Book Talk

"Meet Persephone Wilder, a displaced genius posing as the wife of an American diplomat in Namibia. Persephone takes her job as a representative of her country seriously, coming up with an intricate set of rules to survive the problems she encounters: how to dress in hundred-degree weather without showing too much skin, how not to look drunk at embassy functions, and how to eat roasted oryx with grace. She also suspects her husband is not actually the ambassador’s legal counsel but a secret agent in the CIA. The consummate embassy wife, she takes the newest trailing spouse, Amanda Evans, under her wing. Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Fumbled A Few - Charlie Duda 01:12 - Episode Intro 03:03 - Fumbled A Few (Cont’d) - Charlie Duda 04:29 - Interview with Katie Crouch, Part 1 21:51 - Please Irene - Charlie Duda 24:42 - Interview with Katie Crouch, Part 2 46:00 - Really Really - Charlie Duda 46:07

"The Great War has finally come to an end, but tensions remain high throughout Europe. In Ireland, no one has forgotten the bloody 1916 Easter Rising that fought to end British rule in the country. Bess’s old friend, nurse Eileen Flynn, returns to her isolated Irish village where two factions continue to battle against each other. Eileen’s time with the British army makes her a target for retaliation. Her missing cousin, who was active in the rising and is still being hunted by the British, is her only protection. Publisher: Harper Collins Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Parisian Enclave - The Mountain Goats 01:12 - Episode Intro 02:28 - Parisian Enclave (Cont’d) - The Mountain Goats 03:02 - Interview with Charles Todd, Part 1 16:03 - Mobile - The Mountain Goats 19:30 - Interview with Charles Todd, Part 2 36:28 - Before I Got There - The Mountain Goats 36:30 - Episode Outro 38:10 - Before I Got There (Cont’d) - The Mountain Goa

"Canada Day was this past weekend, but it was much less of a celebration than any Dominion Day in, perhaps, the last 100 years. Why? Because of the recent horrors unearthed from the discovery of over 1,000 children’s graves at the hands of the Federal Government and Catholic Church. This week I share with you some historical reporting, government reconciliation, memoir, and historical fiction by Indigenous writers that every Canadian, if not every human being, needs to read. Links mentioned in this episode http://nctr.ca/records/reports/ http://www.cbc.ca/books/48-books-by-indigenous-writers-to-read-to-understand-residential-schools-1.6056204 http://bookriot.com/indian-residential-schools-books/ http://www.indianhorse.ca/en/book 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Cold Blue Halo - Jason Collett 01:35 - Episode Intro 15:30 - Hangover Days - Jason Collett 19:37 - Books on the History of the Canadian Indigenous Residential School System 29:18 - Roll On Oblivion - Jason Collett 32:33 - Indian Horse by Richard Wagame

"One-half of the celebrated ‘Men in Blazers’ duo, longtime culture and soccer commentator Roger Bennett traces the origins of his love affair with America, and how he went from a depraved, pimply faced Jewish boy in 1980s Liverpool to become the quintessential Englishman in New York. Publisher: Dey St. (an imprint of Harper Collins) Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Lonely Days In Hollywood - Turner Cody & The Soldiers of Love 01:13 - Episode Intro 03:12 - Lonely Days In Hollywood (Cont’d) - Turner Cody & The Soldiers of Love 05:06 - Interview with Roger Bennett, Part 1 19:38 - Boozing and Losing - Turner Cody & The Soldiers of Love 22:51 - Interview with Roger Bennett, Part 2 43:07 - Telling Stories - Turner Cody & The Soldiers of Love 43:19 - Episode Outro 44:36 - Telling Stories (Cont’d) - Turner Cody & The Soldiers of Love 48:09 - Show Closing 49:38 - Finish "

"June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. Many have been interned as enemy aliens, and have lost their families, their homes—their whole worlds. They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad.   Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Noise - Dolly Ave 01:10 - Episode Intro 03:07 - Noise (Cont’d) - Dolly Ave 04:08 - Interview with Leah Garrett, Part 1 14:10 - People - Dolly Ave 15:23 - Interview with Leah Garrett, Part 2 31:31 - Play Fair - Dolly Ave 31:4

"Written for musicians and music lovers with any level of science and math proficiency, including none, ‘Music, Math, and Mind’ demystifies how music works while testifying to its beauty and wonder. Publisher: Columbia University Press Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Non Me Mordas Habibi (Don't Bite Me Baby) - Dave Soldier 01:11 - Episode Intro 03:00 - Non Me Mordas Habibi (Don't Bite Me Baby) (Cont’d) - Dave Soldier 03:55 - Interview with David Sulzer, Part 1 28:01 - Il Concerto - Dave Soldier 30:22 - Interview with David Sulzer, Part 2 56:30 - Water and Fire - Dave Soldier 56:44 - Episode Outro 58:07 - Water and Fire (Cont’d) - Dave Soldier 62:03 - Show Closing 63:32 - Finish "

"What explains the gap between what We, the People want and what our elected leaders do? How can we fix our politics before it's too late? And how can we truly understand the state of our democracy without wanting to crawl under a rock? That's what former Obama speechwriter David Litt set out to answer. Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Collins Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Orbit - Modern Modern Life 01:09 - Episode Intro 04:49 - Orbit (Cont’d) - Modern Modern Life 05:37 - Interview with David Litt, Part 1 17:40 - Best Thing - Modern Modern Life 19:01 - Interview with David Litt, Part 2 42:21 - How Ya Been? - Modern Modern Life 42:29 - Episode Outro 44:05 - How Ya Been? (Cont’d) - Modern Modern Life 45:09 - Show Closing 46:37 - Finish "

"Everything drew me to Tulsa this week: A great podcast series I can’t get enough of called “The Great Online Books Podcast”; A new rap album called “Fire in Little Africa”; A new Indie album called, “I’m Still Here”; And a 100 Year commemoration of a race massacre that has gone unnoticed for too long. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:08 - Yesterday’s Wine - Travis Linville 01:15 - Episode Intro 06:17 - Yesterday’s Wine - Travis Linville 09:31 - Oklahoma Part 1 (The Online Great Books Podcast) 23:05 - I’m Still Here - Travis Linville 26:09 - Oklahoma Part 2 (100 Years after the Tulsa Race Massacre) 40:01 - Lights Across the Water - Travis Linville 43:35 - Show Closing 45:02 - Finish "

"Let’s review the LA Times list of books you should read on Memorial Day Weekend. And then let’s revisit some of the great interviews I have had in the past with Members of our US Armed Forces, or Authors who write about the experience of life in battle. American Traitor by Brad Taylor The Blaze by Chad Dundas The Fourteenth of September by Rita Dragonette The People of the Broken Neck by Silas Dent Zobal I’d Walk With My Friends If I Could Find Them by Jesse Goolsby @War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex by Shane Harris Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalvan Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 00:00 - Show Opening 01:06 - Episode Intro 04:07 - Get Bleak - Duck Ltd. 06:59 - LA Times List of Great Memorial Day Books 18:59 - Gleaming Spies - Duck Ltd. 21:51 - Interviews to listen to on Memorial Day Weekend 38:31 - Anhedonia - Ducks Ltd. 41:45 - Show Closing 43:14 - End "

"A funny, wise, and tender novel about a fourteen-year-old girl’s coming of age in 1970s Baltimore, caught between her strait-laced family and the progressive family she nannies for—who happen to be secretly hiding a famous rock star and his movie star wife for the summer. Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Collins Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:08 - Hello, Tender Love - Zeus 01:28 - Episode Intro 03:43 - Hello, Tender Love (Cont’d) - Zeus 05:42 - Interview with Jessica Anya Blau, Part 1 24:04 - Where Is My Love - Zeus 26:13 - Interview with Jessica Anya Blau, Part 2 43:57 - Strong Mind - Zeus 44:02 - Episode Outro 45:51 - Strong Mind (Cont’d) - Zeus 48:40 - Show Closing 50:09 - Finish "

"On the same day that Priya is booked for her next IVF cycle, Grace goes in for her final, last-chance embryo transfer. Two weeks later, both women get their results. A year on, angry and heartbroken, one of the women learns her embryo was implanted in the other’s uterus and must make a devastating choice: live a childless life knowing her son is being raised by strangers or seek custody of a baby who has been nurtured and loved by another couple. Publisher: Harper Collins / William Morrow Press Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:07 - Reconstellated - Karima Walker 01:10 - Episode Intro 02:56 - Reconstellated (Cont’d) - Karima Walker 05:49 - Interview with Genevieve Gannon, Part 1 17:33 - Softer - Karima Walker 19:54 - Interview with Genevieve Gannon, Part 2 40:43 - Window II - Karima Walker 40:54 - Episode Outro 41:39 - Window II (Cont’d) - Karima Walker 42:35 - Show Closing 44:04 - Finish "

"Mid twenties Leo is an aspiring writer, and he is also a discreet heroin addict, suffering from the inanity of day to day life and the despair of artistic expression. His personal decay and desperation for relevance leads him to a man named Cole who has a plan to upset the established order of austerity and stoicism reigning the modern world. Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:07 - Episode Intro 03:08 - 7/4 Shoreline (Cont’d) - Broken Social Scene 06:04 - Interview with Nicholas Antonopoulos, Part 1 23:55 - Pacific Theme - Broken Social Scene 28:10 - Interview with Nicholas Antonopoulos, Part 2 43:45 - Chameleon - Broken Social Scene 43:52 - Episode Outro 45:41 - Chameleon (Cont’d) - Broken Social Scene 48:20 - Show Closing 49:48 - Finish "

"Jonah Keller moved to New York City with dreams of becoming a successful playwright, but, for the time being, lives in a rundown sublet in Bushwick, working extra hours at a gay restaurant only to barely make rent. When he stumbles upon a photo of Richard Shriver—the glamorous Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and quite possibly the stepping stone to the fame he craves—Jonah orchestrates their meeting. The two begin a hungry, passionate affair. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:07 - Don’t Be Scared - Sorry 01:10 - Episode Intro 03:24 - Don’t Be Scared (Cont’d) - Sorry 03:36 - Interview with Jonathan Parks-Ramage Part 1 18:12 - Things To Hold Onto - Sorry 19:13 - Interview with Jonathan Parks-Ramage, Part 2 36:51 - Cigarette Packet - Sorry 37:06 - Episode Outro 38:54 - Cigarette Packet (Cont’d) - Sorry 39:34 - Show Closing 41:04 - Finish "

"A descriptive, real, and very raw essay on Depression and healing from someone who survived the mental battle after a year-long fight, and who looks to help affect anyone going through the same struggle. Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:08 - Mind Leaf - Heavy Trip 01:17 - Episode Intro 05:24 - Mind Leaf (Cont’d) - Heavy Trip 06:08 - Interview with Matthew J. O’Brien, Part 1 26:23 - Lunar Throne - Heavy Trip 28:49 - Interview with Matthew J. O’Brien, Part 2 58:03 - Hand of Shroom - Heavy Trip 58:38 - Episode Outro 59:39 - Hand of Shroom (Cont’d) - Heavy Trip 60:42 - Show Closing 62:10 - Finish "

"In the first twenty years of the twenty-first century, New York City has been convulsed by terrorist attack, blackout, hurricane, recession, social injustice, and pandemic. ‘New Yorkers’ weaves the voices of some of the city's best talkers into an indelible portrait of New York in our time - and a powerful hymn to the vitality and resilience of its people. Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:08 - Fat & Loose With The Rules - Mo Douglas 01:16 - Episode Intro 04:20 - Fat & Loose With The Rules (Cont’d) - Mo Douglas 05:02 - Interview with Craig Taylor, Part 1 20:59 - Neighborhood Rooster - Mo Douglas 23:09 - Interview with Craig Taylor, Part 2 43:22 - Luxury Apartment Living - Mo Douglas 43:31 - Episode Outro 45:22 - Luxury Apartment Living (Cont’d) - Mo Douglas 45:53 - Show Closing 47:20 - Finish "

"Appointed by Philip Roth and granted independence and complete access, Blake Bailey spent years poring over Roth’s personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and engaging Roth himself in breathtakingly candid conversations. The result is an indelible portrait of an American master and of the postwar literary scene. NY Times Review of ‘Philip Roth: The Biography’ by Blake Bailey Atlantic Review of ‘Philip Roth: The Biography’ by Blake Bailey Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:08 - Since Grazed - Eleventh Dream Day 01:13 - Episode Intro 03:46 - Since Grazed (Cont’d) - Eleventh Dream Day 05:04 - Interview with Blake Bailey, Part 1 16:36 - Nothing’s Ever Lost - Eleventh Dream Day 20:28 - Interview with Blake Bailey, Part 2 36:28 - Every Time This Day It Rains - Eleventh Dream Day 36:41 - Episode Outro 38:24 - Every Time This Day It Rains (Cont’d) - Eleventh Dream Day 42:51 - S

"August 1939: London prepares for war as Hitler’s forces sweep across Europe. Grace Bennett has always dreamed of moving to the city, but the bunkers and blackout curtains that she finds on her arrival were not what she expected. And she certainly never imagined she’d wind up working at Primrose Hill, a dusty old bookshop nestled in the heart of London. E Publisher: Hanover Square Press Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:07 - Episode Intro 02:45 - Bad With Time - Sun June 04:12 - Interview with Madeline Martin, Part 1 13:40 - Everything I Had - Sun June 14:55 - Interview with Madeline Martin, Part 2 30:10 - Bad Girl - Sun June 30:18 - Episode Outro 31:59 - Bad Girl (Cont’d) - Sun June 34:00 - Show Closing 35:29 - Finish "

"An exploration narrative of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite pirate, Sir Francis Drake, whose mastery of the seas changed the course of history—as a pirate raiding Spanish galleons, as the first explorer to successfully circumnavigate the globe, and as a naval hero who defeated the Spanish Armada and reshaped the global order. Publisher: Custom House Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:07 - R UR 4 Me? - Middle Kids 01:10 - Episode Intro 03:07 - R UR 4 Me? (Cont’d) - Middle Kids 03:49 - Interview with Laurence Bergreen, Part 1 16:57 - Summer Hill - Middle Kids 18:51 - Interview with Laurence Bergreen, Part 2 35:21 - Cellophane (Brain) - Middle Kids 35:26 - Episode Outro 37:07 - Cellophane (Brain) (Cont’d) - Middle Kids 38:44 - Show Closing 40:13 - Finish "

"A recent decision by the estate of Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel to pull six of his books because of crude portrayals created quite a debate. Some say the action represents the worst of cancel culture, while others praise the decision because they believe the depictions promote racial insensitivity.     00:00 - Show Opening 01:07 - Show Me How You Disappear - Ian Sweet 01:13 - Episode Intro 03:00 - Matters (Cont’d) - Ian Sweet 03:35 - Thoughts on Dr. Seuss being cancelled Part 1 15:43 - I See Everything - Ian Sweet 17:23 - Thoughts on Dr. Seuss being cancelled Part 2 22:09 - Get Better - Ian Sweet 24:23 - Show Outro 25:52 - Finish "

"A beautiful blue-blooded debutante, a tart-tongued London shop-girl, and a shy crossword-solving spinster join the war against Nazi Germany as codebreakers of Bletchley Park, only to find that the real puzzle lies inside the Park itself as a traitor sets them against each other in a betrayal reaching past the end of the war. Publisher: William Morrow Press (Harper Collins) Book Cover and Author headshot images provided by the author’s representative. 00:00 - Show Opening 01:07 - Matters - Twinsmith 01:09 - Episode Intro 02:37 - Matters (Cont’d) - Twinsmith 04:34 - Interview with Kate Quinn, Part 1 21:44 - Boji - Twinsmith 22:27 - Interview with Kate Quinn, Part 2 37:52 - Forever Old. - Twinsmith 38:05 - Episode Outro 39:49 - Forever Old. (Cont’d) - Twinsmith 43:06 - Outro 43:38 - Finish "