Free Library Podcast

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H. W. Brands | The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

''A terrific writer who commands'' his historical subject matter with ''authority and panache'' (New York Times), H. W. Brands was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his bestselling biographies of Benjamin Franklin (The First American) and Franklin Roosevelt (Traitor to His Class). He explores such diverse subjects as Aaron Burr, Ronald Reagan, the California gold rush, Andrew Jackson, the Vietnam War, Bill Gates, and the second generation of American statesmen in his more than two dozen books that ''weave together keen political history with anecdote and marvelous sense of place'' (Boston Globe). Brands returns with the story of two towering figures of American abolitionism. Register for the event here. Books and a limited number of signed book plates are available through The Joseph Fox Bookshop. Pine Tree Foundation Endowed Lecture (recorded 11/5/2020)

Ayad Akhtar | Homeland Elegies Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award-winning broadcaster and journalist Acclaimed for exploring complicated sociopolitical aspects of identity within the Muslim American experience, Ayad Akhtar won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Disgraced, a play in which racial and cultural prejudices persist in so-called progressive climates. His other work includes the play Junk, the screenplay for the film The War Within, and American Dervish, a novel that follows a pre-9/11 Wisconsin Muslim family wrestling with faith and inclusion. Among other accolades, he has earned an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Nestory Award, fellowships from a wide array of institutions, an Obie Award, and two Tony nominations. In his new novel, Akhtar peers at the rifts of a post-Trump America through the lens of a dispossessed immigrant father and son.* Books are available through The Joseph Fox Bookshop. *Note: there is slight ring during the introduction which ends when the discussion begins. (recorded 11/4/2020)

Nicole Krauss | To Be a Man: Stories Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

In conversation with Nomi Eve, author of Henna House and The Family Orchard, Director of the Creative Writing MFA program, Drexel University. ''One of America's most important novelists and an international literary sensation'' (New York Times), Nicole Krauss is the bestselling author of the celebrated books Man Walks into a Room, The History of Love, Great House, and Forest Dark. She is the inaugural writer-in-residence at Columbia University's Mind, Brain, and Behavior Institute, and her other work has appeared in Harper's, Esquire, and the New Yorker. Krauss is the winner of the Saroyan Prize for International Literature and a finalist for the National Book Award, among many other honors. To Be a Man is a globe-hopping story collection that delves into the very nature of what drives men and women in their relationships. (recorded 11/10/2020)

Barbara Kingsolver | How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) Oct 30, 2020

Show notes

A ''gifted magician of words'' (Time), Barbara Kingsolver is the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Poisonwood Bible, a postcolonial epic about an evangelical American family's undoing in the Congo. She is the author of several essays and works of creative nonfiction, and her other novels include The Lacuna, Flight Behavior, and Unsheltered. She is founder of the PEN/Bellwether Prize, winner of the National Humanities Medal, and recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. How to Fly, Kingsolver's second collection of poetry, reflects on both the exquisitely noted and overlooked workaday wonders of the untamed worlds inside and around us. (recorded 10/29/2020)

Veronica Chambers | Finish the Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote Oct 28, 2020

Show notes

In conversation with: Rachelle Baker, illustrator; Jennifer Harlan, writer; Steffi Walthall, illustrator Veronica Chambers is the editor for Narrative Projects at The New York Times and a co-author of "Finish the Fight!" She joined The Times in 2018 as the lead editor of the Past Tense project, which told stories using photographs unearthed from the paper's archives. Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, her other works include the critically acclaimed memoir "Mama's Girl," the anthology "Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter," and the new children's book "Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb." Jennifer Harlan is a member of the Special Projects team at The New York Times and a co-author of "Finish the Fight!" As a reporter on the Past Tense project, she wrote about all sorts of overlooked histories, from private eyes to roller derby, with a focus on women's history. She also writes for The Times about books, board games, the opioid crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. She is from Louisville, Kentucky, but currently calls Brooklyn home. Rachelle Baker is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit, MI. In addition to "Finish the Fight!", her illustrations have been published in several books including "Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream" by Blair Imani, "Shirley Chisholm is a Verb" by Veronica Chambers, and the forthcoming "Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop,'' by Clover Hope, which comes out in February 2021. Steffi Walthall is a Virginia-based illustrator, a sometimes comic artist and all times storyteller that celebrates diversity in all forms. She loves working on character-centric stories whether they are fictional or historical. In addition to "Finish the Fight!" her work includes "The Field Guide To The North American Teenager" by Ben Philippe, "50 Fearless Women Who Made American History" by Jenifer Bazzit, and "The Story Of: Martin Luther King Jr" by Christine Platt. Books available through the Joseph Fox Bookshop (recorded 10/28/2020)

Nikki Giovanni | Make Me Rain Oct 28, 2020

Show notes

One of America's most celebrated poets, the ''outspoken, prolific, energetic'' (New York Times) Nikki Giovanni is the author of numerous collections of poetry including Acolytes; Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment; and Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea. Her recent nonfiction includes A Good Cry, a rumination on a life spent in the vanguard of social change. A standout activist and educator from the Civil Rights and Black Arts movements of the 1960s, she is the first winner of the Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award, a seven-time winner of the NAACP Image Award, and one of Oprah Winfrey's 25 ''Living Legends.'' In Make Me Rain, Giovanni lifts up her loved ones, celebrates her black heritage, and illuminates the pervasive stains of American racial injustice and prejudice. Books available through the Joseph Fox Bookshop (recorded 10/27/2020)

Colin Quinn | Overstated: A Coast-to-Coast Roast of the 50 States Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

Comedian, writer, and actor Colin Quinn's decades-long career includes stints as anchor of Saturday Night Live's ''Weekend Update,'' his own titular talk show, numerous standup specials, and appearances in multitudinous sitcoms, movies, and talk shows. He is referred to by the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Tina Fey as the essential New York comic's comic, and his acclaimed one-man Broadway shows-addressing everything from the fall of world empires to his family-include My Two Cents, The Coloring Book, and Red State, Blue State. In Overstated, Quinn infuses insight with comedy to lambaste the sacred cows and quirks of 50 very dissimilar states. (recorded 10/23/2020)

Maria Hinojosa | Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

In conversation with: Helen Ubiñas, metro columnist at the The Philadelphia Inquirer In her nearly 30 years as a journalist, Maria Hinojosa has reported for PBS, CBS, and CNN, among other outlets, and is the longtime anchor and executive producer of NPR's Peabody Award–winning show Latino USA. A frequent guest on MSNBC and the founding co-anchor of the political podcast In the Thick, she is also the host of WGBH's talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One. Her work has earned four Emmy Awards, two Robert F. Kennedy Awards, and the Edward R. Murrow Award. In Once I Was You, Hinojosa relates her experience of growing up Mexican American in Chicago to our current immigration crisis. Books may be purchased online in Spanish or in English through The Joseph Fox Bookshop. A limited number of signed bookplates will be available while supplies last. (recorded 10/21/2020)

Asha Lemmie | Fifty Words for Rain Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award-winning broadcaster and journalist Asha Lemmie's New York Times bestselling novel Fifty Words for Rain tells the decades and continents-spanning story of Nori, a child born to a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover. Concealed by her grandparents, Nori accepts a solitary life until she meets and forms a bond with her half-brother Akira-a bond that gives her the strength to claim her place in the world. The book was recently the Good Morning America Book Club pick for September. A classically trained musician from Washington D.C., Lemmie began writing Fifty Words for Rain when she was only 16 years old. Books may be purchased online through The Joseph Fox Bookshop. (recorded 10/20/2020)

B. Janet Hibbs and Anthony Rostain | The Stressed Years of Their Lives: Helping Your Kid Survive and Thrive During Their College Years Jun 29, 2020

Show notes

In conversation wth Elizabeth Mosier A longtime faculty member at Drexel University, the Family Institute, and Widener University, B. Janet Hibbs is a renowned expert on family issues and partner relationships. A professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Anthony Rostain is one of America's leading authorities on ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, Tourette syndrome, and the learning disorders related to these conditions. He also treats patients at CHOP, where he is co-director of the Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry Service. The Stressed Years of Their Lives is a guidebook for parents and college-age teens seeking a better understanding of mental health and the methods by which students can thrive. Elizabeth Mosier is the author, most recently, of Excavating Memory: Archaeology and Home. Her thirty-year career in higher education includes teaching creative writing, directing a pre-college program, and directing admissions communications at Bryn Mawr College. (recorded 6/25/2020)

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