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We talk with Alyss Thomas about her guide to journaling: The Journal Writer’s Companion. Then, we check in with Thomas’ brother Gareth St. John Thomas about his terrific guide to learning and writing about a family member’s history. It’s called Finding True Connections.
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Today, we talk with spy fiction writer Alan Furst about his latest book, Under Occupation. Then we air excerpts from interviews we did with him about his previous novels, Spies of the Balkans and The Foreign Correspondent.
We also play a recording of a poem by the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, Waiting for the Barbarians, translated from the Greek by Edmund Keeley.
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Episode #573
We remember two authors we interviewed in years past who died in 2019. First, we re-play our 2009 interview with William Greider about his book, Come Home America. Greider passed away on Christmas Day 2019. We also hear from my 2011 interview with Harold Bloom, who also passed away in 2019.
Then, we dip into Francesca’s audio archive for an interview she did with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary in 2017 at an event honoring the Reverend Dr. William Barber — and we hear from Barber, as well, talking about his Poor People’s Campaign.
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Episode #572
It’s that time of year when media folks look back and try to pick out the Ten Best of whatever we produced or reviewed this year. You might as well gather them all up in a hat and toss the contents against the wall, we loved all our darlings so much.
But there were some standouts and so we winnowed down the list of about twenty to ten and then picked four to air excerpts from. Then we list the remaining six below.
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We talk with Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson about his new book, Why You Should Be A Socialist: A Primer On Democratic Socialism For Those Who Are Extremely Skeptical Of It.
Then, energy and conflict analyst Michael Klare tells us how the US military will have to change in the face of the climate catastrophe. His recent article in the Nation is “When the Climate Replaces Our Forever Wars.”
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We talk with Richard Louv, author of Last Child In The Woods, about his new book, OUR WILD CALLING: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives―and Save Theirs.
Then, we play an excerpt from our 2015 interview with Carl Safina about his book BEYOND WORDS, What Animals Think and Feel.
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We talk with historian David Silverman about his book This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving.
Then, we continue our Thanksgiving week tradition of hearing Native American storyteller and ethnohistorian Marge Bruchac talk about Thanksgiving from the Native point of view — and her re-telling of the Story of Corn.
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We talk with Mimi Lemay about her powerful memoir of a family with a transgender child, What We Will Become: A Mother, a Son, and a Journey of Transformation.
Then, we welcome a special guest to our show, Senator Sherrod Brown. He’ll tell us about his new book, Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America. It’s a celebration of eight former progressive senators who sat at the desk he occupies in the Senate.
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We spend the hour with legendary travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux, talking about his latest book, ON THE PLAIN OF SNAKES: A Mexican Journey. We also hear a poem by the renowned Mexican poet Javier Sicilia.
Our conversation with Paul Theroux takes us from the US border to the jungles of Chiapas, as Theroux tells us about the resilience of the Mexican people in the face of violence and bad government, the preservation of ancient traditions by the poorest communities and the inspiring rebellion in the south by the Zapatistas, who have created their own liberated territory.
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We talk with social justice scholar Monique Morris about her new book, Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls.
Then, as fire season in California becomes ever longer and more intense, some are saying the profit-driven utility ownership model just isn’t working. We talk with Ben Ehrenreich about his article in the Nation, “California Is Burning—Nationalize PG&E.”
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On the menu this week are two books, both with roots in South Asia and America, touching on two of the most central issues of our time: climate and immigration.
We talk first with acclaimed novelist and writer Amitav Ghosh about his newest work of fiction, Gun Island. Then, NPR-correspondent Aarti Shahani tells us about her stunning memoir of immigration to America — the dream and the nightmare. It’s called Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares. Continue reading
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We talk with Ryan Grim, correspondent for the Intercept about his fascinating new book, We’ve Got People: From Jesse Jackson to AOC, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement.
Then we check in with Jeet Heer about his take on the state of the Democratic Party after the last debate. His editorial in the Nation is “On a Crowded Stage, Democrats Divide Into Two Tribes.” Continue reading
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We spend the hour with Virginia Eubanks talking about her award-winning book Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. It’s about how the use of computerized algorithms are replacing human beings in deciding in who is or is not “worthy” of getting help — and destroying lives in the process. Continue reading
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We talk with John Nichols of the Nation about how the Congress should be proceeding on impeaching President Trump.
Then Bernie and Warren are friends. Should their supporters be? In a recent editorial in the Nation, D.D. Guttenplan says they should.
Finally, we check in with Les Leopold, author of Runaway Inequality and founder of runawayinequality.org about the current state of income and wealth inequality. Continue reading
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We talk with David Bollier about the new book he co-authored with Silke Helfrich, Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons.
But first, we tackle the toxic state public discourse and how to clean it up. We talk with James Hoggan about the new edition of his book, I’m Right and You’re An Idiot. Continue reading