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In Part 2 of our discussion on Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron, editor Wayne A. Rebhorn returns to discuss his first encounter with Boccaccio, the nature of translating the text's layered meanings from Italian to English, and modern film adaptations of The Decameron. Wayne A. Rebhorn is the Celanese Centennial Professor of English at the University of Texas, where he teaches English, Italian, and comparative literature. His translation of Boccaccio's Decameron won the 2014 PEN Center USA's Literary Award for Translation.To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Decameron, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393427882.Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social. 

In Part 1 of our discussion on Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron, we welcome editor Wayne A. Rebhorn to discuss the author's life and historical times, similarities among Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Dante, and the use of storytelling to both distract and make meaning during catastrophic times. Wayne A. Rebhorn is the Celanese Centennial Professor of English at the University of Texas, where he teaches English, Italian, and comparative literature. His translation of Boccaccio's Decameron won the 2014 PEN Center USA's Literary Award for Translation.To learn more or purchase a copy of the Norton Library edition of The Decameron, go to https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393427882.Learn more about the Norton Library series at https://wwnorton.com/norton-library.Have questions or suggestions for the podcast? Email us at nortonlibrary@wwnorton.com or find us on Twitter at @TNL_WWN and Bluesky at @nortonlibrary.bsky.social. 

This week, we kick off our new exhibit and content initiative American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture with four writers of speculative fiction: N. K. Jemisin, Matthew J. Kirby, Nnedi Okorafor, and Nghi Vo. Moderated by Michi Trota, the panel of authors discuss religion in their writing, the importance of considering socio-spiritual systems when world-building, and how these influence the ways their characters move through the worlds they create.This conversation originally took place April 22, 2025 and was recorded live at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago. We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer.American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture opens November 2025 at the American Writers Museum in Chicago. Learn more about the exhibit and upcoming programming schedule here. American Prophets is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative.AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOMEMore about the writers:N. K. JEMISIN is a fantasy author and 2020 MacArthur Fellow whose fiction has been recognized with multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. Most of her works have been optioned for television or film, and collectively her novels, including the Broken Earth trilogy — The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky — have sold over two million copies. Her speculative works range widely in theme, though with repeated motifs: resistance and oppression, loneliness and belonging, and Wouldn't It Be Cool If This One Ridiculous Thing Happened. In her spare time she's into tabletop and video games, biking, fanfiction, and urban gardening. She lives and writes in Brooklyn, with her son and two cats.MATTHEW J. KIRBY is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of numerous books for young readers, including The Clockwork Three, Icefall, The Lost Kingdom, the Dark Gravity Sequence, the Assassin's Creed series Last Descendants, A Taste for Monsters, and Star Splitter. He has also written adult titles for the Assassin's Creed and Diablo video game franchises. He has won the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, the PEN Center USA award for Children's Literature, and the Judy Lopez Memorial Award.NNEDI OKORAFOR is the author of multiple award-winning and New York Times bestsellers, including Death of the Author, the Binti trilogy, Who Fears Death, and Lagoon, currently in development at Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. She has won every major prize in speculative fiction, including the World Fantasy, Nebula, and Eisner Awards; multiple Hugo Awards; and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Born in Cincinnati to Igbo Nigerian immigrant parents, she now resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her daughter, Anyaugo.NGHI VO is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind. Her latest release is Don't Sleep With the Dead.MICHI TROTA is a five-time Hugo Award-winning Filipino American writer, editor, and narrative expert. Her work explores how to use empowerment, representation, and storytelling to attain collective liberation and to dismantle oppressive institutions, not just survive them. She is the Executive Editor at the environmental justice and advocacy nonprofit Green America and her publications include the Wing Luke Museum 2018-19 exhibit Worlds Beyond Here: Expanding the Universe of APA Science Fiction and Chicago Magazine, and she's been featured in The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, and CNN: Philippines. She is also a member of the Filipino Young Leaders Program 2022 Immersion cohort and a fire performer with Raks Geek/Raks Inferno Fire+Bellydance.

Part 1 John Kiriakou :Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on TerrorJohn Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News.In 2002, Kiriakou became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, where he led a CIA team in the March 2002 raid and capture of Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official.Following Abu Zubaydah's capture, Kiriakou became Executive Assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations, where he served as the Director of Central Intelligence's principal Iraq briefer.Kiriakou left the CIA in March 2004. He later served as a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as senior intelligence advisor to Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. Kiriakou also authored a bestselling book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," and worked as an intelligence consultant for ABC News.Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 12 CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, the CIA's Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award.In 2007, Kiriakou appeared on ABC News, during which he became the first CIA officer to confirm that the CIA waterboarded detainees, and he labeled waterboarding as “torture.” Kiriakou's interview revealed that this practice was official U.S. policy approved at the highest levels of the government.The government began investigating Kiriakou immediately after his media appearance. Five years later, he was charged with multiple felonies resulting from his whistleblowing. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act - a law designed to punish spies.Eventually, in order to avoid a trial that could have resulted in separation from his wife and five children for up to 45 years, he opted to plead guilty to one count of a reduced charge in exchange for a 30-month sentence.In 2012 Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an award given to individuals who “advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.” Two days prior to sentencing, he was honored by inclusion of his portrait in artist Robert Shetterly's series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which features notable truth-tellers throughout American history.Kiriakou reported to federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 to begin serving his sentence, where he continued to speak out in a series of "Letters from Loretto," including his first, which provided a stunning portrait of prison life. In November 2013, the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, California honored Kiriakou as its "Peacemaker of the Year." He was awarded the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award from the PEN Center USA in August 2015.He was released from prison in February 2015.Part 2 Attorney Michael J. Bowe - American Marines Turn Blind Eye to Child Sex AbusePro BonoMichael engages in substantial pro bono work for institutions and individuals, including representing victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the family of United States Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, Jr., and Marine Corp Major Jason Brezler. These high-profile matters of national import have received substantial Congressional, press, and public attention.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

This week, Jordan sits down to talk with Lidia Yuknavitch about menopause, where stories lodge in our bodies, having a creative process that takes the shape of an ocean wave, and more. Lidia Yuknavitch is the National Bestselling author of four novels: Thrust, The Book of Joan, Dora: A Headcase, and The Small Backs of Children, winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Awards Ken Kesey Award for Fiction as well as the OBA Reader's Choice Award. She has also published a critical book on war and narrative, Allegories Of Violence (Routledge). The Misfit's Manifesto, a book based on her recent TED Talk, was published by TED Books in 2017. Verge, a collection of short fiction, was released in 2020. Her widely acclaimed memoir The Chronology of Water was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. Her newest memoir, Reading the Waves, was published by Riverhead books in 2025. She is a very good swimmer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lidia Yuknavitch is the National Bestselling author of the novels Thrust, The Book of Joan and The Small Backs of Children, winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Award's Ken Kesey Award for Fiction as well as the Reader's Choice Award, the novel Dora: A Headcase, a critical book on war and narrative, Allegories Of Violence, and the short story collection Verge.  Her widely acclaimed memoir The Chronology of Water was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. Her new nonfiction book is Reading the Waves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two bestselling authors — Nicole Chung (A Living Remedy) and Lydia Millet (We Loved It All) — discuss the process and craft of writing a memoir with book critic Donna Seaman. This conversation originally took place May 19, 2024 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival.AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOMEA Living Remedy: A Memoir by Nicole Chung — A searing memoir of family, class and grief—a daughter's search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she forged as an adult, and the lives she's lost.We Loved It All: A Memory of Life by Lydia Millet — This lucent anti-memoir from celebrated novelist Lydia Millet explores the pain and joy of being a parent, child, and human at a moment when the richness of the planet's life is deeply threatened.NICOLE CHUNG'S A Living Remedy was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2023 and a Best Book of the Year by over a dozen outlets. Her 2018 debut, All You Can Ever Know, was a national bestseller and finalist the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Time, the Atlantic, GQ, the Guardian, and Slate. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in the Washington, DC area.LYDIA MILLET has written more than a dozen novels and short story collections, including Dinosaurs (2022) and A Children's Bible, which was a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction and one of The New York Times Book Review's Best 10 Books of 2020. Millet has won fiction awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and PEN-Center USA and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; since 1999 she has also worked as a writer and editor at the Center for Biological Diversity. We Loved It All is her first work of nonfiction.DONNA SEAMAN is Editor, Adult Books for Booklist. A recipient of the Louis Shores Award for excellence in book reviewing, the James Friend Memorial Award for Literary Criticism, and the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award, Seaman is a member of the Content Leadership Team for the American Writers Museum, a frequent presenter at various literary events and programs, and an adjunct professor for Northwestern University's MA in Writing and MFA in MFA in Prose and Poetry Programs. Seaman's author interviews are collected in Writers on the Air and she is the author of Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists.

Notes and Links to Jesse Katz's Work      For Episode 249, Pete welcomes Jesse Katz, and the two discuss, among other topics, his childhood love of baseball, formative and transformative books and writers, lessons learned from early writing, LA and MacArthur Park lore, and salient themes and issues in the book like poverty and the punitive nature of powerful interests, grief, and various forms of violence, as well as larger narratives about the immigration system, family units, and traumas and silences.      Jesse Katz is a former Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Magazine writer whose honors include the James Beard Foundation's M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, PEN Center USA's Literary Journalism Award, a National Magazine Award nomination, and two shared Pulitzer Prizes. As a volunteer with InsideOUT Writers, he has mentored incarcerated teenagers at Central Juvenile Hall and the former California Youth Authority.    Buy The Rent Collectors   Jesse Katz's Website   New York Times Review of The Rent Collectors   At about 2:00, the two discuss Jesse's recent book launch at Skylight Books, which Pete was lucky to attend At about 4:10, Jesse talks about generous feedback, including from those featured in the book At about 6:30, Jesse discusses the experience of recording the audio for his book At about 9:45, Jesse gives background on his relationship with language growing up At about 12:15, The two share memories of reading formative works on Jackie Robinson At about 14:30, Jesse describes takeaways from his adolescent readings of Hemingway, Kerouac, and immersive writers, and college reading that “flipped the switch,” including Joe McGinniss and Hunter Thompson At about 18:15, Jesse talks about his relationship with his alma mater, Bennington College, and Bret Easton Ellis and other standout alumni At about 19:55, Jesse highlights Matthew Desmond and Susan Orlean as contemporary writers (especially Orlean with her The Library Book and Desmond with his Poverty by América, an inspiration for The Rent Collectors) who inspire and thrill At about 22:55, Pete makes a connection between American Psycho and The Rent Collectors, especially with regards to litanies, and Jesse expands on “the cost of being poor” At about 24:50, Pete and Jesse talk about Jesse's book, The Opposite Field, and connections to the great Luis J. Rodriguez At about 27:50, Jesse responds to Pete's questions about how he sees the book now, speaking about The Opposite Field At about 29:00, Pete highlights a generous blurb from hector Tobar, and Jesse outlines how Hector's support propelled Jesse to get to work on realizing the book's finish At about 32:00, Jesse cites Giovanni's (Macedo, the book's protagonist) own healing and his generosity in sharing his story At about 34:00, Pete and Jesse discuss the book's opening, and why Jesse decided to start the book in the middle of the story with Giovanni “rising from the dead” At about 38:50, Jesse gives background on Giovanni's backstory, especially with regard to his father, and not knowing the reason for his father's death At about 42:10, Jesse expands upon the setting of MacArthur Park, the focus of the book's Chapter Two, and its denseness and uniqueness in LA At about 43:30, The two discuss Giovanni's early forays into gang life and some members of the clique featured in the book At about 45:30, Jesse speaks about Reyna, Giovanni's mother, and how she felt powerless in keeping her son from gangs At about 47:40, Jesse speaks to the staying power of gangs and how they “[fill] a void,” and Pete quotes Father Greg Boyle and his thoughts on hopelessness  At about 49:45, Jesse replies to Pete's question about Francisco Clemente, who survived the targeted shooting by Giovanni and how he stood up against the rent collectors At about 51:20, Jesse describes the “older, savvier gang members” who were sought out by Giovanni At about 54:30, Pete and Jesse talk about how he sets the scene in the book for the horrendous events perpetuated by the gang and Giovanni; Jesse also details how he used court transcripts and written correspondence with Giovanni to piece together Giovanni's thoughts before and after the shooting At about 58:30, The backlash and early investigations about the homicide are discussed At about 1:00:45, Pete charts Giovanni's life in the immediate aftermath of the murder, and Jesse responds to a question about his a key decision  At about 1:04:10, Jesse speaks to the naivete of Giovanni's dialogue with Holmes, the investigator  At about 1:05:40, The two discuss sentencing for Giovanni and his reflection on his crimes and aftermath At about 1:07:00, Jesse talks about Daniela, the mother of Luis Angel, and how he tried and failed to find her to speak with for the book, and why it was maybe for the good that she didn't have to relive the trauma At about 1:09:45, Jesse ruminates on Giovanni's future At about 1:11:15, Jesse reflects on how the book may help him with his parole At about 1:13:00, Pete and Jesse trade quotes and meditate on the book's hopeful lessons At about 1:14:50, Jesse gives contact info and book buying information       You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.     I am very excited about having one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!       This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 249 with Ben Tanzer. He is an Emmy-award winning coach, creative strategist, podcaster, writer, teacher and social worker who has been helping nonprofits, publishers, authors, small business and career changers tell their stories for 20 plus years.     He produces and hosts This Podcast Will Change Your Life, which was launched in February 2010, focuses on authors and changemakers from around the country and the world, and was named by Elephant Journal as one of "The 10 Best Podcasts to Help you Change your Life.”    His written work includes the short story collection UPSTATE, the science fiction novel Orphans and the essay collections Lost in Space and Be Cool. His most recent novel is The Missing.    The episode will go live on August 27.    Lastly, please go to https://ceasefiretoday.com/, which features 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza.

Praised for her ''darkly funny and painfully sharp'' (Los Angeles Times) fiction, Lydia Millet is the author of the novel A Children's Bible, shortlisted for the National Book Award and a New York Times Top 10 book of 2020; the story collection Love in Infant Monkeys, a Pulitzer Prize finalist; and the novel Dinosaurs, a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her other honors include awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a longtime editor and staff writer at the Center for Biological Diversity. We Loved It All, named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Oprah Daily and Literary Hub, is a memoir that ponders the richness of the human experience amidst the environmental calamities that threaten life on Earth. Because you love Author Events, please make a donation to keep our podcasts free for everyone. THANK YOU! (recorded 4/9/2024)

Lydia Millet is the author of We Loved It All: A Memory of Life, available from W.W. Norton & Co. Millet is the author of A Children's Bible, shortlisted for the National Book Award and a New York Times Top 10 book of 2020. Her many other works of fiction have won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters; the story collection Love in Infant Monkeys was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She holds a master's degree in environmental economics and works at the Center for Biological Diversity. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Twitter Instagram  TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While most social media platforms spy on us, manipulate our emotions with hidden algorithms, feed our data to governments on request and censor with no notice or transparency, can there be an alternative that's friendly for everyone to use? We talk with John Kiriakou and Sean O'Brien about Pancake, a new messaging technology being built to address that question. We also discuss the important news from November 3rd that a New York judge has declared that oral arguments in the case Kunstler v. CIA will be open to the public. The suit alleges that the Central Intelligence Agency conspired with UC Global to illegally spy on Julian Assange and his visitors - including lawyers - at the Ecuadorian Embassy.Finally, we bring you a selection of voices from the November 4th March on Washington for Palestine. To see the entire rally, visit BreakThrough News on YouTube.About our guests:John Kiriakou is a journalist, former CIA counterterrorism officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News. In 2007, Kiriakou blew the whistle on the CIA's torture program, that torture was official U.S. government policy, and approved by then-President George W. Bush. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act — a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of the revelation.In 2012 the Ralph Nader family honored Kiriakou with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, he won the PEN Center USA's prestigious First Amendment Award in 2015, the first Blueprint International Whistleblowing Prize for Bravery and Integrity in the Public Interest in 2016, and in the same year the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence, given by retired CIA, FBI, and NSA officers. Sean O'Brien is a Visiting Lecturer at Yale Law School, where he teaches Cybersecurity and founded the Privacy Lab initiative. He is Chief Technology Officer at Panquake, recently launching the Panquake Me link cleaning, shortening, and archiving service. Sean developed a Web3 and Blockchain class at Yale as well as Hacking and Cybersecurity at the Lawfare Institute and was founding Head Tutor at Oxford University Cyber Security for Business Leaders. Sean's expertise has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, Bloomberg, Popular Science, AP News, NBC News, The Financial Times, Wired, The New Yorker, and more. Support the show

Is ten years long or short in the life of a writer? Fiction writer and journalist Joanne Leedom-Ackerman shows us how her perspective on this has shifted. She offers us a prompt via Rainer Maria Rilke to get us thinking about our own writing lives and to get us to build narrative with what she describes as concentric circles in this Inspiration Takeover, a series of mini-episodes with different writers who offer us a little dose of inspiration. Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer, and journalist. Her works of fiction include upcoming novel The Far Side of the Desert and also Burning Distance, The Dark Path to the River, and No Marble Angels. Her nonfiction book PEN Journeys: Memoir of Literature on the Line was recently published, and she is the senior editor and contributor to The Journey of Liu Xiaobo: From Dark Horse to Nobel Laureate. She has also published fiction and essays in books and anthologies, including Short Stories of the Civil Rights Movement; Remembering Arthur Miller; Snakes: An Anthology of Serpent Tales, Fiction and Poetry by Texas Women, the Bicentennial Collection of Texas Short Stories and Beyond Literacy. A reporter for The Christian Science Monitor early in her career, Joanne has won awards for her nonfiction and published articles in newspapers and magazines, including World Literature Today, The Christian Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times, GlobalPost, and others. Joanne is a Vice President of PEN International and the former International Secretary of PEN International and former Chair of International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee. She also serves on the boards of the International Center for Journalists, Refugees International, the American Writers Museum and Words Without Borders and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Edward R. Murrow Center at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the ICRW Leadership Council. She is a former board member and Vice President of PEN American Center and past President of PEN Center USA. She is an Emeritus Director of Poets and Writers, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and Human Rights Watch, where she served as Chair of the Asia Advisory Committee. She is an Emeritus Trustee of Johns Hopkins University and Brown University and has served on the Board of Trustees of Save the Children and the International Crisis Group.

In this episode, I chat with author Elizabeth L Silver about her new novel The Majority, women in the workplace and motherhood, teaching creative writing, and books.Elizabeth L Silver is the author of The Majority , as well as the memoir, The Tincture of Time: A Memoir of (Medical) Uncertainty , and the novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton . Her work has been called “fantastic” by the Washington Post and “masterful” by The Wall Street Journal, has been published in seven languages, and optioned for film.Elizabeth has been featured on PBS NewsHour, while her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Guardian, Harper's Bazaar, McSweeney's, The Dallas Morning News, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, among other publications, and she has been a recipient of residencies at several artist colonies in the United States, France, and Spain, including Ucross Foundation, Ragdale, Byrdcliffe Artist Colony, where she was the recipient of the Patterson Fellowship, A Room of Her Own Foundation, where she was a consultant, and the British Centre for Literary Translation. She has also served as a judge for the PEN Center Literary Awards, UCLA's James Kirkwood Literary Prize, AWP's Kurt Brown Prize, twice served as a PEN in the Community Teaching Artist through PEN Center USA, where she curated a program teaching creative writing to prisoners in Lancaster, CA, for cancer patients and survivors with The Benjamin Center, and at a halfway house in Los Angeles; she has also served as a mentor in Fiction for AWP's Writer-to-Writer Program, and taught English as a Second Language in Costa Rica, writing and literature at Drexel University and St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. She currently teaches creative writing with the UCLA Writers Program.A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the MFA program in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in England, and Temple University Beasley School of Law, Elizabeth has also worked as an attorney in California and Texas, where she was a judicial clerk for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, worked on death row cases in Texas, and subsequently in civil litigation in Los Angeles. She continues to keep a foot in the law, and her most recent legal (volunteer) work includes working on asylum cases at the Texas-Mexico border and with survivors of domestic violence in Los Angeles.Elizabeth is also the founder and director of Onward Literary Mentoring, a program that connects writers with award-winning and best-selling authors for individual, tailored writing instruction. Elizabeth L Silver The Majority, Elizabeth L Silver On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King The CandySupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Chelsea Hodson is the author of the book of essays Tonight I'm Someone Else and the chapbook Pity the Animal. She is the publisher and editor of Rose Books, and she founded the Morning Writing Club. She has taught at Bennington College and co-founded the Mors Tua Vita Mea workshop in Sezze Romano, Italy. She has been awarded fellowships from MacDowell Colony and PEN Center USA. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Frieze Magazine, Hazlitt, i-D, and elsewhere. She lives in Sedona, Arizona. In this episode, Chelsea and I discuss her move from NYC to Sedona, finding stability in instability, allowing a project to find its own timeline, starting an indie press, and Chelsea's writing process. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ongoingness/support

Michael talks with Chelsea Hodson about moving to Sedona, the Morning Writing Club, her new imprint Rose Books, the influence of Giancarlo DiTrapano and Tyrant Books, creative risk, life and writing in New York while working on her first essay collection TONIGHT I'M SOMEONE ELSE, the story of her chapbook PITY THE ANIMAL, the pull toward writing intimate work artfully, ambiguity, a novel in progress, and more.Chelsea Hodson is the author of the book of essays Tonight I'm Someone Else and the chapbook Pity the Animal. She is the publisher and editor of Rose Books, and she founded the Morning Writing Club. She has taught at Bennington College and she co-founded the Mors Tua Vita Mea workshop in Sezze Romano, Italy. She has been awarded fellowships from MacDowell Colony and PEN Center USA. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Frieze Magazine, Hazlitt, i-D, and elsewhere. She lives in Sedona, Arizona.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.

Part 1 John Kiriakou :Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News. In 2002, Kiriakou became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, where he led a CIA team in the March 2002 raid and capture of Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official. Following Abu Zubaydah's capture, Kiriakou became Executive Assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations, where he served as the Director of Central Intelligence's principal Iraq briefer. Kiriakou left the CIA in March 2004. He later served as a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as senior intelligence advisor to Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. Kiriakou also authored a bestselling book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," and worked as an intelligence consultant for ABC News. Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 12 CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, the CIA's Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award. In 2007, Kiriakou appeared on ABC News, during which he became the first CIA officer to confirm that the CIA waterboarded detainees, and he labeled waterboarding as “torture.” Kiriakou's interview revealed that this practice was official U.S. policy approved at the highest levels of the government. The government began investigating Kiriakou immediately after his media appearance. Five years later, he was charged with multiple felonies resulting from his whistleblowing. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act - a law designed to punish spies. Eventually, in order to avoid a trial that could have resulted in separation from his wife and five children for up to 45 years, he opted to plead guilty to one count of a reduced charge in exchange for a 30-month sentence. In 2012 Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an award given to individuals who “advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.” Two days prior to sentencing, he was honored by inclusion of his portrait in artist Robert Shetterly's series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which features notable truth-tellers throughout American history. Kiriakou reported to federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 to begin serving his sentence, where he continued to speak out in a series of "Letters from Loretto," including his first, which provided a stunning portrait of prison life. In November 2013, the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, California honored Kiriakou as its "Peacemaker of the Year." He was awarded the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award from the PEN Center USA in August 2015. He was released from prison in February 2015. Part 2 Attorney Michael J. Bowe - American Marines Turn Blind Eye to Child Sex Abuse Pro Bono Michael engages in substantial pro bono work for institutions and individuals, including representing victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the family of United States Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, Jr., and Marine Corp Major Jason Brezler. These high-profile matters of national import have received substantial Congressional, press, and public attention. 6 years ago #-marines, #:reluctant, #abuse, #afghan sex slaves, #blind, #bowe, #child, #ed, #eye, #john, #john kiriakou, #kiriakou, #marines child sex abuse, #michael, #michael bowe, #opperman, #reluctant spy, #sex, #spy/, #turn

Part 1 John Kiriakou :Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News. In 2002, Kiriakou became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, where he led a CIA team in the March 2002 raid and capture of Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official. Following Abu Zubaydah's capture, Kiriakou became Executive Assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations, where he served as the Director of Central Intelligence's principal Iraq briefer. Kiriakou left the CIA in March 2004. He later served as a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as senior intelligence advisor to Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. Kiriakou also authored a bestselling book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," and worked as an intelligence consultant for ABC News. Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 12 CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, the CIA's Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award. In 2007, Kiriakou appeared on ABC News, during which he became the first CIA officer to confirm that the CIA waterboarded detainees, and he labeled waterboarding as “torture.” Kiriakou's interview revealed that this practice was official U.S. policy approved at the highest levels of the government. The government began investigating Kiriakou immediately after his media appearance. Five years later, he was charged with multiple felonies resulting from his whistleblowing. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act - a law designed to punish spies. Eventually, in order to avoid a trial that could have resulted in separation from his wife and five children for up to 45 years, he opted to plead guilty to one count of a reduced charge in exchange for a 30-month sentence. In 2012 Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an award given to individuals who “advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.” Two days prior to sentencing, he was honored by inclusion of his portrait in artist Robert Shetterly's series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which features notable truth-tellers throughout American history. Kiriakou reported to federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 to begin serving his sentence, where he continued to speak out in a series of "Letters from Loretto," including his first, which provided a stunning portrait of prison life. In November 2013, the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, California honored Kiriakou as its "Peacemaker of the Year." He was awarded the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award from the PEN Center USA in August 2015. He was released from prison in February 2015. Part 2 Attorney Michael J. Bowe - American Marines Turn Blind Eye to Child Sex Abuse Pro Bono Michael engages in substantial pro bono work for institutions and individuals, including representing victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the family of United States Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, Jr., and Marine Corp Major Jason Brezler. These high-profile matters of national import have received substantial Congressional, press, and public attention. 6 years ago #-marines, #:reluctant, #abuse, #afghan sex slaves, #blind, #bowe, #child, #ed, #eye, #john, #john kiriakou, #kiriakou, #marines child sex abuse, #michael, #michael bowe, #opperman, #reluctant spy, #sex, #spy/, #turn

Bill welcomes award-winning author Lydia Millet back to the show. Lydia is the author of A Children's Bible, a finalist for the National Book Award and a New York Times Top 10 book of 2020, among other works of fiction. She has won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters and been shortlisted for the National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her story collection Love in Infant Monkeys was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Her latest novel is Dinosaur. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Gene and cohost Tim Swartz introduce Shane Cashman, host of the paranormal podcast Tales From the Inverted World, which investigates the mysteries that lie beneath the surface of everyday life. Shane searches for answers concerning UFO encounters, cryptids, ghosts, inter-dimensional beings, secret government experiments — just to name a few topics. This episode will focus on his 2021 book, "Tales From the Inverted World: Close Contact with Ghosts, UFOs Serial Killers and Simulation Theory Volume 1," released in 2021. His stories have appeared in The Atlantic, BBC Travel, Atlas Obscura, Narratively, VICE, Salon, The Los Angeles Review of Books Blog, and elsewhere. In 2015, he received first place in the PEN Center USA 500-word short story contest. He is a Glimmer Train short fiction finalist, and his nonfiction has been featured as an Editor's Pick at Longreads.com.

Lidia Yuknavitch is the National Bestselling author of the novels The Book of Joan and The Small Backs of Children, winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Award, Ken Kesey Award for Fiction as well as the Reader's Choice Award, the novel Dora: A Headcase, and a critical book on war and narrative, Allegories of Violence. Her widely acclaimed memoir The Chronology of Water was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. The Misfit's Manifesto, a book based on her recent TED Talk, was published by TED Books. Her short story collection is called Verge and her new novel is Thrust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About Carleton Eastlake: Carleton graduated from UCLA with degrees in political science and psychology and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School with a concentration in law and the social sciences. After a career in public policy and consumer protection law, being hired on Steven Spielberg's series seaQuest confirmed him as a television writer and producer.  He has shared an Edgar and Saturn Awards and is a former board member of the Writers Guild of America West and a past president of PEN Center USA and he is here today to talk about his book Monkey Business. In this episode, Mike and Carleton discuss:  The importance of having people who recognize your potential The truth about being a television writer Carleton's book, Monkey Business Key Takeaways:  Having a strong network of supportive people who recognize your potential helps in bringing out the best in you, which absolutely influences your success. Writing a novel is a lot different than writing for a TV series. The former is a very isolated process while the latter is more of a group effort. Working in show business is not always as glamorous as we imagine. It also has an underside, particularly when the show is run by a toxic team of producers vying for primate superiority. "There's politics everywhere because we are noisy monkeys - we are very smart apes and we have all the dominance moves, all those impulses pushing on our consciousness to find expression." - Carleton Eastlake Buy Monkey Business: Amazon Bookshop.org Connect with Carleton Eastlake: Website: https://carletoneastlake.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carleton.eastlake Twitter: https://twitter.com/c_eastlake LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carleton-eastlake-923b396/ Connect with Mike Carlon: Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/ Show notes by Podcastologist: Angelica Rayco. Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Lidia Yuknavitch reads her powerful short story “Street Walker," from her collection "Verge," with sound design and music composition from Whiston & Warmack. Lidia Yuknavitch is the National Bestselling author of the novels "The Book of Joan" and "The Small Backs of Children," winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Award's Ken Kesey Award for Fiction as well as the Reader's Choice Award, the novel "Dora: A Headcase," and a critical book on war and narrative, "Allegories Of Violence" (Routledge). Her widely acclaimed memoir "The Chronology of Water" was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. "The Misfit's Manifesto," a book based on her recent TED Talk, was published by TED Books, and her new collection of fiction, Verge, was released in 2020. Lidia's new novel, "Thrust," is forthcoming from Riverhead Books on June 28th, 2022. She has also had writing appear in publications including Guernica Magazine, Ms., The Iowa Review, Zyzzyva, Another Chicago Magazine, The Sun, Exquisite Corpse, TANK, and in the anthologies "Life As We Show It (City Lights)," "Wreckage of Reason (Spuytin Duyvil)," "Forms at War (FC2)," "Feminaissance (Les Figues Press)," and "Representing Bisexualities (SUNY)," as well as online at The Rumpus. Whinston & Warmack are a songwriting duo who perform in the Pacific Northwest. ​Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors: Norton: "Fencing with the King" and "The Family Chao" are available wherever books are sold. Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound. Storyworth: Save $10 on your first purchase at Storyworth.com/Storybound Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mrs. TNTBS hosts Author Carleton Eastlake in this episode of This Needs To Be Read. Darkly comic in nature but also deeply philosophical (particularly when it comes to the ridiculous sociology behind human behavior), MONKEY BUSINESS is an astute dissection of the human condition and the bizarre patterns of our everyday lives, both professional and personal. As a longtime screenwriter-producer, former public policy attorney, and past president of PEN Center USA, there is perhaps nobody alive who is as uniquely qualified as Carleton Eastlake to write a novel like this, i.e., one that is one part television industry insider satire, one-part anthropological thesis, and one part literary - if quirky - romance. ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Carleton Eastlake graduated from UCLA in political science and psychology and from Harvard Law School with a concentration in law and the social sciences. After a career in public policy and consumer protection law, being hired on Steven Spielberg's series seaQuest confirmed him as a television writer-producer as well. He has shared in Edgar and Saturn awards and is a former board member of the Writers Guild of America West and a past President of PEN Center USA. His wife Loraine Despres is a best-selling novelist, television writer, and tree-farmer. They live in Los Angeles, California. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tntbsmedia/message

Part 1 John Kiriakou :Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News. In 2002, Kiriakou became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, where he led a CIA team in the March 2002 raid and capture of Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official. Following Abu Zubaydah's capture, Kiriakou became Executive Assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations, where he served as the Director of Central Intelligence's principal Iraq briefer. Kiriakou left the CIA in March 2004. He later served as a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as senior intelligence advisor to Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. Kiriakou also authored a bestselling book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," and worked as an intelligence consultant for ABC News. Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 12 CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, the CIA's Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award. In 2007, Kiriakou appeared on ABC News, during which he became the first CIA officer to confirm that the CIA waterboarded detainees, and he labeled waterboarding as “torture.” Kiriakou's interview revealed that this practice was official U.S. policy approved at the highest levels of the government. The government began investigating Kiriakou immediately after his media appearance. Five years later, he was charged with multiple felonies resulting from his whistleblowing. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act - a law designed to punish spies. Eventually, in order to avoid a trial that could have resulted in separation from his wife and five children for up to 45 years, he opted to plead guilty to one count of a reduced charge in exchange for a 30-month sentence. In 2012 Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an award given to individuals who “advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.” Two days prior to sentencing, he was honored by inclusion of his portrait in artist Robert Shetterly's series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which features notable truth-tellers throughout American history. Kiriakou reported to federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 to begin serving his sentence, where he continued to speak out in a series of "Letters from Loretto," including his first, which provided a stunning portrait of prison life. In November 2013, the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, California honored Kiriakou as its "Peacemaker of the Year." He was awarded the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award from the PEN Center USA in August 2015. He was released from prison in February 2015. Part 2 Attorney Michael J. Bowe - American Marines Turn Blind Eye to Child Sex Abuse Pro Bono Michael engages in substantial pro bono work for institutions and individuals, including representing victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the family of United States Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, Jr., and Marine Corp Major Jason Brezler. These high-profile matters of national import have received substantial Congressional, press, and public attention. 6 years ago #-marines, #:reluctant, #abuse, #afghan sex slaves, #blind, #bowe, #child, #ed, #eye, #john, #john kiriakou, #kiriakou, #marines child sex abuse, #michael, #michael bowe, #opperman, #reluctant spy, #sex, #spy/, #turn

Part 1 John Kiriakou :Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on TerrorJohn Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News.In 2002, Kiriakou became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, where he led a CIA team in the March 2002 raid and capture of Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official.Following Abu Zubaydah's capture, Kiriakou became Executive Assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations, where he served as the Director of Central Intelligence's principal Iraq briefer.Kiriakou left the CIA in March 2004. He later served as a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as senior intelligence advisor to Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. Kiriakou also authored a bestselling book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," and worked as an intelligence consultant for ABC News.Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 12 CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, the CIA's Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award.In 2007, Kiriakou appeared on ABC News, during which he became the first CIA officer to confirm that the CIA waterboarded detainees, and he labeled waterboarding as “torture.” Kiriakou's interview revealed that this practice was official U.S. policy approved at the highest levels of the government.The government began investigating Kiriakou immediately after his media appearance. Five years later, he was charged with multiple felonies resulting from his whistleblowing. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act - a law designed to punish spies.Eventually, in order to avoid a trial that could have resulted in separation from his wife and five children for up to 45 years, he opted to plead guilty to one count of a reduced charge in exchange for a 30-month sentence.In 2012 Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an award given to individuals who “advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.” Two days prior to sentencing, he was honored by inclusion of his portrait in artist Robert Shetterly's series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which features notable truth-tellers throughout American history.Kiriakou reported to federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 to begin serving his sentence, where he continued to speak out in a series of "Letters from Loretto," including his first, which provided a stunning portrait of prison life. In November 2013, the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, California honored Kiriakou as its "Peacemaker of the Year." He was awarded the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award from the PEN Center USA in August 2015.He was released from prison in February 2015.Part 2 Attorney Michael J. Bowe - American Marines Turn Blind Eye to Child Sex AbusePro BonoMichael engages in substantial pro bono work for institutions and individuals, including representing victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the family of United States Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, Jr., and Marine Corp Major Jason Brezler. These high-profile matters of national import have received substantial Congressional, press, and public attention.6 years ago #-marines, #:reluctant, #abuse, #afghan sex slaves, #blind, #bowe, #child, #ed, #eye, #john, #john kiriakou, #kiriakou, #marines child sex abuse, #michael, #michael bowe, #opperman, #reluctant spy, #sex, #spy/, #turn

Part 1 John Kiriakou :Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News. In 2002, Kiriakou became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, where he led a CIA team in the March 2002 raid and capture of Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official. Following Abu Zubaydah's capture, Kiriakou became Executive Assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations, where he served as the Director of Central Intelligence's principal Iraq briefer. Kiriakou left the CIA in March 2004. He later served as a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as senior intelligence advisor to Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. Kiriakou also authored a bestselling book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," and worked as an intelligence consultant for ABC News. Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 12 CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, the CIA's Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award. In 2007, Kiriakou appeared on ABC News, during which he became the first CIA officer to confirm that the CIA waterboarded detainees, and he labeled waterboarding as “torture.” Kiriakou's interview revealed that this practice was official U.S. policy approved at the highest levels of the government. The government began investigating Kiriakou immediately after his media appearance. Five years later, he was charged with multiple felonies resulting from his whistleblowing. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act - a law designed to punish spies. Eventually, in order to avoid a trial that could have resulted in separation from his wife and five children for up to 45 years, he opted to plead guilty to one count of a reduced charge in exchange for a 30-month sentence. In 2012 Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an award given to individuals who “advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.” Two days prior to sentencing, he was honored by inclusion of his portrait in artist Robert Shetterly's series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which features notable truth-tellers throughout American history. Kiriakou reported to federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 to begin serving his sentence, where he continued to speak out in a series of "Letters from Loretto," including his first, which provided a stunning portrait of prison life. In November 2013, the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, California honored Kiriakou as its "Peacemaker of the Year." He was awarded the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award from the PEN Center USA in August 2015. He was released from prison in February 2015. Part 2 Attorney Michael J. Bowe - American Marines Turn Blind Eye to Child Sex Abuse Pro Bono Michael engages in substantial pro bono work for institutions and individuals, including representing victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the family of United States Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, Jr., and Marine Corp Major Jason Brezler. These high-profile matters of national import have received substantial Congressional, press, and public attention. 6 years ago #-marines, #:reluctant, #abuse, #afghan sex slaves, #blind, #bowe, #child, #ed, #eye, #john, #john kiriakou, #kiriakou, #marines child sex abuse, #michael, #michael bowe, #opperman, #reluctant spy, #sex, #spy/, #turn

In this episode, Clifford Brooks and Michael Amidei interview poet and professor Victoria Chang. Victoria Chang (www.VictoriaChangPoet.com) is an American poet and children's writer. Her fifth book of poems, OBIT, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2020. It won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN Voelcker Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Prize and was a finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award, the Griffin Poetry Prize, and long listed for the National Book Award. It was also named a New York Times Notable Book, a New York Times Best 100 Books of the Year, a TIME Magazine, NPR, Boston Globe, and Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year. In 2021, she published Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief, Milkweed Editions. The book was a TIME, Lithub, and NPR most anticipated book of 2021. Her prior book of poems, Barbie Chang,[1] was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2017. Her third book of poetry, The Boss was published by McSweeney's in 2013—it won a PEN Center USA literary award and a California Book Award. Her second poetry collection is Salvinia Molesta (University of Georgia Press, 2008). Her first book, Circle (Southern Illinois University Press, 2005), won the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry. She also writes picture books for children and middle grade novels, and her picture book, Is Mommy? published by Beach Lane Books (Simon & Schuster) in the fall of 2015, illustrated by Marla Frazee, was named a New York Times Notable Book. Her middle grade verse novel, LOVE, LOVE was published by Sterling Publishing in 2020. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017, a Lannan Residency Fellowship in 2020, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Fellowship in 2017, a Poetry Society of America Alice Fay di Castagnola Award in 2018, a Pushcart Prize, and a MacDowell Fellowship.

Episode 16 was recorded at the 2021 Edelweiss Bookfest on June 8. Over 100 attendees watched the interview via Zoom. Lydia Millet has written more than a dozen novels and story collections, often about the ties between people and other animals and the crisis of extinction. She has won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and her books have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She lives outside Tucson, Arizona. Her latest book is the critically-acclaimed,  A Children's Bible. Check out https://lydiamillet.net for all things Lydia.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

 Lidia Yuknavitch is the National Bestselling author of the novels The Book of Joan and The Small Backs of Children, winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Award's Ken Kesey Award for Fiction as well as the Reader's Choice Award, the novel Dora: A Headcase, and a critical book on war and narrative, Allegories of Violence. Her widely acclaimed memoir The Chronology of Water was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. The Misfit's Manifesto, a book based on her recent TED Talk, was published by TED Books. Her new collection of short stories is called Verge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stanley Lombardo is Emeritus Professor of Classics, University of Kansas. His previous translations include Homer's Iliad (1997, Hackett) and Odyssey (2000, Hackett), Hesiod's Works & Days and Theogony (1993, Hackett), and Sappho, Tao Te Ching (1993, Hackett, with Stephen Addiss), Poems and Fragments (2002, Hackett), a PEN Center USA 2003 Literary Award Finalist. Buy Lombardo's Epic of Gilgamesh from Hackett here.   

Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and author of The Education of Margot Sanchez, a contemporary young adult novel forthcoming from Simon & Schuster on February 21, 2017. She is a 2016 Pushcart Prize winner and a 2015 Clarion alumni with a Leonard Pung Memorial Scholarship. She has been awarded fellowships from PEN Center USA, A Room Of Her Own Foundation, and received a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation. Her short story "Death Defiant Bomba" received honorable mention in Bellevue Literary Review's 2014 Goldenberg Prize for Fiction, selected by author Nathan Englander. Lilliam was also a finalist for AWP's 2014 WC&C Scholarship Competition.

Part 1 John Kiriakou :Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on TerrorJohn Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News.In 2002, Kiriakou became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, where he led a CIA team in the March 2002 raid and capture of Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official.Following Abu Zubaydah's capture, Kiriakou became Executive Assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations, where he served as the Director of Central Intelligence's principal Iraq briefer.Kiriakou left the CIA in March 2004. He later served as a senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as senior intelligence advisor to Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. Kiriakou also authored a bestselling book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," and worked as an intelligence consultant for ABC News.Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 12 CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, the CIA's Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award.In 2007, Kiriakou appeared on ABC News, during which he became the first CIA officer to confirm that the CIA waterboarded detainees, and he labeled waterboarding as “torture.” Kiriakou's interview revealed that this practice was official U.S. policy approved at the highest levels of the government.The government began investigating Kiriakou immediately after his media appearance. Five years later, he was charged with multiple felonies resulting from his whistleblowing. He became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act - a law designed to punish spies.Eventually, in order to avoid a trial that could have resulted in separation from his wife and five children for up to 45 years, he opted to plead guilty to one count of a reduced charge in exchange for a 30-month sentence.In 2012 Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an award given to individuals who “advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.” Two days prior to sentencing, he was honored by inclusion of his portrait in artist Robert Shetterly's series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which features notable truth-tellers throughout American history.Kiriakou reported to federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 to begin serving his sentence, where he continued to speak out in a series of "Letters from Loretto," including his first, which provided a stunning portrait of prison life. In November 2013, the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, California honored Kiriakou as its "Peacemaker of the Year." He was awarded the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award from the PEN Center USA in August 2015.He was released from prison in February 2015.Part 2 Attorney Michael J. Bowe - American Marines Turn Blind Eye to Child Sex AbusePro BonoMichael engages in substantial pro bono work for institutions and individuals, including representing victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the family of United States Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, Jr., and Marine Corp Major Jason Brezler. These high-profile matters of national import have received substantial Congressional, press, and public attention.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/1198501/advertisement

The Miracle Girl(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) The crowds keep coming. More and more every day it seems . . . drawn by rumor and whisper and desperate wish. Somehow they heard about the little girl on Shaker Street. They come to see eight-year-old Anabelle Vincent, who lies in a comalike state--unable to move or speak. They come because a visitor experienced what seemed like a miracle and believed it was because of Anabelle. Word spread. There were more visitors. More miracles. But is there a connection? And does it matter? Set against the backdrop of the approaching millennium--with all its buzz about reckoning and doom--this impressive debut novel is narrated by Anabelle herself; by her devoted mother, who cares for her child while struggling to make sense of the media frenzy surrounding her; by Anabelle's estranged father, who is dealing with the guilt of his actions; and by the people who come seeking the child's help, her guidance, and her healing. Yet it tells a larger cultural story about the human yearning for the miraculous to be true, about how becoming a believer--in something, anything, even if you don't understand it--can sustain you. Praise forThe Miracle Girl: "To believe or not to believe--that is the question facing all who are touched by the comatose 'miracle girl' at the swirling center ofAndrew Roe'sdazzling debut. But more than an exploration of the mysteries of faith, it's also the unforgettable story of one family's struggle against tragedy. The result is an uplifting miracle of a book." --Will Allison, author ofLong Drive Home "InThe Miracle Girl, we're reminded that the desire for miracles always connotes dissatisfaction, even as it articulates a hope. Roe deftly explores this paradox . . . [and] examines the strange responsibility of being believed in. A stunning, confident debut." --Peter Rock, author ofThe Shelter Cycle "An incisive and insightful critique of America, investigating where we put our faith and why . . . It's a novel about what it means to be human, to be lost or broken, a little or a lot, and to seek connection and hope and maybe even transcendence in the world around us." --Doug Dorst, author ofS. andAlive in Necropolis Born and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier, California,Andrew Roehas had his fiction published inTin House, One Story,theSun, Glimmer Train, The Cincinnati Review, Slice, Pank, Avery Anthology, Gigantic, Freight Stories, Failbetter,theGood Men Project,and other literary magazines, as well as the anthologiesWhere Love Is Foundand24 Bar Blues.His nonfiction has appeared in theNew York Times, San Francisco Chronicle,Salon.com,SF Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian,and elsewhere. An alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers andTin HouseWriters Workshop, he has received scholarships from the Getty Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation. Three of his short stories were performed by actors as part of the New Short Fiction Series, LAs longest running spoken word series. Dan Chaon selected his story Job History for the Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions of 2012, and he has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize multiple times, including aOne Storynomination for his story Americas Finest City. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English/creative writing from San Diego State University, and a master of arts degree in literature from San Francisco State University. For over twenty years, he has worked as a writer and editor in the publishing and software industries. A member of PEN Center USA, he currently lives in Oceanside, California, with his wife and three children.

PEN Center USA will present an informational evening with current and former Emerging Voices Fellows and mentors for the benefit of interested applicants. Join us for a fellowship overview, a Q&A session, special summer cocktails, and readings by Amanda Fletcher, Natashia Déon, Jamie Schaffner, the 2014 Emerging Voices Fellows, and Samantha Dunn!

Join us for a terrific reading from one of Los Angeles' premier literary magazines! PEN Center USA and Narrow Books present The Rattling Wall, Issue 4. The reading will begin at 7:30 PM and will feature contributors Ben Loory, Mehnaz Sahibzada, Ben Pack, Brady Hammes, Ron Gutierrez, George Ducker, and Erika Schickel.The Rattling Wall, Issue 4, includes new writing by T. Duncan Anderson Jr., Arielle Bernstein, Laura Bogart, Corey Campbell, George Ducker, Megan Falley, David Francis, Leah Griesmann, Ron Gutierrez, Brady Hammes, Nathalie Handal, Dana Johnson, Joe Kelly, Anne-Marie Kinney, Hunter Liguore, Ben Loory, Ruth Nolan, Ben Pack, Minh Pham, Martin Pousson, Jeremy Radin, James Ragan, Mehnaz Sahibzada, Erika Schickel, Heather Simons, Susan Straight, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Tolkin, Bruce Weigl, and Wendy Xu.Ken Garduno is the featured artist for The Rattling Wall, Issue 4. In 2006, Garduno graduated with honors in illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. After graduating, Ken pursued a career as a freelance illustrator/gallery artist. His work has been shown in galleries internationally, as well as in various publications, album art, and T-shirt designs.Michelle Meyering is the founding editor of The Rattling Wall and Director of Programs and Events at PEN Center USA. Meyering has produced over 200 literary events across Southern California. She currently teaches in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program in Los Angeles.PEN Center USA, a literary nonprofit based in Beverly Hills, has a membership of more than 600 professional writers. PEN Center USA strives to protect the rights of writers around the world, to stimulate interest in the written word, and to foster a vital literary community among the diverse writers living in the western United States. PEN Center USA has a long, successful history of planning literary events in and around Los Angeles; special programming has taken place at The Hammer, The Hotel Café, Largo at the Coronet, The Echo, Actor's Gang, The Pacific Design Center, and The Beverly Hills Hotel.Narrow Books is an independent Los-Angeles-based publisher founded in 2005, publishing both art and literature. In addition to The Rattling Wall, their titles include: Hey Fudge, a giant collection of work by acclaimed artist Travis Millard (aka Fudge); Eat Hell, a book of stories by Los Angeles author Joseph Mattson; the Two Letters anthology collections; and several “unofficial,” and now out-of-print, handmade mini-books and zines.For more information on The Rattling Wall, Issue 4: Reading & Release, please contact Michelle Meyering, Director of Programs and Events at PEN Center USA: michelle@penusa.org.

PEN Center USA will present an Emerging Voices Fellowship panel of current and former Emerging Voices Fellows and mentors for the benefit of interested applicants. PEN Center USA's mission is to stimulate and maintain interest in the written word, to foster a vital literary culture, and to defend freedom of expression domestically and internationally.

A new nonprofit venture sponsored by PEN Center USA, Phoneme Media is an LA-based film and publishing house, published by Skylight's own Chris Heiser and founded by local poet and translator David Shook. Mario Bellatin, the leading experimental novelist in contemporary Latin America, introduces the neglected work of Shiki Nagaoka to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Bellatin's highly stylized biography recounts Nagaoka's early life, including his failed first attempt at love, his decision to enter the monastic life, and his family's disavowal of him. It contextualizes his untranslatable masterwork, his early use of narrative photography, and his influence on other important world writers, including Juan Rulfo and José María Arguedas. And of course he portrays Nagaoka's incredible nose, the deformedly large appendage that determined his life path. Read excerpts at Two Lines Online and World Literature Today, read about the book in the New York Times, or read an interview on Molossus. The New York Times calls Bellatin “…one of the leading voices in experimental Spanish-language fiction.” “Mario Bellatin has indisputably become one of the literary stars of the Latin American scene.” —Radar Libros (Argentina) “One of the most original figures of recent Latin American fiction.” —ABC (Spain) “Bellatin's unusual narrative world doesn't need to exceed the conventional limits of the short novel in order to take possession of mind of the reader, who's left seduced by the turbid and convulsive beauty of his stories.” —El País (Spain) Mario Bellatin has published dozens of novellas on major and minor publishing houses in Latin America, Europe, and the United States. His English-language translations include Beauty Salon (City Lights, 2010) andChinese Checkers: Three Fictions (Ravenna Press, 2009). His current projects include Los Cien Mil Libros de Bellatin, his own imprint dedicated to publishing 1,000 copies each of 100 of his books. David Shook is a poet and writer in Los Angeles, where he editsMolossus and Phoneme Media. His debut collection Our Obsidian Tongues is forthcoming from Eyewear Publishing. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON MAY 7, 2013.

PEN Center USA presents The Rattling Wall, Issue 3 FEATURING: Benj Hewitt, Rhoda Huffey, Mandy Kahn, Amelia Morris, and Rachel Reynolds Join us as LA literary journal The Rattling Wall presents writers from Issue 3 reading their work.  Drinks will follow the reading and signing. Benj Hewitt is a Los Angeles-based writer and winner of the 2012 John Steinbeck Short Story Award. He recently finished his first book When I Come Around, a coming-of-age memoir set in the Bay Area during the glory days of grunge and the dawn of the dot-com era. He has been long-listed for Ireland's Fish Publishing Short Memoir Contest and was a finalist for the 2012 Summer Literary Series Contest in Poetry. His essays on politics and parenting have appeared in Huffington Post and Modern Mom. Rhoda Huffey is the author of the novel The Hallelujah Side, which was chosen as a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book. Her short fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, Tin House, Santa Monica Review, and Green Mountains Review. She lives in Venice Beach, California. Mandy Kahn is coauthor with Aaron Rose of the nonfiction book Collage Culture, which was also released as an LP record with a score by No Age. Her recent appearances include readings, signings, and talks at Art Center College of Design, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, the Last Bookstore, Family, the Silver Lake Jubilee, the Shoreditch House (London), Motto (Berlin), Printed Matter (New York), Colette (Paris), the Celebrity Author's Luncheon for CALM (Santa Barbara), and Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco). Kahn is writer-in-residence for the live event The Series, for which she writes poetry, prose, and experimental theater in collaboration with choreographers, musicians, and performance artists. Both her poetry and her prose have been anthologized. Amelia Morris lives in Los Angeles and authors the food blog Bon Appétempt. When she's not tramping around on trumped-up charges, she's writing, dancing, and prancing. Her handiwork has appeared on saveur.com, bonappetit.com, westelm.com, Gourmet Live, Refinery 29, the Los Angeles Times, and Elle Girl Korea. Bon Appétempt has won two of Saveur Magazine's Best Food Blog Awards: Best Culinary Essay in 2011 and Best Food Humor Blog in 2012. Additionally, her writing has been published in McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes and her first novel Will & Margot patiently awaits publication. Rachel Reynolds is a student of creative writing and classics at the University of Redlands Johnston Center for Integrative Studies. She has been the recipient of two first place prizes and a second place prize in the University's annual Jean Burden Prize for Poetry contest. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS FEBRUARY 2, 2013.