C-SPAN Bookshelf

Historian Cassandra Good talks about the lives and complicated legacies of George Washington's heirs. George and Martha Washington never had children together, but they raised Martha's children, and later grandchildren, as their own. Together they made up America's first "first family." This program originally aired in June 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cultural critic and film historian Peter Biskind looked at the changes in television over the past 40 years from the networks to cable to streaming. He was interviewed by Wall Street Journal media and entertainment bureau chief Amol Sharma. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Macmillan CEO John Sargent discussed his memoir about his four decades in the publishing industry. About Books also reported on the latest publishing industry news and current non-fiction books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With less than a year to go before the 2024 presidential election, there continues to be a lot of chatter about the possible impact of a candidate on the ballot who is not a Republican or a Democrat. Over the years, third party candidates have made a difference in several elections. The third party candidate to get the largest percentage of votes was Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, at 27 percent. Next wa...

Journalist and historian Craig Fehrman analyzes American presidents through the lens of the books they've written. This program originally aired in February of 2020. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week a conversation with the new host of Q&A, Peter Slen. We discuss the mission of the program, what to expect, and the best parts of hosting a one-hour conversation with interesting individuals. All new episodes of Q&A begin on January 28th, 2024. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the cover of R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.'s memoir is a photo of him holding a 3-olive martini. It was obviously his choice and part of a message he chooses to send his readers about his life after 79 years. Mr. Tyrrell founded the American Spectator magazine in 1967. In the author's bio in the back of the book it says: "He has never had another job, though he came terrifyingly close in the late 1960...

Prosperity gospel scholar, Kate Bowler, discusses her memoir, "Everything Happens for a Reason," in which she reflects on being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and the age of 35. This program originally aired in February of 2018. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British-born author Nick Bunker, our guest this week, has written books on the Mayflower Pilgrims, the Revolutionary War, and a biography of Benjamin Franklin. Lately he has turned his attention to America and the world in 1950. His book is titled "In the Shadow of Fear." Nick Bunker, a graduate of King's College, Cambridge, and Columbia University, focuses on names like Joseph McCarthy, Harry Tru...

Journalist Susannah Cahalan discusses her book "The Great Pretender," about a 1973 experiment, led by Stanford psychologist David Rosenhan, that was conducted to test the legitimacy of psychiatric hospitals in America. For the experiment, Prof. Rosenhan and seven other healthy individuals checked themselves into mental asylums claiming that they were experiencing hallucinations. Once inside, they...

The Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta examined the evangelical movement in America and its intersection with political issues. He was interviewed by Messiah University history professor and author John Fea. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael S. Bryant, our guest this week, is a professor of history and legal studies specializing in the impact of the Holocaust. He's based at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Among his many writings he co-edited and contributed an essay to a book titled "Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' and the Holocaust." In the introduction, the editors point out that: "When the Bavarian government's copyrig...

Musician and author, Daryl Davis, who, for over 30 years, has befriended members of the Ku Klux Klan to try to understand their hatred and to convince them that they are wrong. He is the author of "Klan-destine Relationships" and was featured in the documentary "Accidental Courtesy." This program originally aired in November of 2017. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your a...

Wall Street Journal technology reporter Jeff Horwitz discusses Facebook's growth as a company and the challenges its platforms have faced. He's interviewed by Bloomberg News reporter Sarah Frier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Levy discusses his publishing company, Transit Books, which focuses on international literature and translated books. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's not normal to hear what a politician really thinks about his or her colleagues in the United States House and Senate while they are still in office. McKay Coppins of the Atlantic magazine, our guest this week, tried to change that with his bestselling book about Senator Mitt Romney of Utah. The book, called "Romney: A Reckoning," is, according to the publisher, "a redemptive story about a fla...

Erik Larson talked about the life of William E. Dodd, who became America's first ambassador to Adolf Hitler's Germany in Berlin during 1933. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stanford University history professor Jennifer Burns discussed the life and career of economist Milton Friedman. She was interviewed by CATO Institute vice president for economic and social policy studies Alex Nowrasteh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the beginning of November, the George Washington Presidential Library in Mount Vernon celebrated its 10th anniversary with a symposium titled, "The Great Experiment – Democracy from the Founding to the Future." Guests on this panel included: Historians H.W. Brands of the University of Texas, Douglas Brinkley of Rice, Joanne Freeman of Yale, and Edna Medford of Howard University. One point of th...

Jesse Holland talked about his book, The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Ogilvie spent 8 years studying the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Her book is called "The Dictionary People." Ogilvie, who has a PhD in linguistics from Oxford University, studied over 3,000 original contributors to the dictionary. In her introduction to the book, she writes: "I was thrilled to discover not one but three murderers, a pornography collector, Karl Marx’s daughter, a...

Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill, two former Secret Service agents, spoke about the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. They also talked about the assassination’s conspiracy theories and their lives after retirement from the Secret Service.. Gerald Blaine is author of the new book, “The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence.” Clint Hill wrote the prologue for the boo...

Stanford University's Fei-Fei Li spoke about her life and journey to becoming one of the leading scientists in the field of artificial intelligence. She's interviewed by New Scientist technology reporter Jeremy Hsu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Born in Yuma, Arizona, César Chávez began his working life as a manual laborer. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Chávez moved to California to join an organization that helped laborers register to vote. This week's guest is historian Miriam Pawl. He later began organizing strikes among farm workers, calling for better pay and working conditions. Chávez eventually co-founded the labor union that bec...

Martin Gurri is a former CIA analyst who writes about the relationship between politics and media. Gurri was born in Cuba and came to the United States with his parents in the 1950s. In 2014 he self-published an e-book titled "The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium." It was republished in hardback in 2018. Martin Gurri says his thesis is a simple one: "The infor...