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On the 103rd anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, we talk with two authors who have written books about the war. Margaret Wagner talks about her illustrated history, America and The Great War (Bloomsbury 2017). Then Richard Rubin tells us about his journey to visit the former battlefields of WWI, recounted in his book, Back Over There. Continue reading
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Susan Quinn talks about her acclaimed book, Eleanor and Hick. It’s about the romance between Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Leonora Hick.
Then, on May 31 as this show was being produced, it was announced that Donald Trump is likely to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. We re-air our interview with Naomi Oreskes about the novel she co-wrote with Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future. It’s a speculative look at what inaction on the climate has done to our world, looking back from the year 2393.
And be sure to check out our Web Only interview with Inside Climate News Reporter Marianne Lavelle about the implications of pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and another blockbuster announcement May 31: the vote by Exxon shareholders to compel the company to report the impact of climate change on its bottom line. Continue reading
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Melissa Fleming talks about her book A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival. Then Alan Furst returns with a new thriller about the French Resistance during World War II. The book is A Hero of France. Continue reading
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We talk with journalist Dan Barry about his book The Boys In The Bunkhouse. It’s about the scores of mentally challenged men who were exploited and abused as turkey plant workers and kept as virtual prisoners for decades in a small town in Iowa and how they got rescued.
Then Andrew Nagorski tells us about the hunt to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. His book is The Nazi Hunters. Continue reading
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Richard Zacks talks about his new book about Mark Twain’s world lecture tour to get himself out of debt. It’s called Chasing the Last Laugh: Mark Twain’s Raucous and Redemptive Round-the-World Comedy Tour.
Then we re-air the 2012 interview Zacks gave Writers Voice in 2012 about his book Island of Vice. It’s about Teddy Roosevelt’s stint as New York City’s crusading anti-vice Police Commissioner. Continue reading
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We talk with novelist Robert Harris about the last book in his trilogy about the Roman statesman Cicero, Dictator. Then, economist James Galbraith tells us why he disagrees with the attacks on Gerald Friedman’s analysis of Senator Bernie Sanders’ economic plan. And finally, we pay tribute to Dr.Quentin Young, who passed away this week, with a clip from an interview Francesca did with him in 2009. Continue reading
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We talk with environmental earth scientist and writer Lauret Savoy about her stunning new book, Trace: Memory History, Race & The American Landscape. In it, Savoy examines how the country’s still unfolding history, and ideas of “race,” have marked her and the land — and what that history says about our relationships to each other and the places we inhabit. Continue reading
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Are we seeing the dawning of Pacific century? And what can its past teach us about its future? We talk with two authors today that feature the Pacific Ocean: first, Simon Winchester talks about his award-winning book, Pacific.
Then we talk with Pamela Rotner Sakamoto about  Midnight in Broad Daylight. It’s the true story of a Japanese-American family sundered by the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Continue reading
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Andrea Wulf talks about her bestselling new book, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World. It’s listed as one of the ten best books of 2015 by the New York Times. Then, we check in with journalist Jack Cushman of Inside Climate News about the historic climate pact out of Paris and how the just-passed omnibus spending bill will affect carbon emissions. Continue reading
Some picks for last minute book gifts from Writer’s Voice — even if the gift is just for you. Continue reading
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We talk with M.T. Anderson about his new book Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad. It tells the story of how Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony inspired the resistance of the people of Leningrad to one of the most brutal sieges in history, that mounted by Hitler’s Army in World War II.
And with the world climate talks happening in Paris, we consider the intersection between climate change — and terrorism. We air a clip from our 2011 interview with Christian Parenti about his book, Tropic of Chaos.
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Lou Ureneck talks about his book, The Great Fire. It tells the story of the burning of Smyrna by the Turks and the rescue of thousands of civilians by an American. We also talk with British novelist Lissa Evans about her dark comedy Crooked Heart, set in wartime London. It’s about a young refugee from the Blitz and his rescuer, a small time con artist. Continue reading
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Rosemary Sullivan talks about her extraordinary new biography of Svetlana Stalin, Stalin’s Daughter (Harper Collins, June 2015.)Â
Then, Russian Á©migrÁ© Elena Gorokhova explores the inner divide that splits the soul of the immigrant in her new memoir Russian Tattoo (Simon and Schuster, 2015). Continue reading
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David Flusfeder discusses his novel, John The Pupil. It’s about a medieval journey that prefigures the Renaissance era to come. And then another work of fiction that reimagines a historical figure:Â urban philosopher David Kishik talks about his book, The Manhattan Project. It imagines what Walter Benjamin would have written about New York had he succeeded in escaping to the US from Nazi-dominated Europe. Continue reading
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David Kishik
Urban philosopher David Kishik talks about his book, The Manhattan Project. It imagines what Walter Benjamin would have written about New York had he succeeded in escaping to the US from Nazi-dominated Europe. Continue reading