WYPL Book Talk

Mark Greaney - Sentinel

 

Mark Greaney is best known for his Grey Man series starring the burned CIA operator turned assassin Court Gentry. But today we’ll be discussing the second book in his other series, starring Josh and Nicole Duffy. The first book Armored came out in 2022, and today we’ll be talking about Sentinel which is newly available from Berkely Books. 

Kathleen Duval - Native Nations, Part 3

 

Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today is the final installment of a special three-part interview about her recently released book, Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, which is available from Random House. 

Kathleen Duval - Native Nations, Part 2

 

 

Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today is the second installment of a special three-part interview about her recently released book, Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, which is available from Random House. 

Kathleen Duval - Native Nations, Part 1

 

 

Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today we begin our conversation about her recently released book, Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, which is available from Random House. 

Hampton Sides - The Wide Wide Sea, Part 2

Hampton Sides is a veteran journalist and non-fiction writer, with his work appearing in many publications, including National Geographic and Outside magazine. Book Talk listeners may best know him for his appearances discussing his titles like, Hellhound on His Trail, Blood and Thunder, and In the Kingdom of Ice. Today, we will begin a two-part interview talking about his latest book, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, which is published by Doubleday. 

Hampton Sides - The Wide Wide Sea, Part 1

Hampton Sides is a veteran journalist and non-fiction writer, with his work appearing in many publications, including National Geographic and Outside magazine. Book Talk listeners may best know him for his appearances discussing his titles like, Hellhound on His Trail, Blood and Thunder, and In the Kingdom of Ice. Today, we will begin a two-part interview talking about his latest book, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, which is published by Doubleday. 

Sara Koffi - While We Were Burning

 

Sara Koffi is a native of Memphis, who currently calls western Pennsylvania home. We’ll be discussing her debut, a thriller called, While We Were Burning, which is set in Harbor Town, one of the few majority-white neighborhoods in Memphis, and how that lack of integration exacerbates the grief felt by the leading women characters, both black and white.

Alice Randall - My Black Country, Part 2

 

This is the second of a two-part interview with, Alice Randall, who is best known for her best-selling novels The Wind Done Gone, Rebel Yell, Black Bottom Saints and others. But before writing prose, Alice wrote country songs in Nashville, including "XXXs and OOOs", which went to top the charts for Trisha Yearwood, making Alice the first African-American woman to write a number one country hit record. Her new book, My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future, interweaves her life story and the history of African-American musicians who helped make country music what it is today, despite attempts at sidelining or erasing their contributions. Also, the CD and vinyl of My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall is available from Oh Boy Records.

 

Alice Randall - My Black Country, Part 1

 

Book lovers know Alice Randall for her best-selling novels including The Wind Done Gone, Rebel Yell, Black Bottom Saints and others. But before writing prose, Alice wrote country songs in Nashville, including "XXXs and OOOs", which went to top the charts for Trisha Yearwood, making Alice the first African-American woman to write a number one country hit record. Her new book, My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future, interweaves her life story and the history of African-American musicians who helped make country music what it is today, despite attempts at sidelining or erasing their contributions. Also, the CD and vinyl of My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall is available from Oh Boy Records.

 

Dr. SunAh Laybourn - Out of Place

Dr. SunAh M. Laybourn is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Memphis. Her research has been published in Ethnic & Racial Studies, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Sociology Compass, and Asian Pacific American Law Journal. Her co-authored book entitled, Diversity in Black Greek-Letter Organizations: Breaking the Line, was published by Routledge in 2018. Today we will be discussing her new book, Out of Place: The Lives of Korean Adoptee Immigrants which is published by NYU press. 

 

Kurt Wagner - Battle for the Bird, Part 2

 

We welcome Kurt Wagner back for the second of a two-part interview today. Kurt is an award-winning business and technology journalist covering social media for Bloomberg and has been writing about Twitter and other social media companies and their impacts on society since 2013. Kurt’s debut book is Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter's Soul, which is published by Simon & Schuster.  

 

Kurt Wagner - Battle for the Bird, Part 1

 

We happily welcome Kurt Wagner for the first of a two-part interview today. Kurt is an award-winning business and technology journalist covering social media for Bloomberg and has been writing about Twitter and other social media companies and their impacts on society since 2013. Kurt’s debut book is Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter's Soul, which is published by Simon & Schuster.  

 

Mark Greaney - The Chaos Agent

Mark Greaney is now best known for his long-running Grey Man series, starring the burned CIA op, Court Gentry. And as a special treat, Mark brought along his editor, Tom Colgan, who is Vice President, Editorial Director for Berkley Books. Today we’ll be talking about entry number 13 in the series, The Chaos Agent.

 

Louis Ferrante - Borgata: Rise of Empire

Guest host Matt Ward welcomes retired gangster and current historian Louis Ferrante on for an epic two-hour interview. Ferrante's new book is Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia, first part of the planned Borgata Trilogy) covering the Mafia's first one hundred years, from 1860's Sicily to 1960's America.

Brad Taylor - Dead Man's Hand

 

Prior to becoming a best-selling thriller writer, Brad Taylor served in the U.S. Army for twenty-one years retiring as a lieutenant colonel after serving in several special-forces capacities in multiple deployments around the globe. His Pike Logan thriller series began in 2011 with One Rough Man, and today we’ll talk about the 18th entry, Dead Man’s Hand, which is published by William Morrow. 

Vanessa Sasson - The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women

Dr. David Mason is back today as guest host. Dave is a professor of religious studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. This week he speaks with a returning guest, Dr. Vanessa Sasson, who is also a professor of religious studies, but at Marianopolis College in Quebec. They last spoke about her debut novel, Yasodhara, and today they will be discussing her most recent work of historical fiction, The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women, which is available from Equinox Publishing. 

 

Avery Cunningham - The Mayor Maxwell Street

Avery Cunningham joins me to discuss her debut novel, The Mayor of Maxwell Street which is published by Hyperion. A native of Jackson, TN and now a resident of Memphis, Avery has crafted a tale set in the early 1920s in Chicago, as the wealthiest African-American families have gathered for the funeral of the son of the richest black man in the nation. The Sawyer family’s daughter, Nelly, only wants to become a journalist, but her parents have other plans for her future, as she chases after the most mysterious criminal in Chicago’s underworld, The Mayor of Mawell Street. 

 

Fergus Bordewich - Klan War - Part 2

Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century. Today we wrap up with the second of our two-part conversation about his latest book, KLAN WAR: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction which is published by Knopf. 

 

Fergus Bordewich - Klan War - Part 1

Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentieth Century. Today we begin the first of our two-part conversation about his latest book, KLAN WAR: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction which is published by Knopf. 

 

Martin Clark - The Plinko Bounce - Part 2

 

 

Martin Clark is a retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia and is the author of six novels, including Plain Heathen Mischief and The Jezebel Remedy. Today is the conclusion of a two-part interview about his newest novel, The Plinko Bounce which is published by Rare Bird Books.