WYPL Book Talk

  Dr.  Roxane Gay is writer, editor, social commentator and a professor of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University. She has written many best-sellers, including her essay collection Bad Feminist, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, and the novel An Untamed State. Today we’ll be discussing her latest release, The Portable Feminist Reader , which is published by Penguin Classics. 

  We are delighted to welcome Dr. Dolen Perkins Valdez back to the program today. Dolen is an associate professor of English literature at American University, but our listeners better know her as an award-winning, critically-acclaimed novelist. Her previous works are Wench, Balm, and Take My Hand. Today we’ll be discussing her latest release, Happy Land , which is published by Berkley. 

We welcome Amor Towles back to the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Amor is a best-selling novelist known for his historical novels The Rules of Civility, A Gentleman Moscow, which was turned into a miniseries starring Ewan McGregor, and The Lincoln Highway which is development to become a feature film. Today we’ll begin the discussion of his collection of shorties and a novel...

We welcome Amor Towles to the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Amor is a best-selling novelist known for his historical novels The Rules of Civility, A Gentleman Moscow, which was turned into a miniseries starring Ewan McGregor, and The Lincoln Highway which is development to become a feature film. Today we’ll begin the discussion of his collection of shorties and a novella, Ta...

Today we welcome a new co-host to the program today, Miriam Oliphant. Miriam is a veteran of the publishing industry and recently joined WYPL on a full-time basis. Her first interview for Book Talk is with novelist Anita Kopacz , who has found great success in the magazine world and become a spiritual advisor. She currently in the midst of a trilogy looking at spirits in the Yoruba tradition. The...

Tova Mirvis, a native of Memphis, is an author, who has previously joined us on Book Talk to speak about her memoir The Book of Separation as well as her novels, Visible City and The Outside World. Today, we’ll discuss her latest novel, We Would Never, published by Simon and Schuster.  

Preston Lauterbach is a former Memphian who has written extensively about African-American music and history and has helped musicians tell their own stories, as well. Preston has appeared on Book Talk several times to discuss his books, The Chitlin Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Beale Street Dynasty, and Bluff City. Today, we’ll be discussing his latest title, Before Elvis:The African Amer...

Mark Greaney is a New York Times best-selling author of international thrillers. He co-authored several Jack Ryan novels with Tom Clancy, and continued the series for a few years after Mr. Clancy’s passing. He recently started a new series starring Josh Duffy, a security contractor, but today we’ll be discussing his 14th installment in his Grey Man series, featuring burned CIA asset, Court Gentry....

  Guest host  Dr. David Mason is back to conclude a special two-part interview with historian Dr. Manan Ahmed Asif . Dr. Ahmed is an associate professor of history at Columbia University. A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia,  Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Pakistan and the American Imagination, and The Loss of Hindustan. He and Dr. Mason will wrap up their conversatio...

  Guest host  Dr. David Mason is back to host a special two-part interview with historian Dr. Manan Ahmed Asif . Dr. Ahmed is an associate professor of history at Columbia University. A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia,  Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Pakistan and the American Imagination, and The Loss of Hindustan. He and Dr. Mason will begin their conversation toda...

  We are honored to welcome Rachel Kushner to the program today. Rachel is an award-winning novelist, whose previous work includes the novels, Telex from Cuba, The Flame Throwers and The Mars Room, as well as the collection of essays, The Hard Crowd. Today we’ll be discussing her recent acclaimed novel, Creation Lake , which is published by Scribner. 

We welcome Dr. Russell Muirhead back to the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Russel is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics and Co-Director, Political Economy Project at Dartmouth College. He has many publications, including two books co-written with Dr. Nancy L. Rosenblum , who is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emeri...

We welcome Dr. Russell Muirhead to the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Russel is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics and Co-Director, Political Economy Project at Dartmouth College. He has many publications, including two books co-written with Dr. Nancy L. Rosenblum , who is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emerita at...

Eugenia Bone previously appeared on the show to talk about her books, The Kitchen Ecosystem: Integrating Recipes to Create Delicious Meals and Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms. It’s been ten years since her last time with us, and today, we’ll be discussing her most recent title Have a Good Trip: Exploring the Magic Mushroom Experience which is published by Flat Iron Books....

  Charles Bock was last on Book Talk for his debut novel, Beautiful Children, which won the 2009 Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His second novel was Alice and Oliver. Today, we’re talking about his recent memoir, I Will Do Better: A Father’s Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love published by Harry N. Abrams, which is distributed by Hachette. 

  We welcome Charles King back to the program today for the final segment of a special three-part interview. Charles is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. Today we will continue to discuss Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which...

We welcome Charles King back to the program today for the second of a special three-part interview. Charles is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. Today we will continue to discuss Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which is publi...

Charles King is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. He has written for academic audiences as well as the wider, general readership. His previous titles include Midnight at the Pera Palace and Gods of the Upper Air. In 2024, he brings us Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah which is published by Doubleday.

Wright Thompson is a writer of non-fiction. His journalism has appeared in The New Orleans Times Picayune, The Kansas City Star and currently at ESPN.com. His previous books are The Cost of These Dreams and Pappyland. Today we’ll be discussing his new effort, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi , which looks at the infamous murder of 14 year old Emmett Till in 1955, but also re...

Sonia Purnell is a former journalist and current author of non-fiction. She first appeared on Book Talk for her previous book, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Her other books include Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill and Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - A Biography of Boris Johnson. Today we conclude our two-part interv...

Sonia Purnell is a former journalist and current author of non-fiction. She first appeared on Book Talk for her previous book, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II. Her other books include Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill and Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - A Biography of Boris Johnson. Today we have the first of a two-part...

Guest host Linda Lloyd welcomes back best-selling cookbook author, Anne Byrn . Anne is known by millions as the Cake Mix Doctor, who has shown us how to start with a boxed cake mix and customize it to create truly memorable desserts. In her new book, Anne is expanding her purview with Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories , which is published by Harper Celebrate.   

Jessica Mills is a journalist who has written for The Wall Street Journal and The Independent. Today, we’ll be discussing her debut novel, The English Chemist . It is based on the life of pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin whose imaging work in capturing the structure of DNA was sidelined and buried by Frances Crick and John Watson who won the Nobel Prize in 1952 and did not credit Franklin. T...

Danica Nava 's debut novel is The Truth According to Ember , a romantic comedy set in central Oklahoma, where a young woman fudges her resume’ hoping to jump start her career and overcome discrimination against people of Native American heritage. The Truth According to Ember is published by Berkley.   

  Hena Khan is a prolific author of children’s books including Amina’s Voice and Amina’s Song, the second of which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature in 2022. She has enjoyed great success with picture books and middle-grade novels, but today we’re talking about her newest endeavor, graphic novels. We are Big Time is the story of a teen girl whose family moves from Flor...