01, 2021

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Think there is a sharp dividing line between biography and biographical fiction? Jerome Charyn disagrees.

Part 3 of our discussion on the principles, practices, and mechanics of biography Jul 31, 2021

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A special treat in this episode: Tim Christian reads from his forthcoming biography of Mary Hemingway.