Yearly Archives: 2014

Podcast

Karen Abbott, LIAR, TEMPTRESS, SOLDIER, SPY & Lois Leveen, THE SECRETS OF MARY BOWSER

Karen Abbott
Karen Abbott
Lois Leveen
Lois Leveen

Karen Abbott talks about her latest book, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. It’s about four courageous women of the Civil War who made history. And later, we replay our 2013 interview with Lois Leveen about her novel, The Secrets of Mary Bowser. It’s about an African American ex-slave who was a Union spy right inside the Confederate White House.

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Podcast

Naomi Oreskes, THE COLLAPSE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION & Dr. James Hansen, STORMS OF MY GRANDCHILDREN

Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes
Dr. James Hansen
Dr. James Hansen

Naomi Oreskes talks about the speculative novel she co-wrote with Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future. Then, as the world prepares for climate talks and the People’s climate march in New York City, we hear our 2010 interview with climatologist Dr. James Hansen.

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Podcast

Paul Ehrlich, HOPE ON EARTH & Ryan Mitchell, TINY HOUSE LIVING

Paul R. Ehrlich
Paul R. Ehrlich
Ryan Mitchell
Ryan Mitchell

World-renowned biologist Paul Ehrlich of The Population Bomb fame talks about his new book (with Michael Charles Tobias) Hope on Earth: A Conversation. And Ryan Mitchell discusses Tiny House Living: Ideas For Building and Living Well In Less than 400 Square Feet.

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Podcast

Thrity Umrigar, THE STORY HOUR & THE WORLD WE FOUND

Thrity Umrigar
Thrity Umrigar

19144598WV spends the hour with Indian-born novelist Thrity Umrigar, talking about her latest work of fiction, THE STORY HOUR (Harper Collins, August 2014) and her 2012 novel, THE WORLD WE FOUND. Also, we air a sneak preview from next week’s show: a conversation with scientist Paul Ehrlich about HOPE ON EARTH.

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Web Extras

Kathy Engel reads “Harvesting Strawberries”

Kathy Engel
Kathy Engel

Poet Kathy Engel reads her poem “Harvesting Strawberries.”

Harvesting Strawberries

In summer
my teenage daughters
hair waving freckles,
legs and arms swinging,
walk barefoot to the garden in our back yard,
pick greens,
wash them, make salad
or cook with olive oil and garlic
and we eat together
on the wooden table under the mimosa tree
beside hammocks and chimes,
then drive or walk three miles to plunge in the Atlantic.
On January 4, 2005
six Palestinian children ages eleven to seventeen
harvesting strawberries
were killed by Israeli military
paid, in part, with dollars we send in taxes
from our jobs.
A newspaper photo showed an almond eyed boy
carrying the body of his younger brother.
The children were harvesting strawberries.

Kathy Engel January 6, 2005

(Thanks to East End Report for the audio and text.)

Podcast

Nell Bernstein, BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE & Kathy Engel on poetry for peace

Kathy Engel
Nell Bernstein
Kathy Engel
Kathy Engel

Nell Bernstein talks about her book, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison (New Press.) And we hear from poet Kathy Engel about using poetry to promote peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Podcast

Martin Blank, OVERPOWERED & Greg Palast, VULTURE’S PICNIC

Martin Blank
Martin Blank
Greg Palast
Greg Palast

Martin Blank talks about the dangers of cell phones,microwaves and other devices that emit electromagnetic radiation. His book is Overpowered: The Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMF) and What You Can Do about It.

And Argentina teeters on the brink of default because of hedge fund vultures like Paul Singer, who buy up national debt for pennies on the dollar and then demand payment in full. Today WV re-airs a 2011 interview with investigative journalist Greg Palast about his book, Vulture’s Picnic. Continue reading

Podcast

Suzanna Danuta Walters, THE TOLERANCE TRAP & Alex Sinha ,“With Liberty To Monitor All”

Suzanna Danuta Walters
Suzanna Danuta Walters
Alex Sinha
Alex Sinha

Suzanna Danuta Walters discusses her groundbreaking new book The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions are Sabotaging Gay Equality. And a new report “With Liberty To Monitor All” from Human Rights Watch says government surveillance is threatening the rights of journalists and their public, as well as lawyers and their clients. We talk with the report’s author, Alex Sinha.

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Podcast

Laurie David, FED UP & Nina Planck, THE REAL FOOD COOKBOOK

Laurie David
Laurie David
Nina Planck
Nina Planck

Laurie David talks about her new film, FED UP, a documentary about our toxic industrial food system. It’s out with a companion cookbook, THE FAMILY COOKS. And real food maven Nina Planck says grass-fed meat and dairy are good for you. (She loves organic veggies, too.) Her new book of recipes is THE REAL FOOD COOKBOOK.

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Podcast

Bob Ivry, THE SEVEN SINS OF WALL STREET & Summer Reading List

Ivryphoto
Bob Ivry

IvrySevenSinscoverBloomberg News financial journalist Bob Ivry talks about his book, The Seven Sins of Wall Street: Big Banks, their Washington Lackeys, and the Next Financial Crisis (PublicAffairs.)We also have our picks for summer reading.

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Podcast

Dr. Sharon Moalem, INHERITANCE & David Shenk, THE GENIUS IN ALL OF US

Dr. Sharon Moalem
Dr. Sharon Moalem
David Shenk
David Shenk

Dr. Sharon Moalem talks about how nature and nurture impact our genes. His book is Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives and Our Lives Change Our Genes.

And we re-air our 2010 interview with journalist David Shenk about his book The Genius In All Of Us: Why Everything We’ve Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Are Wrong.

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Podcast

Elizabeth Kolbert, THE SIXTH EXTINCTION & Annalee Newitz, SCATTER, ADAPT AND REMEMBER

Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz
Elizabeth Kolbert
Elizabeth Kolbert

Science reporter Elizabeth Kolbert talks about her book,The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. And Annalee Newitz discusses the prospects for human survival amid the mass extinction we are causing. Her book is Scatter, Adapt and Remember.

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Podcast

Boris Fishman, A REPLACEMENT LIFE & John Cushman, KEYSTONE AND BEYOND

Boris Fishman
Boris Fishman
John Cushman
John Cushman

Boris Fishman talks about his terrific debut novel about coming of age as an immigrant in America, A REPLACEMENT LIFE.

And Obama just announced a get-tough policy on carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. Now the question is, will he or won’t he on the Keystone XL pipeline? John Cushman of Inside Climate News tells the story leading up to Obama’s predicament on the pipeline and where he might go in the future. Cushman’s new e-book is KEYSTONE AND BEYOND.

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Podcast

Scott Chaskey, SEEDTIME

Scott Chaskey
Scott Chaskey

Seedtime cvrPoet and farmer Scott Chaskey talks about his new book, Seedtime: The History, Husbandry, Politics and Promise of Seeds.

In the book, Chaskey considers “the web of biodiversity and resilience at the heart of our cultural inheritance” by weaving history, politics, botany, literature, mythology, and memoir into his profoundly moving book.

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Podcast

James Romm, DYING EVERY DAY & Robert Knapp, INVISIBLE ROMANS

s200_james.romm
James Romm
Robert Knapp
Robert Knapp

Who was the real Seneca — the moral philosopher or the power broker to the Roman emperor? That’s what historian James Romm explores in his book, DYING EVERY DAY: Seneca at the Court of Nero.

And Nero and Seneca were the elite. But what about the other 99%? Historian Robert Knapp talks about the common people of ancient Rome in his book, INVISIBLE ROMANS.

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