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 s…

I’m delighted to welcome Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky back to the program for the concluding installment of our two-part interview. Dr. Chervinsky recently was named the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She has previously written The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution an…

I’m happy to welcome Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky back to the program for the first of a two-part interview. Dr. Chervinsky recently was named the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She has previously written The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and co-edited Mourning th…

Dr. Amanda Bellows teaches history at The New School in New York. In addition to many contributions to academic journals and scholarly books, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to many others. Her first book was American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination, and t…

Dr. Amanda Bellows teaches history at The New School in New York. In addition to many contributions to academic journals and scholarly books, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, in addition to many others. Her first book was American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination, and t…

Steve Wynn is the founder and creative force behind the influential L.A. rock band The Dream Syndicate, which never quite made the leap to mainstream, but they were probably one of your favorite bands’ favorite bands. In addition to a solo career, Steve has played with many of genre’s heaviest hitters, including four albums with The Baseball Projec…

Eli Cranor played college football, and even professionally in Sweden for a bit. He came back to Arkansas to teach high school and coach football. His debut novel, Don't Know Tough, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel and was on The New York Times and USA Today’s best books of the year lists. Eli appeared on Book Talk for his second …

Eli Cranor played college football, and even professionally in Sweden for a bit. He came back to Arkansas to teach high school and coach football. His debut novel, Don't Know Tough, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel and was on The New York Times and USA Today’s best books of the year lists. Eli appeared on Book Talk for his second …

Paul Haddad is a television producer as well as a writer, having published novels and non-fiction alike. Born in Hollywood, he has a keen interest in Los Angeles, and some of his previous books include High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania, as well as Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles. Today we’ll begin our two-part conversation…

Paul Haddad is a television producer as well as a writer, having published novels and non-fiction alike. Born in Hollywood, he has a keen interest in Los Angeles, and some of his previous books include High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania, as well as Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles. Today we’ll begin our two-part conversation…

Boyce Upholt is a writer whose work has been published in the Atlantic, National Geographic, and the Oxford American, among others, and he was awarded the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism. Today we’ll conclude our two-part discussion about his debut book, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, which is publi…

Boyce Upholt is a writer whose work has been published in the Atlantic, National Geographic, and the Oxford American, among others, and he was awarded the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism. Today we’ll begin our two-part discussion about his debut book, The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, which is publishe…

Mark Greaney is best known for his Grey Man series starring the burned CIA operator turned assassin Court Gentry. But today we’ll be discussing the second book in his other series, starring Josh and Nicole Duffy. The first book Armored came out in 2022, and today we’ll be talking about Sentinel which is newly available from Berkely Books.…

Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today is the final installment of a special three-part interview about her recently rele…

Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today is the second installment of a special three-part interview about her recently rel…

Dr. Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her previous works include Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution and The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Today we begin our conversation about her recently released book, Native Nations: A Mill…

Hampton Sides is a veteran journalist and non-fiction writer, with his work appearing in many publications, including National Geographic and Outside magazine. Book Talk listeners may best know him for his appearances discussing his titles like, Hellhound on His Trail, Blood and Thunder, and In the Kingdom of Ice. Today, we will begin a two-part in…

Hampton Sides is a veteran journalist and non-fiction writer, with his work appearing in many publications, including National Geographic and Outside magazine. Book Talk listeners may best know him for his appearances discussing his titles like, Hellhound on His Trail, Blood and Thunder, and In the Kingdom of Ice. Today, we will begin a two-part in…

Sara Koffi is a native of Memphis, who currently calls western Pennsylvania home. We’ll be discussing her debut, a thriller called, While We Were Burning, which is set in Harbor Town, one of the few majority-white neighborhoods in Memphis, and how that lack of integration exacerbates the grief felt by the leading women characters, both black and wh…

This is the second of a two-part interview with, Alice Randall, who is best known for her best-selling novels The Wind Done Gone, Rebel Yell, Black Bottom Saints and others. But before writing prose, Alice wrote country songs in Nashville, including "XXXs and OOOs", which went to top the charts for Trisha Yearwood, making Alice the first African-Am…

Book lovers know Alice Randall for her best-selling novels including The Wind Done Gone, Rebel Yell, Black Bottom Saints and others. But before writing prose, Alice wrote country songs in Nashville, including "XXXs and OOOs", which went to top the charts for Trisha Yearwood, making Alice the first African-American woman to write a number one countr…

Dr. SunAh M. Laybourn is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Memphis. Her research has been published in Ethnic & Racial Studies, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Sociology Compass, and Asian Pacific American Law Journal. Her co-authored book entitled, Diversity in Black Greek-Letter Organizations: Breaking the Line, was publis…

We welcome Kurt Wagner back for the second of a two-part interview today. Kurt is an award-winning business and technology journalist covering social media for Bloomberg and has been writing about Twitter and other social media companies and their impacts on society since 2013. Kurt’s debut book is Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and t…

We happily welcome Kurt Wagner for the first of a two-part interview today. Kurt is an award-winning business and technology journalist covering social media for Bloomberg and has been writing about Twitter and other social media companies and their impacts on society since 2013. Kurt’s debut book is Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and…

Mark Greaney is now best known for his long-running Grey Man series, starring the burned CIA op, Court Gentry. And as a special treat, Mark brought along his editor, Tom Colgan, who is Vice President, Editorial Director for Berkley Books. Today we’ll be talking about entry number 13 in the series, The Chaos Agent.…

Guest host Matt Ward welcomes retired gangster and current historian Louis Ferrante on for an epic two-hour interview. Ferrante's new book is Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia, first part of the planned Borgata Trilogy) covering the Mafia's first one hundred years, from 1860's Sicily to 1960's America.…

Prior to becoming a best-selling thriller writer, Brad Taylor served in the U.S. Army for twenty-one years retiring as a lieutenant colonel after serving in several special-forces capacities in multiple deployments around the globe. His Pike Logan thriller series began in 2011 with One Rough Man, and today we’ll talk about the 18th entry, Dead Man’…

Dr. David Mason is back today as guest host. Dave is a professor of religious studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. This week he speaks with a returning guest, Dr. Vanessa Sasson, who is also a professor of religious studies, but at Marianopolis College in Quebec. They last spoke about her debut novel, Yasodhara, and today they will be discussi…

Avery Cunningham joins me to discuss her debut novel, The Mayor of Maxwell Street which is published by Hyperion. A native of Jackson, TN and now a resident of Memphis, Avery has crafted a tale set in the early 1920s in Chicago, as the wealthiest African-American families have gathered for the funeral of the son of the richest black man in the nati…

Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentie…

Fergus M. Bordewich is a former journalist and now a longtime historian. His books include THE FIRST CONGRESS: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Story of the Underground Railroad, KILLING THE WHITE MAN'S INDIAN: Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Twentie…

Martin Clark is a retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia and is the author of six novels, including Plain Heathen Mischief and The Jezebel Remedy. Today is the conclusion of a two-part interview about his newest novel, The Plinko Bounce which is published by Rare Bird Books.By Stephen Usery

Martin Clark is a retired circuit court judge from Patrick County, Virginia and is the author of six novels, including Plain Heathen Mischief and The Jezebel Remedy. Today is the first half of a two-part interview about his newest novel, The Plinko Bounce which is published by Rare Bird Books.By Stephen Usery

Laurence Leamer is a journalist and author with quite an accomplished body of work under his belt. His journalism has appeared in publications including Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, and Newsweek. His books have covered gritty topics like coal mining and lynching, political titans like the Kennedys and Ronald Reagan, and the brightest star…

Maureen Corrigan is the Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism at Georgetown University. She is perhaps bet known as the longtime book critic for the NPR program Fresh Air and is the author of Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading, and So We Read On: How “The Great Gatsby” Came to Be and Why It Endures. Earlier th…

Stephan Pastis is best known as the writer and artist for the wildly successful daily comic strip Pearls Before Swine. The latest collection of strips, Pearls Seeks Enlightenment was recently published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Stephan also writes novels for all ages, but the publisher says that they are great especially for middle schoolers. H…

Hayley Arceneaux is a physician's assistant with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Not only an employee, she is also a successful patient who recovered from pediatric cancer at St. Jude. A couple of years ago, she was offered a seat on a Space X flight to orbit the earth for three days and raise money for St. Jude. In 2022, her Memo…

I’m happy to welcome Jonathan Eig back to the program today for the second of our two-part conversation about his new, exhaustive biography of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ent, King: A Life which is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Jonathan is a best-selling and award-winning author of non-fiction. His titles are Luckiest Man: Th…

Jonathan Eig is a best-selling and award-winning author of non-fiction. His titles are Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster, The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution,…

Polly Stewart is an associate professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute. Her essays have a appeared in The New York Times, Poets and Writers, among others. Today we will be speaking about her new novel, a thriller, entitled The Good Ones which is published by Harper.…

This week we have the second of a two-part interview as Dr. David Mason speaks with Dr. Julie Carr about her book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West published by the University of Nebraska Press. David is the director of the Asian Studies Department at Rhodes College. Julie is the director of the Wome…

This week we have the first of a two-part interview as returning guest host Dr. David Mason speaks with Dr. Julie Carr about her book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West published by the University of Nebraska Press. David is the director of the Asian Studies Department at Rhodes College. Julie is the …

We're happy to welcome Blake McVey back as guest host of the program today. Blake is the public services director of the historic Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis. Today is the second of a two-part interview with journalist and author Paul Kix. Paul's journalism has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic M…

We're happy to welcome Blake McVey back as guest host of the program today. Blake is the public services director of the historic Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis. Today is the first of a two-part interview with journalist and author Paul Kix. Paul's journalism has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Mo…

Peter Cozzens is on the program today for the second of a two-part interview. Peter is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and a historian. He has edited or written almost twenty books, having won many awards along the way. Today we will wrap up our chat about the last book in his trilogy of books looking at U.S. government wars against Native Am…

Peter Cozzens is on the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Peter is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and a historian. He has edited or written almost twenty books, having won many awards along the way. Today we will begin talking about the last book in his trilogy of books looking at U.S. government wars against Native Americ…

Memphis native Elizabeth Passarella is a writer and editor. Currently, she is a contributing editor for Southern Living, and previously worked as an editor at Vogue and Real Simple. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Parents, The Wall Street Journal, among many others. In 2021, she published her first c…

Michael Farris Smith is a novelist who has previously appeared on Book Talk for his books, Rivers, Desperation Road, The Fighter, and Blackwood. His other titles are Nick and The Hands of Strangers. Today we’ll be discussing his latest, Salvage This World, which is published by Little, Brown.By Stephen Usery

Rebecca Boggs Roberts is a journalist and author, having been a correspondent for NPR, PRI, and the BBC, including the programs Morning Edition, The World, and Talk of the Nation. She is currently the deputy director of events for The Library of Congress. Her first book in 2012, co-authored with Sandra Schmidt, was Historic Congressional Cemetery. …

Rebecca Boggs Roberts is a journalist and author, having been a correspondent for NPR, PRI, and the BBC, including the programs Morning Edition, The World, and Talk of the Nation. She is currently the deputy director of events for The Library of Congress. Her first book in 2012, co-authored with Sandra Schmidt, was Historic Congressional Cemetery. …