WYPL Book Talk

 

Guest host Dr. David Mason is back to host a special two-part interview with historian Dr. Manan Ahmed Asif. Dr. Ahmed is an associate professor of history at Columbia University. A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia,  Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Pakistan and the American Imagination, and The Loss of Hindustan. He and Dr. Mason will begin their conversation today about his latest title: Disrupted City: Walking the Pathways of Memory and History in Lahore which is published by the New Press. 

 

We are honored to welcome Rachel Kushner to the program today. Rachel is an award-winning novelist, whose previous work includes the novels, Telex from Cuba, The Flame Throwers and The Mars Room, as well as the collection of essays, The Hard Crowd. Today we’ll be discussing her recent acclaimed novel, Creation Lake, which is published by Scribner. 

We welcome Dr. Russell Muirhead back to the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Russel is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics and Co-Director, Political Economy Project at Dartmouth College. He has many publications, including two books co-written with Dr. Nancy L. Rosenblum, who is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emerita at Harvard University. Their first title together was 2019’s A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy and recently Princeton University Press released Ungoverning: The Politics of Chaos and the Attack on the Administrative State which we will conclude discussing today. 

 

We welcome Dr. Russell Muirhead to the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Russel is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics and Co-Director, Political Economy Project at Dartmouth College. He has many publications, including two books co-written with Dr. Nancy L. Rosenblum, who is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emerita at Harvard University. Their first title together was 2019’s A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy and recently Princeton University Press released Ungoverning: The Politics of Chaos and the Attack on the Administrative State which we will discuss today and next time. 

 

Eugenia Bone previously appeared on the show to talk about her books, The Kitchen Ecosystem: Integrating Recipes to Create Delicious Meals and Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms. It’s been ten years since her last time with us, and today, we’ll be discussing her most recent title Have a Good Trip: Exploring the Magic Mushroom Experience which is published by Flat Iron Books. A note, the possession and use of psilocybe mushrooms is illegal in most of the United States, including Book Talk’s home state of Tennessee. A couple of states are exploring medical usage of them and several, mainly college towns, have decriminalized possession. These are the early days of scientific research, and Book Talk makes no claims on their efficacy, and strongly warns against possession and use where such is in violation of the laws of one’s jurisdiction. 

 

 

Charles Bock was last on Book Talk for his debut novel, Beautiful Children, which won the 2009 Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His second novel was Alice and Oliver. Today, we’re talking about his recent memoir, I Will Do Better: A Father’s Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love published by Harry N. Abrams, which is distributed by Hachette. 

 

We welcome Charles King back to the program today for the final segment of a special three-part interview. Charles is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. Today we will continue to discuss Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which is published by Doubleday and was just named to the New York Times 100 Best Books of 2024 list.

We welcome Charles King back to the program today for the second of a special three-part interview. Charles is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. Today we will continue to discuss Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which is published by Doubleday, which was just named to the New York Times 100 Best Books of 2024 list. 

Charles King is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. He has written for academic audiences as well as the wider, general readership. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. In 2024, he brings us Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which is published by Doubleday.

Wright Thompson is a writer of non-fiction. His journalism has appeared in The New Orleans Times Picayune, The Kansas City Star and currently at ESPN.com. His previous books are The Cost of These Dreams and Pappyland. Today we’ll be discussing his new effort, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, which looks at the infamous murder of 14 year old Emmett Till in 1955, but also reveals the socio-economic facts that set the scene for this evil act, as well as the repercussions for the guilty and for Till’s family and friends, which go on until this day. 

 

Sonia Purnell is a former journalist and current author of non-fiction. She first appeared on Book Talk for her previous book, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Her other books include Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill and Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - A Biography of Boris Johnson. Today we conclude our two-part interview for her new book, KINGMAKER: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue, which is published by Viking. 

Sonia Purnell is a former journalist and current author of non-fiction. She first appeared on Book Talk for her previous book, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Her other books include Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill and Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - A Biography of Boris Johnson. Today we have the first of a two-part interview talking about her new book, KINGMAKER: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue which is published by Viking. 

Guest host Linda Lloyd welcomes back best-selling cookbook author, Anne Byrn. Anne is known by millions as the Cake Mix Doctor, who has shown us how to start with a boxed cake mix and customize it to create truly memorable desserts. In her new book, Anne is expanding her purview with Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories, which is published by Harper Celebrate. 

 

Jessica Mills is a journalist who has written for The Wall Street Journal and The Independent. Today, we’ll be discussing her debut novel, The English Chemist. It is based on the life of pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin whose imaging work in capturing the structure of DNA was sidelined and buried by Frances Crick and John Watson who won the Nobel Prize in 1952 and did not credit Franklin. The English Chemist is published by Pegasus Books which is distributed by Simon and Schuster. 

Danica Nava's debut novel is The Truth According to Ember, a romantic comedy set in central Oklahoma, where a young woman fudges her resume’ hoping to jump start her career and overcome discrimination against people of Native American heritage. The Truth According to Ember is published by Berkley. 

 

 

Hena Khan is a prolific author of children’s books including Amina’s Voice and Amina’s Song, the second of which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature in 2022. She has enjoyed great success with picture books and middle-grade novels, but today we’re talking about her newest endeavor, graphic novels. We are Big Time is the story of a teen girl whose family moves from Florida to Wisconsin. She joins the girls’ basketball team at her new high school, who then try to overcome low expectations from their fellow students and show their neighbors that Muslim girls can shoot the rock with the best of them. We Are Big Time is illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui and published by Knopf Books for Young Readers. 

I’m delighted to welcome Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky back to the program for the concluding installment of our two-part interview. Dr. Chervinsky recently was named the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She has previously written The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and co-edited Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. Today we finish our discussion about George Washington’s vice President and successor in her new book, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic which is published by Oxford University Press. 

 

I’m happy to welcome Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky back to the program for the first of a two-part interview. Dr. Chervinsky recently was named the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She has previously written The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and co-edited Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. Today we will begin our discussion about George Washington’s vice President and successor in her new book, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic which is published by Oxford University Press. 

 

Dr. Amanda Bellows teaches history at The New School in New York. In addition to many contributions to academic journals and scholarly books, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to many others. Her first book was American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination, and today we conclude our discussion of her recent release, The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions which is published by William Morrow. 

 

Dr. Amanda Bellows teaches history at The New School in New York. In addition to many contributions to academic journals and scholarly books, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to many others. Her first book was American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination, and today we begin our discussion of her recent release, The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions which is published by William Morrow.