WYPL Book Talk

N at Segaloff has worked in show biz as a publicist, producer, writer and more. His previous titles include: Hurricane Billy: The Stormy Life and Films of William Friedkin, A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison, and Breaking the Code: Otto Preminger Versus Hollywood’s Censors. Today we’ll be discussing his latest book Bogart and Huston: Their Lives, Their Adventures, and the Classic M...

Dr. Kate Marvel is a climate scientist. She earned her PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge. She conducted post-doc research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. She was a columnist for Scientific American for several years. Today, we’ll...

Dr. Kate Marvel is a climate scientist. She earned her PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge. She conducted post-doc research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.    She was a columnist for Scientific American for several years. Today we’...

  Jerry Avorn is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief Emeritus of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His previous book is Powerful Medicines: The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs, and today we’ll be finishing our discussion of his recent release, Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You T...

  Jerry Avorn is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief Emeritus of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His previous book is Powerful Medicines: The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs, and today we’ll begin our discussion of his recent release, Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take whi...

Elizabeth Birkelund is a novelist whose previous works include The Runaway Wife and The Dressmaker. Prior to writing novels, Elizabeth was a personal finance columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine and a full-time freelance writer for publications such as Glamour, Self, Victoria and Working Woman. Today, we’ll be discussing her recent novel, A Northern Light in Provence , which is published by Ballant...

Heather Clark is a biographer, literary critic and novelist. She is the author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, The Grief of Influence: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, The Ulster Renaissance: Poetry in Belfast 1962 – 1972 and Sylvia Plath, a Very Short Introduction. Today we’ll be discussing her novel, The Scrapbook , which is published by Pantheon Books.   

Rickey Fayne is a native of western Tennessee but currently makes his home in the upper Midwest. His fiction has appeared in publications such as The Kenyon Review, The Sewanee, and Guernica. Today we’ll be discussing his debut novel, The Devil Three Times which is published by Little, Brown and Company.   

  Michael Farris Smith is a novelist who has appeared on Book Talk many times discuss his books, including Blackwood and Salvage this World. Today, we’ll be discussing his most recent novel, Lay Your Armor Down which is published by Little, Brown and Company. 

  Dr.  Roxane Gay is writer, editor, social commentator and a professor of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University. She has written many best-sellers, including her essay collection Bad Feminist, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, and the novel An Untamed State. Today we’ll be discussing her latest release, The Portable Feminist Reader , which is published by Penguin Classics. 

  We are delighted to welcome Dr. Dolen Perkins Valdez back to the program today. Dolen is an associate professor of English literature at American University, but our listeners better know her as an award-winning, critically-acclaimed novelist. Her previous works are Wench, Balm, and Take My Hand. Today we’ll be discussing her latest release, Happy Land , which is published by Berkley. 

We welcome Amor Towles back to the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Amor is a best-selling novelist known for his historical novels The Rules of Civility, A Gentleman Moscow, which was turned into a miniseries starring Ewan McGregor, and The Lincoln Highway which is development to become a feature film. Today we’ll begin the discussion of his collection of shorties and a novel...

We welcome Amor Towles to the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Amor is a best-selling novelist known for his historical novels The Rules of Civility, A Gentleman Moscow, which was turned into a miniseries starring Ewan McGregor, and The Lincoln Highway which is development to become a feature film. Today we’ll begin the discussion of his collection of shorties and a novella, Ta...

Today we welcome a new co-host to the program today, Miriam Oliphant. Miriam is a veteran of the publishing industry and recently joined WYPL on a full-time basis. Her first interview for Book Talk is with novelist Anita Kopacz , who has found great success in the magazine world and become a spiritual advisor. She currently in the midst of a trilogy looking at spirits in the Yoruba tradition. The...

Tova Mirvis, a native of Memphis, is an author, who has previously joined us on Book Talk to speak about her memoir The Book of Separation as well as her novels, Visible City and The Outside World. Today, we’ll discuss her latest novel, We Would Never, published by Simon and Schuster.  

Preston Lauterbach is a former Memphian who has written extensively about African-American music and history and has helped musicians tell their own stories, as well. Preston has appeared on Book Talk several times to discuss his books, The Chitlin Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Beale Street Dynasty, and Bluff City. Today, we’ll be discussing his latest title, Before Elvis:The African Amer...

Mark Greaney is a New York Times best-selling author of international thrillers. He co-authored several Jack Ryan novels with Tom Clancy, and continued the series for a few years after Mr. Clancy’s passing. He recently started a new series starring Josh Duffy, a security contractor, but today we’ll be discussing his 14th installment in his Grey Man series, featuring burned CIA asset, Court Gentry....

  Guest host  Dr. David Mason is back to conclude 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 wrap up their conversatio...

  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 toda...

  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 emeri...

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...

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....

  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...