All posts by Francesca Rheannon

About Francesca Rheannon

Francesca Rheannon is an award-winning independent radio producer. In addition to hosting Writer's Voice, she's a freelance reporter for National Public Radio and its affiliates. Recipient of the prestigious Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for reporting on substance abuse issues for her news series, VOICES OF HIV, produced for 88.5 WFCR public radio in western Massachusetts. She is also finishing a book on Provence (PROVINCE OF THE HEART) and working on a memoir of her father, THE ARGONAUTS.

Podcast

Dr. Michael Okun, ENDING PARKINSON’S DISEASE & Lionel Shriver, SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO

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Parkinson’s disease. It’s an epidemic—and growing. We talk with Dr. Michael Okun about the book he co-authored, Ending Parkinson’s Disease: A Prescription for Action. He tells us about symptoms, causes, and new treatments.

But first, we talk with novelist Lionel Shriver about her latest foray into burning questions for our times. This one asks, as per its title, Should We Stay Or Should We Go. Should we cut our lives short before reaching possible decrepitude or should we stick around for come what may?

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

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Judy Batalion, THE LIGHT OF DAYS & Lissa Evans, V FOR VICTORY

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We talk with Judy Batalion about her book, The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos.

Then, another WWII story—this time fiction—told through an unforgettable cast of characters: we talk with Lissa Evans about V for Victory, the sequel to Crooked Heart.

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Podcast

Carey Gillam, THE MONSANTO PAPERS & John Englander, MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND

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We talk with Carey Gillam about her page-turning follow-up to Whitewash, The Monsanto Papers: Deadly Secrets, Corporate Corruption, and One Man’s Search for Justice. It’s about the groundbreaking case of school groundskeeper Lee Johnson—how he sued Monsanto and won.

Then, sea level rise is happening—and it’s affecting way more than just coastal communities. That means millions are going to have to move to higher ground. We talk with John Englander about how fast sea level rise is happening and what communities can do about it. His book is Moving to Higher Ground: Rising Sea Level and the Path Forward. Continue reading →

Podcast

Michaeleen Doucleff, HUNT, GATHER, PARENT & Sherry Turkle, THE EMPATHY DIARIES

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What do the oldest cultures in the world have to teach us about raising happy, well-adjusted children? Michaeleen Doucleff tells us, as she talks about her book, Hunt, Gather, Parent.

Then, a leading social psychologist reveals the family secrets that drove her to study how technology is eroding human connections. Sherry Turkle tells us about her fascinating memoir, The Empathy Diaries.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Milo Beckman, MATH WITHOUT NUMBERS & Giles Sparrow, A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE IN 21 STARS

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We talk with Milo Beckman about his book, Math Without Numbers. It’s a conversational guide to the three main branches of abstract math—topology, analysis, and algebra.

Then, we go from math to astronomy as we talk with science writer Giles Sparrow about his new book, A History of the Universe in 21 Stars: (and Three Imposters).

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Carl Hart, DRUG USE FOR GROWNUPS & Hari Ziyad, BLACK BOY OUT OF TIME

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We talk with Carl Hart about his book, Drug Use For Grownups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear.

We also talk with Hari Ziyad about their memoir, Black Boy Out Of Time. It’s about growing up Black and queer in a family of Hari Krishna adherents.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Podcast

Julia Fine, THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE & Lisa Scottoline, ETERNAL

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We talk with Julia Fine about her genre-bending novel The Upstairs House. It’s about a new mother’s postpartum depression—and her obsession with Margaret Wise Brown, the author of Goodnight Moon.

Then best-selling legal thriller novelist Lisa Scottoline tells us about her first foray into writing historical fiction, Eternal. It’s about a love triangle between three young friends in Rome during Mussolini’s Fascist regime.

We also hear poet Martin Espada read his poem The Fugitive Poets of Fenway Park.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or on Twitter @WritersVoice.
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Eliot Peper, VEIL & Paul Greenberg, THE CLIMATE DIET

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We talk with Eliot Peper about his cli-fi novel, Veil. It’s about what happens when a tech CEO decides to geo-engineer the climate—in secret.

Then, we catch up with author Paul Greenberg about The Climate Diet: 50 Simple Ways to Trim Your Carbon Footprint. It’s just out for Earth Day.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.
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Podcast

Simon Winchester, LAND & Isabella Tree, WILDING

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We spend most of the hour talking with Simon Winchester about his new book Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World.

LISTEN HERE

Then we revisit part of our 2020 interview with one of the people Winchester talks about in Land, Isabella Tree. She tells us of the land she’s re-wilded. Her book is Wilding: the Return of Nature to a British Farm.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Podcast

Anna North OUTLAWED & Emily St. John Mandel, THE GLASS HOTEL

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We talk with Anna North about her acclaimed new novel, Outlawed. It’s about an alternate reality 1890s Hole in the Wall Gang—this one, run as a feminist collective.

Then Emily St. John Mandel is back from her triumph with Station Eleven with another exploration of catastrophe, this time the 2008 financial collapse. It’s called The Glass Hotel.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Podcast

Nancy Folbre, The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems & Catherine Rothenberg & Lynne Segal, The Care Manifesto

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The Crisis in Care and How to Solve It

We talk with feminist economist and MacArthur Fellow Nancy Folbre about her new book, The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems. She writes about the political economy of care provision, including at her blog Care Talk.

Then, Catherine Rothenberg and Lynne Segal talk about The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence. It’s about the global crisis of care and how to solve it.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Elizabeth Kolbert, UNDER A WHITE SKY & Ian Shive, THE LAST UNKNOWN

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New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert talks about her new book Under A White Sky: The Nature of the Future.

Then, wildlife photographer extraordinaire Ian Shive goes to the volcanic Aleutian islands of Alaska to tell us about the stunning new documentary he’s in, The Last Unknown. It’s streaming now on Discovery2.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Suketu Mehta, THIS LAND IS OUR LAND & Lew Daly, FALSE SOLUTIONS

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We talk with Suketu Mehta about his powerful book, This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant Manifesto.

Then, we speak with researcher Lew Daly about his report on some of the false solutions being proposed in the Green energy space.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Abdul El Sayed & Micah Johnson, MEDICARE FOR ALL: A Citizen’s Guide & Norton Juster Remembered

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We talk with Dr. Micah Johnson and Dr. Abdul El Sayed about their book, Medicare For All: A Citizen’s Guide.

Then, we remember Norton Juster, the author of the beloved children’s classic, The Phantom Toll Booth. He died March 9. We air a gem of an excerpt from our 2005 interview with him.

NEWSFLASH! Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell will reintroduce their Medicare for All bill on March 17. This is several months earlier than we reported in this episode. The timeline was moved up!

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!
Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Podcast

Dean Spade, MUTUAL AID & Rachel Louise Snyder, NO VISIBLE BRUISES

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We talk with Dean Spade about his book Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (And The Next).

Then, at a time when domestic violence is skyrocketing, we re-air our 2019 interview with Rachel Louise Snyder. Her book is No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use!

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, find us on Vurbl, or on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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