One True Podcast

In this episode, we welcome Nicholas Reynolds, author of Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961, to discuss Hemingway's politics and involvement in espionage and intelligence. Why was the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 Hemingway's political genesis point? How and why was he recruited by the Soviet NKVD? What was his involvement, beyond the role of war correspondent, during WWII? Reynolds, a former Marine colonel and intelligence officer who has served as the historian at the CIA Museum, explores these and other topics as we investigate Hemingway's preternatural intelligence-gathering ability, his growing paranoia during the later years, and the way his writing reflects his involvement in these "secret adventures."

Erik Nakjavani shares his one true sentence from Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa.

For this fascinating discussion, we welcome the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian A. Scott Berg, author of Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, to discuss Perkins's role in Hemingway's life and career.Berg talks about the research and writing of his biography, the difference between Perkins's approach to editing and promoting Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and the editor's collaborations with other writers such as Thomas Wolfe, James Jones, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Berg also offers his “one true sentence” from all of Hemingway's work. We hope you enjoy this episode with one of America's leading biographers!

We welcome Valerie Hemingway to share her memories of her father-in-law and the thrilling Spanish summer of 1959. We draw from her wonderful memoir Running with the Bulls to hear stories about Hemingway's later years, his writing process, and the stark difference between the dangerous summer of 1959 and the grim crises of 1960. Ms. Hemingway recollects her own Irish childhood and her development as a young journalist thrust into the exhilarating role as Hemingway's secretary. She also looks back at her relationship with Papa, which was unlike any other in Hemingway's life.Join us for our conversation with this brilliant and charming raconteur about her crucial role in Hemingway's life and legacy. 

Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog, Townie, and Gone So Long, talks about his one true Hemingway sentence from "Hills Like White Elephants."

One True Podcast takes a deep dive into Joan Miró's masterpiece and Hemingway's beloved possession, The Farm.  We welcome art historian Alex Fernandez de Castro and journalist Hugh Eakin to discuss the meaning, history, and legacy of this powerful and infinitely mysterious painting. In our two-part interview, we cover Miró's evolution as an artist, his similarities and differences with Hemingway, and the crucial importance of this painting in his storied career. We also learn the mythology of how Hemingway bought The Farm, and ultimately, how it has now come to be housed in Washington, DC, at the National Gallery.  Join us in our travels to Miró's Farm!

Amanda Vaill takes us to the French Riviera of the 1920s, drawing from her definitive book, Everybody Was So Young, to describe who Gerald and Sara Murphy were and what they meant to the artists they knew. Vaill discusses Fitzgerald's poor behavior, Hemingway's ambivalence to the rich, and Gerald's own artistic efforts. Along the way, she suggests what gave the Murphys the enchanting quality that drew so many important figures into their circle. This episode was recorded on May 17, 2021.

Hideo Yanagisawa shares his choice for Hemingway's one true sentence, which comes from a letter to Charles Scribner about The Old Man and the Sea.

We welcome aboard Paul Hendrickson for a discussion about his poignant book on Hemingway’s beloved Pilar, the best-selling Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost.Hendrickson explores Pilar as a significant constant in Hemingway's life and as an illuminating metaphor for Hemingway's work.  During the interview, he also talks about the fascinating process of writing this searching book, one that includes a twenty-year gestation period, a meeting with Hemingway’s brother, and a pep talk from a former One True Podcast guest.This episode was recorded on March 26, 2021.

We welcome Mark Salter, who served as Senator John McCain's advisor and speechwriter, to discuss the senator's lifelong passion for the works of Ernest Hemingway. From his first encounter with For Whom the Bell Tolls to his final consideration of the elegiac “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” Salter speaks movingly about Senator McCain's engagement with Hemingway’s writing and how it informed his ethics. Along the way, Salter talks about the art of speechwriting, Senator McCain as a potential literature scholar, and the way For Whom the Bell Tolls’s Robert Jordan emerged as a fictional character that was completely alive for the senator. Join us for this fascinating conversation!This episode was recorded on November 23, 2020.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Elizabeth Strout shares her one true sentence from Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place."

We celebrate the new PBS documentary Hemingway by discussing this historic three-part series with its directors, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Our conversation covers Hemingway’s singular gifts as an artist, his burden of celebrity, his many complicated relationships, and the tragedy that coursed through his life. Burns and Novick describe the challenges of bringing such an outsized life to screen, from the gathering of rare footage to assembling the distinct voices that illuminate his life and work. They also explain the process of selection, as well as the things left out. As a perfect companion to your viewing of Hemingway, join us for this revealing interview with its filmmakers.This episode was recorded on February 8, 2021.

“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” is one of Hemingway’s greatest stories and one of his most controversial. Is the shocking death at the end of the story accidental manslaughter or cold-blooded murder? How should we read the ambiguous title? And what does Hemingway’s investigation into the psyches of the various characters – including the lion’s – reveal about this narrative and Hemingway’s craft? We are joined by the prominent Hemingway scholar Laura Godfrey to consider these questions and so much more. During our conversation, she discusses how issues of gender, race, class, and morality contribute to this story’s timelessness as well as how 21st-century tools in the digital humanities can help us analyze and teach it.This episode was recorded on February 24, 2021.

In this episode, Boris Vejdovsky's true sentence from Hemingway's "Cat in the Rain" leads to an illuminating and wide-ranging conversation on narrative voice, American identity, and the bravery of simple language.

Ernest Hemingway never acknowledged the influence of any artist in any medium more generously than that of the French painter Paul Cézanne. From the 1920s, Hemingway’s character Nick Adams “wanted to write like Cézanne painted.” As an older writer, Hemingway visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art to gush about the painter's influence on his approach to writing. One True Podcast turns to Carol Armstrong, professor of Art History at Yale and a leading Cézanne scholar, to help us understand how appreciating the artist's work can illuminate Hemingway’s approach to writing. Armstrong discusses Cézanne’s historical context, his modernist leanings, his interest in landscape and movement, and his own relationship with the written word. Join us to discover what Hemingway meant when he vowed to “do the country like Cézanne.”This episode was recorded on June 15, 2020.

One True Podcast welcomes scholar Ross Tangedal for a spirited discussion about Hemingway’s 1923 publication, Three Stories & Ten Poems, including the incendiary early effort, “Up in Michigan.” Tangedal guides us through this slim volume as an underrated portrait of the artist as a young man.What does this early fiction tell us about the young Hemingway? Are there signs of his later mastery? How should we value Hemingway as a poet? Join us for a discussion about this seldom-addressed book in Hemingway studies. Also note the performance of selected Hemingway fiction and poetry by some of the University of Evansville’s talented Theatre students. This episode was recorded on July 9th, 2020.

Paula McLain discusses her choice for Hemingway’s “one true sentence.”

One True Podcast continues its exploration of Hemingway on film by welcoming the legendary actor Adrian Sparks to discuss his iconic portrayal of Hemingway in Papa: Hemingway in Cuba. This film, released in 2015, made history as the first Hollywood production on the island since the trade embargo.Sparks describes the magical experience of using Hemingway’s actual typewriter as they filmed on location inside the Finca Vigía, the challenges of portraying such a complex man in the final years of his life, and the special relationship between Hemingway and the Cuban people, which he encountered first-hand while starring as Papa.Opening clip: Papa: Hemingway in Cuba trailer (Magenta Light Productions, Studio 2050, Sunstone Film Productions).This episode was recorded on March 27, 2020.

Happy Holidays from One True Podcast! Enjoy our first Holiday Spectacular as we ring in the season with Suzanne del Gizzo, scholar and editor of The Hemingway Review, to talk about Hemingway's decidedly un-festive short story, "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen."What was Hemingway getting at with that title? Why would he write such a macabre story? How can that story speak to us at the holidays? We find out in this interview as del Gizzo explains the story, the classic carol, and Hemingway’s grand design. Plus, we've sent a Hemingway-appropriate Christmas gift to our guest!A special thanks to the University of Evansville Choirs and Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Chun-Ming Chen.This episode was recorded on November 2nd, 2020.

Mark P. Ott discusses his choice for Hemingway’s “one true sentence.”

Join us for an all-new One True Podcast as we welcome Sandra Spanier and Miriam B. Mandel to discuss the fifth volume of The Letters of Ernest Hemingway. The newest installment covers 1932 to 1934, where Hemingway is finishing his bullfighting manifesto, Death in the Afternoon, preparing his idiosyncratic book of short stories, Winner Take Nothing, and readying his chronicle of the hunt, Green Hills of Africa.Spanier and Mandel discuss Hemingway’s complicated personal life, his literary ambitions, his global travels, and his ever-changing network of friends and associates. Join us for a tour through Volume 5 of the Letters with its magnificent editors!This episode was recorded on October 21st, 2020.

One True Podcast welcomes Robert K. Elder, author of the entertaining and fascinating Hemingway in Comics. In this episode, we talk about how popular artists have depicted Hemingway across various cultures and the similarities that exist between the style of comics and the iceberg principle.Elder examines how international artists have depicted, Disney-fied, satirized, and mythologized Hemingway in their representations of him as teenage soldier, Paris boozehound, and aging Cuban fisher. And, of course, Papa’s iconic image in that bulky turtleneck sweater makes an appearance.This episode was recorded on September 18, 2020.

One True Podcast asks Verna Kale her choice for Hemingway’s “one true sentence.” Kale's sentence comes from the short story "Soldier's Home." Listen in!

One True Podcast was privileged to welcome Seán Hemingway – editor of the Hemingway Library Editions and the grandson of the writer – to discuss the new edition of The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway discusses the legacy of the novella, its composition, and the new material published in the book, including “Pursuit as Happiness,” a previously unpublished short story. Seán Hemingway also reflects on his grandfather’s life and career, providing a special perspective on Hemingway and his greatness. Make sure you listen to the entire show, for a rare (but necessary) appearance by the producer, Michael Von Cannon. This episode was recorded on 9/28/2020.

One True Podcast welcomes award-winning director John Irvin to talk about his 2008 film adaptation of Hemingway's posthumous novel The Garden of Eden. Irvin discusses the role Hemingway played in his own artistic development, the challenges of adapting Hemingway, and The Garden of Eden’s controversial subject matter. He recalls experiences directing Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Richard E. Grant, and Matthew Modine as well as the importance of filming on location at the Tanzania-Kenya border. Irvin also comments on the frustrating post-production phase of the film and its uneven reception. This episode was recorded on 6/12/2020. Opening clip: The Garden of Eden Trailer (Tranquil Seas, Devonshire Productions).

One True Podcast asks Gail Sinclair her choice for Hemingway’s “one true sentence.”

One True Podcast welcomes Robert W. Trogdon to discuss his beautiful new publication, the Library of America edition of Hemingway’s early writing, from 1918-1926. Trogdon discusses his role as a textual editor. He explains how he assembled Hemingway’s journalism and letters, and how his decision about punctuation in The Sun Also Rises will forever change how we read one of Hemingway’s most iconic sentences. The episode was recorded on 8/26/2020.

One True Podcast understands that we all can’t get together at El Floridita and while away the afternoon telling stories and talking about Hemingway. However, we can serve up our first batch of Papa Dobles for our listeners, a doubleheader of episodes dealing with Hemingway, Cuba, and the valuable work of the Finca Vigía Foundation. In this first episode, we welcome Bob Vila, the legendary home repair TV personality to discuss his role in restoring and preserving the Hemingway house and its contents, as well as his upbringing in Cuba and south Florida. We hope you’ll enjoy this special episode! This episode was recorded on 5/27/2020.

One True Podcast understands that we all can’t get together at El Floridita and while away the afternoon telling stories and talking about Hemingway. However, we can serve up our first batch of Papa Dobles for our listeners, a doubleheader of episodes dealing with Hemingway, Cuba, and the valuable work of the Finca Vigía Foundation.Earlier we met up with Bob Vila to talk about his preservation work (see that show in our line-up), whereas today we are joined by Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, the most Hemingway-relevant member of the United States Congress. He discusses US-Cuba relations, the Finca Vigía Foundation, Castro, and the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. This episode was recorded on 7/23/2020.Opening clip: Rep. McGovern's floor speech, from 29 April 2016, honoring the Finca Vigía Foundation and U.S.-Cuba collaboration (CSPAN).

One True Podcast asks Craig McDonald his choice for Hemingway’s “one true sentence.”

Join us as we talk with esteemed scholar Joe Flora about "The Battler," Hemingway's classic Nick Adams story from In Our Time.Flora, who is the author of the canonical Hemingway's Nick Adams and Ernest Hemingway: A Study of the Short Fiction and Past-President of the Hemingway Society, takes us into the Michigan woods to explore this compelling story about young Nick's encounter with a former prizefighter and his companion. Along the way, we discuss Hemingway's craft, his treatment of race, boxing culture, mental illness, and the coronavirus pandemic.This episode was recorded on March 25th, 2020.

One True Podcast asks Carl P. Eby his choice for Hemingway’s “one true sentence.”

In Green Hills of Africa, the 1935 account of his safari, Hemingway made his most enduring statement of literary criticism. He wrote that "all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. [. . .] There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."What does that mean? Is he right? Was there a strategy behind what seems to be a high compliment?One True Podcast welcomes Susan K. Harris to tackle this iconic quote and to gain a better sense of Hemingway's relationship to Twain and how they compare as craftsmen. En route, we take up other significant questions, like how to make sense of the final part of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn--which Hemingway called "cheating"--and how to better understand the very notion of influence between artists. This episode was recorded on April 15th 2020.

In an episode that is unfortunately too timely, One True Podcast welcomes Elizabeth Outka to discuss the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, writers' responses to it, and the way it compares to our current experience with COVID-19.Dr. Outka discusses Hemingway’s engagement with the so-called “Spanish influenza” (in works like "A Natural History of the Dead") as well as modernism’s broader depiction of the worldwide devastation that ensued. The interview touches on Katherine Anne Porter, T.S. Eliot, Willa Cather, and others. As she does in her book Viral Modernism, Outka offers an insightful perspective that combines literary and historical analysis with scientific knowledge.The episode was recorded on May 20th, 2020.

One True Podcast is pleased to go down to the river with James Plath, Professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University, to discuss one of Hemingway’s early masterpieces. Plath discusses the many dimensions that contribute to the enduring appeal of "Big Two-Hearted River" by responding to such question as: Who is Nick Adams? What is the importance of the northern Michigan setting? How does the presence and absence of the war function in the story? And, how does the story illustrate the “Hemingway style” that made him famous. In this wide-ranging interview, Plath also makes important connections to visual artists such as Cézanne.This episode was recorded on 2/19/2020.

On this episode, we welcome to the show Jerry Fielder and Anne E. Havinga to discuss Yousuf Karsh's portrait of Hemingway, which is without a doubt the most iconic image of the writer. Who was Karsh? What was the meeting like between him and Hemingway? Why does this photo, among all those taken of Hemingway (including the others Karsh took), hold such an important place? Our two guests are especially suited to respond to these and other questions. Fielder joins us as the Director of the Estate of Yousuf Karsh, and Havinga holds the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Chair of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts. In fact, over the course of the interview we also get the opportunity to hear Estrellita's reflections on her husband's session with Hemingway.This episode was recorded on 4/24/2020.

On this episode of One True Podcast, we are joined by Dr. Andrew Farah, author of Hemingway’s Brain, who argues that Hemingway was misdiagnosed and suffered from dementia in his later years. With a perspective and base of knowledge no other commentator has ever offered, Dr. Farah chronicles Hemingway’s lifetime of mental illness, addiction, and accidents, identifying how a 21st-century doctor would have had the technology and the medicine to rehabilitate Hemingway. This episode was recorded on 2/3/2020.

Lesley Blume joins One True Podcast to discuss Everybody Behaves Badly, her bestselling profile of the background of The Sun Also Rises. Blume talks about Paris and Pamplona in the 1920s, the actual people who inspired Hemingway’s unforgettable characters, and the impact the novel has had on literature and culture for almost a century. Join us for a lively conversation with the award-winning journalist and enjoy our re-examination of Hemingway’s masterpiece!This episode was recorded on 3/2/2020.

One True Podcast continues its exploration of the places that defined Hemingway and that Hemingway helped define. We return to Cuba, joined by Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the man President Obama nominated to serve as ambassador to Cuba. During the discussion, Ambassador DeLaurentis draws from his personal experiences with the Cuban government and Cuban citizens, as well as his decades of international experience, in order to provide a rich analysis of the state of this complex international relationship.This episode was recorded on 7/29/2019.

On this episode we welcome Scott Donaldson, the legendary Hemingway biographer, to discuss the iceberg principle of writing. He explores the function of Hemingway’s iceberg style, examines various examples of it at work, and considers potential influences on Hemingway's "trademark" style of omission. As a literary biographer and one of the most perceptive and prolific living scholars of American literature, Donaldson illuminates Hemingway and his artistic technique.This episode was recorded on 7/28/2019.

In this episode, the brilliant historian Mark Thompson, author of the magisterial The White War, separates fact from fiction as he analyzes Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, including its epic depiction of the devastating Caporetto retreat. In writing his great war novel, Hemingway dramatically recreated the Italian Front of World War I by consulting histories, maps, novels, and others’ firsthand accounts. He also drew from his own traumatic experiences in northern Italy in 1918. Thompson turns his attention to the historical context of the fiction, focusing on the “forgotten front” of Italy during World War I. He addresses the military fiascoes and political incompetence, bringing to the surface the subtext of A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway’s timeless classic.This episode was recorded on September 6th, 2019.

One True Podcast took the occasion of Toni Morrison’s death to consider the way race emerges as a key factor in Hemingway’s writing. In this episode, we turn to one of the most prominent Hemingway scholars on this issue, North Carolina State’s Marc Dudley.During the interview, Dudley reflects on Morrison’s searing criticisms of Hemingway’s treatment of minority characters, and extends his thoughts to consider how other ethnicities – such as Native Americans – function in Hemingway’s work. Hemingway emerges both as a writer of his time, with all of its limitations and prejudices, and also as a man of sensitivity and deep insight. Our conversation on Hemingway and race is a timely one, asking the question: how do Hemingway’s depictions of race look through twenty-first-century eyes?This episode was recorded on October 18th, 2019.

In this episode, the inimitable Susan Beegel joins producer Michael Von Cannon for a special "Scholar's Spotlight" episode.Beegel tells Michael about her article "Fish Tale: A History of the L.C. Bates Museum Marlin, Taxidermist Fred C.N. Parke, and Ernest Hemingway," which appeared in the Fall 2018 issue of the Hemingway Review. Listen in as she unlocks the mysteries surrounding a taxidermied Hemingway marlin that she came across in a museum in Hinckley, Maine. As Beegel explores the intertwined story of Hemingway and Parke, she dives into the culture of deep-sea fishing along the Florida Keys, the importance of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad, and the conflicted relationship Hemingway had with the upper crust. In doing so, she follows the trail of Hemingway's artistic growth and literary celebrity. The marlin becomes a symbol of what the writer lost, what he never possessed, and what he finally determined to hook and land. This episode was recorded on 02/22/2019.

Stacy Keach joins the show to reflect on his legendary career, particularly his portrayal of Hemingway on the stage, in the classic miniseries, and in his audio recording of short stories. Keach compares the art of acting to the act of writing and gets to the heart of Hemingway’s knack for conveying emotion in spare prose. He reflects on the many adaptations of Hemingway novels and his friendship with George C. Scott and John Huston. He also offers insights into Hemingway’s psychology and destructive habits. As a special bonus, hear Keach's brilliant read of our “one true sentence” introduction!This episode was recorded on 08/08/2019.

Alex Vernon joins the show to discuss one of Hemingway’s major themes: men at war. He penetrates the myth of Hemingway-as-warmonger, isolates some of the writer's most evocative war passages, and even reflects on his own war experiences in the Middle East. Vernon also tracks Hemingway’s development from the young eyewitness of World War I to the keen partisan of the Spanish Civil War, and finally to the solemn commentator of WWII journalism. In pursuit of Hemingway’s place in the canon of war literature, this episode incorporates a lively discussion of Crane, O’Brien, Stendhal, and even the Kardashians.This episode was recorded on 6/27/2019.

This episode is a journey into the culture and history of Cuba. Given the undeniable importance of Cuba in Hemingway’s life and legacy, Hemingway readers will learn a lot more about it from one of the preeminent scholars, thinkers, and writers on Cuba, Dr. Julia E. Sweig.Dr. Sweig discusses US-Cuba relations, their tumultuous history, her meetings with Fidel Castro, and her sense of what we might expect--and hope for--in the coming years. The interview touches on issues of immigration, terrorism, and contemporary politics as we explore the past, present, and future of our Cuban neighbors.This episode was recorded on 5/23/2019.

In this episode, we explore Hemingway and John Dos Passos, their service in the American Red Cross during World War I, their writing careers, and their doomed friendship. In order to do so, we chat with the man who wrote the book on it. James McGrath Morris’s The Ambulance Drivers chronicles the highs and lows of their relationship and their legacies. As well, Morris talks about the mystery surrounding the identity of the Italian soldier who saved the young Hemingway’s life.This episode was recorded on 6/12/2019.

Today's show places Ernest Hemingway alongside one of his artistic contemporaries: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Part friendship and part rivalry, their complex relationship has all the twists and turns of a good novel about two characters that, at least on the surface, seem vastly different. There's some truth to these differences but, like a good story, there's a fair share of fiction. We sit down with Kirk Curnutt to set the record straight. During the episode, we draw the distinction between myth and reality to learn more about their lives, their art, and their relationship. This episode was recorded on 5/30/2019.