C-SPAN Bookshelf

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AW: America's Black Botanical Legacy Mar 01, 2026

Show notes

Biologist Beronda Montgomery explored the botanical knowledge developed by African Americans. Harvard Book Store hosted this event.

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BN+: David Sirota on Master Plan: How Corporate Power Reshaped America Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

David Sirota, who is based in Denver, Colorado, has some very strong views about money and politics. His book is called "Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America." There are 11 chapters which reflect the 11 episodes of his podcast, "Master Plan." In order to tell his story, he points his finger at the 1971 Powell secret memo. That's former US Supreme Court Associate Justice Lewis Powell, who served on the Supreme Court from 1972 to 1987. He died in 1998 at age 90. Author Sirota, who is 50, writes that the Powell memo laid out a comprehensive step-by-step strategy for corporate America to regain control, protect its interests, and reshape the political and legal system of the United States to favor business.

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Q&A: Wil Haygood Explores Race, Conflict, and the Vietnam War in The War Within a War Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

Former Washington Post correspondent Wil Haygood, author of "The War Within a War," discusses the experience of Black American soldiers in Vietnam and the struggle for racial equality, happening at the same time, back home in the United States. He also talks about growing up in Columbus, Ohio, during this period, where, as a child, he witnessed this dichotomy firsthand.

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ABC: Linda Chavez: Former Reagan Official and Conservative Commentator Feb 22, 2026

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Former Reagan administration official Linda Chavez joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss her career in public service and her works of fiction and nonfiction.

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AW: Sam Bankman-Fried, Elite Fraud, and the Cult of Techno-Utopia Feb 22, 2026

Show notes

Finance and Tech reporter David Morris reported on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. POWERHOUSE Arena in New York City hosted this event.

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BN+: Elliot Williams, "Five Bullets" Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

For his book, "Five Bullets," attorney Elliot Williams wrote 95,720 words. On the back of the cover of the book, writer Garrett Graff sums up the story this way: "Never has a book about the 1980s felt more like current events than Elliot Williams's journey back to one of America's most notorious shootings, when Bernie Goetz opened fire in a crowded New York City subway…'Five Bullets' is a haunting examination of our nation's complicated fascination with vigilantes and the politics of crime…" A lot of the people who were instrumental to this story are deceased. However, the man at the center, Bernie Goetz, is still alive at 78 and still lives in New York City.

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Stewart McLaurin on The People’s House Miscellany: Stories from the White House Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin, author of "The People's House Miscellany," talks about the history of the White House and White House-related trivia. He also discusses the changes that presidents and first ladies have made to the White House's interior and exterior going back to President Thomas Jefferson.

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AW: The Biggest Stolen Artifacts Case in FBI History Feb 15, 2026

Show notes

Former FBI investigator Tim Carpenter recounted the true-life detective story spearheaded by the Bureau's Art Crime Team, which found itself on the trail of a thief who stole thousands of cultural artifacts -- and human remains -- from around the world. The Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee hosted this event

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BN+: Candace Rondeaux, "Putin's Sledgehammer" Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

Russian Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, marched toward Moscow starting on June 23, 2023. His forces were advancing north on M4 Highway after seizing Rostov-on-Don. The rebellion against his longtime colleague Vladimir Putin was halted the next day. Literally two months later, at a little past 6pm, Prigozhin and nine others boarded his Embraer 600 jet in Moscow. Several minutes later, at 6:20pm, over Tver, Russia, 100-miles north of Moscow, the plane exploded. All 10 passengers perished, including two pilots and the flight attendant. Writer and intelligence expert, Candace Rondeaux, gives us the rest of the story in her book, "Putin's Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia's Collapse into Mercenary Chaos."

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Q&A: Teasel Muir-Harmony, History of the U.S. Space Program Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Teasel Muir-Harmony discusses the history of the U.S. space program, from the creation of NASA in 1958 through the Gemini early flights to Neil Armstrong taking his historic first steps on the lunar surface in July 1969. She also talks about the missions that followed and NASA's current efforts to return astronauts to the moon.

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