Great Podversations

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, interviewed by Rana Foroohar at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on April 13, 2017.

P.J. O'Rourke discusses his book, "How the Hell Did This Happen? The 2016 Presidential Election," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on March 20, 2017. Interviewed by Robert Siegel of National Public Radio.

Hour-long interview of Colson Whitehead at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Dec. 5, 2016. Interviewed by Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald.

Sebastian Junger, author of War and The Perfect Storm, discusses his latest book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, with journalist Joe Klein at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Sept 21, 2016.

Joe Nocera at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on April 18, 2016. Interviewed by Buzz Bissinger.

Diane Rehm interviewed by Ann Patchett at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on March 23, 2016.

For decades, E.J. Dionne has been one of the most prominent journalists and left-leaning political commentators in the U.S. The Washington Post columnist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution is known not only for his sharp defenses of liberalism, but also for a deep curiosity about the other side of the political aisle. His latest book is called “Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism fr...

The Avenue of Mysteries: John Irving at Kentucky Author Forum 11/10/15 by Kentucky Author Forum

David Boies is a distinguished American trial lawyer who has litigated some of the highest profile cases in recent history. His recent book, "Redeeming the Dream: The Case for Marriage Equality," offers a dramatic and up-close account of his arguments, and ultimate triumph, in the landmark Supreme Court case which struck down Proposition 8, reinstating the freedom to marry for gays and l...

Operatic singer Jessye Norman interviewed at the Kentucky Author Forum on Nov. 17, 2014, following publication of her memoir, "Stand Up Straight and Sing!" The interviewer is Gloria Steinem, writer, lecturer, editor, feminist activist, and co-founder of Ms. magazine.

Timothy Geithner discusses his book "Stress Test" at the Kentucky Author Forum on 11/3/14.

Philippe de Montebello: Rendez-vous with Art by Kentucky Author Forum

In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, a convicted killer of two teenagers, who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier’s death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know the convicted felon, the families of his victims, and the men whose job it was to execute him. Out of Sister Prejean’s experien...

In "Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked," Chris Matthews offers a personal history of a time when two great political opponents - President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill - served together for the benefit of the country. Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” served as a top aide to Speaker O’Neill. At this Kentucky Author Forum, Matthews was interviewed by...

John Lewis is Georgia’s 5th Congressional District Representative and an American icon who has witnessed history in the making and made history himself as one of the key figures of the Civil Rights Movement. To share his story with new generations, Lewis turned to the graphic novel format and has published "March" (Top Shelf Productions.) "March" is a vivid first-hand account o...

Pat Conroy was the featured guest at the Kentucky Author Forum on Oct. 30, 2013, concurrent with the release of his new memoir, The Death of Santini. He was interviewed by Maureen Corrigan, critic-in-residence and lecturer at Georgetown University, and book critic for NPR's Fresh Air. The new book delves into Conroy's past, furthering the account of family struggle, expanding on the story of his f...

Rick Pitino, coach of the 2013 NCAA men's basketball champs, author of "The One Day Contract," interviewed by Joe Nocera, opinion and business columnist for the New York Times on Oct 9, 2013.

Jared Diamond spoke in Louisville on January 9, 2013 as featured guest at the Kentucky Author Forum, discussing in detail his latest book, The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies. Diamond is an author, physiologist, evolutionary biologist and bio-geographer, as well as a medical researcher and professor of geography at UCLA. Diamond argues that developed, Western cu...

"The Book of Revelation is the strangest book in the Bible. It's the most controversial. It doesn't have any stories, moral teaching. It only has visions, dreams and nightmares. Not many people say they understand it, but for 2000 years, this book has been wildly popular." So says scholar Elaine Pagels, who was in Louisville recently as featured guest at the Kentucky Author Forum. Pagels...

Ray Kurzweil, arguably today’s most influential—and often controversial—futurist, is one of the leading inventors of our time and a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence. Among his inventions, Kurzweil was the principal developer of the first CCD flat-bed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition device, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first...

Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker was the guest at the Kentucky Author Forum on Oct. 2, 2012, interviewed by NPR's Neal Conan. Pinker is a Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on language and cognition and is the author of numerous books, including The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human N...