The podcast version of WYPL's syndicated radio program, Book Talk.
…
continue reading
Stephen Usery interviews authors of mysteries, thrillers, and crime fiction.
…
continue reading
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.…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Hampton Sides - The Wide Wide Sea, Part 2
29:38
29:38
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:38
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Hampton Sides - The Wide Wide Sea, Part 1
28:52
28:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:52
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Kurt Wagner - Battle for the Bird, Part 2
32:47
32:47
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
32:47
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Kurt Wagner - Battle for the Bird, Part 1
31:15
31:15
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
31:15
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…
…
continue reading
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.…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Louis Ferrante - Borgata: Rise of Empire
2:04:03
2:04:03
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
2:04:03
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 Trilog,) covering the Mafia's first one hundred years, from 1860's Sicily to 1960's America.…
…
continue reading
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’…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Vanessa Sasson - The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women
28:51
28:51
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:51
Dr. David Mason 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 discussing …
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Avery Cunningham - The Mayor Maxwell Street
50:52
50:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
50:52
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Martin Clark - The Plinko Bounce - Part 2
28:37
28:37
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:37
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
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Martin Clark - The Plinko Bounce - Part 1
28:45
28:45
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:45
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
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Maureen Corrigan - Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works
28:46
28:46
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:46
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Hayley Arcenaux - Wild Ride: My Journey from Cancer Kid to Astronaut
28:54
28:54
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:54
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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,…
…
continue reading
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.…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Julie Carr - Mud, Blood, and Ghosts - Part 2
28:38
28:38
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:38
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Julie Carr - Mud, Blood, and Ghosts - Part 1
28:58
28:58
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:58
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 …
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Paul Kix - You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live Pt. 2
28:49
28:49
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:49
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Paul Kix - You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live Pt. 1
29:00
29:00
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:00
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Elizabeth Passarella - It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway
43:15
43:15
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
43:15
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…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Michael Farris Smith - Salvage This World
48:18
48:18
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
48:18
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
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Rebecca Boggs Roberts - Untold Power - part two
34:25
34:25
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
34:25
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. …
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Rebecca Boggs Roberts - Untold Power - part one
28:50
28:50
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:50
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. …
…
continue reading
Eli Cranor is a former pro football player and high school football coach. He’s now a writer with a column in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and has recently published his second novel set in the Arkansas River valley. The first one was Don’t Know Tough, and the new one, recently released by Soho Crime, is Ozark Dogs.…
…
continue reading
Dr. Oline Eaton is a lecturer at Howard University. Today we'll be talking about her first book, Finding Jackie: A Life Reinvented, which is published by Diversion Books.By Stephen Usery
…
continue reading
Adam Brookes is back on the program for the second of a two-part interview. Adam is a true world traveler, having been born in Canada, grew up in Britain, and worked all over Asia. He is a journalist and novelist. He primarily served as BBC correspondent for Beijing, Jakarta, and Washington, DC. His novels are Night Heron, Spy Games, and The Spy’s …
…
continue reading
Adam Brookes is on the program today for the first of a two-part interview. Adam is a true world traveler, having been born in Canada, grew up in Britain, and worked all over Asia. He is a journalist and novelist. He primarily served as BBC correspondent for Beijing, Jakarta, and Washington, DC. His novels are Night Heron, Spy Games, and The Spy’s …
…
continue reading
New York Times Best-Selling author Mark Greaney returns to the program to talk about the latest installment in his Gray Man series, Burner, which finds Court Gentry facing off against a Russian hit team as they both race to find a phone drive full of international, money-laundering secrets.By Stephen Usery
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Chuck Thompson - The Status Revolution, Part Two
28:34
28:34
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:34
Chuck Thompson has appeared on Book Talk for his three previous titles, Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer, To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism, and Better Off Without ’Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession. Today, we have the second of a two-part interview about his most recent b…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Chuck Thompson - The Status Revolution, Part One
28:59
28:59
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:59
Chuck Thompson has appeared on Book Talk for his three previous titles, Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer, To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism, and Better Off Without ’Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession. Today, we have the first of a two-part interview about his most recent bo…
…
continue reading
Brad Taylor is a retired Army Lt. Colonel who served in what is popularly known as Delta Force. After his service, he became a thriller author, creating the Pike Logan thriller series. We’ll be talking about his brand new one, The Devil’s Ransom, where the covert ops department Logan is part of has been hacked for ransom, to be complicated by Afgha…
…
continue reading
Andy Davidson is an author of literary horror who has garnered much acclaim for his three published novels. The first was In the Valley of the Sun. He visited the WYPL studios in early 2020 to talk about The Boatman's Daughter. Today, he speaks to us from his home in Georgia about his most recent release, The Hollow Kind, which is published MCDxFSG…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Stacy Schiff - The Revoluntionary (Part Two)
29:03
29:03
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:03
Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer-winning biographer, having won for Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), among her other works are The Witches: Salem, 1692, Cleopatra: A Life, and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Today we have the second of a two-part interview about her most recent biography, in which she returns to the Americ…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
Stacy Schiff - The Revolutionary (Part One)
28:51
28:51
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:51
Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer-winning biographer, having won for Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), among her other works are The Witches: Salem, 1692, Cleopatra: A Life, and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Today we have the first of a two-part interview about her most recent biography, in which she returns to the America…
…
continue reading
Teresa Lim is a journalist originally from Singapore, now living in England. She has recently published in America her debut book, a multigenerational memoir of her family’s journey from Southern China in the late 19th century up to the Japanese invasion of Singapore during World War II, entitled: The Interpreter’s Daughter, and it is available in …
…
continue reading