Next Week On WV
Louise Erdrich, THE PLAGUE OF DOVES
Bestselling novelist Louise Erdrich talks about her acclaimed new book, THE PLAGUE OF DOVES.
This Week On WV
Rabih Alameddine and Greg Mitchell
Definition: Hakawātī — Arabic language storyteller. We talk with Lebanese writer Rabih Alameddine about his new novel, THE HAKAWATI. A master storyteller himself, Alameddine spins a tapestry of tales, contemporary, epic and fantastical. At their core lies the story of a grandfather and his grandson in Beirut. The old man is a hakawati, one of the last of a dying breed. His grandson tells his story, and through it, the story of Lebanon itself.
You can hear a 2005 NPR report on Hakawatis and the effort to preserve their tradition, by clicking here. It’s by broadcast journalist Carrie Giardino.
And we talk with Greg Mitchell, about how the press and the punditocracy failed the public on Iraq. From his unique perch as editor of the trade journal, Editor and Publisher, Mitchell takes us over familiar territory with a fresh eye in his new book, SO WRONG FOR SO LONG: How the Press, the Pundits and the President Failed on Iraq.
Latest Podcast
Podcast 71: New Fiction from Elizabeth Strout and Adam Mansbach
May 13th, 2008
Host Francesca Rheannon talks with bestselling author Elizabeth Strout about her new book, OLIVE KITTREDGE. She uses the short story form to create a novel about the inhabitants of a coastal town in Maine.
Adam Mansbach explores the fluid nature of cultural identity in his new novel, THE END OF THE JEWS. He examines the thin line between appreciation and appropriation, as his largely Jewish characters connect with African American culture through jazz, graffiti art and hip-hop music.
