C-SPAN Bookshelf

A book called "The Wise Men" was first published in 1986. The cover copy says that "it was about six friends and the world they made." The names Harriman, Lovett, Acheson, McCloy, Kennan, and Bohlen are only to be found in the history books today. Co-authors Evan Thomas and Walter Isaacson were in their mid-thirties. In the updated 2012 introduction to the paperback, they wrote: "In their time, th...

Half Jewish and a member of the Hitler Youth who saw Adolf Hitler in person, Jochen "Jack" Wurfl, author of "My Two Lives," talks about surviving in Nazi Germany and his later life and success in the United States. To hide their identities after the Nazis took over in 1933, Mr. Wurfl and his brother were baptized Catholic and later joined the Hitler Youth. His Catholic father, deemed a political e...

According to professor Corey Brettschneider, author of "The Presidents and the People," the following presidents in history threatened democracy: "John Adams waged war on the national press…prosecuting as many as 126 people who dared criticize him…James Buchanan colluded with the Supreme Court to deny constitutional personhood to African Americans….Andrew Johnson urged violence against his politic...

Peggy Noonan, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Wall Street Journal and former speechwriter for President Reagan, discusses her book "A Certain Idea of America," a collection of her columns from over the past quarter century. She also talks about her time working in the White House and her career in radio after graduating from college.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

Stephanie Gorton looked at the lives & rivalry between two key figures in the early movement for birth control & reproductive rights. She was interviewed by author and UC Davis School of Law professor Mary Ziegler.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Talmage Boston considers himself a full-time lawyer and a full-time historian. His latest book is called "How the Best Did It: Leadership Lessons from Our Top Presidents." He chose the first 4 of 8 off the face of Mount Rushmore: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. In addition, Mr. Boston chose 24 distinct leadership traits he says were exhibited by these...

Investigative journalist Maureen Callahan talks about the physical and psychological abuse, and worse, that she says was experienced by women and girls connected to the Kennedy family going back to Joe Kennedy, Sr. In her book, "Ask Not," Callahan tells the stories of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, Martha Moxley, Mary Richardson Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, and others. Learn mo...

Journalist Vince Beiser looked at how the race to mine metals and other natural resources needed in technology & renewable energy is impacting geopolitics and the environment. He was interviewed by Wall Street Journal global metals and mining reporter Julie Steinberg.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author James Patterson discusses servicemembers from World War II through modern conflicts who have been recognized for valor in combat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The title of the book is "In This Economy?" The author, Kyla Scanlon, subtitles her 277-page effort: "How Money and Markets Really Work." Ms. Scanlon is a 27-year-old graduate of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. The author description in the back of the book says Kyla Scanlon is a writer and a video creator focused on "human-centric economic analysis that demystifies the complex." The...

Stuart Eizenstat, former Domestic Policy Adviser to President Carter and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union under President Clinton, talks about his political career and his new book, "The Art Of Diplomacy," in which he discusses the work done to achieve agreements like the Camp David Accords, the Kyoto Protocols, and the Iran nuclear agreement. Mr. Eizenstat also talks about growing up in the...

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton argues that the Left is attacking American rights and freedoms. He was interviewed by Washington Times legal affairs reporter Alex Swoyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the past 10 years, Tess Owen has covered extremism, disinformation, and politics for several nationally owned publications. In the October 8, 2024, issue of New York magazine, Ms. Owen wrote an article with the title "Inside the Patriot Wing." She talked with several of the over 1,400 January 6 defendants who have been spending time in the District of Columbia Jail, about 2 miles from the U.S....

Journalist Lina Zeldovich explained how a nearly forgotten lifesaving "healing virus" could be groundbreaking in treating deadly infectious diseases. She was interviewed by USA Today health reporter Adrianna Rodriguez.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since its founding in 1992, the Innocence Project has been responsible for getting hundreds of wrongfully convicted people in the United States out of prison. Attorney and Innocence Project executive director Christina Swarns joins us to talk about the history of the organization, the root causes of wrongful convictions, and some of the clients the Innocence Project has successfully represented ov...

New York Post columnist and "Laptop From Hell" author Miranda Devine discussed her latest book on the Biden family, "The Big Guy: How a President and His Son Sold Out America." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1943, in the middle of World War II, the Allied leaders FDR, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin were planning to meet secretly in Tehran. The Nazis wanted to kill them. In his book "Night of the Assassins," author Howard Blum tells the story of "Operation Long Jump," the code name for the Nazi plan to assassinate the Allied leaders. In telling this story, author Blum says: "I wanted to write a...

Historian Pamela Toler talks about the life and career of journalist Sigrid Schultz, Berlin bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune from 1925-1941. Schultz provided first-hand accounts of the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany and was one of the earliest reporters to warn Americans about the dangers of Nazism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressman Mike Waltz (R-FL) spoke about serving in Afghanistan as a Green Beret and how his military career influences his decision making. He was interviewed by Politico Pentagon and National Security reporter Paul McLeary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max Boot, in his 836-page book titled "Reagan: His Life and Legend," says that his is the first definitive biography of the 40th president. Boot suggests that Edmund Morris, the president's official biographer, "appeared to be so flummoxed by the complexities of Reagan's character that he produced 'Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan,' that was widely criticized in spite of its acute insights." Max B...

This week on Q&A, Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey and Harvard University psychology professor Steven Pinker discuss their books. John Mackey, author of "The Whole Story," talks about the rise of Whole Foods, the organic foods grocery store chain, and his political and intellectual development. Professor Steven Pinker talks about the role that rationality plays in a functioning society and the g...

Bloomberg News' Stephanie Baker looked at the global impact of U.S-led economic sanctions against Russia following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. She was interviewed by author and Brookings Institution senior fellow Angela Stent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brenda Wineapple calls them "two gladiators." The year was 1925. She writes that "the ubiquitous politician William Jennings Bryan and the criminal lawyer Clarence Darrow, each of them national celebrities for decades, were going into battle over God and science and the classroom and, not incidentally, over what it meant to be an American." Brenda Wineapple's latest book is titled "Keeping the Fai...

Historian Heath Hardage Lee, author of "The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon," talks about the life and times of the former First Lady (1969-74). She says that Pat Nixon, who was voted "Most Admired Woman in the World" in 1972, was largely mis-portrayed by the press, who characterized her as being elusive and "plastic." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Brigid Schulte examined the future of work and explored how to better align workplace culture with the needs of American workers. She was interviewed by Business Insider chief correspondent Aki Ito. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices