Yearly Archives: 2015

Podcast

Dante & Melville: Great Lit As Guide For Living

Joseph Luzzi talks about his moving new memoir and contemplation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, In A Dark Wood. Then, we hear some voices from the recent marathon reading of Melville’s Moby Dick put on by the legendary Sag Harbor NY bookstore, Canio’s. Continue reading

Podcast

The Promise And Perils Of The Teenage Brain

Frances Jensen talks about her book, The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults . And marijuana is being used to successfully treat some illnesses. But it’s not so healthy for the developing brain. Addiction psychiatrist Kevin Hill tells us about risks and benefits of pot. His new book is Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth About The World’s Most Popular Weed. Continue reading

Podcast

EmigrÁ©s from The USSR: Svetlana Stalin & Elena Gorokhova

Rosemary Sullivan talks about her extraordinary new biography of Svetlana Stalin, Stalin’s Daughter (Harper Collins, June 2015.) 

Then, Russian Á©migrÁ© Elena Gorokhova explores the inner divide that splits the soul of the immigrant in her new memoir Russian Tattoo (Simon and Schuster, 2015). Continue reading

Web Extras

Excerpt from STALIN’S DAUGHTER by Rosemary Sullivan

9780062206107_stalins_daughter_the_extraordinary_and_tumultuous_life_of_svetlana_alliluyevaFrom STALIN’S DAUGHTER by Rosemary Sullivan (Harper Collins, June 2015)

Prologue

The Defection

At 7:00 p.m. on March 6, 1967, a taxi drew up to the open gates of the American Embassy on Shantipath Avenue in New Delhi. Watched carefully by the Indian police guard, it proceeded slowly up the circular drive. The passenger in the backseat looked out at the large circular reflecting pool, serene in the fading light. A few ducks and geese still floated among the jets of water rising from its surface. The embassy’s exterior walls were constructed of pierced concrete blocks, which gave the building a light, airy look. The woman noted how different This was from the stolid institutional Soviet Embassy she had just left. So this was America. Continue reading

Podcast

Hannah Nordhaus, AMERICAN GHOST & Russell Powell, APPLES OF NEW ENGLAND

Hannah Nordhaus, author of The Beekepper’s Lament,  talks about her latest book, a wonderful history/slash memoir of her ancestor Julia Staub. It’s called American Ghost: A Family’s Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest.

And if apple pie is a symbol of America, apples may be a symbol of New England. Russell Steven Powell talks about his book, Apples of New England: A User’s Guide. Continue reading

Podcast

Reimagining History: Medieval & Modern

David Flusfeder discusses his novel, John The Pupil. It’s about a medieval journey that prefigures the Renaissance era to come. And then another work of fiction that reimagines a historical figure: urban philosopher David Kishik talks about his book, The Manhattan Project. It imagines what Walter Benjamin would have written about New York had he succeeded in escaping to the US from Nazi-dominated Europe. Continue reading

Web Extras

Web Extra: Extended Interview with David Kishik

David Kishik

Urban philosopher David Kishik talks about his book, The Manhattan Project. It imagines what Walter Benjamin would have written about New York had he succeeded in escaping to the US from Nazi-dominated Europe. Continue reading

Podcast

Why Diets Don’t Work And Supplements May Be Bad For You

Catherine Price talks about her book VITAMANIA: Our Obsessive Quest For Nutritional Perfection (Penguin). Then food psychologist Traci Mann tells us why diets don’t work and how we can get to — and stay at — our leanest live-able weight. Her book is Secrets from the Eating Lab: The Science of Weight Loss, the Myth of Willpower, and Why You Should Never Diet Again. Continue reading

Podcast

Overpopulation: Ecological Elephant In The Room?

Tom Butler of the Foundation for Deep Ecology talks about a gorgeous — and disturbing — new coffee table book of photojournalism, Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot.

And women mystery writers have gone from being ignored to being stars of the genre. We talk with mystery writer Sara Paretsky about women’s changing position in the genre and about her own socially conscious mystery writing. Then we congratulate Elizabeth Kolbert on her Pulitzer Prize for The Sixth Extinction. Continue reading

Web Extras

Web Exclusive: Per Espen Stoknes, What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming

what_we_think_aboutThe more we know about climate change, the less we do about it. It’s the “climate paradox.” That’s why we need a new psychology of climate change, according to Norwegian author and economist, Per Espen Stoknes.

His new book, What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming, tackles the climate paradox head on in an eminently readable book that should be obligatory reading for all who care about our future and are frustrated at the slow pace of action. Continue reading

Podcast

Bill de Blasio’s Civic Experiment – Is It Working?

Journalist Eric Alterman talks about his new book, Inequality And One City: Bill de Blasio and the New York Experiment. It’s about how the New York mayor is using city government to implement his agenda on inequality, the forces arrayed against him and the contradictions he faces. And then, we hear poems from Richard Wilbur and Jonathan Wright. Continue reading

Podcast

Social Insecurity: 401k’s & The Retirement Crisis

In 2008, WV guest James W. Russell got a big shock, like hundreds of thousands of other Americans who thought their 401k’s were going to give them a comfortable retirement. His retirement portfolio took a big hit, so he decided to investigate just why our retirement system is so insecure.

What he found out, he’s put into his explosive book, SOCIAL INSECURITY: 401(k)s and the Retirement Crisis. We spend the hour talking with Russell about 401k’s, pension plans, and social security — and what can be done to make sure we don’t end up poor in our old age. Continue reading

Podcast

Meditation For The Rest Of Us

ABC anchorman and meditator Dan Harris talks about his book, 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story. Then, renowned psychiatrist and author of Thoughts Without A Thinker Mark Epstein discusses his latest book, The Trauma Of Every Day Life. It’s about how Buddhist meditation can help us heal from trauma and use it to achieve greater wisdom. Continue reading