C-SPAN Bookshelf

Latest Episodes:

AW: The State and the Soldier Feb 08, 2026

Show notes

Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, examined the relationship between civilian and military leadership in America going back to the country's founding. This event was hosted by AEI in Washington, D.C

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BN+: Carol Hymowitz on 10 Books That Changed the Way Americans Thought About Work Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

In the December 1, 2025, print edition of the Wall Street Journal, there was this headline on page R25: "These 10 books changed the way Americans thought about work." Carol Hymowitz, the author, wrote: "It began with Benjamin Franklin, who couldn't stop working or writing about work throughout his 84-year long life." Carol Hymowitz has been associated with the Wall Street Journal since she got her master's degree in journalism at Columbia University. Other books she featured in this article about work include Tocqueville, Frederick Douglass, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, Dale Carnegie, and C. Wright Mills, plus others. We wanted to know how she chose these 10 books about work, so we had a chat.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Q&A: Nicholas Boggs, "Baldwin: A Love Story" Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

Nicholas Boggs discusses the personal life and activism of American writer James Baldwin (1924-1987). Mr. Boggs, who spent over 20 years working on "James Baldwin: A Love Story," also talks about Baldwin's many books, his life outside the United States, and his involvement in the civil rights movement.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ABC: Pulitzer Prize–Winning Historian Jon Meacham Feb 01, 2026

Show notes

Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham joined David M. Rubenstein to discuss his biographies of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and George H.W. Bush, and his upcoming book on Dwight Eisenhower.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AW: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary with Stafan Fatsis Feb 01, 2026

Show notes

Stefan Fatsis describes his experience as a lexicographer in training at Merriam-Webster to learn how words are added to the dictionary. Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA, hosted this event.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BN+: Jonathan Horn, "The Fate of the Generals" Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Jonathan Horn's latest book is titled "The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines." The publisher Scribner explains the premise of Horn's book: "For the doomed stand American forces made in the Philippines at the start of World War II, two generals received the country's highest military award, the Medal of Honor. One was the charismatic Douglas MacArthur whose orders forced him to leave his troops and go to Australia. The other was the gritty Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright who became a hero to the troops whose fate he insisted on sharing."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ABC News Journalist Jonathan Karl on Retribution Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl discusses his book, "Retribution," a behind-the-scenes look at Donald Trump's winning 2024 presidential campaign. Mr. Karl, who started covering Trump in the mid-1990s for the New York Post, also talks about his longtime relationship with the 47th president and the contrast between President Trump's public and private sides.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ABC: Christopher Buckley on Satire, Politics, and Writing Fiction Jan 25, 2026

Show notes

Christopher Buckley is a novelist, essayist, humorist, critic, magazine editor and memoirist. The only child of publishing icon William F. Buckley, Christopher's books have been translated into sixteen foreign languages. He has worked as a merchant seaman and White House speechwriter. He has written for many newspapers and magazines and has lectured in over 70 cities around the world. He was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor and the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AW:Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen Discuss Satire and American Culture Jan 25, 2026

Show notes

How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? That’s the question posed by humor columnist Dave Barry’s 2025 memoir titled, Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up.   This week on C-SPAN's Afterwords podcast, a discussion on satire and humor with Dave Barry and novelist Carl Hiaasen. Hiaasen also has a new book titled Fever Beach. It’s a satirical crime novel, whichhe sayswas inspired by real events in Florida and the January 6th riot at the Capitol.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BN+: Anne Marshall, "Cassius Marcellus Clay" Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

Anne Marshall is associate professor of history and executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University. Her book is "Cassius Marcellus Clay: The Life of an Antislavery Slaveholder and the Paradox of American Reform." Clay lived to be 92, had two wives and 11 children. Kentucky was his home state. As an antislavery reformer, Cassius Marcellus Clay is often remembered as a knife-wielding rabble rouser who both inspired and enraged his contemporaries. Abraham Lincoln made him minister to Russia. And yes, the boxer Muhammad Ali was originally named after him, but decided he wanted his own original name. Ann Marshall will discuss all this with us.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected