Podcast appearances and mentions of Nathalia Holt

In this interview, I chat with Nathalia Holt about ⁠The Beast in the Clouds⁠⁠, how the panda bear was the last large mammal unknown to science, the Roosevelt brothers' unlikely but successful excursion, how they changed the way the world viewed conservation, how she learned about this story, finding a publisher for this tale, and much more. Nathalia's recommended reads are: Palace of Deception by Darrin Lunde On a Mission: The Smithsonian History of U.S. Women Astronauts by Valerie Neal Looking for some great summer reads? Check out my printable 18-page Summer Reading Guide ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a tip of your choice or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for a set price here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ via credit card with over 60 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this summer - books you will not see on other guides. I also include mystery series recommendations, new releases in a next-in-the-series section and fiction and nonfiction pairings. Donate to the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Venmo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to know which new titles are publishing in June - October of 2025? Check out our fourth ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Literary Lookbook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead.     ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠The Beast in the Clouds⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ can be purchased at my Bookshop storefront.  Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buzz Reads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ column with five new recommendations each month. Link to my article about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠older protagonists in fiction⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.     Connect with me on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm a big fan of Nathalia (Nat) Holt's books, and am so excited to have the opportunity to talk to her about her new book, The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda. I first met Nat when her book Cured: The People Who Defeated HIV came out and I attended a book event at Dartmouth Medical Center. She is so smart and curious and in this episode we will be talking about the process of researching elusive history, where her ideas come from, and who gets to tell what stories. Nathalia Holt's websiteTranscript below!EPISODE 455 - TRANSCRIPTJess LaheyHey, AmWriters! It's Jess Lahey here. I am so excited to talk about a new series that I am putting out there on the Hashtag AmWriting platform called From Soup to Nuts. I interview and work with and mentor an author—a nonfiction author—who has subject matter expertise and a killer idea, frankly, that just knocked me sideways. This author really thinks this is the time and place for this idea. And I agreed, and I asked her—I begged her—if I could mentor her through this process in a series. We're having to work together on agenting and proposal and all the stuff that you've got to do, from soup to nuts, to get a book out into the world. This series, From Soup to Nuts, is subscriber-only. The first episode is free, so you can go back and listen to that. That's for everyone. But if you want to join us for the whole process and learn from her mistakes—and learn from the stuff that I'm working on right now too—you have to subscribe. So consider supporting the Hashtag AmWriting podcast. It helps us bring you stuff like this—these extra series—not to mention the podcast itself. Alright, it's a lot of work. Help us support our podcast and these extra bonus series. By becoming a supporter, you'll get a sticker for it. You'll get your hypothetical, figurative sticker for being a good Hashtag AmWriting.Multiple speakers:Is it recording? Now it's recording, yay. Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. I don't remember what I'm supposed to be doing. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause… I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay, now one, two, three.Jess LaheyHey, this is the Hashtag AmWriting podcast. This is the podcast about writing all the things—writing the short things, writing the long things, writing the queries, the proposals, the poetry, the fiction, the nonfiction. This is the podcast actually, at its heart, about getting the work done. I am Jess Lahey. I am your host today. I'm the author of the New York Times best-selling The Gift of Failure and The Addiction Inoculation. And you can find my journalism at The New York Times and The Atlantic and The Washington Post. And today I am interviewing an author I respect deeply. I have known this author since she wrote her first book, which overlapped with some work that my husband does and some work that I had done in a previous career, and she has gone on to have a glorious and enviable career in nonfiction. My dream has always been to be one of those people that can, like, get curious about a topic and then just go off and write about that topic. And this is what she does. So Natalia—NAT—Holt, I am so excited to introduce you to our listeners. They are deep, deep, deep lovers of the nuts and bolts and the geeky details of the writing and the process. So welcome to the Hashtag AmWriting podcast.Nathalia HoltThank you so much. I'm excited to talk to you today.Jess LaheySo we have a book on HIV—the first book, Cured, which is the way that I got to know you. Also, full disclosure, we share an agent. Laurie Abkemeier is our agent, and I think she actually may have introduced us in the first place. Yeah, your first book—yeah, your first book, Cured, about the Berlin patients. Really interesting—if you've never heard of the Berlin patients, listeners, just, just Google it. It's really a fascinating story. I'll go over—I'll go read Cured. Cured is all about the Berlin patients. And then we have The Queens of Animation—the women behind, sort of, the way Disney does what they do. And—and—and then we also have Rise of the Rocket Girls, which is another fascinating book out there about the women behind a lot of the math and the planning and the work that was done to get us into space. And so when I heard about your new book, I'm like, "Oh, NAT's working on a new book. Great! What women are we going to talk about this time?" And it's such a departure for you, and it is such a fascinating topic for you. And, well, for me, it's like—it's deep in my geeky, Jess-book-loving nonfiction zone. Could you tell us a little bit about it and where the idea came from for this book?Nathalia HoltSure. The book is called The Beast in the Clouds, and it's about an expedition that the two eldest sons of President Theodore Roosevelt took in 1928 and 1929. And they went to China and Tibet in search of the giant panda, which at that time was unknown to Western scientists. And even in China, there were very few people that were aware of where this animal lived, what it ate—so little was known. So during this time period, the 1920s, you have all of these expeditions going to China, trying to find this black-and-white bear that no one is really sure exists. It's just a crazy period of history, because you have all of the other bears at that time—even polar bears—were known and even were in zoos. But the panda was not, and many people even thought it would be a ferocious bear. They thought this was going to be, you know, a combination of polar and black bears.Jess LaheyYeah, yeah.Nathalia HoltSo that's what the Roosevelts are going to. And so the expedition ends up being torturous, deadly. They're going through the Himalayas. They're not very well prepared. They lose all their food. They're attacked. They get lost. Just every crazy thing happens to them. But it's also a journey of transformation. They're documenting all of the ecology around them, and it really ends up changing their own worldview. And so it was such a fun book to research and to write. And I spent a lot of time also going into many of the other ex—many of the other members of the expedition, which was—which was fun, and maybe a little bit different than other books in this genre. But yeah, for me, you know, it's scary to be writing a part of history that is very different than what I've done before—but it's also fun.Jess LaheyWhere'd the germ of the idea for the book come from? Because I had never heard this story before. I guess it had just never occurred to me—like, where do we—how do we know about the panda bear?Nathalia HoltYeah, it's not a topic that has been written about much before, and I came across it while I was researching my last book, which is called Wise Gals, and is about women that helped form the CIA. And as part of that book, I was looking into the Roosevelts' role in World War Two. And it's so confusing when you research the Roosevelts, because they all have the same name. It's just Theodore and...Jess LaheyActually, I have to tell you, Tim's a huge fan—my husband, Tim, who you also know, is a big fan and has read a lot about—and he's like, "Well, which Roosevelt?" So you—and I'm like, "Oh, that's a really good question. I don't know which Roosevelt... like, the adventuring ones." He's like, "Well..." [unintelligible]Nathalia HoltYeah, there's so many of them, and they all have the same name. And so as I was trying to parse out son and father—who are both named Kermit Roosevelt and both served in World War Two—I kind of stumbled across this expedition that the elder Kermit Roosevelt had taken. So he and his older brother, Theodore, who were the sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, and so it just kind of—it came from there. Just sort of came from wanting to learn more about it. And I always love a challenge. If there's a topic that's difficult to research, that seems impossible to find anything about—I'm there. I want to know everything.Jess LaheyYeah. So, okay, so here's a—really a question that I—well, first of all, you and I are both research geeks. I just—I have said I could just keep researching books and not actually write the books. I just love that process. So aside from the easy answer, which is Google, like, where do you start with a story that hasn't been told yet? How do you start diving into that story, and where do you find information?Nathalia HoltIt's difficult, and it depends on the topic. For this one, I went through a number of different archives, and that was great. I was able to get old letters that the Roosevelts had. But I really wanted to bring in other voices. I was really, really persistent in my desire to bring in Jack Young, who was this young, 19-year-old, Hawaiian-born translator and naturalist on the trip. And I was fortunate enough that I was able to track down some interviews he had done with another author back in the 1990s, and I just was persistent. I just pleaded until I got these tapes and was able to get all these interviews with him. And then I also contacted his daughter, who lives in Hawaii, and was able to get his unpublished autobiography. And it gives such an interesting perspective, because Jack Young went on and became a very impressive person and really deserves a biography all of his own, but he was also very close friends with the Roosevelts. They had a real connection—a real bond. And you get a different sense of the story when you're hearing it through his descriptions of what it was like, because he is young, and he is sort of really documenting things for the first time. And then, in addition, I was so lucky with this book because I was able to also get the field journals from a scientist that was on the expedition, as well as all the writings from another naturalist. So it was fascinating, because there were so many different accounts of the same events, which really lets you go into detail about what it was like, what people were feeling, what they were seeing. And I don't think I've ever had that before—where I have so many different accounts of the exact same events.Jess LaheyThat's really cool, because it gives you that ability to, you know—if we went with just Jack Young's account, then you've got the Jack Young lens. And as you well know, history gets to be told by certain people, unless someone like you comes along and says, "Oh, wait, this account has not been brought to the surface," whether it's the women who are the animators at Disney, or whether it's the women who are part of NASA. So how do you—if you go into something like this and you have a limited number of perspectives—it sounds like you had a fair number of perspectives going into this, but since the documentation happened—usually tends to happen among the more powerful, the more privileged people—how do you manage getting a full perspective on an event like this expedition when you may have limited perspectives?Nathalia HoltThat is the real challenge, because it's easy to get the Roosevelts' documentation.Jess LaheyYeah, yeah, yeah.Nathalia HoltI have all of their journals, all of their letters. I am able to get into real detail about what this expedition was like for them. Even the difficult parts—for them—they really documented that, and everything has been saved. For the others... it's much more difficult, and it really requires that persistence of being able to get the letters. Being able to get the autobiography was really key, because he goes into so much detail about what things were like. And these interviews that he did were also really, really helpful, because he goes into a lot of his feelings about what it was like to be with the Roosevelts on the expedition, about how he felt… Because his father was born in China, his mother was born in San Francisco, he himself was born in Hawaii—which, at that time, is not part of the U.S.—he feels like he doesn't have a country. He doesn't know where he is. So when he's in China, he can speak all of these languages, but he's still struggling to connect and be able to talk with people, because there are so many dialects.Jess LaheyYeah.Nathalia HoltAnd so to be able to get into what that was like, and how he felt—just gives such a perspective—a different perspective of the expedition than perhaps what is usually had in these kinds of books. And he also talks a lot about the guides on the expedition, which was really interesting. There were a lot of women that were part of this expedition. Half of the guides, who kind of act as Sherpas—they, you know, they carry things, they lead the way, they guide the route, they make camp. And so there are just some great moments with these guides—especially the women guides—where they are just protecting from crazy marauders that have come down and have attacked the group. And lots of great moments like that. That was really interesting to document. And in addition, another thing I was able to get for this book is—there was actually some early video and a lot of photographs that were taken.Jess LaheyOh my goodness.Nathalia HoltBy one of the members. And that is just such an incredible thing—to be looking at video of this expedition in the 1920s—it's just amazing.Jess LaheyOkay, so geek question here, since this is definitely what our listeners like the most. So I haven't laid hands on the book yet, because it's not out yet—did you put photographs in the book? Were you able to get access to photographs, and did you put them in the book? And I ask that because whenever I write a proposal or we're working on a book proposal, we have to indicate whether or not there's going to be artwork, and that changes things in terms of budget, and it changes things in terms of permissions and stuff. And I was curious about—I've never dealt with that side of it before, but maybe you have.Nathalia HoltI have. I've always sent photographs, and I love it. Because I feel like it helps when you read the book—especially a book like this.Jess LaheyYeah.Nathalia HoltYou know, when I'm describing what they look like, and where they are, you want to see it with your own eyes. And so it's really interesting to be able to see those photographs. And I had so many, and it's always a challenge to parse out—who has the permissions? Where do they come from? Finding the photographs—this always takes forever. Fortunately, this particular book was maybe a little bit easier, because a lot of the photographs are out of copyright, that had been published at that time. So that was nice. But yeah, no, it was still just a mess, as it always is. It's always a mess to figure out who do photographs belong to. I feel like I would love to become a lawyer—just for that moment in researching a book.Jess LaheyThat's a whole layer I've never had to go into. And it was easier for me to—rather than just say, "Yeah, I'd like to include this one thing," and then I realized the nightmare that's ahead of me in terms of accessing and getting permission and all that stuff. I'm like, "Eh! Let's just stick with what we got in the print." But, for something like this—and especially when you're writing about, for example, animation, or if you're writing about, you know, this expedition, and there's art available—you know, it sounds like it's really, really worth it for that aspect. I mean, that's definitely something I would want in this book. So I think I know the answer to this question. This is a heavily loaded question, but are you—when it comes to research and it comes to what you include in the book—are you an overwriter or an underwriter? Or do you land pretty much—like, when you're doing your editing, are you like, "Oh no, this was the perfect amount to include?"Nathalia HoltOh, I'm a terrible overwriter.Jess LaheyOh. So am I!Nathalia HoltIt's really a problem. But I worked very hard on this book at cutting, and it was not easy for me, because I do always tend to go way overboard. I'm always over the word count that I'm supposed to be at—with the exception of this book, where I did a very good job of cutting it down and really trying to focus and not, you know, getting too distracted.Jess LaheyYeah, we joke all the time with my other co-hosts and friends that my—like, my history sections in both of my books could have been half of the book or, you know... and all the stuff that ends up on the floor ends up getting told in cocktail parties. You know, "By the way, did you know how many, you know, kegs of beer there were on the ships that came over? I do. Can I share? Because I did all this work and I've got to put it somewhere." And there's this weird—there's this weird line between, "Look, look how thorough I am. Can I have an A+ for how thorough I am?" versus what your reader might actually be interested in. I keep some of my favorite notes from my former editor, and she's like, "Yeah, the reader... no. Reader doesn't care. Not going to care. You know, this may be really fun for you, but maybe not for your reader." So—but I can imagine with something like this, you know, the details of the flora and fauna and all that other stuff—it would be really easy to get off on tangents that are not necessary for the core mission.Nathalia HoltYes, absolutely. But in some ways it was easier than my past books, because it only takes place over a year, which is incredible. Most of my books take place over decades, and the cast of characters is much smaller as well. And unlike some of my past books, I feel like I need to include everyone out of fairness—which is kind of a weird way to approach a book. I don't recommend it. That's not the way to do things. But yeah, if you're really just looking at a few—a handful of people—over a year, it's much easier to stay on track. So that was a good exercise for me.Jess LaheyYeah, there's a—there's a line I love, where David Sedaris talks about the fact that what it takes for him to purchase something is if the clerk at the store has gone to the trouble to take it out of the case, to show it to him, and then he feels like he has to buy it because he—someone went through the trouble. And same thing for me. If, like, someone's going to go to the trouble to be interviewed, then cutting that entire interview, or cutting that whole through line, or whatever that person is a part of, is incredibly painful to do. And then I feel like—I feel obligated. So it's a difficult—it's a difficult balance, you know, between what your readers are going to actually want and what makes for a good book, versus doing right by the people who spent time talking to you. It's a hard balance to strike. Alright, speaking of being in the weeds and geek questions—so I'd love to talk to you a little bit. I was just—I'm mentoring someone for a little series we're doing for this podcast, sort of from soup to nuts, from the beginning of an—from the inception of an idea to getting a book out. And the very first thing she did was send something to me in a Pages document. And I had to say, "Hey, you might want to think about using Word or maybe Google Docs, because, like, I don't have Pages." So—some details about how you work. Number one, do you have a preferred app that you like to write in? Because I'm a Scrivener gal.Nathalia HoltI mean, I prefer Word because I feel like it is the most universal. It's the easiest to send to people... and so that's what I go with.Jess LaheyYeah, I use Scrivener only because it allows me to blank out the rest of the world really easily. Okay, and then organizing your research. This is something—the question of organizing your research, how you know you're done researching and really just need to actually start writing the words—are the two questions that I get the most. Because the research could go—especially on a topic like this—could go on forever. So number one, given this voluminous research that you had, how do you organize your research? Do you use folders on your computer? Do you use folders in—you know—how do you do all of that?Nathalia HoltI do folders on my computer, and then I also do hard copies that I actually keep organized in real folders, which helps me, because then, if I'm going into a specific topic, a lot of times it can be easier to actually hold on to those documents and being able to see them. So I do both. Um, and...Jess LaheyHas everything pretty much been digitized in this area? Do you feel like—or do you have to go into rooms and, like, actually look at paper documents, and sometimes they don't let you scan those? So, you know, how does that work for you?Nathalia Holt Yes, it's very difficult if they don't allow you to photograph them. Usually they do. Usually you can. So I have always had to digitize documents, and there's so many different ways to do it, but now it's much easier just to use your phone than anything else, which is great. Very happy about this development. And yeah, I think—I think maybe that's part of the reason why I do like to print things out is because that's how I was first introduced to the material, so it can be useful for me. But there's way too much material to print everything out. I mean, there's so many hundreds, thousands of pages even. And so it's always just going to be sort of key documents that end up making their way into the actual folders, and then the rest—it's just, you know, organized by topic. Make sure images are separate, by person.Jess LaheySo then, how do you know you're done? Like, how do you feel like you're at a place where I now know enough to come at this from—to come at the storytelling from an informed place?Nathalia HoltThat is really a good question, and I'm not sure I can answer it, because I feel like you're never done. You're always going to be researching. There's no real end to it.Jess LaheyBut you have to start. Well, and this—this takes—this is separate from the question of, like, how much research—how much research do you have to have done for the book proposal? Like take it for example, for example, The Addiction Inoculation, where I needed to learn, really, a whole new area... that was a year-long process just to write the proposal for that book, and then another couple years for the book. So, for me—and I'm very happy to say—I got to ask Michael Pollan this question, and he had the same answer that I feel like is my instinctual answer for this, which is when I start to say, "Oh, I'm starting to repeat. Things are starting to repeat for me," and/or, "Oh, I already knew that," and so I'm not finding out new stuff or encountering things I don't already know at the same rate. It's starting to sort of level off. Then I feel like, "Oh, I've got this sort of, like, you know, mile-high view of the—of the information," and I maybe have enough in my head to start actually being an expert on this thing.Nathalia HoltThat's a good answer. That sounds responsible. I'm not sure that I do that, though. I think for myself, there's not a bad time to start, because it's going to change so much anyway, that for me, I almost feel like it's part of the learning process. Is that you start to write about it, and then as you go along, you realize, "Oh, this is not right. I'm going to change all of this," but it's all just part of helping you move along. And I think even from the beginning, if you start writing even just bits and pieces of how you want to write the scene, you want to think about this or outline it, that can be helpful, and it doesn't matter, because it's all going to change anyway.Jess LaheyThat's true. I actually find I write—the way I write is very specific, in that each topic I'm going to write about in a chapter has a narrative arc, story that goes with it. So I—that narrative arc story gets written first, and then I drop the research in as I go along. But I remember, with The Gift of Failure, a book came out that had a key piece of research that then I had to go back and figure out, "Oh my gosh, this impacts everything." And so I had to figure out how to sort of drop that in. And I couldn't have done it at any other time, because the research didn't exist or I hadn't found it yet. So that's a tough thing to do, is to go back and sort of link the things to something new that you think is important. But the research part is just so much fun for me. Again, I could do that forever and ever and ever. Do you? So the other thing I wanted to ask... and this is selfishly... do you have large boxes in your home of all the research that you feel like you can't get rid of, even though you wrote the book, like, five years ago, ten years ago?Nathalia HoltI do not. I pare down.Jess LaheyYou do?!Nathalia HoltAfter time, yes. It's hard to do, though, because it's hard to throw things away, and I definitely have folders that I keep. They're just full of things that I can never get rid of. And obviously it's all digitized as well, but there are things like that that mean a lot to me, that I can't get rid of.Jess LaheyWell, there's actually—this was a very selfish question, because I actually just went through and finally got rid of a whole bunch of stuff that... I felt like it was at the heart—it was the main research for The Gift of Failure, and I used it to mulch my gardens. I put—and so it was like this metaphorical kind of, like, knowledge feeding the thing that I care about the most right now. And so I used it to mulch all the paths in my gardens and create new garden beds and stuff like that. But I'm always curious about that. Like, I every once in a while see something on, like, "X"—what used to be Twitter—or someplace like that, like, can I get rid of the research from the book I wrote 25 years ago? Or is that too soon? Well, so when exactly does the book come out? Give us your—give us your pub date.Nathalia HoltIt comes out July 1st.Jess LaheyOkay. And I have to say... cover is gorgeous. How did you land on that cover image?Nathalia HoltOh, I really didn't get much say.Jess Lahey Okay.Nathalia HoltThe one thing I—I mean, you know, they have whole people that have skills that do these things, but one thing I was very passionate about was keeping the brothers on the cover in their expedition gear. So originally, the publisher had wanted them to be in suits on the front, and I just hated it. I hated it so much, because I feel like they need to be on the trail. You need to see them as they were on the trail. And so that's one thing I really pushed for. And I was fortunate that they—they listened, and they were okay with that.Jess LaheyWell, I'm just—I mean, this book is going to have such a great place alongside books like The River of Doubt and other, you know, really wonderful books that are about the expositions—that the expeditions that get taken by these historical fixtures—figures. And I'm just—I'm so excited for this book. I'm so happy for you about this book, because it is just—when I started telling people about the topic, they're like, "Oh, I would read that." And I'm like, "I know! Isn't that the best idea?" And that's part of the magic, is coming upon the really cool idea. And so I'm just really, really happy for you and really, really happy about this book and excited for it.Nathalia HoltThank you. Oh, that's so nice to hear, especially because this was a very difficult book to get published. I mean, there was a real moment where I wasn't sure I was going to find someone that would...Jess LaheyWell, can you—I didn't want to ask it. You know, this is—having—doing a podcast like this, where we often talk about the mistakes, we talk about the blunders, we talk about the stuff that went wrong. It can be really, really hard because you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you, or you don't want to, like, make anyone think that this book wasn't anything other than a 100% lovely experience from beginning to end. But I would love to talk about that, if you're willing.Nathalia HoltOh, sure. I don't really have anything bad to say about anyone. I think it's—I think it's understandable that people wouldn't naturally think I would be the best author to write this. I haven't written other books like it, and so it was a difficult book to sell. It wasn't easy, and it definitely crystallized to me how important it was that I write it. I really felt like this was my purpose. I really wanted to write it, and maybe it's good to have that moment, because it really makes it clear that this is something you need to do, even if it's not easy, even if it's tough to find a publisher. And I was fortunate that I did. You know, luckily, there was an editor that—sort of at the last minute—believed in it enough to give it a go. And yeah, it's just—it always feels like a miracle when the book comes to fruition and is actually published. It just seems as if that could never really happen, and this one was a difficult road to get there, for sure.Jess LaheyWell, especially since a big part of the proposal process is trying to convince someone that you're the—you're the person to write this book. And in this case, it's not so much because you're a subject matter expert going into it. It's that you're a really good researcher, and you're a meticulous writer and a meticulous researcher, and most importantly, this story speaks to you. And I think, you know, some of my very favorite nonfiction books that I recommend over and over and over again—narrative nonfiction—it's clear in the reading how excited the author was about the story, and I think that's part of the magic. So I think you're the perfect person to write it. I don't know what they could have—because if you are—if you're fired up about the story... And as an English teacher, and as someone who's had to convince middle school students why they need to be excited about this thing I want to teach them, the enthusiasm of the teacher is part of what can spark the engagement for the learner. So I think that's a really, really important part of any book. Plus, you got to—you're—as an author, you're going to have to be out there talking about this thing, and so you better love the topic, because you're going to be talking about it for ages.Nathalia HoltYes, absolutely. I mean, no matter what, this is many years of your life that's dedicated to a topic. But I think it's—it's a good lesson in general, that you can write in one genre and one kind of book for years, and then it might not be easy, but it is possible to actually break out of that and find other topics and other things you want to write about. We grow. We all change.Jess LaheyYeah, one of my—one of, as our listeners will know, Sarina Bowen, one of my co-hosts and one of my best friends—she's—she has written romance forever and ever and ever, and she's like, "You know what? I want to write a thriller," and it has been a really steep learning curve and also a huge effort to sort of convince people that she can do that too. But it's also really, really satisfying when you show your chops in another area. So—and I had an—as I was going through sort of the details about this book, and reading about this book, I was thinking, you know what this would be really, really good for? An exhibit at someplace like the Field Museum, or like an exhibit of—oh my gosh, that would be incredible. Like, if this is a story that hasn't been told, and there's a lot of art, and there may be video and photographs and all—and journals—man, that would make for an amazing—if anyone out there is listening, that would make for an amazing museum exhibit, I think. And of course, everyone's listening to me.Nathalia HoltThat would be amazing.Jess LaheyEveryone is listening to me...Nathalia Holt Oh, well, they should.Jess LaheyAll right. Well, thank you so, so much. Where can people find you? And is there anything else you'd like to talk about that you're working on or that you're excited about? Besides, you know, just getting this book out into the world?Nathalia HoltYou can find me at nathaliaholt.com and on Instagram and Facebook and X @NathaliaHolt. And yeah, right now I'm pretty much focused on this book. I have something else percolating, but it's still away a good days. So it's the fun research part. Isn't that...?Jess LaheyYou will notice I did not ask you what's next, because to be asked what's next when you haven't even birthed the thing you're working on now can be a little irritating. So as someone who's aware of this inside baseball, I didn't even. Later on—privately—I would love, because I'm a big fan, big excited about your work, and love, love introducing people to your work. So I think—and also, one of the things we talk about a lot on this podcast is having books that are exemplars of good research, of good storytelling. I have a stack of books that I keep near me when I need to dissect something to get at—oh, this person did a really good job with, for example, historical research, or this person did a really good job of using their expert voice, and I need to tap into that today. I think your books are—would be excellent, excellent selections for our listeners, for their pile of exemplars for really well-done research and telling other people's stories—historical stories that occur in a sort of in a modern context. Your books are really dissectible, and I know that's super high-level geek stuff, but they've really helped me become a better storyteller as well.Nathalia HoltThank you. That's so kind of you. I really appreciate that.Jess LaheyAll right, everyone—go get the book, read the book. Don't forget to pre-order, because that really matters to us authors, and don't forget to review it wherever you purchased it, once you have read it. And Nat, thank you so much. And I apologize for calling you Natalia at the top of the hour. I'm so just so used to doing that—Nat. And until next week, everyone, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.The Hashtag AmWriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output—because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Send us a textLet's find a panda! Nathalia Holt joins me to discuss her book The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda. Buy The Beast in the CloudsCheck out Nathalia's WebsiteSupport the show

Book Bound Episode 18: Pride, audiobooks, and representation matters (read both ways). Cheryl's Books:     On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters by Bonnnie Tsui My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way by Kyo Maclear Mentioned: Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers Books by or including information about Gyo Fujikawa Books written and illustrated by Julie Morstad Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets by Kyo Maclear Jessica's Books:    The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Process For an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad The Café with No Name by Robert Seethaler The Lilac People by Milo Todd Mentioned: Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin by Daniel Brook Mari's Books:    At Last She Stood How Joey Guerrero Spied, Survived, and Fought for Freedom by Erin Entrada Kelly Are You a Friend of Dorothy? The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped by Kyle Lukoff You and me, Anemone : a story about friendship and personal space by Rachel Vail  Oasis by Guojing Mentioned:  I'm Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff The House That Floated by Guojing (September 2025 Release)  Our Producer, Rissa's Books:    Mentioned:  The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt

La desconocida historia de la formación de un pequeño grupo de agentes de inteligencia. Un grupo de mujeres que, en los primeros pasos de la CIA, ayudaron a crear un nuevo e innovador modelo de agente de inteligencia durante la traicionera Guerra Fría. Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchinson, Eloise Page y Elizabeth Sudmeier —conocidas como las «chicas listas» por sus afilada inteligencia y sentido del humor— no encajaban en el estereotipo de femme fatale propio de las novelas de espías. Como cada 8 de Marzo en Casus Belli, recordamos algunas historias de aquellas mujeres combatientes que estaban, y siguen estando, prestando su servicio a su país. Este año, hablamos de las espías del libro Chicas Listas de Nathalia Holt editado por Pinolia en https://almuzaralibros.com/fichalibro.php?libro=6767&edi=9 Te lo cuenta 👩‍🎨 María Vázquez, 🦕 Antonio Gómez y 👨‍🚀 Dani CarAn. Casus Belli Podcast pertenece a 🏭 Factoría Casus Belli. Casus Belli Podcast forma parte de 📀 Ivoox Originals. 📚 Zeppelin Books zeppelinbooks.com es un sello editorial de la 🏭 Factoría Casus Belli. 👉https://podcastcasusbelli.com 👉En Facebook, nuestra página es @casusbellipodcast https://www.facebook.com/CasusBelliPodcast 👉En Instagram estamos como @casusbellipodcast https://www.instagram.com/casusbellipodcast 👉En Twitter estamos como @casusbellipod @CasusBelliPod 👉Telegram, nuestro canal es @casusbellipodcast https://t.me/casusbellipodcast 👨‍💻Nuestro chat del canal es https://t.me/aviones10 ⚛️ El logotipo de Carros 10 y de la Factoría Casus Belli están diseñados por Publicidad Fabián publicidadfabian@yahoo.es 🎵 La música incluida en el programa es Ready for the war de Marc Corominas Pujadó bajo licencia CC. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ El resto de música es bajo licencia privada de Epidemic Music, Jamendo Music o SGAE. de Ivoox. 📧¿Queréis contarnos algo? También puedes escribirnos a casus.belli.pod@gmail.com ¿Quieres anunciarte en este podcast, esponsorizar un episodio o una serie? Hazlo a través de 👉 https://www.advoices.com/casus-belli-podcast-historia Si te ha gustado, y crees que nos lo merecemos, nos sirve mucho que nos des un like, ya que nos da mucha visibilidad. Muchas gracias por escucharnos, y hasta la próxima. Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Many of the agents who played a crucial role in establishing the organisation now known as the Central Intelligence Agency – or CIA – were women. And yet, in the early days of the agency in post-WW2 America, they had to fight hard for career progression, status and recognition. Speaking with Elinor Evans, Nathalia Holt shares the lives of four women who undertook life-threatening missions and harnessed crucial intelligence in the early days of the agency. (Ad) Nathalia Holt is the author of Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage (Icon Books, 2023). Buy it now from Amazon:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wise-Gals-Changed-Future-Espionage/dp/1785789589/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3C67LDSXDE5DV&keywords=nathalia+holt&qid=1674218071&s=books&sprefix=nathalia+holt%2Cstripbooks%2C72&sr=1-1&tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nathalia Holt in California is the author of best selling new book "Wise Gals" - about five little known women who helped shape US spy services and risked their lives to gather intelligence on the Nazis and Soviet secret operations...

Nathalia Holt joins us to talk about the women spies who built the CIA and changed the future of espionage.Support us: https://www.patreon.com/historyhackTips: https://ko-fi.com/historyhackBuy the books: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/historyhackMerch: https://www.historyhackpod.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Temple Grandin, an author, academic, and animal behaviorist discusses her book, "Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions." (01:29)Best-selling author Nathalia Holt talks about her book "Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage." (27:07)

The CIA is one of the most well-known and powerful government organisations across the globe. But who's responsible for its creation, and why have they been overlooked by the history books?In the wake of the Second World War, four agents played key roles in the organisations formation - dubbed the 'Wise Gals' by their colleagues, Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier are the unsung heroes of the CIAs history. They played dangerous roles behind enemy lines, recruited double agents, and helped track down stolen Nazi art - their contributions to world history are unrivalled. So why aren't they household names?In this second episode of our mini-series on the CIA, James Rogers talks to New York Times bestselling author Nathalia Holt about this exceptional history. Together they discuss the unheard story of these remarkable spies who built the CIA and shaped the future of espionage.You can find Nathalia Holt's book here: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/wise-gals-the-spies-who-built-the-cia-and-changed-the-future-of-espionage/9781785789588For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare Wednesday newsletter here.To download, go to Android or Apple store Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might not know about four women who helped develop the Central Intelligence Agency in the Cold War era. That's a testament to their skill; they were spies. Bestselling author Nathalia Holt reveals their stories in her latest book, “Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage.” In this episode of Watching America, we hear about groundbreaking agents Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier, and how Holt researched their histories. nathaliaholt

Join Robert Child for a conversation with author Nathalia Holt. Nathalia is the New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls, The Queens of Animation, and Cured. She has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, PBS, and Time. Her book is called, Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage. Watch a Point of the Spear Original Production, The Last Hours of Lincoln. LINK https://youtu.be/WlE6Kyg2hW4 Sign up for our twice monthly email Newsletter SOCIAL: YouTube Twitter Facebook Website --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/robert-child/support

In this episode, author Nathalia Holt discusses her newest release, "Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage" which illuminates the lives and careers of four trailblazing women who served in the early days of OSS and CIA. Recorded 05 Aug 2022. Interviewer: Jim Hughes, AFIO President and former CIA Operations Officer. 

In this week's The Mountain Life, hosts David Wintzer and Lynn Ware Peek speak with (0:56) best-selling author Nathalia Holt who has written a book about five female spies during and after World War II: Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage. (22:19) Then, New York-based energy healer and meditation teacher, Laura Chung joins the show to discuss her book, How To Manifest: Make Your Dreams A Reality In 40 Days. (37:14 ) Finally, local resident Renee Huang joins the show to discuss her work as the founder of Wild Women Tribe, a community group that connects like-minded women in transformational experiences outdoors.

We've got some great guests coming up in October on Point of the Spear Click that subscribe button, so you don't miss a moment. Kicking off the month the story of a pioneering group of CIA female spies who changed the future of espionage with author Nathalia Holt. Then, the virtually unknown story of WWII Demolition Divers who became the Navy seals with Andrew Dubbins. And later in the month, the harrowing tale of a Marine whose brush with death was broadcast on TV and published in newspapers around the Globe. US Marine Bill Bee will be here to discuss his ordeal. All this and much more are coming your way in October. Click that subscribe button and join us on Point of the Spear. Watch our new military history documentary, Weather and Warfare, FREE on Tubi the streaming service from Fox. LINK https://tubitv.com/movies/680635/weather-and-warfare-millennia-to-modern-time Sign up for our twice monthly email Newsletter SOCIAL: YouTube Twitter Facebook Website --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/robert-child/support

Chris Sullivan's Chokepoint -- meet the new SDOT Director, Greg Spotts // Hanna Scott with highlights from the drug possession forum in Spokane // Dose of Kindness -- Detective Cookie // Gee Scott on paying workers // Nathalia Holt, author of Wise Gals // Rachel Belle on the national rudeness ranking/ unsustainable lobsteringSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bestselling author Nathalia Holt joins us to discuss her new book, Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage, a stunning true account that honors their legacy, heroism, and perseverance in the face of institutional inequality.

Nathalia Holt Women in the CIA 9-12-22 by

In the 1940s, cancer was a condition shrouded in fear and denial, rarely discussed in public. Now there's a healthy public discourse and billions of dollars in research funding dedicated to it. In this talk, writer and microbiologist Dr. Nathalia Holt describes how a landmark 1940s PR campaign helped prompt that paradigm shift. To learn more about TEDxSHORTS, the TEDx program, or give feedback on this episode, please visit http://go.ted.com/tedxshorts. Follow TEDx on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TEDx Follow TEDx on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedx_official/

Welcome to a new episode of History: Fact and Fiction! Each episode will tackle a theme, and instead of debating what is fact and fiction in a historical event or person's life, I'll be reviewing various adult fiction and nonfiction history books available in NC Cardinal, particularly bestsellers paired with not-so-well-known titles, to see if they live up to the hype, and if so, what's so cool about them. This episode, we're looking at the 50th anniversary of the Disney World Resort in Florida. Adult Nonfiction The Disney Story: Chronicling the Man, the Mouse, & the Parks by Aaron H. Goldberg (2016) Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park that Changed the World by Richard Snow (2019) The Queens of Animation: the Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt (2019) . If you like this title, check out Ink & paint : the women of Walt Disney's animation (2017) by Mindy Johnson. Further Resources mentioned in the podcast: https://www.beyondthebookends.com/26-adult-retellings-of-disney-classics/ https://www.aaronhgoldberg.com/ www.thedisneystory.com https://richard-snow.com/bio/ https://www.nathaliaholt.com/ Foodies, you may want to check out: Disney villains : devilishly delicious cookbook by Julie Tremaine (2021) The unofficial Disney parks cookbook : from delicious Dole whip to tasty Mickey pretzels, 100 magical Disney-inspired recipes by Ashley Craft (2020). The princess dessert cookbook : desserts inspired by Disney, Star Wars, classic fairy tales, real-life princesses, and more! by Aurélia Beaupommier (2020). Tim Burton's The nightmare before Christmas: the official cookbook & entertaining guide , recipes by Kim Laidlaw ; crafts by Caroline Hall ; text by Jody Reverson (2021). For the crafty people: The art of Disney costuming : heroes, villains, and spaces between by Jeff Kurtti and the staff of the Walt Disney Archives (2019). Knitting with Disney: 28 Official Patterns Inspired by Mickey Mouse, the Little Mermaid, and More! by Tanis Gray (2021). For snapshot readers who want a modern view, try One day at Disney : meet the people who make the magic across the globe foreword by Bob Iger ; text by Bruce C. Steele (2019).

Nathalia Holt, Ph.D. is the New York Times bestselling author of The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History, two other books, and numerous publications.

For women’s history month, Courtney and Emily immersed themselves in the stories of the working women of the Walt Disney Animation studio during its classic and golden age. Often the story of women in the early days of Disney Animation begins in Ink and Paint, but author Nathalia Holt instead focused on the more male dominated work spaces like the story, concept art, and animation departments. Moved by the tribulations and triumphs of Bianca Majoli, Grace Huntington, Retta Scott, Sylvia Holland, and Mary Blair, Courtney and Emily reflect on the legacy of these women who were integral to the Disney animated features beloved today.  Review Book of the Mouse Club on iTunes and Google Play and send any questions, comments, or suggestions to the hosts at bookofthemouseclub@gmail.com Follow Our Reading Journey On Social Media!Official Twitter and Instagram: @BookoftheMouseCourtney: Instagram @greatguthsby and Twitter @Courtney_GuthEmily: Instagram and Twitter @emily_mickde  Support a Woman-Owned Small Business, Match Making Librarian:  Order here: https://www.matchmakinglibrarian.com/  Instagram @matchmakinglibrarianTikTok @matchmaking_librarian  Tomorrow Society Podcast Episode #94 Nathalia Holt on The Queens of Animatio‪n

With Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, Disney has created some of cinema’s most recognizable female characters. Which is ironic, considering the studio was once quite a boys club. Nathalia Holt joins host Krys Boyd to talk about Disney’s Golden Age and the women who fought gender discrimination behind the scenes. Her new book is called “The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History.”

We're back, just in time for Christmas! We wanted to give you all a gift, and what better present is there than creating your very own Christmas movie romance! Follow along with us as we sip our festive drinks, wear our fabulous pjs, and enjoy Married to the Idea's version of "That's-a Christmas to Me" as listeners weigh in with their choices in this choose-your-own Christmas adventure. If you want to make your own Hallmark holiday movie, we recommend Riane Konc's "Build Your Own Christmas Movie Romance" book, and if you want to join Audible at audibletrial.com/marriedtotheidea, we recommend "The Queens of Animation" by Nathalia Holt.

In the second of our special bi-weekly mini-episodes (in this case, quite a long one...), Siobhán takes you back in time to the early days of Walt Disney Animation, to talk about the women behind the classic films, rides and theme parks - with some side discussions into traditional vs. CGI animation, which Disney film is the best, and the under-rated Disney classic, The Haunted Mansion (2003). Further reading: The Imagineering Story docu-series on Disney+, and 'The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History' by Nathalia Holt. Got a Muse for us? Email us at tenthmusepodcast@gmail.com, tweet us @TenthMusePod or message us on Instagram @tenthmusepodcast.

So much has been written about Disney’s animated films and the life of Walt Disney, and it’s easy to think we know the whole story. There are always new avenues to explore, but the main components are known. That makes it surprising when an author uncovers a part of Disney history that few have discussed.… Read more... The post 94. Nathalia Holt on The Queens of Animation appeared first on Tomorrow Society.

An interview with Nathalia Holt, author of "The Queens of Animation" --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-junot-files/support

This week, Liberty and Vanessa discuss All This Could Be Yours, God Save the Queens, Last of Her Name, and more great books. This episode was sponsored Book Riot's Blind Date with a Book; and Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell and Wednesday Books. Pick up an All the Books! 200th episode commemorative item here. Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS, iTunes, or Spotify and never miss a beat book. Sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. Books discussed on the show: All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg Last of Her Name by Mimi Lok The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher Fireborne by Rosaria Munda Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop by Kathy Iandoli Me by Elton John Charlie Hernandez and the Castle of Bones by Ryan Calejo What we're reading: Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo More books out this week: Famous in Cedarville by Erica Wright  The Art of Flaneuring: How to Wander with Intention and Discover a Better Life by Erika Owen   Out Loud: A Memoir by Mark Morris and Wesley Stace A Cruel Deception: A Bess Crawford Mystery (Bess Crawford Mysteries Book 11) by Charles Todd To Begin the World Over Again: How the American Revolution Devastated the Globe by Matthew Lockwood Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership (Justice, Power, and Politics) by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor  Touched by the Sun: My Friendship with Jackie by Carly Simon  Stillicide by Cynan Jones  Yes We Did: Photos and Behind-the-Scenes Stories Celebrating Our First African American President by Lawrence Jackson  The Devil’s Due (A Sherlock Holmes Adventure) by Bonnie MacBird Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West by H. W. Brands Strangers at the Gate: A Novel by Catriona McPherson  Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse (Political Satire Book, Poetry, Political Humor Gift) by John Lithgow  The Promise by Silvina Ocampo, Suzanne Jill Levine (Translator), Jessica Powell (Translator) Do You Mind If I Cancel?: (Things That Still Annoy Me) by Gary Janetti   Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren  The Art of Regret: A Novel by Mary Fleming  Beside Herself by Elizabeth LaBan  Holding On To Nothing by Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne Initiated: Memoir of a Witch by Amanda Yates Garcia The Night Fire (A Ballard and Bosch Novel Book 22) Michael Connelly The Deserter by Nelson and Alex DeMille The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street by Karen White  Morning Glory on the Vine: Early Songs and Drawings by Joni Mitchell From Hell to Breakfast by Meghan Tifft Janis: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren The Blue Eye: The Khorasan Archives, Book 3 by Ausma Zehanat Khan Ghoster by Jason Arnopp Light It Up by Kekla Magoon This Is My Body: A Memoir of Religious and Romantic Obsession by Cameron Dezen Hammon Supernova Era by Cixin Liu, Joel Martinsen (translator) The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote  The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt   Witches' Dance by Erin Eileen Almond For Small Creatures Such as We by Sasha Sagan  Revenge of the Red Club by Kim Harrington  A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar One Day: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America by Gene Weingarten Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (The Lamar Series in Western History) Pekka Hamalainen The Fragility of Bodies by Sergio Olguin and Miranda France The Little Book of Bob: Life Lessons from a Streetwise Cat by James Bowen I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi  The Lost Brothers: A Family's Decades-Long Search by Jack El-Hai Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré The House of Brides: A Novel by Jane Cockram Still Here: The Madcap, Nervy, Singular Life of Elaine Stritch by Alexandra Jacobs Intelligence for Dummies: Essays and Other Collected Writings by Glenn O'Brien Forking Good: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place by Valya Dudycz Lupescu (Author), Stephen H. Segal (Author), Dingding Hu (Illustrator)

Sarah Lohman, author of "Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine," shares the classic American combinations in food. Nathalia Holt, author of "Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us from Missiles to the Moon to Mars," explains the impact of NASA's team of black female mathematicians.

In this inaugural episode, Modern Athenas will discuss the lives and contributions of Human Computers as portrayed in Nathalia Holt's Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon to Mars.For more information on Human Computers, visit www.modernathenas.com

Long before NAPA's Hidden Figures of the 1960’s space program, there were the The Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars. When Sally Ride blasted off as the first American woman into space back in 1983, she may not have know it at the time, but she stood on the shoulders of dozens of woman who, beginning in the 1940's, helped America compete in the space race and the Cold War. Based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, these woman essentially provided the computational power that made rocketry viable. They shattered not only glass ceilings, but helped free us from what poet John Magee call the “surly bonds of earth.” Nathalia Holt, trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard, takes us back to a seminal time for woman and America in space. My conversation with Nathalia Holt:

A winter chill is in the air, and there's way too much Christmas music being played. So curl up in an armchair, grab yourself a mug of something, and take a mental vacation with some fascinating conversations from Innovation Hub.

Host: John J. Russell, MD A cure for HIV? Two men, known in medical journals as the Berlin Patients, were cured of HIV in distinct yet related ways. The two patients’ disparate cures came twelve years apart, but Nathalia Holt, an award-winning scientist at the forefront of HIV research, connects the molecular dots of these cases for the first time. Her book, CURED: How The Berlin Patients Defeated HIV and Forever Changed Medical Science, explores this new field of investigation and paradign shift in HIV treatment inspired by the Berlin Patients. Dr. John Russell hosts.

Host: John J. Russell, MD A cure for HIV? Two men, known in medical journals as the Berlin Patients, were cured of HIV in distinct yet related ways. The two patients’ disparate cures came twelve years apart, but Nathalia Holt, an award-winning scientist at the forefront of HIV research, connects the molecular dots of these cases for the first time. Her book, CURED: How The Berlin Patients Defeated HIV and Forever Changed Medical Science, explores this new field of investigation and paradign shift in HIV treatment inspired by the Berlin Patients. Dr. John Russell hosts.

AIDS Seminar with Nathalia Holt, PhD