Monthly Archives: April 2008

Podcast

Nicholson Baker’s HUMAN SMOKE and more…

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Nicholson Baker
Nicholson Baker

Host Francesca Rheannon talks with Nicholson Baker about his acclaimed new book, [amazon-product text=”HUMAN SMOKE: The Beginnings of World War II; The End of Civilization” type=”text”]1416567844[/amazon-product].

[amazon-product align=”right”]1416567844[/amazon-product]

In a departure from his usual genre, fiction, Baker turns his eye for telling detail to an examination of the cavalier disregard for the human consequences of war by leaders on all sides of the conflict. We hear about how Churchill’s warmongering and Roosevelt’s anti-Semitism exacerbated the war’s civilian toll. We also hear of the courage of a few who dared to speak against the headlong rush to battle.

Also, we air an excerpt from our 2006 interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Maxine Kumin.

Podcast

Mark Eleveld, The Spoken Word Revolution Redux

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Hip-hop, poetry slams, and more: it’s the SPOKEN WORD REVOLUTION REDUX. We talk with editor Mark Eleveld about poetry in performance and hear cuts off the CD accompanying the book.

 

Podcast

Connie Hale of the Nieman Center

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Connie Hale
Connie Hale

In March of 2008, Writer’s Voice host went to the Nieman Foundation’s Conference on Narrative Journalism. In this show segment, we talk with Nieman narrative program director Connie Hale about what “narrative journalism” is all about.

Podcast

AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON and AGAINST THE MACHINE

Our theme is cultural decline and what to do about it. We talk with cultural critic Susan Jacoby about THE AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON. And former New Republic editor and author Lee Siegel talks about the unintended consequences of the digital age. His book is AGAINST THE MACHINE: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. Continue reading →

Podcast

Philip Fradkin and Rutherford Platt

We talk with biographer Philip Fradkin about the life of Wallace Stegner, writer and environmentalist extraordinaire. His book is WALLACE STEGNER AND THE AMERICAN WEST.
You can read a New York Times review of Fradkin’s book (which says a lot more about Stegner than about the biography) here. And for the first chapter, go here.

Also, urban geographer Rutherford Platt tells us about how to make cities that are sustainable and a pleasure to live in. Editor of the THE HUMANE METROPOLIS, he’s the founder of the Ecological Cities
Project at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.