Hopeton Hay Podcasts

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Abir Mukherjee , author of the thriller THE PINNACLE . In the novel, a washed-up American actor living in India wakes up from a drunken stupor one morning to the discovery of his murdered Bollywood star wife. In the interview, Abir discusses how his experiences working with the super-rich in India helped inspire the novel. Abir Mukherjee is t...

On June 28, 2014, Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Danielle Allen about her newly published book, OUR DECLARATION: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality for Austin radio station KAZI 88.7 FM. Featured on the front page of the New York Times, her book publisher writes in its description of the book, "Challenging conventional wisdom, she boldly ma...

In the latest episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, media scholar Sarah J. Jackson chronicles the contributions of Black mediamakers since the 1700s in advocating for freedom in her new book A SECOND SIGHT: How the Wonder and Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Toward Freedom . In the interview with host Hopeton Hay, she explained how she used W.E.B. Dubois's concept of second sight as her f...

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed award winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, author of ON JUNETEENTH. In the interview, Gordon-Reed discussed the historical significance of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas. She also shared her personal experiences and perspectives on the holiday's origins, evolution, and cultural significance....

Historian Ada Palmer provides a fresh perspective on the Renaissance in her book INVENTING THE RENAISSANCE: The Myth of A Golden Age . In the conversation with Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay, Palmer shared why this celebrated era of history, spanning the 14th to the 17th century, was both the best of times and the worst of times for Renaissance Italy. Ada Palmer is a historian, noveli...

Austin nonprofit Put It In A Book and Black Pearl Books recently launched a new program to support community storytelling. Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Katrina Brooks, founder of Put It In A Book and owner of Black Pearl Books, Eric Brooks, Put It In A Book board treasurer and owner of Black Pearl Books, and Put It In A Book executive director Charley Rejsek. The new ini...

British writer and actor  Andi Osho's latest novel explores how a couple's desperation to buy a home in a hot housing market pushes them into petty crime in her novel MOST WANTED . In her conversation with Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay, she shared how she really wanted the young couple to be hapless and out of their depth. They also discussed how she used her experiences as an actor...

In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay and author Tori Eldridge discuss her writing experience exploring Hawaiian cowboys, the Paniolos, a suspicious death, and family drama in her latest novel  HAWAII RAGE . This is her second novel featuring ranger Makalani Panukula. In the interview Eldridge explained she wrote the book because "I really wanted to celebrate our Paniolo...

In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay speaks with historians Jorge Cañizares‑Esguerra and Adrian Masters, co‑authors of THE RADICAL SPANISH EMPIRE: How Paperwork Politics Remade the New World . Their groundbreaking research overturns the familiar narrative of Spanish conquest and reveals a hidden history of Indigenous agency, political strategy, and bottom‑up power. Drawi...

In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, contributor Kimberly Lau interviews Blair Palmer Yoxall, author of the debut novel TREAT THEM AS BUFFALO . In the conversation, Yoxall describes the novel as a feminist anti‑Western set in Canada during the 1885 Northwest Resistance. The interview explores how the novel challenges colonial frontier myths by centering the Métis community, a distinct In...

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Miriam Kuznets , author of the novel THE GRAY NEW DEAL . In praise of THE GRAY NEW DEAL, author Chaitali Sen writes, "In this deeply original novel of communal living, a group of seniors move back into the college co-op where they once came of age. What starts as a nostalgic experiment becomes a moving exploration of grief, love, friendship,...

Back in 2012, Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay conducted a short interview with Bernice L. McFadden on KAZI Book Review (the name of this show before it changed in 2021) shortly after Akashic Books published her novel GATHERING OF WATERS . It is a tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi—the site of the brutal murder of Emmett Till in 1955. This haunting story, according to Akash...

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amran Gowani interviewed Amin Ahmad, author of the propulsive psychological thriller, A KILLER IN THE FAMILY. They discussed Amin’s inspirations for writing the novel—including THE GREAT GATSBY, THE GODFATHER trilogy, and HBO’s SUCCESSION—how unfettered capitalism has made America and India alike in unexpected ways, and how the pursuit of wealth and power enc...

This is a rebroadcast of a conversation first aired live on KAZI 88.7 FM in April 2016, featuring Bernice L. McFadden, author of the 2016 award-winning novel, THE BOOK OF HARLAN. The interview—conducted by Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay with the assistance of contributor Evelyn Martin‑Anderson—was later shared on the podcast in July 2019. DVBR is revisiting the discussion now to celeb...

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed A. Mechele Dickerson, author of THE MIDDLE CLASS NEW DEAL: RESTORING UPWARD MOBILITY AND THE AMERICAN DREAM. In this wide‑ranging conversation, law professor Dickerson discusses how her earlier work on homeownership and affordable housing led her to examine the broader erosion of economic security for low‑ and middle‑income Americans. She exp...

In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay speaks with novelist Karan Mahajan about his latest novel, THE COMPLEX . Mahajan discusses how the book examines immigration, marriage, family hierarchies, and the unspoken emotional lives that shape personal relationships. Set primarily in the late 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in India and the United States, the conversation explores how...

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Terence Keel , author of THE CORONER’S SILENCE: Death Records and the Hidden Records of Police Violence .  In the interview, Keel discussed how the current system of death investigation operates as a mechanism of institutional safeguarding and how communities can hold coroners and medical examiners more accountable.  He also shared his experi...

In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Kimberly Lau interviews Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and novelist Mirta Ojito about her novel DEEPER THAN THE OCEAN . In the interview, Lau and Ojito discuss the book’s dual narrative and its inspiration: the 1919 sinking of the Valbanera , a Spanish ship carrying hundreds of immigrants to the Americas that was lost at sea during a hur...

In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review , host Hopeton Hay welcomes author and historian Clyde Ford for a conversation about his book A HIGH PRICE FOR FREEDOM: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past . Ford challenges familiar narratives about Black history, including the meaning of Juneteenth, the overlooked leadership of Black women, and the hidden figures behind pivotal momen...

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amran Gowani interviewed Jennifer Chow, author of the cozy mystery novel TELL-TALE TREATS . They discussed the importance of food to Asian and Asian American culture, how Jennifer found her way into the cozy genre, the delicate balancing act of tackling serious themes in a whimsical tone, and why everyone loves to pet bunnies. Follow Jennifer on Instagram at...

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Johnny Lorenz, translator of the Brazilian novel THE FRONT by Edimilson de Almeida Pereira. Set in Brazil, the novel follows an unnamed narrator standing in line, using memory, poetic language, and philosophical reflection to confront hunger, racism, and the everyday violence of social systems. In the interview, Lorenz said he was inspired to...

In celebration of Black History Month, we're reposting Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay's  interview with  Dana A. Williams , author of TONI AT RANDOM: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship . It was was originally posted on July 3, 2025. In the interview, Dr. Williams discussed Toni Morrison's path to becoming a book editor, some of the Black writers she edited at Random House includ...

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amran Gowani interviewed Ross Montgomery, author of the locked-room mystery THE MURDER AT WORLD’S END. They discussed humanity’s perpetual fascination with apocalyptic thinking, Ross’s long-time fascination with Halley’s comet, the works that inspired Ross to write his first adult novel, and what’s next in the nascent Stockingham and Pike series. Follow Ross...

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Jarvis R. Givens, author of I'LL MAKE ME A WORLD: The 100-Year Journey of Black History Month.  In the interview, Givens not only discussed the importance of Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month, and other important figures, but also the role of teachers in providing guidance and inspiration for young black students.  He also...

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amanda Moore interviewed Yasmin Angoe about her new book, Behind These Four Walls .  Yasmin tells the story of a young woman who enters the world of a wealthy family in a desperate search for truth only to find herself in a dangerous world of deceit.  You can learn more about Yasmin on Instagram at @author_yasminangoe, on Facebook @ Yasmin Angoe Author and on...