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William Hogeland | Autumn of the Black Snake: The Creation of the U.S. Army and the Invasion That Opened the West Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. Blending dramatic historical narrative with critical interpretation in order to make surprising connections to contemporary political and cultural struggles, William Hogeland's three books on founding American history include The Whiskey Rebellion, Founding Finance, and Declaration. He has also contributed articles and essays about history, music, and politics to a slew of publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and Salon, and has appeared on PBS's History Detectives, Book TV, and Good Morning America. In Autumn of the Black Snake, Hogeland tells the story of the creation of the U.S. Army and how its first victory against the indigenous people of the Ohio Valley opened the way to western settlement. (recorded 5/23/2017)

Joshua Ferris | The Dinner Party with Jim Shepard | The World to Come Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris's ''truly affecting novel about work, trust, love, and loneliness'' (Seattle Times), won the 2008 PEN/Hemingway Award for best first novel and was a finalist for the National Book Award. His other works include The Unnamed and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, which was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize. One of The New Yorker's ''20 Under 40'' writers and winner of the International Dylan Thomas Prize, Ferris has published fiction in Granta, Prairie Schooner, and Best American Voices, among other places. The Dinner Party, his first story collection, is rife with characters searching for answers in the aftermath of life's pitfalls. ''Nailing entire worlds together with teeming, precise detail'' (The New York Times), Jim Shepard is the author of seven novels, including The Book of Aron and Project X. A writer's writer, he is perhaps more celebrated for his short fiction, which has appeared in publications ranging from The Paris Review to Playboy. His story collections include You Think That's Bad and Like You'd Understand, Anyway, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of The Story Prize. His new collection explores the emotional hazards of everyday life writ large on the canvases of historic tragedy and triumph. (recorded 5/24/2017)

Thomas E. Ricks | Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. Military historian and journalist Thomas E. Ricks won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his Wall Street Journal series on U.S. defense spending in the post-Cold War era. His books include The Generals, The Gamble, and the Pulitzer Prize finalist Fiasco, a bestselling account of America's tragic and reckless invasion of Iraq. A member of the Center for a New American Security defense policy think tank, he has reported on a wide variety of military activities for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Atlantic Monthly, among other publications. His new book is a dual biography of Winston Churchill's and George Orwell's farsighted fight for democracy during its darkest hours. (recorded 5/25/2017)

Yaa Gyasi | Homegoing with Kei Miller | Augustown Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. Yaa Gyasi's breakout debut novel Homegoing, a multigenerational tale that ''brims with compassion'' (NPR Books), follows two half-sisters on opposite sides of the 18th-century Ghanaian slave trade and their descendants. It was a New York Times bestseller and 2016 Notable Book and a Guardian Best Book, and it was nominated for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Gyasi, a native of Ghana who emigrated with her family to the U.S. in 1991, earned a Master of Arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and was selected by Ta-Nehisi Coates for the National Book Foundation's 2016 ''5 under 35'' award. Acclaimed for portraying the cultural and socio-political issues of his native Jamaica, Kei Miller is the author of the novels The Last Warner Woman and The Same Earth; the story collection The Fear of Stones; and several collections of poetry, including the award-winning The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion. A creative-writing teacher at the University of London, Miller is the recipient of the Forward Prize for Poetry and an International Writer's Fellowship at the University of Iowa, and he was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Set in the Jamaican backlands, Augustown tells the story of a woman's struggle to overcome the weight of history, race, and violence. (recorded 6/8/2017)

Patricia Lockwood | Priestdaddy: A Memoir Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. Patricia Lockwood, ''The Poet Laureate of Twitter'' (unofficial), is the author of 2014's groundbreaking Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, a book of obscene, angry, funny verse that ''is unforgettable, literally: once read, it cannot be forgotten'' (NPR). Her 2013 satirical poem ''Rape Joke,'' first printed on the website The Awl, ''reawakened a generation's interest in poetry'' (The Guardian). Her debut poetry collection Balloon Pop Outlaw Black was trumpeted as one of 2012's best by The New Yorker. Lockwood's new memoir Priestdaddy tells the story of her unconventional upbringing and irascible Catholic-priest father. (recorded 6/13/2017)

David Baron | American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. As NPR's science correspondent, David Baron received awards from the National Academy of Sciences, the American Medical Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among many other organizations. He is the author of 2005's The Beast in the Garden, the harrowing story of the clash between suburban sprawl and mountain lions in Colorado. In his new book, Baron, a committed eclipse chaser, details the 19th-century celestial and terrestrial drama of a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in which three distinctly American personalities-including a ruthless young Thomas Edison-jockey for discovery amidst the last days of the Wild West. (recorded 6/15/2017)

Richard Russo | Everybody's Fool and Trajectory Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. Winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Empire Falls, Richard Russo is acclaimed for capturing the ''foolishness of this lonely world, but also the humor, friendship and love that abide'' (San Francisco Chronicle). His many other novels include Bridge of Sighs, That Old Cape Magic, and Nobody's Fool, which was adapted into a popular film starring Paul Newman. ''Like hopping on the last empty barstool surrounded by old friends'' (Entertainment Weekly), Everybody's Fool catches up with the world-worn protagonist Sully and the irresistible residents of North Bath, New York. Trajectory is a collection of four sprawling short stories far outside the blue-collar realm Russo has mapped in his many novels. (recorded 6/20/2017)

Douglas Brunt | Trophy Son in conversation with Megyn Kelly Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. In conversation with Megyn Kelly, host of Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly Ghosts of Manhattan, Douglas Brunt's New York Times bestselling debut novel about a flawed but highflying Bear Stearns bond trader, took ''a smart shot at the absurdity of Wall Street and the long fall that brought us all down'' (Kirkus). He followed with The Means, an ensemble tale of political intrigue and boundless ambition. His latest work, Trophy Son, takes on the equally ruthless dynamic of father-son relationships in our achievement-consumed society. Former CEO of the security company Authentium, Brunt will be joined in conversation by his wife, former Fox News and current NBC journalist Megyn Kelly. (recorded 6/26/2017)

Harvey Sachs | Toscanini: Musician of Conscience Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. Music historian Harvey Sachs's many books include The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824, a biography of Arthur Rubenstein, and two collections of essays on musical subjects. He has written for dozens of newspapers, magazines, and literary journals-including The New York Times and The New Yorker-and penned hundreds of items for record companies. A faculty member at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Sachs has lectured at universities and cultural institutions across North America and Europe. On the sesquicentennial of Toscanini's birth, Musician of Conscience looks at the great conductor's musical brilliance, political courage, and personal passions. (recorded 6/27/2017)

Mark Bowden | Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

Watch the video here. In conversation with Bill Marimow, editor at large, The Philadelphia Inquirer ''One of the most intense, visceral'' (Philadelphia Inquirer) writers of our time, Mark Bowden is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and Vanity Fair and is the author of numerous New York Times bestselling books of investigative journalism, including the classic of war reporting, the National Book Award-nominated Black Hawk Down. Bowden's other books include Killing Pablo, winner of the Overseas Press Club's Cornelius Ryan Award for book of the year; Guests of the Ayatollah, listed by Newsweek as one of the ''50 Books for Our Times''; and The Three Battles of Wanat, a collection of his best long-form war, cultural, and sports essays. Using unprecedented archives and interviews with participants from both sides, Bowden's latest book narrates every stage of the Vietnam War's most pivotal and bloody battle. (recorded 7/11/2017)

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