The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan

We can all use some Dave Barry humor these days. Good friends Mitchell and Dave talk about the turbulent eighties Miami, his days as a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and the time Bruce Springsteen played in Dave’s band, with Dave’s guitar. And it’s all quite humorous. Host: Mitchell Kaplan Producer: Carmen Lucas Editor: Lithub Radio https://booksandbooks.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Eric Nuzum “is the leading expert in audio, podcasting, radio and spoken word entertainment. He brought programs like NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Snap Judgment and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! into the world of podcasts.” On this episode, he talks about how his love of radio led to his role in the history of podcasts, and his new book, Make Noise. Host: Mitchell Kaplan Producer: Carmen Lucas Edi...

On this episode of The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan, novelist, comic book writer, and podcaster Alex Segura, talks about the role his mom played in his love of comics, the final chapter of the Pete Fernandez series, Star Wars and the just-released Archie Meets B-52’s. An amusing conversation with this very creative writer. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida. Host: Mitchell Ka...

Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign mastermind, David Plouffe, shares his advice on how to defend against misinformation online, creating and spreading content, and motivating all citizens to get out and vote on November 3, 2020. His new books: A Citizen’s Guide to Beating Donald Trump and Ripples of Hope, a middle-grade nonfiction project about the United States' election process. This episode of The Li...

Vanity Fair special correspondent and author, Amy Fine Collins, talks about her fascinating life as a writer, model and muse to many designers, most notably Geoffrey Beene. Her new book, The International Best-Dressed List: The Official Guide, is “the ultimate source for fashion mavens, Instagram followers and celebrity worshipers.” Much fashion history in this episode of The Literary Life with Mi...

In The Resisters, the dystopian future is all too real. Author Gish Jen talks about growing up as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, her Ivy League education, life as a writer, and how becoming an empty nester gave her the space to research and write her acclaimed novel. The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan was recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida.   Host: Mitchell Kaplan Producer...

Craig Pittman: “The original inhabitants of Florida regarded panthers…they thought they were the *cat of god.* The settlers were petrified of them and shot them on site. Things started to turn around in 1981, Florida school children picked the panther as our official state animal. By 1995 they were virtually extinct.” Pittman talks about his new book, Cat Tale and the unprecedented scientific expe...

In Why We Can’t Sleep, one of the women interviewed by Ada Calhoun is called Florida Girl. “She basically told me my favorite quote in the whole book. She was talking about how it’s terrible, all these things you’re dealing with at this stage of life…Divorce, money stuff, health. It’s all terrible but she started to see it as “terrible fun.” And I just loved that expression.” Ada shares her fascin...

Susan Isaacs, author of thirteen novels, including Any Place I Hang My Hat and Compromising Positions, talks with Mitchell about how she became a writer. “I didn’t know writing was in my future until I had to look for a job,” she said. After graduating from Queens College, she “landed a job at Seventeen magazine, writing advice to the lovelorn under the name of Abigail Wood.” On this episode, she...

Diane Ravitch has been called a hero in her dedication to preserving public school education. On this episode, she talks with Mitchell about the “Disrupters,” who are funding privatization and believe schools should be run like businesses. And the “Resisters,” a powerful group of volunteer parents, teachers, students, bloggers and leaders who are fighting back to successfully keep alive their publ...

“I’ve been thinking about what a lot of people refer to as the culture wars…for the last thirty years. A few years ago I felt we had reached a tipping point in our colleges and universities and to some degree in the culture and I had to call this out and describe it,” Robert Boyers on why the time is right for his new book, The Tyranny of Virtue: Identity, The Academy, and the Hunt for Political H...

“The whole thing has been so lovely. I think the best part has been getting to talk to people who’ve now visited a place that lived in my head, and my head alone for a very long time…and their enthusiasm for it,” Erin Morgenstern on her international book tour. The best-selling author and Alex Award-winner talks about her books, life as a multi-media artist, and how her love of video games inspire...

“I finished my first novel, The German Girl, about the MS St. Louis that arrived in in Cuba in 1939 with about 900 Jewish refugees…They were rejected by Cuba, the United States, and Canada, sent back to Europe. Most of them were killed in Auschwitz. I decided to meet one of the few survivors, Judith Steel,” Armando Lucas Correa. Judith became an inspiration for The Daughter’s Tale. He talks with M...

“2020 will see many wonderful books being published. Today I‘m joined by three of the greatest readers around, who have the job of knowing just what those books are…Books & Books Head Buyer, Gael LeLamer, Cristina Russell, Head Buyer for Children’s and Young Adult Books and Cristina Nosti, Events and Marketing Manager, will talk about new books to expect as the year unfolds.” - Mitchell Kaplan, ow...

The James Beard Foundation recognized Allen Susser as Best Chef in America, 1994. The acclaimed chef sits down with Mitchell to talk about helping the ecosystem with recipes from his new cookbook, Green Fig and Lionfish. “Let me first say, that lionfish is delicious, but it also is an invasive species, a danger to our environment. I am a big proponent of and work with getting people to understand...

“I don’t remember a time that I didn’t read. There’s a legend in my family which I like to believe is true. It probably is not. But my mother, to this day, will tell you that they would put me in a crib at six-months-old with a stack of books so they could sleep late, and they could hear me turning the pages. So I like to think of myself as a prodigy…I’m sure this story is true.” - Connie Ogle. Mi...

“I was just really lucky that I always had this kind of Zelig position of always being at the right place at the right time. I went to San Francisco in ’67 and ’68…I was at Woodstock…and then I gravitated to the Downtown music scene, opened for The Velvet Underground,” Chris Stein. He talks about his music, New York City Debbie Harry and how they each influenced his photography. Recorded at Miami...

“There’s no justification for what my father did or any perpetrator does. But understanding is critical to transformation. What I wanted to do in this books is to let my father explain to me how he became a kind of man who was capable of doing what he was doing,” Eve Ensler, Tony Award-winning playwright, activist, and author of The Vagina Monologues, on her new autobiography, The Apology. Recorde...

“I just sort of bristled at the idea of writing a memoir…And I bristled because I feel like you should only write a memoir after you’ve brokered Middle East peace, which last I checked I have not managed, just yet…I realized that in order to capture and keep readers’ attention, there’s nothing like a good story,” Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former Ambassador to the United Nat...

“I didn’t know what I was getting into. My editor called me and said I’m loving it, I love the stories of Pat, but I’ve read it and I don’t know a thing about you. And I said, do you mean I have to talk about myself?” Cassandra King Conroy on her book, Tell Me a Story, a tribute to her late husband, literary icon Pat Conroy. On this episode, she lovingly talks about their first meeting at a litera...

“The high walls of Mar-a-Lago and other manses like it were seemingly designed to contain scandal within, as much as keep intruders out,” Les Standiford. On this episode, Standiford talks with Mitchell about his latest book, Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America’s Xanadu. From Henry Flagler, Marjory Merriweather Post to President Trump, who acquired Mar-a-Lago for $10-million in 1985 and...

“I wanted people to understand that poetry can be very accessible. A way for readers to find their own story in a poem, to demystify poetry.” Jill Bialosky on her memoir, “Poetry Will Save Your Life.” Mitchell and Jill talk about poetry, writing and being the executive editor at W.W. Norton & Company. She’ll also share her story on Joy Harjo, one of the early poets Bialosky took on, who is now the...

“It was one of those things that is kind of wonderful when it happens, when you discover the book you’re writing in the act of writing it,” Sir Salman Rushdie. The acclaimed author shares how his layered story, its characters, and narrated passages reflect the current state of the world. And the quest for love is at the heart of it. This episode was recorded with a live audience at Miami Dade Coll...

In The Big Fella, “the definitive biography of Babe Ruth,” author Jane Leavy takes readers inside the life of one of baseball’s most-beloved stars. From his troubled childhood, to becoming “the first celebrity of the mass media era,” Jane shares The Babe’s colorful and touching story on this episode of The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan. Recorded at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida. Host...

Author Meg Cabot has sold more than 25-million books worldwide. Her Princess Diaries series was made into two feature films by Walt Disney Pictures, starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. Her new book No Judgments takes place on “Little Bridge Island” in the Florida Keys, home to beautiful beaches, stunning sunsets, cold margaritas, and massive hurricanes. Meg talks with Mitchell about how real...