Monthly Archives: September 2025

Podcast

HOLY GROUND & A YEAR OF COMPASSION: Catherine Coleman Flowers and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau on Justice, Hope, and Living Kindly

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

This episode of Writer’s Voice explores two inspiring approaches to building a more just and compassionate world. It’s part of September’s WV programming in honor of Climate Week. Two nationwide mobilizations are happening for Climate Week: Make Billionaires Pay and Sun Day.

First, environmental activist Catherine Coleman Flowers tells us about her new memoir Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, And Finding Hope. She shares her journey from Lowndes County, Alabama to the national stage, her deep roots in faith and family, and her fight for sanitation justice, climate action, and dignity for all.

“In the darkest of times, hope is still possible. Indeed, it is essential.” — Catherine Coleman Flowers

Then, vegan advocate Colleen Patrick-Goudreau joins us to talk about her book A Year of Compassion: 52 Weeks of Living Zero-Waste, Plant-Based, and Cruelty-Free. She offers practical steps to live with compassion for animals, people, and the planet—showing that small changes add up to big impacts.

“We don’t get to choose whether we can make a difference or not. We get to choose only if the difference we make is negative or positive.” — Colleen Patrick Goudreau

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

Key Words: Catherine Coleman Flowers Holy Ground, environmental justice, sanitation justice, climate change activism, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau A Year of Compassion, plant-based living, vegan lifestyle tips, zero waste, plastic reduction, food waste composting,

You might also like: Naomi Klein: Climate Changes Everything, Melanie Joy, WHY WE LOVE DOGS, EAT PIGS, AND WEAR COWS

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Podcast

Dickens the Enchanter & Plato and the Tyrant: Peter Conrad and James Romm on Imagination, Power, and Authoritarianism

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, we explore the lives and legacies of two giants—Charles Dickens and Plato—through the eyes of authors who reveal new dimensions of their work.

Cultural historian Peter Conrad tells us about his biography, Dickens the Enchanter: Dickens didn’t just depict Victorian society—he conjured an entire imaginative universe he called “Planet Dick.” Conrad examines Dickens as an enchanter, social critic, and visionary.

“What he was creating was not some sort of mirror or model of a world that already existed as other 19th century novelists were doing…He was creating an autonomous world, a world of his own, almost a science fiction world.” — Peter Conrad

Then, historian James Romm joins us to talk about Plato and the Tyrant. He shows how Plato’s philosophy wasn’t just abstract theory—it was shaped by his fraught entanglement with tyrants in ancient Syracuse. Romm uncovers how those experiences influenced The Republic and still echo in our contemporary struggles with democracy and authoritarianism.

“My students at Bard saw the dark side of the Republic, its authoritarianism, its interest in censorship, thought control, regulation of private life on a scale that I’ve compared in my book to that of modern North Korea.” — James Romm

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

Key Words:

Peter Conrad Dickens the Enchanter, Charles Dickens biography, Dickens Planet Dick, James Romm Plato and the Tyrant, Plato Republic, philosopher king, Syracuse Dionysius, democracy vs autocracy, Writer’s Voice Francesca Rheannon

You might also like: James Romm, THE SACRED BAND, James Romm, DYING EVERY DAY

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