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Writer and longtime TLS editor Thea Lenarduzzi joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to speak about her debut book Dandelions, a winner of the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize. Weaving together memoir, history, and criticism, Dandelions explores the life of Lenarduzzi's grandmother, Dirce, a totemic figure in her family who was born almost a century ago into Mussolini's Italy. Political and economic circumstances, as well as personal tragedy, force Dirce to leave Italy for England, first as a child and later as an adult. Migration becomes one of the central realities of her life, and subsequently the life of her son and then Lenarduzzi herself. But even as the conditions of these moves between countries grow less critical, the difficulties of immigrating remain, complicating and splintering a sense of identity and home, foregrounding difference, and calling belonging into question. Lenarduzzi portrays the gravity of what for so many across the world is still the most dire of decisions, tracing the effect emigrating can have over multiple generations, while also finding inspiration in her family's resiliency and the stories they leave behind. Also, Colin Dickey, author of Under the Eye of Power, returns to recommend Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by Kevin Young.
Writer and longtime TLS editor Thea Lenarduzzi joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to speak about her debut book Dandelions, a winner of the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize. Weaving together memoir, history, and criticism, Dandelions explores the life of Lenarduzzi's grandmother, Dirce, a totemic figure in her family who was born almost a century ago into Mussolini's Italy. Political and economic circumstances, as well as personal tragedy, force Dirce to leave Italy for England, first as a child and later as an adult. Migration becomes one of the central realities of her life, and subsequently the life of her son and then Lenarduzzi herself. But even as the conditions of these moves between countries grow less critical, the difficulties of immigrating remain, complicating and splintering a sense of identity and home, foregrounding difference, and calling belonging into question. Lenarduzzi portrays the gravity of what for so many across the world is still the most dire of decisions, tracing the effect emigrating can have over multiple generations, while also finding inspiration in her family's resiliency and the stories they leave behind. Also, Colin Dickey, author of Under the Eye of Power, returns to recommend Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by Kevin Young.
This week, Cindy Juyoung Ok speaks with Kevin Young, who has authored or edited over twenty books including the poetry collection Stones (Knopf, 2021) and the nonfiction investigation Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News (Graywolf Press, 2017). In addition to directing the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, Young is also the poetry editor at the New Yorker, so perhaps it's not surprising that the conversation today focuses on all that poetry does. As Young says: “It does the most important things … It's waiting for you.” We'll also hear two new gorgeous poems by Young from the July/August 2023 issue of Poetry: “The Stair” (4:20) and “Diptych” (38:06).
In this year like no other in history, enjoy this excursion through some of our best interviews with historians from our history: Doris Kearns Goodwin on her book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Simon & Schuster, 2005); Ron Chernow, on his biography Grant (Penguin Press, 2017); the late Studs Terkel, oral historian extraordinaire, at the grand opening of the StoryCorps booth in Grand Central; Kevin Young , poet, director of the NYPL Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and New Yorker poetry editor, on Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News (Graywolf Press, 2017); Sarah Vowell's take on Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (Riverhead Books, 2015) Ted Gioia, music critic and historian on Love Songs: The Hidden History (Oxford University Press, 2015). These interviews were edited slightly for time, the original versions are available here: Honest Abe - (10/25/05)Heroes and Villains of History - (10/20/17)Wild Turkel - (11/28/03)The Interlaced History of Hoaxes and Race - (11/15/17)A Teenaged French General in the American Revolution - (10/20/15)There's Nothing 'Silly' About Love Songs - (3/4/2015) Transcripts are posted to the individual segment pages as soon as they are available.
On March 19, we hosted Kevin Young, author of "Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts," at the Mary Harris Auditorium at Rocky Mountain School of Art + Design for Inside the Writer's Studio. Young read from his work and then joined journalist Tina Griego on stage for a conversation about the intersection of fact, fiction, and art, followed by an audience Q&A.
This week Boston Public Radio is revisiting some of our favorite conversations. In this episode you'll hear: We celebrated Leonard Bernstein’s centennial with his daughters Nina Bernstein Simmons and Jamie Bernstein We open the lines and asked you about Updike’s Rabbit series being adapted to TV. What do you think have been the best and worst adaptations of books onto the big and small screen? Alex Beam joined us for one of his famous explainers. The makers of* FRONTLINE's *Oscar nominated documentary, *Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, *joined us to talk about their award winning film. Kevin Young discussed his book,* Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-facts, and Fake News.* We talked to Gar Alpervitz, who was instrumental in making the Pentagon Papers public. Sy Montgomery joined us for another edition of the Afternoon Zoo.
On The Gist, war games are back. Hoaxes have fooled us at least since the era of P.T. Barnum, but they’re especially prevalent in our era of political disinformation. Kevin Young is the author of Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News and tells us about the racist roots of the hoax and how hoaxes often lead us to believe what we wanted to in the first place. In the Spiel, Trump shouldn’t try to critique an algorithm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On The Gist, war games are back. Hoaxes have fooled us at least since the era of P.T. Barnum, but they’re especially prevalent in our era of political disinformation. Kevin Young is the author of Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News and tells us about the racist roots of the hoax and how hoaxes often lead us to believe what we wanted to in the first place. In the Spiel, Trump shouldn’t try to critique an algorithm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In The Past Lane - The Podcast About History and Why It Matters
This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we explore the rise of hoaxes, humbug, plagiarists, phonies, post-facts, and fake news, beginning in the early 19th century. All societies are susceptible to hoaxes and scams, but there seems to be something about America’s culture of striving and reinvention that makes its people particularly vulnerable to the wily ways of tricksters, from P.T. Barnum to Bernie Madoff. To make sense of this fascinating thread that runs through US history, I speak with Kevin Young, author of, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News. We discuss famous hoaxes, including the Moon Hoax of 1835, P.T. Barnum’s fakeries like Joice Heth, whom he claimed was the 168-year old former slave nursemaid of George Washington. We also talk about famous imposters, including Grey Owl, a famous Native American from the early 20th century and the more recent case of Rachel Dolezal, an African American activist, both of whom, surprise turned out to be white. As this last point indicates, race has been at the heart of American hoaxes. And Kevin Young also gives us a lot to think about when it comes to understanding how modern day hoaxes are both similar to those in the past, and yet also different in some disturbing ways. Among the many things discussed in this episode: What is bunk, or humbug? How did P. T. Barnum popularize the hoax? Why are Americans seemingly particularly susceptible to hoaxes and frauds? How were hoaxes and fakeries in the 19th century early versions of reality TV? What was the Moon Hoax of 1835? What was the Cardiff Giant Hoax of 1869? Why race and racism have long been the inspiration of hoaxes and fakeries. How contemporary hoaxes and fake news stories are different from those in the 19th century. Recommended reading: Kevin Young, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News (2017) Philip B. Kunhardt Jr., P. T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman (1995) Ian Tattersall and Peter Névraumont, Hoax: A History of Deception: 5,000 Years of Fakes, Forgeries, and Fallacies (2018) Scott Tribble, A Colossal Hoax: The Giant from Cardiff that Fooled America (2008) Podcasts mentioned in this episode Past Present website Ben Franklin’s World website Flatbush + Main website A Great Woman and Her Time website
Young, poetry editor of The New Yorker, has written a book about 'fake news' before President Trump co-opted the term. It's called "Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News." He talks to Sam about the book, as well as Prince, why hoaxes are so tied up with race, Donald Trump and P.T. Barnum, editing poetry at The New Yorker, black twitter, and growing up in Nebraska. Email the show at samsanders@npr.org or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with your feedback. Follow Sam on Twitter @samsanders and producers Brent Baughman @brentbaughman and Anjuli Sastry @AnjuliSastry.
Jacob Weisberg talks to Kevin Young, director of the Schomburg Center and poetry editor at The New Yorker, about his new book Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jacob Weisberg talks to Kevin Young, director of the Schomburg Center and poetry editor at The New Yorker, about his new book Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices