The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan

Latest Episodes:

Gish Jen on Her Dystopian Novel, The Resisters: AutoAmerica, Surveillance and Baseball Feb 28, 2020

Show notes

In The Resisters, the dystopian future is all too real. Author Gish Jen talks about growing up as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, her Ivy League education, life as a writer, and how becoming an empty nester gave her the space to research and write her acclaimed novel. The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan was recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611024/the-resisters-by-gish-jen/

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Florida author Craig Pittman on How the Florida Panther Was Brought Back From Near Extinction Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

Craig Pittman: “The original inhabitants of Florida regarded panthers…they thought they were the *cat of god.* The settlers were petrified of them and shot them on site. Things started to turn around in 1981, Florida school children picked the panther as our official state animal. By 1995 they were virtually extinct.” Pittman talks about his new book, Cat Tale and the unprecedented scientific experiment that succeeded in saving the panthers, with unexpected ramifications. This episode of The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan was recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

https://g.co/kgs/q1Cbua

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The Female Gen Exer’s Guide Through Middle Age Angst Feb 14, 2020

Show notes

In Why We Can’t Sleep, one of the women interviewed by Ada Calhoun is called Florida Girl. “She basically told me my favorite quote in the whole book. She was talking about how it’s terrible, all these things you’re dealing with at this stage of life…Divorce, money stuff, health. It’s all terrible but she started to see it as “terrible fun.” And I just loved that expression.” Ada shares her fascinating life stories with Mitchell Kaplan on this episode of The Literary Life. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

https://www.adacalhoun.com/

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Meet Susan Isaac’s New Heroine From Her Latest Thriller, Takes One to Know One Feb 07, 2020

Show notes

Susan Isaacs,author of thirteen novels, including Any Place I Hang My Hat and Compromising Positions, talks with Mitchell about how she became a writer. “I didn’t know writing was in my future until I had to look for a job,” she said. After graduating from Queens College, she “landed a job at Seventeen magazine, writing advice to the lovelorn under the name of Abigail Wood.” On this episode, she shares her thoughts on the significance of a book’s opening lines, how she crafts her stories, favorite authors, and creating Corie Geller. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

https://groveatlantic.com/book/takes-one-to-know-one/

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Slaying Goliath; Diane Ravitch's Fight to Save our Public Schools Jan 31, 2020

Show notes

Diane Ravitch has been called a hero in her dedication to preserving public school education. On this episode, she talks with Mitchell about the “Disrupters,” who are funding privatization and believe schools should be run like businesses. And the “Resisters,” a powerful group of volunteer parents, teachers, students, bloggers and leaders who are fighting back to successfully keep alive their public schools. Are school voucher programs a viable solution? Ravitch shares her thoughts on this and more. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

https://dianeravitch.com/about-diane/

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Robert Boyers; Famous Child Singer in a Brooklyn Synagogue to Public Intellectual, Professor and Writer Jan 24, 2020

Show notes

“I’ve been thinking about what a lot of people refer to as the culture wars…for the last thirty years. A few years ago I felt we had reached a tipping point in our colleges and universities and to some degree in the culture and I had to call this out and describe it,” Robert Boyers on why the time is right for his new book, The Tyranny of Virtue: Identity, The Academy, and the Hunt for Political Heresies. Boyers is editor of Salamangundi, professor of English at Skidmore College and director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute.Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

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Eight Years After The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern is Back with The Starless Sea Jan 17, 2020

Show notes

“The whole thing has been so lovely. I think the best part has been getting to talk to people who’ve now visited a place that lived in my head, and my head alone for a very long time…and their enthusiasm for it,” Erin Morgenstern on her international book tour. The best-selling author and Alex Award-winner talks about her books, life as a multi-media artist, and how her love of video games inspires her writing. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lit Hub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

https://www.erinmorgenstern.com

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Armando Lucas Correa; on how his meeting with a holocaust survivor played a key role in his new novel, The Daughter’s Tale Jan 10, 2020

Show notes

“I finished my first novel, The German Girl, about the MS St. Louis that arrived in in Cuba in 1939 with about 900 Jewish refugees…They were rejected by Cuba, the United States, and Canada, sent back to Europe. Most of them were killed in Auschwitz. I decided to meet one of the few survivors, Judith Steel,” Armando Lucas Correa. Judith became an inspiration for The Daughter’s Tale. He talks with Mitchell about the long and winding road from Cuba, Miami, and New York, that lead him to becoming a best-selling novelist and Editor-in-Chief of People en Español. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

https://www.armandolucascorrea.com/

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Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2020 Jan 04, 2020

Show notes

“2020 will see many wonderful books being published. Today I‘m joined by three of the greatest readers around, who have the job of knowing just what those books are…Books & Books Head Buyer, Gael LeLamer, Cristina Russell, Head Buyer for Children’s and Young Adult Books and Cristina Nosti, Events and Marketing Manager, will talk about new books to expect as the year unfolds.” - Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books. Also, host of this podcast. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.

Host: Mitchell Kaplan

Producer: Carmen Lucas

Editor: Lithub Radio

https://booksandbooks.com/

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Chef Allen Susser, innovator of New World Cuisine, on his new book: Green Fig and Lionfish, Sustainable Caribbean Cooking Dec 20, 2019

Show notes

The James Beard Foundation recognized Allen Susser as Best Chef in America, 1994. The acclaimed chef sits down with Mitchell to talk about helping the ecosystem with recipes from his new cookbook, Green Fig and Lionfish. “Let me first say, that lionfish is delicious, but it also is an invasive species, a danger to our environment. I am a big proponent of and work with getting people to understand what sustainable seafood is…If we don’t pay attention to what we do with the quality of our environment, we’re going to be in trouble with our food supply,” Allen Susser. Recorded at Books and Books in Coral Gables.

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