A Life in Biography

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**A Life in Biography**

Talks and interviews about the life of biography as experienced by a biographer over forty years and fourteen biographies, dealing with subjects ranging from Sylvia Plath to William Faulkner, Marilyn Monroe to Susan Sontag, and much more.

Latest Episodes:

Two Mailer biographers discuss why he still matters, and why they write about him. Dec 18, 2022

Show notes

My conversation with J. Michael Lennon, Mailer biographer and interlocutor reflecting on a lifetime with his subject.

Mahala Stripling on her biography of Richard Selzer, the doctor who made an art of medicine Dec 10, 2022

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Richard Selzer inspired the work of a generation of doctor/writers. Listen to how he did it, and how his biography is shaping up.

A talk with Bob Batchelor about his new biography of Jim Morrison, The Doors, and the Sixties Nov 27, 2022

Show notes

A wide-ranging conversation about what you might call the music of biography.

A conversation with Norman Lock about Voices in the Dead House, novels, biography, and much more Nov 19, 2022

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I talk with Norman Lock about his American novel series, and why it should matter to biographers. This is my longest, most searching podcast.

Ellen Brown talks about her work in progress, a biography of Tennessee Williams Nov 13, 2022

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Tennessee Williams, copyright, fair use, research—Ellen Brown covers it all

Biography By the Day Nov 05, 2022

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What it is like trying to capture a day by day account of William Faulkner’s life.

How Diane Diekman became a biographer and her work in progress on Randy Travis Oct 29, 2022

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How a biographer begins with nothing—no contacts, no track record—and is successful anyway, writing biographies of Faron Young and Marty Robbins. And wait until you hear about her newsletter!

Becoming You Oct 22, 2022

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Are you the same person you were when you were a child? How this question pertains to biography—the one you are writing and mine.

How James Meredith broke the segregation barrier at Ole Miss Oct 08, 2022

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A conversation with Kathleen Wickham about her book, James Meredith: Breaking the Barrier” and her other work dealing with journalists who covered the 1962 riot at Ole Miss

Allison Gilbert & Julia Scheeres: Listen, World! Their biography of the intrepid Elsie Robinson Oct 01, 2022

Show notes

Elsie Robinson had 20 millions readers but no archive. How two biographers set about reconstructing her life.