Podcasts about somewhat united states

Who is the Government? Dave Eggers and Sarah Vowell attempt to answer that question in essays about the scientists who discover new planets at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and the archivists who safeguard the nation's historical record. They're both featured in the new anthology, “Who is Government: The Untold Story of Public Service.” We talk to Vowell and Eggers about the civil servants who make up what their editor Michael Lewis calls “the vast, complex system Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss and celebrate.” And we'll get an update on the legal challenges to the Trump administration's efforts to slash the federal workforce. What public servant in your life would you like to celebrate? Guests: Dave Eggers, founder, McSweeney's; co-founder, 826 Valencia; author, many books including “The Eyes and the Impossible” and “The Circle” Sarah Vowell, author, seven nonfiction books including “Lafayette in the Somewhat United States”, “Unfamiliar Fishes" and “Assassination Vacation" Stephen Fowler, political reporter covering the restructuring of the federal government, NPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So who, exactly is government. It's the question that Michael Lewis and an all-star team of writers address in a particularly timely new volume of essays. Who is Government? According to the Montana based Sarah Vowell, author of “The Equalizer”, an essay in the volume about the National Archives, government enables all American citizens to find stories about themselves. Vowell praises the modesty of most government employees. But she warns, the work of public servants like the National Archives' Pamela Wright is anything but modest and represents the core foundation of American democracy. Vowell's message is the antidote to the chainsaw. Essential listening in our surreal times.Here are the five Keen On America takeaways in this conversation with Vowell:* The National Archives as a democratic resource: Pamela Wright's work at the National Archives focused on digitizing records (over 300 million so far) to make them accessible to all Americans, regardless of where they live. This democratization of access allows people to bypass intimidating physical buildings and access their history from anywhere.* Public servants are often modest and unsung: Sarah describes how government workers like Wright tend to be modest, team-oriented people who focus on doing their job rather than seeking recognition. This stands in contrast to more visible or self-promoting public figures.* Personal connections to national archives: The conversation reveals how Americans can find their own family stories within government records. Sarah discovered her own family history, including her grandfather's WPA work and connections to the Cherokee Nation's Trail of Tears through archival documents.* Government's impact on opportunity: Sarah emphasizes how government programs like the Higher Education Act of 1965 created opportunities that changed her family's trajectory from poverty to professional careers through access to public education and financial assistance programs.* The interconnectedness of government services and American life: The conversation concludes with Sarah's observation about how government services form an "ecosystem of opportunity" that impacts everything from education to outdoor recreation jobs in Montana, with each part connected to others in ways that aren't always visible but are essential to how society functions.Sarah Vowell is the New York Times bestselling author of seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. By examining the connections between the American past and present, she offers personal, often humorous accounts of American history as well as current events and politics. Her book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, explores both the ideas and the battles of the American Revolution, especially the patriot founders' alliance with France as personified by the teenage volunteer in George Washington's army, the Marquis de Lafayette. Vowell's book, Unfamiliar Fishes is the intriguing history of our 50th state, Hawaii, annexed in 1898. Replete with a cast of beguiling and often tragic characters, including an overthrown Hawaiian queen, whalers, missionaries, sugar barons, Teddy Roosevelt and assorted con men, Unfamiliar Fishes is another history lesson in Americana as only Vowell can tell it – with brainy wit and droll humor. The Wordy Shipmates examines the New England Puritans and their journey to and impact on America. She studies John Winthrop's 1630 sermon “A Model of Christian Charity” and the bloody story that resulted from American exceptionalism. And she also traces the relationship of Winthrop, Massachusetts' first governor, and Roger Williams, the Calvinist minister who founded Rhode Island – an unlikely friendship that was emblematic of the polar extremes of the American foundation. Throughout she reveals how American history can show up in the most unexpected places in our modern culture, often in poignant ways. Her book Assassination Vacation is a haunting and surprisingly hilarious road trip to tourist sites devoted to the murders of presidents Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. Vowell examines what these acts of political violence reveal about our national character and our contemporary society. She is also the author of two essay collections, The Partly Cloudy Patriot and Take the Cannoli. Her first book Radio On, is her year-long diary of listening to the radio in 1995. She was guest editor for The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2017. Most recently she contributed an essay for Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service by Michael Lewis (Riverhead, March 18, 2025). Vowell's thirty years as a journalist and columnist began in the freewheeling atmosphere of the weekly newspapers of the 1990s, including The Village Voice, the Twin Cities' City Pages and San Francisco Weekly, where she was the pop music columnist. An original contributor to McSweeney's, she has worked as a columnist for Salon and Time, a reviewer for Spin, a reporter for GQ, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, where she covered politics, history, education and life in Montana. She was a contributing editor for the public radio show This American Life from 1996-2008, where she produced numerous commentaries and documentaries and toured the country in many of the program's live shows. Her notable side projects have included a decade as the founding president of 826NYC, a nonprofit tutoring and writing center for students aged 6-18 in Brooklyn; producing a filmed oral history series commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Montana Constitutional Convention of 1972; and occasional voice acting, including her role as teen superhero Violet Parr in Brad Bird's Academy Award-winning The Incredibles, and its sequel, Incredibles 2, from Pixar Animation Studios.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Recording of Off the Shelf Radio Show from WDLR with co-hosts George Needham and Nicole Fowles. Our special guests this week are Susan Hetrick and Shari L. Veleba who is the Information & Referral Coordinator/Community Connector from The Center of Disability Empowerment. We speak with them about the upcoming mobile vaccination clinics.  Recommendations include Lafayette in the Somewhat United States and Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell.  Read more about today's episode here. Listen live every Friday morning at 9 AM https://wdlrradio.com/program-schedule/off-the-shelf/  This episode originally aired on May 6, 2022

It's Nick and Goldy's summer reading list!  We want to know what you're reading, too. Let us know on Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics.  Remember to shop local and small when you can, or order from IndieBound or Bookshop.org—both of which support independent bookstores! All of these books are also likely available at your library.  Every book mentioned in this episode:  The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich  Escape from Rome: The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity by Walter Scheidel The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? by Michael J. Sandel Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Merit by Robert H. Frank The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Democracy, Race, and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T. M. Alexander by Nina Banks  Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright Caste by Isabel Wilkerson His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham   The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee 1491 by Charles C. Mann Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic by Matthew Stewart The Second World War by Winston Churchill  Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell  Debt by David Graeber  Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/ Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick's twitter: @NickHanauer

As readers, we often fall into a bubble of reading the same type of book over and over, and our hosts are no stranger to that, which is why during this episode Ryan, Hillary, and Kelso temporarily set aside the Sci-Fi, the Fantasy, the Horror, the Queer Lit, and instead recommend "anything but fiction"! Click the link to purchase the book from our store, or click the (audiobook) link to get the Audiobook on Libro.fm. Thanks for shopping local! Books Mentioned During This Episode RECENT READS Kelso, https://www.gibsonsbookstore.com/staff/kelso The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel (May 4th) Hillary, https://www.gibsonsbookstore.com/staff/hillary We Need New Stories: The Myths that Subvert Freedom by Nesrine Malik (May 11th) Ryan, https://www.gibsonsbookstore.com/staff/ryan-elizabeth-clark My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (August 31st) (audiobook) The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (audiobook) ANYTHING BUT FICTION Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (audiobook) Hamilton: The Revolution by Jeremy McCarter & Lin-Manuel Miranda (audiobook) Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougall (audiobook) Disney's Land by Richard Snow (audiobook) Mousejunkies! by Bill Burke Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker (audiobook) Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension by Matt Parker Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson (audiobook) Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (audiobook) Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost  The Painted Bed by Donald Hall The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman (audiobook) Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier (audiobook) You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier (audiobook) 24/6: Giving up Screens One Day a Week to Get More Time, Creativity, and Connection by Tiffany Shlain (audiobook) Zed by Joanna Kavenna (audiobook) The Circle by Dave Eggers (audiobook) The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel (audiobook) Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell (audiobook) You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe (audiobook) Meet Me In the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman (audiobook) Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature by Angus Fletcher (audiobook) The Cycles of Constitutional Time by Jack M. Balkin The Plague Cycle by Charles Kenny (audiobook) Adventures in Eden by Carolyn Mullet Murder Maps: Crime Scenes Revisited by Dr. Drew Gray Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester (audiobook) (event recording) A Good War is Hard to Find: The Art of Violence in America by David Griffith POETRY FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY DON'T LIKE POETRY Buddy Wakefield Taylor Mali Amanda Gorman Poetry Society of New Hampshire Slam Free or Die Conversations with Granite State Poets: Maudelle Driskell and Meg Kearney - April 5th Martha Carlson-Bradley and Liz Ahl - April 12th Rodger Martin and Henry Walters - April 19th OTHER LINKS Gibson's Bookstore Website Shop The Laydown Purchase Gift Certificates!  Browse our website by Category! Donate to the bookstore! Check out our Events Calendar! Gibson's Instagram The Laydown Instagram Facebook Twitter Libro.fm (Our Audiobook Platform) Use the code LAYDOWN for 3 audiobooks for the price of 1!  Email us at thelaydownpodcast@gmail.com

In this year like no other in history, enjoy this excursion through some of our best interviews with historians from our history: Doris Kearns Goodwin on her book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Simon & Schuster, 2005); Ron Chernow, on his biography Grant (Penguin Press, 2017); the late Studs Terkel, oral historian extraordinaire, at the grand opening of the StoryCorps booth in Grand Central; Kevin Young , poet, director of the NYPL Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and New Yorker poetry editor, on Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News (Graywolf Press, 2017); Sarah Vowell's take on Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (Riverhead Books, 2015) Ted Gioia, music critic and historian on Love Songs: The Hidden History (Oxford University Press, 2015). These interviews were edited slightly for time, the original versions are available here: Honest Abe - (10/25/05)Heroes and Villains of History - (10/20/17)Wild Turkel - (11/28/03)The Interlaced History of Hoaxes and Race - (11/15/17)A Teenaged French General in the American Revolution - (10/20/15)There's Nothing 'Silly' About Love Songs - (3/4/2015) Transcripts are posted to the individual segment pages as soon as they are available.

In the first episode of AADL reads, we chatted with Sarah Vowell not only about her latest book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, but also about her relationship with reading, her go-to classics, and more!

This week, Alice and Kim talk Revolutionary War history, Persian empresses, and the tragic fire that society buried. While you're here, don’t forget Book Riot’s YA giveaway! Go here to win $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction. bookriot.com/500yagiveaway   NEW BOOKS Don't You Ever by Mary Carter Bishop                                   Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire by Robert E. Fiesler  Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal No One Tells You This: A Memoir by Glynnis MacNicol  From the Corner of the Oval by Rebecca Dorey-Stein   WEEKLY THEME: Revolutionary History Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar   SEGMENT THREE: Fiction/Nonfiction The Ensemble by Aja Gabel Gone by Min Kym The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte How to Build a Dinosaur: The New Science of Reverse Evolution by Jack Horner and James Gorman   READING NOW Stalking God by Anjali Kumar Drinking in America: A History by Mark Edward Lender   OTHER Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell Age of Jackson Podcast

Summary: Digital Strategies Manager Lennea Bower and Library Assistant Supervisor Candace Hixon discuss the history of the MCPL Reading Challenge; how the 2018 challenge is going; and what they get out of reading challenges with host Julie Dina.  Recording Date: June 6, 2018 Guests: Lennea Bower is the Digital Strategies Manager for Montgomery County Public Libraries. Her unit runs the Reading Challenge. Candace Hixon is the Library Assistant Supervisor at the Kensington Park branch. She is an enthusiastic Reading Challenge participant.  Hosts: Julie Dina, Outreach Associate.  Featured MCPL Resource: Librarians! We encourage customers to approach our trained information professionals at any MCPL branch with requests for reading recommendations, assistance with library resources, or other questions. Find your nearest branch. What Our Guests Are Reading:  Lennea Bower: The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin, #2 in the Broken Earth trilogy; Not that Bad edited by Roxane Gay; Beneath a Ruthless Sun by Gilbert King. Candace Hixon: Go Ask Alice by Anonymous.  Books, Movies, and Authors Mentioned During this Episode: #NotYourPrincess edited by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Lisa Charleyboy Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell Octavia Butler The Dry by Jane Harper Grant by Ron Chernow The Incredibles, animated movie Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Naked by David Sedaris Prairie Fires by Carolyn Frasier Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir, book #3 of the Ember in the Ashes series Nora Roberts Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh, sequel to Flame in the Mist Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce, first in a new series of prequels to her Immortals series Turtles All the Way Down by John Green MCPL Resources Mentioned During this Episode: Beanstack, online resource that provides book recommendations and is also the online home for some MCPL programs. 2018 Summer Read and Learn, Libraries Rock! One Thousand Books Before Kindergarten Readers’ Café What Do I Check Out Next? online readers’ advisory service Other Items of Interest Mentioned During this Episode: Book Riot 2018 Read Harder Challenge The Ripped Bodice, LA romance bookstore with an online reading challenge Romance Novel Tropes Read the transcript. 

This month our genre is Military Non-Fiction! We talk about defining war, sword fighting, genocide, and conscription. Plus: Trebuchets! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | RJ Edwards News RJ’s Bio (and everyone else’s bios too!) Anna and Matthew will be at the 2018 ALA Conference in New Orleans! Come to our Podcast Meetup! (1-2pm, Saturday, June 23rd, at the Networking Uncommons) Books We Read This Month Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden Battle of Mogadishu (Wikipedia) Black Hawk Down (film) (Wikipedia) Firing Line by Richard Holmes A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902 by David J. Silbey Philippine–American War (Wikipedia) East Timor: The Price Of Freedom by John G. Taylor Indonesian occupation of East Timor (Wikipedia) East Timor genocide (Wikipedia) Timor-Leste: what it's like to travel in a land without tourists The Book of Five Rings: A Graphic Novel by Miyamoto Musashi, Sean Michael Wilson, Chie Kutsuwada, and William Scott Wilson Five elements (Japanese philosophy)  (Wikipedia) Miyamoto Musashi (Wikipedia) War's Unwomanly Face by Svetlana Alexievich The Fallen of World War II (animation) Reluctant Warriors: Canadian Conscripts and the Great War by Patrick M Dennis Conscription Crisis of 1917 (Wikipedia) The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency That Changed the World by Sharon Weinberger Other Media We Mention Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats by Kristen Iversen Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant (Wikipedia) Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents (Wikipedia) Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman Tuva or Bust!: Richard Feynman's Last Journey by Ralph Leighton Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson A trebuchet focused Cul de Sac comic Maus by Art Spiegelman Night by Elie Wiesel Our episode on Religious Non-Fiction Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Palestine by Joe Sacco Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco Band of Brothers (Wikipedia) Saving Private Ryan (Wikipedia) Apocalypse Now (Wikipedia) Coming Home (Wikipedia) The Face Of Battle: A Study Of Agincourt, Waterloo And The Somme by John Keegan An Intimate History of Killing: Face-to-Face Killing in Twentieth Century Warfare by Joanna Bourke Mud: A Military History by C.E. Wood Imperialist Canada by Todd Gordon Independence Day (Wikipedia) Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence by Judith Butler Call of Duty (Wikipedia) Soldiers: Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors by Richard Holmes The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe by Peter Godwin War Child: A Child Soldier's Story by Emmanuel Jal Emmanuel Jal - Warchild (YouTube) First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung The Golden Voice of the Royal Capital by Tyler Hauck “One of the greatest-ever stars of Cambodian popular music was Ros Sereysothea, who made some electrifying rock'n'roll in the '60s and '70s. Her career ended when she was murdered by the Khmer Rouge, as were two million of her fellow Cambodians. This is her story.” The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs by Michael Belfiore On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman Links, Articles, and Things National Atomic Testing Museum The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets, and More Ancient Artillery by William Gurstelle “Second annual ‘Punkin Chunkin’ scheduled for Oct. 21” Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program Chief of Staff of the Air Force Professional Reading List List of wars involving the United States (Wikipedia) Cambodian genocide (Wikipedia) Malayan Emergency (Wikipedia) Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966 (Wikipedia) Papua conflict (Wikipedia) United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories (Wikipedia) Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Heart! Bushido Blade (Wikipedia) Gun fu (Wikipedia) Equilibrium (Wikipedia) Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts, follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, July 3rd when we’ll talk about other things we’re reading or the 2018 ALA Conference in New Orleans! Which will it be? We don’t know! Then come back on Tuesday, July 17th when we’ll be discussing Nordic/Scandinavian Noir!

(8:41) Downtown Las Vegas (https://vegasexperience.com/) Atomic Liquors (http://atomic.vegas/) El Cortez (https://elcortezhotelcasino.com/) Container Park (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh8Ojurlydr/?taken-by=falfa) (15:46) Avengers:Infinity War (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_infinity_war/) (20:45) Momofuku Las Vegas (https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/restaurants/momofuku) (25:07) Childish Gambino - "This Is America" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY) (32:33) Average Broz's Gymnasium (http://averagebroz.com/) (39:36) Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24602886-lafayette-in-the-somewhat-united-states) Followup and Footnotes Music Break: Woods - "Sun City Creeps" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNIVuPsoygI) Mets are stinking. (https://www.mlb.com/mets) Mike's Emily Blunt problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Blunt) Atlanta Season 2 (http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/atlanta) Using More Trello (https://trello.com/)

Jeff and Rebecca wrap up their 2017 Holiday recommendations.   This episode is sponsored by: TryAudiobooks.com Reckless: The Petrified Flesh by Cornelia Funke   Books recommended in this episode: Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway I Am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas From the Hips by Rebecca Odes Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes Joy On Demand The Uterus is a Feature, not a Bug by Sarah Lacy The Startup Way by Eric Ries Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Beloved by Toni Morrison  Hunger by Roxane gay Night Comes to the Cumberlands by Henry Caudil An Untamed State by Roxane Gay Ramp Hollow by Steven Stoll You Had Me at Woof Afterglow by Eileen Myles Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozah Dumas The First Rule of Punk by Celia Perez From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsberg The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser Alive Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Martian by Andy Weir The Dog Stars by Peter Heller Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling Complications by Atul Gawande You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie An Adoption Story by Marianne Richmond The White Swan Express: a story about adoption by Jean Davies Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale by Karen Katz Burning Bright: Four Chanukah Love Stories The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng The Turner House by Angela Flourney Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

Amanda and Jenn discuss classic retellings, post-Hamilton reads, small town stories, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked. This episode is sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio and Doubleday, publishers The Clockwork Dynasty, the new novel by Daniel Wilson.   Questions 1. We are a group of girlfriends from high school (28 years out!) and we're getting together in the fall for a reunion, something we've been doing every two years. We'd like to read a book in advance to discuss. Maybe it will be the beginning of a long-distance book club that meets in person every two years. What recommendations do you have? I'm thinking themes relating to family, friends, women's issues, current issues... Thanks so much! --Patricia   2. My 1st grade daughter is a precocious reader and is currently reading at about a middle school level. Do you have book recommendations for her that are more advanced reading, yet not advanced topics? She's already read all the Little House on the Prairie books, The Penderwicks, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Roald Dahl, and a bunch others. I'm really looking for new series or newer books since she's read most of the books I read as a child! Thank you! --Julie   3. Recently I read Rebecca and it is now one of my favorite novels. This is the second book I've read based on Jane Eyre- the other being Wide Sargasso Sea, another favorite of mine. Then recently Jenn recommended Longbourn, and I've started reading that. Now I want to read other books based off of classics. I tried looking into it a bit, but all I really found were Pride and Prejudice continuations that, quite honestly, didn't look like they were very well written. Any suggestions? Thanks guys! --Margret   4. Okay, ladies. It's happened. I caught the Hamilton hype and nothing else matters anymore. I'm already listening to the Chernow bio on audio and loving it, but I just need more! Any suggestions for worthy biographies on prominent American figures? I'm particularly interested in presidential biographies or biographies of noteworthy women during the period. Thank you both so much! Love the show! :) --Crystal   5. HELP! I'm in the middle of a terrible reading slump, and I've never been in one quite so extreme before. I'm in the middle of getting my masters degree in Classics at the moment, and between all the ancient greek, and dead white philosophers I just don't have the head space to read as much as I usually do, or even read the kind of books I usually read. Some of my favorite books are the Song of Ice and Fire series, The Secret History (which may or may not have made me want to become a classics major, and thus sealed my fate and slow decent into insanity), Frankenstein, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm open to any genre, as long as it's well written. I just need something that I can read for a little bit at night and clear my mind. Thank you! --Slyvia   6. For some reason I seem to really love books that take place in small towns. I think it's because I enjoy when the location in a book becomes something like a living breathing character, and (as bias as this may sound?) I like exploring the close mindedness, and hatred that often manifests in small towns where everything is the same, and everyone knows each other. Do you guys know of any books that explore those kind of themes, and where the location is very much a character in the novel? --Lois   7. HELP HELP HELP! My whole life I've been trying to convince my mother to read, but she's always told me she's not interested. She endless makes fun of my "snooty" literature (I read mainly classic literature, and a lot of ancient philosophy), and says books are boring. I gave up trying to convince her to read, but a few days ago so told me she'd be interested in reading something! The only problem is I don't know what she'll like. We have such different taste, and I know she'd hate all my favorite books. She watches a lot of reality tv like The Housewives of Some Rich Neighborhood or Whatever, and The Kardashians. Is there a book equivalent to trashy reality TV? She also really likes shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Revenge. So I think she'd like a book that's over the top like a soap opera kind of? Please help! --Joan   Books Discussed Dreadnought by April Daniels The Novice by Taran Matharu The Secret Son by Laila Lalami Native Believer by Ali Eteraz Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk The Mothers by Brit Bennet All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan Frazzled by Booki Vivat Princess Academy series by Shannon Hale Rick Riordan’s new imprint Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie Re Jane by Patricia Park John Adams by David McCullough Also please watch this video: the John Adams rap cut from Hamilton Lafayette In the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell The Quick by Lauren Owen Infomocracy by Malka Ann Older If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo (trigger warning: transphobia) Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney Blood Defense by Marcia Clark, recommended by Jamie Canaves

We talk about when, why, (whether), and what we Reread, and what does it all mean? Plus: format shifting for rereads, plays vs. scripts, cover versions of fiction, and the suck fairy. You can download the podcast directly, find it  on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system.  In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi  Books We Mentioned Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, and Leanne Shapton The Kingkiller Chronicle series by Patrick Rothfuss The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett The BPRD: Hell on Earth series by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and others A spinoff of the Hellboy series by Mike Mignola and others The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth Grendel by John Gardner (Jessi said “John Green”, but she meant this one) Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison The Hating Game by Sally Thorne Uprooted by Naomi Novik Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson On Trails by Robert Moor Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Microserfs by Douglas Coupland The Great Alta series by Jane Yolen Sister Light, Sister Dark White Jenna The One-Armed Queen Sassinak by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon The Nintendo Adventure Books series The Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen LaFayette and the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Othello by William Shakespeare Amadeus by Peter Shaffer And the movie based on the play The Others series by Anne Bishop Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick, graphic novel adaptation by Tony Parker Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff The Adventures of Tintin series by Hergé If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino The Princess Bride by William Goldman The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood And the Hulu show The Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery The movie with Megan Follows Anne, the new TV show Wild by Cheryl Strayed Links, Articles, and Things The Suck Fairy 10 Reasons We Reread Our Favorite Books by Sara Jonsson (Barnes & Noble blog) The Seven Basic Plots The Six Main Arcs in Storytelling, as Identified by an A.I. A Brief Guide to Tintinology The magic sound used by Matthew in our endtro is “fairy magic wand” by Robinhood76 from freesound.org. Questions Do you reread books? Why (or why not)? How often? What’s a book you wish you could read again for the first time? Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts, follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, June 19th, when we will inflict upon you the genre of QUILTBAG/LGBTQ+ NonFiction! Then come back on Tuesday, July 4th, when we’ll talk about Reading Exhaustion and Reading Slumps.

Author Sarah Vowell explains why we're all swooning over a musical about a treasury secretary, how she finds the most interesting people in the footnotes of history, and recounts the most American 90 seconds of her life. We also discuss her latest book: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. Plus: Yes, Nerdette has been on hiatus for a suspiciously long time. So we turned to podcast hosts and super sleuths Mike Pesca, Lulu Miller and Peter Sagal for their conspiracy theories to explain why Tricia and Greta disappeared. We're so glad to be back, nerds! We missed you.

We're not just book nerds: we're professional book nerds and the staff librarians who work at OverDrive, the leading app for eBooks and audiobooks available through public libraries and schools. Hear about the best books we've read, get personalized recommendations, and learn about the hottest books coming out that we can't wait to dive into. For more great reads, find OverDrive on Facebook and Twitter.  Featured Librarians Jill, Todd, and Sheila   Intro (0:00-1:55)   Recent Reads (1:56-16:33) The Nest by Kenneth Oppel Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory   Readers Advisory Recommendations (16:34-24:40)  Books to celebrate Appreciate a Dragon Day A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder Eragon by Christopher Paolini The Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke Audiobook road trip recommendations for someone who likes storyteller comedians and humorous biographies like Amy Poehler's Yes Please Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Dad is Fat and Food by Jim Gaffigan Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari You Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman The Wordy Shipmates and Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Books for someone who likes "wizards and stuff." Favorite series is The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher which starts with Storm Front. Hounded by Kevin Hearne. Book 1 of The Iron Druid Chronicles Bloodlist by P. N. Elrod. Book 1 of The Vampire Files  The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Book 1 of The Kingkiller Chronicle The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. Book 1 of The Heir Chronicles   Pre-Pubs and Other Books (24:41-End) Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler Dodgers by Bill Beverly Booked by Kwame Alexander City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Book 1 of Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments Series The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson Notes From a Small Island  by Bill Bryson Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase   Music "Buddy" provided royalty free from www.bensound.com 

Did you leave all of your holiday shopping for the last minute? Fear not! Drunk Booksellers are here for you. We asked our coworkers and other rad bookseller folk to give you a quick holiday rec. Some recommendations are a little more... drunk than others. Enjoy! You can also stream the episode on iTunes and Stitcher. Find us on Tumblr at drunkbooksellers.tumblr.com, and follow us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller for updates, book recs, and general bookish shenanigans. Check out our show notes, below. Epigraph Bitches in Bookshops Our theme music, Bitches in Bookshops, comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada. Kim tried to sing it at karaoke the other night, but the bar didn’t have the original Jay-Z & Kanye West song. Originally posted by kanyeiwest   Introduction   [0:30] In Which Kim & Emma Give Their Holiday Picks Emma’s drinking an unidentified white wine that she stole from the WORD holiday party. Kim’s drinking Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA. Emma recommends Uprooted by Naomi Novik   Kim recommends Lumberjanes To the Max Edition Vol 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis and Brooke A Allen   Emma recommends Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean   Kim recommends The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose by Richard Betts, Crystal English Sacca, and Wendy MacNaughton   Chapter I   [9:27] Annie, Greenlight Bookstore - A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara Ashanti, WORD Bookstores - Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles & Practice of Nineteenth-Century Surgery by Richard Barnett Brendan, The Elliott Bay Book Company - John Barleycorn by Jack London Bryce, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson Emily, New York Public Library Gift Shop - Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina Maclaughlin Eric, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson Chapter II   [14:51] Erica, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Find a Way by Diana Nyad Geo, Greenlight Bookstore - Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting by Eilon Paz Hannah Depp, Politics & Prose Bookstore - Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell & Hamilton: An American Musical Hilary, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Sleeper & The Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell Holly, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald Chapter III   [20:35] Julia, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Princess & The Pony by Kate Beaton Justus, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Fox & The Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith Katelyn, WORD Bookstores - Morte by Robert Repino Kerry, WORD Bookstores - The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf Liberty Hardy, Book Riot - Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans Sam, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli Sarah, Village Books - The Marvels by Brian Selznick Tracy, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Circling the Sun by Paula McLain Epilogue   [26:33] In Which You Can Request a Guest for Drunk Booksellers 2016 Have a favorite bookseller you’d like us to chat with on the show? Shoot us an email at drunkbooksellers@gmail.com with their name, store, and contact info so that we can reach out to them! Follow us on Twitter @drunkbookseller.  Emma tweets @thebibliot and writes nerdy bookish things for Book Riot. Kim occasionally tweets at @finaleofseem. Share the love this holiday season by rating/reviewing us on iTunes. And don’t forget to subscribe from your podcatcher of choice. Happy holidays, y'all.

This week, David Hare discusses “The Blue Touch Paper”; Alexandra Alter has news from the publishing world; Sarah Vowell talks about “Lafayette in the Somewhat United States”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.

On The Gist, Sarah Vowell tells us about Gen. Lafayette, the French teen who befriended George Washington and became a symbol for the French alliance during the American Revolution. Her new book is called Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. In The Spiel, Mike solves politics with the help of Michele Bachmann, Clay Aiken, Jordan Klepper, Dennis Kucinich, James Carville, and Michael Steele. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Liberty and Rebecca discuss The Mark and the Void, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, Mrs. Engels, and more new releases.