WYPL Book Talk

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - Beautiful Creatures

Stephen Usery interviews Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl about their supernatural young adult novel Beautiful Creatures, which Amazon named the fifth best book of 2009.

Rebecca Skloot - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

 

Stephen Usery interviews Rebecca Skloot about her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It's a fascinating look into HeLa cells which were the most important advance in medical research for the twentieth century, but more than that we meet Henrietta Lacks the woman who provided the cells and the grief her loss caused her family, and it looks at the socio-economic impact the HeLa cells have had on our country and world. This is an intriguing 72 minute audio interview with Rebecca.

Dacre Stoker - Dracula the Undead

With vampires ubiquitous in the popular culture, Dracula has returned to claim his throne. Stephen Usery interviews Dacre Stoker, the great-grand nephew of Dracula creator Bram Stoker, about the first family-approved sequel to the original, with Dracula the Un-Dead. Set a couple of decades after dispatching the Count, the intervening years haven't been kind to our band of heroes as a new threat invades London. Download the podcast today!

Alanna Nash - Baby, Let's Play House

2010 marks the 75th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth, so Stephen Usery interviews Alanna Nash about her new look at the king of rock'n'roll, Baby Let's Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him. More than just a look at Elvis's love life, it investigates all his relationships with women, romantic, familial, platonic, artistic and business. Over one hour of talking about The King, download it today!

Stephen Hunter - I, Sniper

Stephen Usery interviews Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter. Though retired from the world of film criticism, Hunter has kept going with his successful line of Bob Lee Swagger novels. His just released I, Sniper follows Bob the Nailer as he tries to figure out who is assassinating anti-Viet Nam war activists more than thirty years after the end of the war. Load up the podcast today.

Todd Wilbur - Top Secret Recipes Unlocked

Stephen Usery talks to Todd Wilbur about his latest interpretation of brand name foods in Top Secret Recipes Unlocked.

Anne Byrne - The Cake Mix Doctor Returns

Madison Smartt Bell - Devil's Dream

Stephen Usery interviews Tennessee native Madison Smartt Bell about his first novel in five years, Devil's Dream. Devil's Dream is fevered telling of twenty years in the life of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. We also talk about the appropriateness of Confederate memorials and his return to writing fiction.

Lisa Patton - Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter

Courtney Santo talks to Memphis native Lisa Patton about her debut novel Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter. The podcast features ten minutes of extra conversation, including parallels to The Wizard of Oz.

Podcast - Alice Randall

Stephen Usery interviews Alice Randall, author of The Wind Done Gone, about her new novel Rebel Yell which looks back at the life of a conservative African-American government operative. The podcast includes fifteen minutes of extra conversation; especially interesting are the parts about food. 

Harry McLean - The Past is Never dead

Host Bill Wilson talks to Edgar Award winner Harry MacLean about his book The Past Is Never Dead: The Trial of James Ford Seale and Mississippi’s Struggle for Redemption .

Joshua Gaylord - Hummingbirds

Stephen Usery interviews Joshua Gaylord about his debut novel Hummingbirds which is set in an elite all-girl prep school in Manhattan.

Bruce Feiler - America's Prophet

Stephen Usery interviews Bruce Feiler about his latest best-selling book America's Prophet: Moses and the American Story.

David Magee - The Education of Mr. Mayfield

Host Dave Lindstrom talks to David Magee about his latest book, The Education of Mr. Mayfield: An Unusual Story of Social Change at Ole Miss.

RJ Ellory - A Simple Act of Violence

Haywood Smith - Ladies of the Lake

Host Linda Lloyd talks to Haywood Smith about her latest hilarious novel set in the South, Ladies of the Lake.

 

Jeff Martin - My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize

Stephen Usery talks to Jeff Martin about his book My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize: The Fabricated Memoirs of Jeff Martin.

Kaylie Jones - Lies My Mother Never Told Me

Stephen Usery interviews Kaylie Jones about her memoir Lies My Mother Never Told Me about the legacy of growing up as famed writer James Jones's daughter and the toll alcoholism took on the family.

Robert Olen Butler - Hell

Stephen Usery interviews Pulitzer-Prize winner Robert Olen Butler about his newest novel Hell which follows TV News anchor man Hatcher McCord trying to extract himself from the inferno. Download the podcast today!

Roy Blount, Jr. - Alphabet Juice

Stephen Usery talks to writer, raconteur, and humorist Roy Blount, Jr. about his hilarious, idiosyncratic dictionary, Alphabet Juice ,which is new in paperback. File under"P", for podcast.