AWM Author Talks

This week, Daniel Ellsberg, the man who released the Pentagon Papers, discusses his book The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner with journalist Rick Perlstein. This conversation originally took place December 7th, 2017 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Deborah Blum discusses her recent book The Poison Squad , which tells the dramatic true story of how food was made safe in the United States and the heroes, led by Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, who fought for change. This conversation originally took place August 15, 2019 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mi...

This week, we talk about science writing! Anthropologist and author Sarah Parcak discusses her book Archaeology From Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past with Adler Planetarium astronomer and artist Lucianne Walkowicz. This conversation originally took place August 13th, 2019 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWORK...

This week, AWM President Carey Cranston chats with writer and educator Deborah Nelson Linck, author of the forthcoming illustrated biography Pauli Murray: Shouting for the Rights of All People . This conversation originally took place February 22nd, 2022 and was recorded live via Zoom. This program is presented in conjunction with the launch of our newest online exhibit titled, Pauli Murray: Survi...

This week, writer-director Rebecca Hall discusses her recent Netflix film Passing with Northwestern University professor Dr. Ivy Wilson. This conversation originally took place October 21st, 2021 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. Quick programming note: we enter this conversation in progress. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, writers Nancy Johnson and Catherine Adel West discuss Johnson’s hit debut novel The Kindest Lie . This conversation originally took place February 8th, 2022 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

This week, AWM Program Director Allison Sansone chats with author Hanif Abdurraqib and illustrator Ashley Evans about their new children’s book Sing, Aretha, Sing! , a striking picture book biography about the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. This conversation originally took place February 2nd, 2022 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWOR...

This week, author Angela Terry talks about her novel Charming Falls Apart with Olivia Bedi and Katy Mickelson, members of the Chicago Council of the American Writers Museum . This conversation originally took place January 27th, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. Throughout this episode, you will hear references to Angela’s new novel, which is now available. The novel is called The Trials of Ade...

This week, for our first episode of 2022, AWM President Carey Cranston sits down with Layla Saad, author of the New York Times bestselling book Me and White Supremacy . This conversation originally took place February 5th, 2020 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. Layla will be joining us this coming February 17th for a virtual event to discuss the new edition of Me and White Supr...

This week, tune into a conversation between Jonathan Lethem, award-winning author of The Fortress of Solitude , and Stacie Williams, whose book Bizarro Worlds references Lethem’s characters and storylines to explore racism and gentrification. This conversation originally took place March 15th, 2019 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a write...

This week, editors Nina Bennett and Marie Bennett discuss rediscovering and reprinting 1920s author Gertrude Beasley’s banned memoir My First Thirty Years . They are joined by Beasley scholar Dr. Celia Marshik, Professor of English at Stony Brook University. This conversation originally took place December 8th, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. A...

This week, bestselling author Scott Turow discusses his novel The Last Trial with Olivia Bedi, a member of the AWM Board of Trustees. This conversation originally took place June 24th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

This week, award-winning writers Sigrid Nunez and Charlotte Wood discuss Nunez’s 2020 novel What Are You Going Through . This conversation originally took place September 24th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

This week, editor Andrew Blauner chats with acclaimed writers A. O. Scott and Rafia Zakaria about their contributions to the essay anthology Now Comes Good Sailing: Writers Reflect on Henry David Thoreau . This conversation originally took place October 21st, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM Podcast Network Hub

This week, two former military officers and award-winning authors, Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis, discuss their recent book 2034: A Novel of the Next World War . This conversation originally took place March 31st, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, AWM Program Director Allison Sansone speaks with journalist Tom Roston about his new book The Writer’s Crusade: Kurt Vonnegut and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse-Five . This conversation originally took place October 15th, 2021 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM Podcast Network Home

This week, award-winning writers Asali Solomon and Rebecca Makkai discuss Solomon’s new novel The Days of Afrekete . This conversation originally took place October 26th, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME

This week, just in time for Halloween, AWM Program Director Allison Sansone talks with historian Scott Peeples about Edgar Allan Poe and his book The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City . This conversation originally took place October 27th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM Podcast Network Home

This week, hear from Joanne Lee Molinaro about her new cookbook The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen . Molinaro is interviewed by Christie Maliyackel, a member of the Chicago Council of the American Writers Museum. This conversation took place October 12th, 2021 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer....

This week, AWM Program Director Allison Sansone chats with playwright and screenwriter Sarah Gubbins, who most recently adapted the screenplay for the film Shirley starring Elisabeth Moss as Shirley Jackson. This program originally took place July 6th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer. AWM Podcast Network Home

This week, our celebration of Hispanic American Heritage Month continues with Juan Martinez, author of the short story collection Best Worst American . This program is hosted by the Chicago Council of the American Writers Museum, a group of dedicated professionals who plan and host fundraising events for the museum. It originally took place June 10th, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope y...

This week, we have a fun panel of writers who are featured in the anthology Dear McSweeney’s: Two Decades of Letters to the Editor from Writers, Readers, and the Occasional Bewildered Consumer . This program is hosted by McSweeney’s senior editor Daniel Levin Becker. It originally took place September 21, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.

This week, AWM Program Director, Allison Sansone, chats with Lilliam Rivera about her latest middle grade novel Never Look Back , which blends a touch of magical realism into a timely story about cultural identity, overcoming trauma, and the power of first love. This program originally took place November 10, 2020 and was recorded live via Zoom. This program is presented in conjunction with our ex...

This week, AWM Program Director, Allison Sansone, talks with Shay Bravo, a Mexican born author who has now lived half of her life in the U.S. Shay began sharing her work online through Wattpad when she was fifteen years old and has connected with over 100,000 followers. Historically Inaccurate won the 2019 Watty Awards and it’s her first novel. Publishers Weekly called the book "an earnest and tim...

This week, historian and critic Leonard S. Marcus discusses his book You Can’t Say Say That!: Writers for Young People Talk About Censorship, Free Expression, and the Stories They Have To Tell . Marcus is joined by Meg Medina, one of the authors featured in the book. This program took place August 12, 2021 and was recorded live via Zoom. We hope you enjoy entering the mind of a writer.