Free Library Podcast

In conversation with Asali Solomon Nigerian American author  Chinelo Okparanta 's acclaimed debut novel Under the Udala Trees celebrates the act of loving fearlessly, even amidst the strife of prejudice and civil war. Selected for more than a dozen periodicals' 2015 ''best of'' lists, it won a Lambda Literary Award, was a finalist for the International Dublin Literary Award, and was nominated for...

In conversation with Karen Heller,  national features writer for The Washington Post, formerly a metro and features columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and a finalist for the  2001 Pulitzer Prize in commentary. ''A master of narrative nonfiction'' (Rolling Stone), Patrick Radden Keefe is the author of the New York Times bestseller Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. A c...

Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture In conversation with Marjorie Margolies, President, Women's Campaign International and author of  And How Are the Children?: Timeless Lessons from the Frontlines of Motherhood The younger sister of President Joe Biden, Valerie Biden Owens led his seven consecutive successful campaigns for the U.S. Senate, was campaign manager for his presidential bids in 1988 and 200...

In conversation with Sayeeda Rashid, Director of the Center for Gender Resources and Sexual Education at Haverford College Hugh Ryan is the author of When Brooklyn Was Queer, a ''boisterous, motley ... entertaining and insightful'' (The New York Times Book Review) analysis of the famous borough's LGBTQ+ history from the 1850s to present. Winner of a New York City Book Award and a New York Times Ed...

In conversation with Hayden Dunbar, assistant editor, The Sewanee Review Lisa Taddeo is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller Three Women, the ''staggeringly intimate'' (Entertainment Weekly) and extensively researched true story of the sex lives of three unconnected women in the U.S. Winner of the best narrative nonfiction book of the year at the British Book Awards, it was chosen as...

In conversation with Herman Beavers Gene Andrew Jarrett is the author of Representing the Race: A New Political History of African American Literature and Deans and Truants: Race and Realism in African American Literature. He is the editor of an additional eight books of African American literary studies, including two about 19th century U.S. poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dean of the faculty and Will...

In conversation with Melinna Bobadilla A story collection featuring Latinas of Indigenous heritage experiencing the challenges of friendship and family in the American West, Kali Fajardo-Anstine's Sabrina & Corina won an American Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award, the PEN/Bingham Prize, and The Story Prize, among other honors. Fajardo-Anstine has contributed writing to an e...

In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award winning broadcaster and journalist A two-time world champion debater and a former coach of the Harvard College Debating Union and the Australian national debating team, Bo Seo has won the World Schools Debating Championship and the World Universities Debating Championship. He formerly served as a national reporter for the Australian Financial Review and h...

In conversation with Annie Liontas, author of Let Me Explain You and co-editor of the anthology A Manner of Being: Writers on their Mentors Praised by Carmen Maria Machado as ''a sharp, flawless ... sexy and dark and strange and absolutely perfect'' debut novel, Rebecca Rukeyser 's The Seaplane on Final Approach is about the increasingly elaborate erotic desires of a young woman working on a remot...

Maxine Hong Kingston is the distinguished author of The Woman Warrior (winner of the 1976 Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction), Tripmaster Monkey and China Men. The Fifth Book of Peace is Kingston's own creation, based on the three "books of peace" that were lost to a fire in Chinese legend. In it, she combines her own narratives with those drawn from writing workshops with Vietnam veterans....

In conversation with volume editor, Viet Thanh Nguyen Acclaimed for her contributions to feminism and Chinese American literature, Maxine Hong Kingston won the 1976 National Book Critics Circle General Nonfiction Award for her first book, The Woman Warrior, and the 1981 National Book Award for general nonfiction for China Men. Her many other books of nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and essays include...

In conversation with Liz Moore Zakiya Dalila Harris is the author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Other Black Girl, a thriller in which a young Black editorial assistant slowly realizes there are more sinister forces in her publishing house than the microaggressions that hurt her career. It was chosen as Good Morning America and Read with Marie Claire book club picks, and was selected...

''The world's best green journalist'' (TIME), Bill McKibben gave one of the earliest cautions about climate change with his 1989 book The End of Nature. His many other bestselling books about the environment include Falter, Deep Economy, Eaarth, and Oil and Honey; as well as a novel, Radio Free Vermont, which imagines a group of Vermont patriots who decide to secede from the United States. Recipie...

In conversation with Benjamin Todd Jealous A political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post since 2011, Robert Samuels has chronicled the impact of national policies and controversies from across the United States. He formerly worked at the Miami Herald, where he reported on politics, poverty, and crime. His work has earned the 2020 George Polk Award in Justice Reporting...

In conversation with Adnan A. Zulfiqar Haroon Moghul 's many books include My First Police State, The Order of Light, and How to Be Muslim: An American Story, a ''profound and intimate'' (The Washington Post) memoir about life in the United States during the immediate aftermath of 9/11. A former member of the cohort of the Muslim Leadership Initiative, a fellow in Jewish-Muslim Relations at the Sh...

In conversation with Liz Moore Jason Rekulak 's Edgar Award–nominated debut novel The Impossible Fortress tells a coming-of-age story of first love, old school computer programming, and the heist of a Playboy magazine that features Vanna White. Rekulak is the former publisher of Philadelphia-based Quirk Books, where he managed the acquisition of a number of, well, very quirky books, including the...

In conversation with Ramesh Ponnuru, editor of National Review A senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Matthew Continetti works in the field of American political thought and history, with an emphasis on the Republican Party and the history of 20th-century conservatism. His books include The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Media Elite Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star and The K S...

In conversation with Tracey Matisak, award winning broadcaster and journalist The United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015, Eric Holder is the first African American to hold that position. In his 30-year career in government he also served in the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section and as an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Currently the chair...

In conversation with Isaac Fitzgerald Freelance journalist Chloé Cooper Jones was a 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing for ''Fearing for His Life,'' a profile of the man who filmed NYPD officers killing Eric Garner. Also a philosophy professor, she has published articles in a wide array of periodicals, including The Believer, GQ, Vice, and New York magazine. She is the recipient of th...

In conversation with Nathaniel Popkin The ''rare writer who can combine keen, grounded, psychological observation with visionary headiness'' (Salon), Ken Kalfus is the author of the novels The Commissariat of Enlightenment, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; A Disorder Peculiar to the Country, a National Book Award finalist; and Equilateral. His short story collections include Coup de Foud...

One of the ''Indigenous novelists reshaping North American science fiction, horror, and fantasy'' (The New York Times), Rebecca Roanhorse is the bestselling author of the fantasy books Storm of Locusts, Trail of Lightning, and Race to the Sun. Inspired by pre-Columbian American cultures, her fantasy novel Black Sun was nominated for the 2021 Locus Award, 2021 Nebula Award, and the 2021 Hugo Award....

In conversation with Pam Jenoff ''A comedy writer with a heart of gold'' (The New York Times), Adriana Trigiani is the bestselling author of 20 books of fiction and nonfiction that have been published in 38 countries. These works include The Shoemaker's Wife; Very Valentine; Cooking with My Sisters; and Lucia, Lucia. Also an award-winning filmmaker, playwright, and television writer and producer,...

''One of the best thriller writers on the planet'' (Esquire), Don Winslow is the author of 22 bestselling crime novels that explore such broad-ranging topics as the socio-political underpinnings of the war on drugs, law enforcement, criminal hierarchies, and international politics. These books include  the Cartel Trilogy, (The Power of the Dog, The Cartel, and The Border), The Force, and Savages f...

In conversation with Solomon Jones. Lawrence Jackson 's award-winning books include The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, biographies of Chester Himes and Ralph Ellison, and a memoir about his family history, titled My Father's Name: A Black Virginia Family after the Civil War. A Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of English and history at Johns Hopk...

In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition ''A national treasure'' (Vanity Fair), Margo Jefferson won the National Book Critics Circle Award for her memoir Negroland, an examination of her upbringing and education amongst a small segment of privileged Black society in the United States. She is also the author of On Michael Jackson, an analysis of Jackson's cultur...