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. View all posts by Francesca Rheannon →

Women Writing Powerfully About Women’s Lives

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Chimamanda Adichie

Honor Moore

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about her stunning collection of stories [amazon-product text=”THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK” type=”text”]0307271072[/amazon-product]. And poet Honor Moore reads from and tells us about [amazon-product text=”POEMS FROM THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT” type=”text”]1598530429[/amazon-product]. Our guests use fiction (Adichie) and poetry (Moore) to evoke the lives of women with power, honesty and grace. Continue reading →

Looking at New York City, Before and After 9/11

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Max Page

Patrick Radden Keefe

Host Francesca Rheannon talks with architectural historian Max Page about [amazon-product text=”THE CITYS END: Two Centuries of Fantasies, Fears, and Premonitions of New York’s Destruction” type=”text”]030011026X[/amazon-product]. And journalist Patrick Radden Keefe tells us the story of China’s outmigration to New York in the 1980’s and the “snakeheads” who facilitated and exploited it. His book is [amazon-product text=”SNAKEHEAD: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream” type=”text”]0385521308[/amazon-product].
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LIFE, INC. and Washington Sex Scandals, too

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Douglas Rushkoff

jeff-sharlet — Jeff Sharlet

Media critic Doug Rushkoff talks about LIFE, INC. and Jeff Sharlet, author of THE FAMILY, returns for another interview, updating us on how the sex scandals in Washington are splitting the Christian Right.
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Human Spaces and Liveable Cities

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Rutherford Platt

Colin Ellard

We talk with scientist Colin Ellard about [amazon-product text=”YOU ARE HERE: Why We Can Find Our Way To The Moon But Get Lost At The Mall” type=”text”]038552806X[/amazon-product].

And urban geographer Rutherford Platt tells us about [amazon-product text=”The Humane Metropolis: People And Nature in the Twenty-first Century City” type=”text”]1558495541[/amazon-product].

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SO SEXY SO SOON, Jean Kilbourne & HOLD LOVE STRONG, Matthew Aaron Goodman

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Jean Kilbourne

Writers Voice host Francesca Rheannon talks withÂ Dr. Jean Kilbourne aboutÂ [amazon-product text=”SO SEXY SO SOON: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids” type=”text”]0345505077[/amazon-product]. Also this week, Francesca speaks with Matthew Aaron Goodman about his debut novelÂ [amazon-product text=”HOLD LOVE STRONG” type=”text”]1416562036[/amazon-product].

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Richard Wilbur: Great American Poet

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Richard Wilbur

We speak with former U.S. Poet Laureate Richard Wilbur about new poems and old, the art of translation, and his evolution as a poet. Â Richard Wilbur is one of America’s greatest living poets. He earned the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry twice, once in 1957 and then again in 1989, and was named the U.S. Poet Laureate in 1987. Wilbur also reads from his work for us.

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Food Security and Insecurity

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Robin Wheeler

Sasha Abramsky

We talk with journalist Sasha Abramsky about his new book [amazon-product text=”BREADLINE USA: The Hidden Scandal of American Hunger and How to Fix It” type=”text”]0981709117[/amazon-product]. Â And sustainability expert Robin Wheeler talks about her book, [amazon-product text=”FOOD SECURITY FOR THE FAINT AT HEART” type=”text”]0865716242[/amazon-product].

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Les Leopold and Barney Frank: Wall Street and THE LOOTING OF AMERICA

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Les Leopold

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Everything you want to know about instruments of financial mass destruction — but were afraid to ask! Les Leopold explains the financial meltdown in plain English — and what we should do about it.Â Also, Representative Representative Barney Frank talks about theÂ TARP.

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THE BROTHER GARDENERS and OUT OF SIGHT

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Sara Felder

Andrea Wulf

We talk with design historian and writer Andrea Wulf about THE BROTHER GARDENERS. Also, playwright and juggler Sara Feldman tells us about her new play OUT OF SIGHT,Â playing at the Ko Festival of Performance in Amherst from July 24-26. Continue reading →

Curious Garden & Arecelis Girmay

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Arecelis Girmay

Peter Brown

Francesca Rheannon talks with children’s book author and illustrator Peter Brown about [amazon-product text=”THE CURIOUS GARDEN” type=”text”]0316015474[/amazon-product] and Katy Lorah of Friends of The High Line. Also, poet Arecelis Girmay talks with guest host, Christian MacEwen.Â Continue reading →

Jacqueline Sheehan

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Jacqueline Sheehan

Jacqueline Sheehan talks about her new novel, NOW AND THEN. And host Francesca Rheannon talks with Sheehan about her previous novel, LOST AND FOUND in an archived interview from 2007.

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Stephan Faris, FORECAST & Leonard Nimoy

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Stephan Faris

We talk with journalist Stephan Faris about his book, Forecast: The Consequences of Climate Change, from the Amazon to the Arctic, from Darfur to Napa Valley. We also air excerpts fromÂ an archived interview with actor Leonard Nimoy about his work as a photographer.

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Welsh Poet Gwyneth Lewis and Marshall Jon Fisher’s A TERRIBLE SPLENDOR

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Marshall Jon Fisher

Gwyneth Lewis

Guest host Christian McEwen talks with Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis and Francesca Rheannon talks with Marshall Jon Fisher about one of the greatest tennis matches ever played: the 1937 Davis Cup final at Wimbledon. His book is A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played. Continue reading →

Freedom and Democracy

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liang Diane Wei Liang talks about her memoir of Tienanmin Square, LAKE WITH NO NAME. And we talk with Anthony Lake about the First Amendment andÂ FREEDOM FOR THE THOUGHT WE HATE. Continue reading →

Poet Paul Muldoon and drama Voices in Conflict

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Paul Muldoon

Guest host Christian McEwen interviews Paul Muldoon, poet and poetry editor of The New Yorker. And Francesca Rheannon talks with the director and cast members of a new production of the documentary play Voices in Conflict. It’s being presented by the New Century Theatre in western Massachusetts. Continue reading →