Clinical psychologist Bruce E. Levine joins us to talk about his book, SURVIVING AMERICA’S DEPRESSION EPIDEMIC: How to Find Morale, Energy, and Community in a World Gone Crazy.
Also, a preview of a conversation with George Monbiot we’ll be airing later in the season about his book, HEAT: How to Stop the Planet from Burning.
We have an in-depth conversation with author John J. Clayton about his wonderful short story collection, WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: New and Collected Stories and he reads from several of his favorite stories in the book. It deals with universal themes of loss and spiritual redemption, acceptance, fading ideals, as well as with contemporary struggles of Jewish life and family. Clayton has been writing fiction since 1969 and teaches modern literature and fiction writing at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He’s won the O’Henry and Pushcart Prizes for short stories as well as a place in Best American Short Stories anthologies.
Middle East expert Vali Nasr talks about THE SHIA REVIVAL: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future in this engrossing interview with Francesca Rheannon.
Iranian-born scholar Vali Nasr recently went to work for the Obama Adminstration’s Richard Holbrooke as a special representative on Af-Pak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) affairs. We talked to him in 2007 about his book The Shia Revival. It’s about how conflicts within Islam — notably the Shia and Sunni sects and the respective countries they dominate — “will shape the future”. He was just featured in the September 28, 2009 issue of The New Yorker, in an article by George Packer about Holbrooke, “The Last Mission.”
He covers the history of the Shia-Sunni split and says the Shia’s rise (aided by the Bush Administration’s misadventure in Iraq and destruction of Saddam’s Sunni dictatorship) encompasses Lebanon and Syria through the Persian Gulf to Iraq and Iran, and finally Pakistan and India.
His new book, just out, is[amazon-product text=”Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World” type=”text”]1416589686[/amazon-product]. You can also watch Nasar getting funny with John Stewart on The Daily Show recently:
Literary sensation Junot Diaz talks about his acclaimed novel, THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO. Also, Laraine Herring on writing. Her book is WRITING BEGINS WITH THE BREATH: Embodying Your Authentic Voice.
Diana Preston tells us about TAJ MAHAL: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire. She co-wrote the book with her husband, Michael Preston.
And the final episode in our series on Jaime de Angulo’s INDIAN TALES, thanks to the Pacifica Archives. Also, Native American storyteller tells the story of corn and takes us on a tour the traces of Native peoples who lived in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Also, we continue our month-long series on Jaime de Angulo’s INDIAN TALES, thanks to the Pacifica Archives and Writer’s Voice associate producer, Michael Pollitt.
We talk with historian Debby Applegate about her acclaimed biography of 19th century evangelist of the “Gospel of Love” Henry Ward Beecher, THE MOST FAMOUS MAN IN AMERICA.
Also, an excerpt from our archived interview with Marge Piercy about her novel, SEX WARS, in which Beecher is a character.