Podcasts about James Baldwin

This week on SELECTED SHORTS, guest host DeRay Mckesson presents four works that consider the Black experience in America from bold perspectives.  Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm recalled her historic victory in her essay “Unbought and Unbossed.”  An excerpt is read by Crystal Dickinson.  James Baldwin's powerful letter to his nephew, “My Dungeon Shook,” is read by Christopher Jackson.  Poet Sonia Sanchez recalls a life-altering encounter with Malcolm X in “Homegirls on St. Nicholas Avenue,” read by Marsha Stephanie Blake, and Percival Everett turns the tables on Southern racists in “The Appropriation of Cultures,” read by Wren T. Brown. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We've talked recently on Chris Fabry Live about the rich history of African American biblical messages and the Black musical tradition. What do we learn from reading Black books? Pastor and author Claude Atcho takes us through the works of Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Zora Neal Hurston, and others to hear how their stories sharpen our theological thinking. Featured resource:Reading Black Books: How African American Literature Can Make Our Faith More Whole and Just by Claude Atcho February thank you gift:The Love Language That Matters Most by Gary Chapman and Les & Leslie Parrott Chris Fabry Live is listener-supported. To support the program, click here.Become a Back Fence Partner: https://moodyradio.org/donateto/chrisfabrylive/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's episode, we explore George McCalman's book The Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen. McCalman is an artist and creative director based in San Francisco. Our conversation revolves around the process he went through to narrow his list of historical figures from 500 to 145, his artistic process, and what it meant for him to orient himself around Black history in the US as a young Grenadian immigrant. Among the figures featured in the book are James Baldwin, Madeline Anderson, Colin Kaepernick, and the first Black person to travel into space, Guion S. Bluford. Follow George McCalman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mccalmanco — Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post Illustrating Black History with George McCalman appeared first on KPFA.

We are pleased to announce the creation of Billy Shore's regular Substack Column. Click on or copy and paste this URL https://tinyurl.com/Billy-Shore to subscribe. In today's column, Billy talks about the horrific conditions children (many of them US citizens) are enduring while being illegally held in Migrant Detention Centers here in the United States.Today, we are reprising a episode that we feel is really important to be heard. In May of last year, we released a podcast with three thought leaders in philanthropy, Jeff Braddock, who co-founded Bridgespan Clara Miller, who led the Herron Foundation and the Nonprofit finance fund, and Daniel Stitt of the American Enterprise Institute, and what they spoke about, about how philanthropy shows up in the face of so many challenges that we're experiencing right now. Assaults on human service organizations, assaults on social justice programs, feels even more important today as those assaults continue. This week, for example, some of the news that I've been following is among the most disturbing of anything, and we kind of, it feels like we say that week after week as developments unfold. But the story about children being detained in Dilley, Texas reminds me of what James Baldwin said when he wrote, "These are all our children and we shall either profit by or pay for whatever they become." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens if we turn to James Baldwin, not just for the amazing quotations and excellent photos, but as a critical theorist? What if we read his nonfiction philosophically? What can Baldwin help us understand and do now? In So Unimaginable a Price: Baldwin and the Black Atlantic (Northwestern UP, 2025), John Drabinski takes up this project to give a sustained philosophical reading of Baldwin's nonfiction. Drabinski does so to understand the event of Baldwin's contributions in the context of the Black Atlantic. Baldwin was a thinker who looked to the United States, even when in exile. But he was also in the broader context of the mid-twentieth century Black Atlantic, of which he was surely aware but wrote little—what if we read for what was absent from Baldwin's texts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

What happens if we turn to James Baldwin, not just for the amazing quotations and excellent photos, but as a critical theorist? What if we read his nonfiction philosophically? What can Baldwin help us understand and do now? In So Unimaginable a Price: Baldwin and the Black Atlantic (Northwestern UP, 2025), John Drabinski takes up this project to give a sustained philosophical reading of Baldwin's nonfiction. Drabinski does so to understand the event of Baldwin's contributions in the context of the Black Atlantic. Baldwin was a thinker who looked to the United States, even when in exile. But he was also in the broader context of the mid-twentieth century Black Atlantic, of which he was surely aware but wrote little—what if we read for what was absent from Baldwin's texts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

What happens if we turn to James Baldwin, not just for the amazing quotations and excellent photos, but as a critical theorist? What if we read his nonfiction philosophically? What can Baldwin help us understand and do now? In So Unimaginable a Price: Baldwin and the Black Atlantic (Northwestern UP, 2025), John Drabinski takes up this project to give a sustained philosophical reading of Baldwin's nonfiction. Drabinski does so to understand the event of Baldwin's contributions in the context of the Black Atlantic. Baldwin was a thinker who looked to the United States, even when in exile. But he was also in the broader context of the mid-twentieth century Black Atlantic, of which he was surely aware but wrote little—what if we read for what was absent from Baldwin's texts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/philosophy

What happens if we turn to James Baldwin, not just for the amazing quotations and excellent photos, but as a critical theorist? What if we read his nonfiction philosophically? What can Baldwin help us understand and do now? In So Unimaginable a Price: Baldwin and the Black Atlantic (Northwestern UP, 2025), John Drabinski takes up this project to give a sustained philosophical reading of Baldwin's nonfiction. Drabinski does so to understand the event of Baldwin's contributions in the context of the Black Atlantic. Baldwin was a thinker who looked to the United States, even when in exile. But he was also in the broader context of the mid-twentieth century Black Atlantic, of which he was surely aware but wrote little—what if we read for what was absent from Baldwin's texts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

What happens if we turn to James Baldwin, not just for the amazing quotations and excellent photos, but as a critical theorist? What if we read his nonfiction philosophically? What can Baldwin help us understand and do now? In So Unimaginable a Price: Baldwin and the Black Atlantic (Northwestern UP, 2025), John Drabinski takes up this project to give a sustained philosophical reading of Baldwin's nonfiction. Drabinski does so to understand the event of Baldwin's contributions in the context of the Black Atlantic. Baldwin was a thinker who looked to the United States, even when in exile. But he was also in the broader context of the mid-twentieth century Black Atlantic, of which he was surely aware but wrote little—what if we read for what was absent from Baldwin's texts? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

As a Black gay man, James Baldwin became a widely recognized voice exploring the intersection of race, sexuality, and identity during a time when both were fiercely contested in America. Today, his work continues to inspire conversations about justice, equality, and authentic self-expression.In this episode, we're diving into Baldwin's life, career, and the ways his writing and activism shaped public conversation while leaving a lasting cultural legacy.Additional Resources:James Baldwin (Britannica)James Baldwin (Wikipedia)Lives of Notable Gay Men and LesbiansSpreading the WordSupport the showGet Your Merch

In this episode, Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad discusses her book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Black, queer, feminist, Buddhist: The Fire Inside casts a fresh new light on the radical literary legacies of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. This conversation originally took place January 29, 2026 and was recorded live [...]

By the early 2000s, a movement had started, led by one woman's love and conviction, to set the so-called "West Memphis 3" free. Going up against a corrupt system and people with their heels dug in, Damien Echols, James Baldwin, and Jesse Misskelly would have to make a tough choice: Admit their guilt and go free, or cling to the truth and remain behind bars.Strange and Unexplained" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab & Three Goose Entertainment and is a journey into the uncomfortable and the unknowable that will leave you both laughing and sleeping with the lights on. You can get early and ad-free episodes and much more over at www.grabbagcollab.comFollow us on InstagramEpisode Sponsors: Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made!Go to https://trymiracle.com/STRANGE and use the code STRANGE to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF.Butcher Box. As an exclusive offer, new listeners can get their choice between organic ground beef, chicken breast or ground turkey in every box for a year, PLUS $20 off when you go to ButcherBox.com/UNEXPLAINEDQuince. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to Quince.com/strange for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. 3 Day Blinds. Right now get quality window treatments that fit your budget with 3 Day Blinds. Head to 3DayBlinds.com/STRANGE for their buy one get one 50% off deal on custom blinds, shades. shutters, and drapery.  Ollie. Treat your Palentine with Ollie! Go to ollie.com/strange and use code strange to get 60% off your first box!

就如 美國作家 James Baldwin 曾說過的：「孩子們 從來不擅長於 聽長輩的話，但他們在模仿長輩這方面，卻從來沒有失手過。」

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." — James Baldwin  

Baldwin: A Love Story (FSG, 2025) the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, reveals how profoundly the writer's personal relationships shaped his life and work. Drawing on newly uncovered archival material and original research and interviews, this spellbinding book tells the overlapping stories of Baldwin's most sustaining intimate and artistic relationships: with his mentor, the Black American painter Beauford Delaney; with his lover and muse, the Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger; and with his collaborators, the famed Turkish actor Engin Cezzar and the iconoclastic French artist Yoran Cazac, whose long-overlooked significance as Baldwin's last great love is explored in these pages for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Baldwin: A Love Story (FSG, 2025) the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, reveals how profoundly the writer's personal relationships shaped his life and work. Drawing on newly uncovered archival material and original research and interviews, this spellbinding book tells the overlapping stories of Baldwin's most sustaining intimate and artistic relationships: with his mentor, the Black American painter Beauford Delaney; with his lover and muse, the Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger; and with his collaborators, the famed Turkish actor Engin Cezzar and the iconoclastic French artist Yoran Cazac, whose long-overlooked significance as Baldwin's last great love is explored in these pages for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Baldwin: A Love Story (FSG, 2025) the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, reveals how profoundly the writer's personal relationships shaped his life and work. Drawing on newly uncovered archival material and original research and interviews, this spellbinding book tells the overlapping stories of Baldwin's most sustaining intimate and artistic relationships: with his mentor, the Black American painter Beauford Delaney; with his lover and muse, the Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger; and with his collaborators, the famed Turkish actor Engin Cezzar and the iconoclastic French artist Yoran Cazac, whose long-overlooked significance as Baldwin's last great love is explored in these pages for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Baldwin: A Love Story (FSG, 2025) the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, reveals how profoundly the writer's personal relationships shaped his life and work. Drawing on newly uncovered archival material and original research and interviews, this spellbinding book tells the overlapping stories of Baldwin's most sustaining intimate and artistic relationships: with his mentor, the Black American painter Beauford Delaney; with his lover and muse, the Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger; and with his collaborators, the famed Turkish actor Engin Cezzar and the iconoclastic French artist Yoran Cazac, whose long-overlooked significance as Baldwin's last great love is explored in these pages for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Baldwin: A Love Story (FSG, 2025) the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, reveals how profoundly the writer's personal relationships shaped his life and work. Drawing on newly uncovered archival material and original research and interviews, this spellbinding book tells the overlapping stories of Baldwin's most sustaining intimate and artistic relationships: with his mentor, the Black American painter Beauford Delaney; with his lover and muse, the Swiss painter Lucien Happersberger; and with his collaborators, the famed Turkish actor Engin Cezzar and the iconoclastic French artist Yoran Cazac, whose long-overlooked significance as Baldwin's last great love is explored in these pages for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Ethan talks to author, scholar and teacher Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad about her insightful new book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Mixing scholarship, memoir, and a deep reverence for the spiritual insights of two of the greatest writers and thinkers of the 20th century, Dr. Vesely-Flad's newest work approaches Buddhist teachings from an angle that is deeply human, literary, and personal. How did these two great authors touch on such dharmic topics as the truth of suffering, relative and ultimate reality, and much more? Fans of literature and Buddhism will enjoy this conversation and new book deeply. This conversation belongs to one of Ethan's favorite categories: "Things you didn't know were Buddhist." In 2025, with your subscriptions to The Road Home, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Rima Vesely-Flad, PhD, is the author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022) and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017). She is the founder of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and the recipient of grants from the Fetzer Institute, the Henry J. Luce Foundation, the Fredrick P. Lenz Foundation, the Crossroads Program, and the US Department of State Fulbright program. You can follow her work at www.blackbuddhiststudies.org.       Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and a guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). Free RAIN Meditation Workshop on February 12th via A Mindful World! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link. Check out all the cool offerings at our podcast sponsor A Mindful World!

It's February, which means it's time for our annual James Baldwin episode. This we're reading his short story collection, Going to Meet the Man, published in 1965.Show NotesAs you might have noticed, we could talk about Baldwin for hours, so let us know your favourite James Baldwin books! We spent a good chunk of time before recording trying to figure out why we didn't have a James Baldwin episode in 2022 and we have no answers. We were sure we had done one every year since reading Another Country, but apparently not in '22! Time is fake.In our next episode we'll be reading Property by Kate Cayley, which is a novel recently released by our fave indie publisher, Coach House Books. Don't forget to read along with our book club! We're currently reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk and we'll be talking about it on March 4.Other James Baldwin Episodes55: Another Country61: If Beale Street Could Talk113: Giovanni's Room141: Notes of a Native Son  166: Go Tell It On the Mountain

In this episode of BG Ideas, Dr. Rachel Walsh, Associate Teaching Professor of English and International Studies at Bowling Green State University and ICS Faculty Fellow in the fall of 2025, discusses Pat Heartly and Dick Fontaine's recently restored documentary on James Baldwin, I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1982) and how it foreshadows the current backlash to diversity, equity and inclusion. In I Heard It Through the Grapevine, James Baldwin visits the settings of the 1960's civil rights struggle in the south. Join us, as Dr. Walsh explores the power of multiethnic US literature from James Baldwin to Ocean Vuong to resist disenfranchising. Listen to how Dr. Walsh talks about the struggles with traditional literature and the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in literature. Want to know more about Dr. Walsh? Click here to check out her website. A transcript for this episode can be found here.

KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “How Shakespeare Changed My Life” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre through March 1, 2026.           TEXT OF REVIEW You're just a kid. You're Black .Your teachers think you're stupid, a hopeless fat boy. At home, your mom tossed out your junkie dad. Mom herself is ice cold, and when you're sixteen, Mom throws you out on the street. You're homeless, destitute, and you love Shakespeare. That's the start of the world premiere one person play, How Shakespeare Saved My Life, written and performed by Jacob Ming-Trent, now at Berkeley Rep's Peets Theatre through March 1st. The play is billed as semi-autobiographical, and it's unclear what the relationship is between Jacob the character and Jacob the playwright performer. The real Jacob, for example, was already on stage at age eleven, and was admitted to acting school in New York at the age of seventeen, before developing a career in Hollywood. It shouldn't matter, but in retrospect, it does. The story, at least, feels real, and Jacob Ming-Trent has the acting chops to make it so, to grab an audience and to keep them. When the play works, it works wonders. The basic idea is that Shakespeare himself was an urban artist, in his own lifetime no different than Tupac or Biggie or the Wu-Tang Clan. Famous lines from the plays are easily incorporated into the dialogue, and each takes on new meaning and resonance. The Elizabethan poet meets the street. Jacob Ming-Trent has an innate ability to create empathy, an empathy that expands via the brilliant immersive staging of director Tony Taccone. When the lights, the sound, the acting and the script all work in tandem, the result can be stunning, as witness the character Jacob's discovery of James Baldwin, or his scenes with his dad. The theater shakes, the images flashed behind the actor never stop. But not everything does work. Phone dialogues with God through an old fashioned telephone fall flat, as does a sequence in a jail cell with an individual of uncertain gender. Some Shakespearean monologues go on too long, and the play itself does not stick the landing, leaving the audience wondering how the play's Jacob became the stage's Jacob. Audience participation, so successful earlier, now dissipates in a final, unearned test. But as a world premiere, some of these issues can be corrected going forward and there is enough here, and Jacob Ming-Trent is talented enough, to find solutions to these and other problematic elements. How Shakespeare Saved My Life is a work in progress, but even so, it's a diamond in the rough. How Shakespeare Saved My Life plays at Berkeley Rep's Peets Theatre through March 1st. For more information you can go to berkeleyrep.org. I'm Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area Theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “How Shakespeare Changed My Life” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre appeared first on KPFA.

Please Support Breaking Form!Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. And BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is available from Bridwell Press. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books. Show Notes:Read the London Review of Books praising Aracelis Girmay's volume, How to Carry Water: Selected Poems by Lucille Clifton. Watch Girmay read Clifton's poem "praise song."Learn more about Lucille Clifton here, here, and here. Explore more about The Clifton House, and learn more about Clifton's life in Baltimore. Watch Debby Boone sing her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life" Listen to Deborah Ann Gibson sing "On My Own" from Les Misérables. Here is the trailer for Boxing Helena, directed by Jennifer Lynch.Read more about the friendship between Toni Morrison and James Baldwin.For more about Clifton's children's book series, Everett Anderson, read here.Here is a partial list of the poems we read and discuss on the show:"my friends""a poem written for many moynihans""5/23/67 RIP" (for Langston Hughes)"alabama 9/15/63" (which appeared in a 1999 special folio of Callalo)"jasper Texas 1998" in Ploughshares Issue #78 Spring 1999https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49491/jasper-texas-1998"If I should (to clark kent)""further note to clark""hag riding""to my last period" 

Nicholas Boggs discusses the personal life and activism of American writer James Baldwin (1924-1987). Mr. Boggs, who spent over 20 years working on "James Baldwin: A Love Story," also talks about Baldwin's many books, his life outside the United States, and his involvement in the civil rights movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baldwin was key figure in the American civil rights movement of the last 1960s, and he is one of our most important American writers. Author of the novels If Beale Street Could Talk, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Giovanni's Room, he was also an essayist, poet, and playwright. Baldwin's influence continues to grow, but even if you've never read a word James Baldwin has written – first, you should – you will find something to treasure in this conversation. Boggs's biography centers on the artistic and intimate relationships that informed Baldwin's life and work. Douglas Brinkley, author of Rosa Parks: A Life, said “Nicholas Boggs's meticulously researched and passionately written Baldwin is the crown jewel of the ongoing James Baldwin revival. … this epic biography captures Baldwin in full.” Our interviewer is Mitchell S. Jackson, author of The Residue Years, Survival Math, and a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Jackson is one of the best interviewers — I genuinely think he should have his own talk show — and he brings so much care and curiosity to the conversation. We start with a passage from the audiobook, which is published by Macmillan Audio and read by Ron Butler. Nicholas Boggs is a writer and independent scholar, born and raised in Washington, DC, now living in Brooklyn, New York. He rediscovered and coedited a new edition of James Baldwin's out-of-print collaboration with the French artist Yoran Cazac, Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood (2018), and his writing has been anthologized in The Cambridge Companion to James Baldwin. He received his BA in English from Yale, his MFA in creative writing from American University, and his PhD in English from Columbia. Baldwin: A Love Story is Nicholas Boggs’ debut novel. Mitchell S. Jackson is the winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and the 2021 National Magazine Award in Feature Writing. Jackson is the critically acclaimed author of The Residue Years, Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family, Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion, and John of Watts (to be published soon). His writing has been featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, Time, Esquire, and Marie Claire, as well as in The New Yorker, Harpers, The New York Times, and elsewhere. Jackson's nonfiction book Survival Math was published in 2019 and named a best book of the year by fifteen publications, including NPR, Time, The Paris Review, The Root, Kirkus Reviews, and Buzzfeed. Jackson is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, covers race and culture as the first Black columnist in the history of Esquire, and serves as the John O. Whiteman Dean's Distinguished Professor in the English Department of Arizona State University.

Nicholas Boggs discusses the personal life and activism of American writer James Baldwin (1924-1987). Mr. Boggs, who spent over 20 years working on "James Baldwin: A Love Story," also talks about Baldwin's many books, his life outside the United States, and his involvement in the civil rights movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Baldwin believed that America has been lying to itself since its founding. A sharp, funny, and insightful commentator on Black identity and American democracy, he never hesitated to bear witness, regardless of what it cost him. We speak with writer and professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. about how James Baldwin's words can help us navigate our current moment. This episode originally ran in 2020.To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Ron Butler who has narrated hundreds of audiobooks including the current bestseller Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs, which is about the life and loves of the iconic queer writer James Baldwin. Ron talks about how the project came to him, how he approached doing Baldwin's voice and getting so emotional at the end of the process that he cried. He also talks about how the business of audiobook narrating works, from how he gets paid to the prep work that happens before to the sexy little home booth he bought for himself right before the pandemic. Other topics include: the Heated Rivalry-esque gay romances he's narrated Illegal Contact (football studs) and Dirty Steal (baseball studs), making the move to Palm Springs, growing up in the Bahamas as the son of Bahamanian musician and club owner Ron Butler Sr, leaving his post-college corporate job to pursue acting, playing a breakdancing Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel in 2007 and the queer coming of age book that brought him to tears in the recording booth.  https://www.ronniebutler.com/

Every time a Black person is killed, the lie arrives faster than the facts.He had a gun. He was high. She was threatening.In this alternative episode of When Killers Get Caught, Brittany Ransom steps away from a traditional case to examine a pattern that stretches from Emmett Till to the present day and why the phrase “they're killing Americans now” is landing as confirmation, not concern, for Black Americans and other marginalized communities.This episode explores how state violence has historically been justified through dehumanization, fear, and selective citizenship. From Indigenous displacement and slavery to policing, internment, mass detention, and modern use-of-force narratives.Drawing on history, law, and the warnings of James Baldwin, this episode asks a difficult but necessary question: Who is recognized as fully human, and when does injustice finally “count”?This is not about partisanship. It's about citizenship, power, and the cost of a system that teaches itself how to look away.Content warning: This episode discusses state violence, racism, and historical trauma.Sources for this episode include U.S. Supreme Court decisions, federal legislation, Department of the Interior reports, and the work of James Baldwin, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Michelle Alexander, Erika Lee, and other historians and legal scholars.Follow and join the conversation:

Michael Rosen talks to James Geary about his lifetime obsession, aphorisms. These short, witty philosophical sayings have been coined by everyone from Emily Dickinson and James Baldwin to Hallmark, and even Michael's mum.Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven, in partnership with the Open University. Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz

Does the future feel inevitable to you? With authoritarianism, deportations, and relentless bad news, it's easy to believe everything is already decided—that we're just watching a slow collapse. Despair can start to feel rational, even responsible. But here's the problem: when we decide the future is sealed, we're actually letting ourselves off the hook. If nothing matters, why bother? This talk explores an ancient text about a potter and clay that offers a radically different perspective: the future isn't fixed. It responds to what we do. Drawing on voices from James Baldwin to Fannie Lou Hamer, the sermon makes the case that your spiritual life isn't separate from your activism—prayer is part of the work, not what you do after the "real" work is done. Whether you're carrying personal regrets or political despair, this message insists: the wheel is still spinning. Your past isn't your destiny, and neither is your nation's.

In some ways, the characters in this book were my first lovers.Today we meet Michael Horvich and we're talking about the queer book that saved his life: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin.Michael is a retired Elementary School Educator and University Instructor. In addition he's many things, here's just a partial list: Poet, Collector, Museum Curator Emeritis, Book Binder, Supernumerary, Flea Circus Ringmaster, and Dementia/Alzheimer's Advocate. He has published two volumes poetry, which in part portray his journey navigating his life partner's Alzheimer's. His advocacy work has led to presentations at numerous organizations including at the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Business, 33rd Annual Alzheimer's Disease International Convention, and the Chicago LGBTQ Center on Halsted. He also gave the opening key note at the 2019 Mayo Clinic / Minnesota-North Dakota Alzheimer's Association Conference. Michael was featured in ALAN TELLER's “STILL AT IT!"ART SHOW.James Baldwin was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time were bestsellers that made him an influential figure in the growing civil rights movement. Baldwin spent much of his life in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in France in 1987, a year after being made a Commander of the French Legion of Honor.Connect with Michaelwebsite: www.horvich.comsubstack: mhorvich.substack.comfacebook: facebook.com/mhorvichcreatesOur BookshopVisit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbookBuy your copy of Giovanni's Room here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780345806567Become an Associate Producer!Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbookCreditsHost/Founder: John ParkerExecutive Producer: Jim PoundsAssociate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten VagnerPatreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy EricksonQuatrefoil LibraryQuatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can't buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1Support the show

The American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin (1924-1987) spent the second half of his life as a fixture in American intellectual life. But what formed him? In this episode, Jacke talks to Nicholas Boggs, author of Baldwin: A Love Story, the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, about Baldwin's childhood and teen years, when his education and experience propelled a talented child toward literary superstardom. PLUS author Bruce Robbins (Atrocity: A Literary History) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Join Jacke on a trip through literary England! Join Jacke and fellow literature fans on an eight-day journey through literary England in partnership with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠John Shors Travel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in May 2026! Scheduled stops include The Charles Dickens Museum, Dr. Johnson's house, Jane Austen's Bath, Tolkien's Oxford, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and more. Learn more by emailing jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or masahiko@johnshorstravel.com, or by contacting us through our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Act soon - there are limited spots available! The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Christian Thompson's book, Phenomenal Blackness: Black Power, Philosophy, and Theory (University of Chicago Press, 2022) examines the changing interdisciplinary investments of key mid-century African American writers and thinkers, showing how their investments in sociology and anthropology gave way to a growing interest in German philosophy and critical theory by the 1960s. Thompson analyzes this shift in intellectual focus across the post-war decades, pinpointing its clearest expression in Amiri Baraka's writings on jazz and blues, in which he insisted on philosophy as the critical means by which to grasp African American expressive culture. More sociologically oriented thinkers, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, had understood blackness as a singular set of socio-historical characteristics. In contrast, writers such as Baraka, James Baldwin, Angela Y. Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and Malcolm X were variously drawn to notions of an African essence, an ontology of Black being. For them, the work of Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse, and German thinkers was a vital resource, allowing for continued cultural-materialist analysis while accommodating the hermeneutical aspects of African American religious thought. Mark Christian Thompson argues that these efforts to reimagine Black singularity led to a phenomenological understanding of blackness--a "Black aesthetic dimension" wherein aspirational models for Black liberation might emerge. Brittney Edmonds is an Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. I specialize in 20th and 21st century African American Literature and Culture with a special interest in Black Humor Studies. Read more about my work at brittneymichelleedmonds.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Mark Christian Thompson's book, Phenomenal Blackness: Black Power, Philosophy, and Theory (University of Chicago Press, 2022) examines the changing interdisciplinary investments of key mid-century African American writers and thinkers, showing how their investments in sociology and anthropology gave way to a growing interest in German philosophy and critical theory by the 1960s. Thompson analyzes this shift in intellectual focus across the post-war decades, pinpointing its clearest expression in Amiri Baraka's writings on jazz and blues, in which he insisted on philosophy as the critical means by which to grasp African American expressive culture. More sociologically oriented thinkers, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, had understood blackness as a singular set of socio-historical characteristics. In contrast, writers such as Baraka, James Baldwin, Angela Y. Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and Malcolm X were variously drawn to notions of an African essence, an ontology of Black being. For them, the work of Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse, and German thinkers was a vital resource, allowing for continued cultural-materialist analysis while accommodating the hermeneutical aspects of African American religious thought. Mark Christian Thompson argues that these efforts to reimagine Black singularity led to a phenomenological understanding of blackness--a "Black aesthetic dimension" wherein aspirational models for Black liberation might emerge. Brittney Edmonds is an Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. I specialize in 20th and 21st century African American Literature and Culture with a special interest in Black Humor Studies. Read more about my work at brittneymichelleedmonds.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Mark Christian Thompson's book, Phenomenal Blackness: Black Power, Philosophy, and Theory (University of Chicago Press, 2022) examines the changing interdisciplinary investments of key mid-century African American writers and thinkers, showing how their investments in sociology and anthropology gave way to a growing interest in German philosophy and critical theory by the 1960s. Thompson analyzes this shift in intellectual focus across the post-war decades, pinpointing its clearest expression in Amiri Baraka's writings on jazz and blues, in which he insisted on philosophy as the critical means by which to grasp African American expressive culture. More sociologically oriented thinkers, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, had understood blackness as a singular set of socio-historical characteristics. In contrast, writers such as Baraka, James Baldwin, Angela Y. Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and Malcolm X were variously drawn to notions of an African essence, an ontology of Black being. For them, the work of Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse, and German thinkers was a vital resource, allowing for continued cultural-materialist analysis while accommodating the hermeneutical aspects of African American religious thought. Mark Christian Thompson argues that these efforts to reimagine Black singularity led to a phenomenological understanding of blackness--a "Black aesthetic dimension" wherein aspirational models for Black liberation might emerge. Brittney Edmonds is an Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. I specialize in 20th and 21st century African American Literature and Culture with a special interest in Black Humor Studies. Read more about my work at brittneymichelleedmonds.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Mark Christian Thompson's book, Phenomenal Blackness: Black Power, Philosophy, and Theory (University of Chicago Press, 2022) examines the changing interdisciplinary investments of key mid-century African American writers and thinkers, showing how their investments in sociology and anthropology gave way to a growing interest in German philosophy and critical theory by the 1960s. Thompson analyzes this shift in intellectual focus across the post-war decades, pinpointing its clearest expression in Amiri Baraka's writings on jazz and blues, in which he insisted on philosophy as the critical means by which to grasp African American expressive culture. More sociologically oriented thinkers, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, had understood blackness as a singular set of socio-historical characteristics. In contrast, writers such as Baraka, James Baldwin, Angela Y. Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and Malcolm X were variously drawn to notions of an African essence, an ontology of Black being. For them, the work of Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse, and German thinkers was a vital resource, allowing for continued cultural-materialist analysis while accommodating the hermeneutical aspects of African American religious thought. Mark Christian Thompson argues that these efforts to reimagine Black singularity led to a phenomenological understanding of blackness--a "Black aesthetic dimension" wherein aspirational models for Black liberation might emerge. Brittney Edmonds is an Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. I specialize in 20th and 21st century African American Literature and Culture with a special interest in Black Humor Studies. Read more about my work at brittneymichelleedmonds.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/german-studies

Mark Christian Thompson's book, Phenomenal Blackness: Black Power, Philosophy, and Theory (University of Chicago Press, 2022) examines the changing interdisciplinary investments of key mid-century African American writers and thinkers, showing how their investments in sociology and anthropology gave way to a growing interest in German philosophy and critical theory by the 1960s. Thompson analyzes this shift in intellectual focus across the post-war decades, pinpointing its clearest expression in Amiri Baraka's writings on jazz and blues, in which he insisted on philosophy as the critical means by which to grasp African American expressive culture. More sociologically oriented thinkers, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, had understood blackness as a singular set of socio-historical characteristics. In contrast, writers such as Baraka, James Baldwin, Angela Y. Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and Malcolm X were variously drawn to notions of an African essence, an ontology of Black being. For them, the work of Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse, and German thinkers was a vital resource, allowing for continued cultural-materialist analysis while accommodating the hermeneutical aspects of African American religious thought. Mark Christian Thompson argues that these efforts to reimagine Black singularity led to a phenomenological understanding of blackness--a "Black aesthetic dimension" wherein aspirational models for Black liberation might emerge. Brittney Edmonds is an Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. I specialize in 20th and 21st century African American Literature and Culture with a special interest in Black Humor Studies. Read more about my work at brittneymichelleedmonds.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Send Kevin a Text MessageIn this episode of Don't Kill the Messenger, host Kevin Goetz welcomes acclaimed writer Matthew Specktor and his father, legendary CAA agent Fred Specktor. Matthew's latest book, The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood, captures the underbelly of Los Angeles through the lens of three generations embedded in the motion picture industry. Together, Matthew and Fred explore the industry that shaped American culture.The College Course with James Baldwin (9:47): Matthew describes being chosen by lottery to study with James Baldwin at Mount Holyoke. Baldwin taught Henry James and told his students, "For it to have happened or for it to be beautiful is not enough."Lew Wasserman's Assistant at 19 (18:26): Fred recalls working for Lew Wasserman at MCA, the most powerful man in the industry.The Birth of the Modern Motion Picture Industry (22:43): Matthew explains how his family lived through the entire transformation of Hollywood, recalling Lew Wasserman seeing the line of people waiting to see Jaws in a Texas rainstorm and pioneering the wide release."No More Middle-Class Movies" (30:14): Matthew recounts a Fox 2000 corporate retreat where Bill Mechanic announced the studio would only make films over $100 million or under $10 million – nothing in between.The Gene Hackman Call That Won an Oscar (34:19): Fred describes how Gene Hackman passed on Unforgiven due to violence concerns. Fred gave Clint Eastwood Gene's phone number, and Clint convinced Gene to take the role that won Gene the Academy Award.Letting the Artist See What Others Don't (37:37): Fred's philosophy: "I believe every one of my clients belongs at the top of the list." He shares thoughts on his clients, including Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Taylor Hackford, and Danny DeVito.This conversation reveals how great writers mine their personal history to illuminate an industry, and how great agents operate, not as cartoon hustlers but as believers in fairness and quality. Matthew and Fred Specktor show us that Hollywood's golden hour wasn't just about glamour; it was about families, power, and the American dream colliding in ways both beautiful and devastating.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review and share. We look forward to bringing you more behind-the-scenes revelations next time on Don't Kill the Messenger.Host: Kevin GoetzGuests: Matthew and Fred SpecktorProducer: Kari CampanoWriters: Kevin Goetz, Darlene Hayman, and Kari CampanoAudio Engineer: Gary Forbes (DG Entertainment)For more information about Matthew and Fred Specktor:Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_SpecktorThe Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood: https://a.co/d/8Qy91qaWebsite: https://matthewspecktor.com/For more information about Kevin Goetz:- Website: www.KevinGoetz360.com- Audienceology Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Audience-ology/Kevin-Goetz/9781982186678- How to Score in Hollywood: https://www.amazon.com/How-Score-Hollywood-Secrets-Business/dp/198218986X/- Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Substack: @KevinGoetz360- LinkedIn @Kevin Goetz- Screen Engine/ASI Website: www.ScreenEngineASI.com

Have you ever wondered who you would choose to walk with if you could stroll alongside any legendary musician or iconic figure, living or dead? Join host Buzz Knight on this captivating episode of takin' a walk, where he invites a remarkable lineup of guests to share their personal inspirations and dream walking companions. From the vibrant streets of Harlem to the creative landscapes of the music industry, each guest reveals the profound impact these figures have had on their lives, all while exploring the rich tapestry of music history. Buzz Knight, a seasoned voice in the music world, engages with guests like Derek Shulman, who longs to walk with his late brother, and James Fuller, who dreams of a stroll with the legendary Clarence Clemons to delve into the heart of Bruce Springsteen's world. Their stories are not just about nostalgia; they reflect the deep connections and emotional healing that can arise from shared experiences. Hans Schumann expresses his desire to walk with the brilliant James Baldwin in Harlem, while filmmaker Rick Korn reminisces about his creative journey with Carl Perkins. Each conversation is a testament to the music history that shapes our lives. Chloe Stroll yearns for a walk with Adele, hoping to uncover her humor and insights, while Joe Boyd dreams of discussing the jazz origins with Jelly Roll Morton. These selections reveal the guests' personal narratives and the music journeys that have inspired them. As they share their thoughts, listeners are invited to reflect on their own choices and the figures who have influenced their paths. Throughout this episode of takin' a walk, Buzz Knight encourages a deeper understanding of the cultural impact of music and the stories behind iconic songs. The conversations are rich with music history insights and showcase the beautiful connections forged through the simple act of walking and talking. Buzz wraps up the episode by inviting listeners to subscribe for more engaging discussions, ensuring that the journey through music history continues. Join us for this enlightening episode that blends rock music history, jazz music, and the stories of legendary musiciansinto a unique exploration of creativity and connection. Whether you're a fan of classic rock or indie music, this episode of takin' a walk is sure to inspire and resonate with anyone who appreciates the power of music in our lives.Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer's life comes as close as is possible to being the Great American Novel: beyond reason, inexplicable, wonderfully grotesque and addictive.The Naked and the Dead was acclaimed not so much for its intrinsic qualities but rather because it launched a brutally realistic sub-genre of military fiction - Catch 22 and MASH would not exist without it.  In Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer (Bloomsbury, 2023), Richard Bradford combs through Mailer's personal letters - to lovers and editors - which appear to be a rehearsal for his career as a shifty literary narcissist, and which shape the characters of one of the most widely celebrated World War II novels. Bradford strikes again with a merciless biography in which diary entries, journal extracts and newspaper columns set the tone of this study of a controversial figure. From friendships with contemporaries such as James Baldwin, failed correspondences with Hemingway and the Kennedys, to terrible - but justified - criticism of his work by William Faulkner and Eleanor Roosevelt, this book gives a unique, snappy and convincing perspective of Mailer's ferocious personality and writings. Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O'Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics (Twitter @15MinFilm). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer's life comes as close as is possible to being the Great American Novel: beyond reason, inexplicable, wonderfully grotesque and addictive.The Naked and the Dead was acclaimed not so much for its intrinsic qualities but rather because it launched a brutally realistic sub-genre of military fiction - Catch 22 and MASH would not exist without it.  In Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer (Bloomsbury, 2023), Richard Bradford combs through Mailer's personal letters - to lovers and editors - which appear to be a rehearsal for his career as a shifty literary narcissist, and which shape the characters of one of the most widely celebrated World War II novels. Bradford strikes again with a merciless biography in which diary entries, journal extracts and newspaper columns set the tone of this study of a controversial figure. From friendships with contemporaries such as James Baldwin, failed correspondences with Hemingway and the Kennedys, to terrible - but justified - criticism of his work by William Faulkner and Eleanor Roosevelt, this book gives a unique, snappy and convincing perspective of Mailer's ferocious personality and writings. Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O'Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics (Twitter @15MinFilm). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer's life comes as close as is possible to being the Great American Novel: beyond reason, inexplicable, wonderfully grotesque and addictive.The Naked and the Dead was acclaimed not so much for its intrinsic qualities but rather because it launched a brutally realistic sub-genre of military fiction - Catch 22 and MASH would not exist without it.  In Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer (Bloomsbury, 2023), Richard Bradford combs through Mailer's personal letters - to lovers and editors - which appear to be a rehearsal for his career as a shifty literary narcissist, and which shape the characters of one of the most widely celebrated World War II novels. Bradford strikes again with a merciless biography in which diary entries, journal extracts and newspaper columns set the tone of this study of a controversial figure. From friendships with contemporaries such as James Baldwin, failed correspondences with Hemingway and the Kennedys, to terrible - but justified - criticism of his work by William Faulkner and Eleanor Roosevelt, this book gives a unique, snappy and convincing perspective of Mailer's ferocious personality and writings. Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O'Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics (Twitter @15MinFilm). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer's life comes as close as is possible to being the Great American Novel: beyond reason, inexplicable, wonderfully grotesque and addictive.The Naked and the Dead was acclaimed not so much for its intrinsic qualities but rather because it launched a brutally realistic sub-genre of military fiction - Catch 22 and MASH would not exist without it.  In Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer (Bloomsbury, 2023), Richard Bradford combs through Mailer's personal letters - to lovers and editors - which appear to be a rehearsal for his career as a shifty literary narcissist, and which shape the characters of one of the most widely celebrated World War II novels. Bradford strikes again with a merciless biography in which diary entries, journal extracts and newspaper columns set the tone of this study of a controversial figure. From friendships with contemporaries such as James Baldwin, failed correspondences with Hemingway and the Kennedys, to terrible - but justified - criticism of his work by William Faulkner and Eleanor Roosevelt, this book gives a unique, snappy and convincing perspective of Mailer's ferocious personality and writings. Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O'Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics (Twitter @15MinFilm). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Check out Sublime at https://sublime.app/?ref=perell Elif Shafak has a way of writing that's lush and enchanted. She writes about real things in the world: water, houseboats, ordinary things that we stopped seeing. And she infuses them with life and wonder so that we can see the world fresh again. Elif has written more than 21 books, and she's the president of the Royal Society of Literature, which has had fellows like J. R. R. Tolkien, Rudyard Kipling, W.B. Yeats, and Margaret Atwood. You'll notice that her writing advice is different from what you normally hear. She wants to help you splash your personality onto the page, how to write with soul, and how to unlock your wild imagination to do it day in and day out until you're left with a finished piece of writing. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:02 Making small things feel enchanted 00:04:39 How to avoid fake wonder 00:07:22 Elif's writing routine 00:09:13 Writing at night 00:11:11 How heavy metal helps writing 00:18:07 What makes characters feel real 00:19:55 Fixing a story 00:22:15 Writing like children 00:26:09 Which senses matter most 00:32:32 Taking risks after being successful 00:34:12 Soft vs hard writing 00:38:59 Elif's editing process 00:43:27 How poetry influences her writing 00:48:30 What English can't express 00:51:46 Writing as if you're “drunk” 00:55:04 Why freedom comes first 00:57:04 Lessons from favorite writers 01:06:44 Rumi's influence 01:10:22 Spirituality vs religion 01:15:07 How cities shape writers 01:17:11 James Baldwin's influence 01:18:22 Melancholy and humor About the host Hey! I'm David Perell and I'm a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel⁠⁠ Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv⁠⁠ X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/david_perell⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicholas Boggs is the New York Times bestselling author of Baldwin: A Love Story, the first major biography of the iconic figure in more than three decades. He is the recipient of a 2023 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant and fellowships from the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the Scholars-in-Residence program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Gilder Lehrman Center and Beinecke Library at Yale, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell. Most recently he was the 2024-2025 John Hope Franklin Fellow at the National Humanities Center. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he received his BA from Yale and his PhD from Columbia, both in English, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from American University. He now resides in New York City. Nicholas joined Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about his path to writing nonfiction, what moved him to write a biography of James Baldwin, how he went about structuring the book, perseverance versus talent, research, how his background in music influences his writing, surprises in writing the Baldwin biography, writing what you don't know, and more.To learn more about Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You will find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It's stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you'll find an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It's perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. If you'd like to contact us, email writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on December 19, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)