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Click the links below to listen to interviews from past shows in Real Audio format. Note: some of the audio files below include additional interview material not featured in the original radio broadcast.
2004
Friday, March 12
Linda Cicada
talks to Elizabeth Kadetsky about First There is a Mountain,
Kadetsky's account of her yoga studies in the U.S. and India.
Friday, March 5
Jenn Ramage
and Anchee Min discuss Empress Orchid. Min's new work of
historical fiction offers a corrective portrait of Tzu Hsi, last empress
of China and one of its most hated women.
Friday, February
27
RIck Kleffel
speaks with author TC Boyle on utopias, the gurus who manage them
and the advantages of writing historical fiction. Humor and history
collide in the work and words of this engaging writer.
Friday, February
20
Robert Pollie
and Andrew Sean Greer discuss Greer's new novel The Confessions
of Max Tivoli. The "memoir" of a man who's born old and
grows younger, The Confessions is a melancholy, lyrical meditation
on aging, love and missed opportunities.
Friday, February
13
Kathryn Petruccelli
visits the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, California. Library
director Magnus Toren discusses the sometimes controversial legacy of
Henry Miller, the writing life and the trials and triumphs of running
the non-profit library.
Friday,
February 6
Linda Cicada
speaks with Samina Ali about Madras on Rainy Days, Ali's
semi-fictional account of a modern-day arranged marriage in India.
Friday, January 30
Jenn Ramage
talks to Vijay Vaitheeswaran, environmental and energy correspondent
for The Economist magazine and author of Power to the People.
The book is an independent, incisive and entertaining look at the
forces reshaping the world's management of energy resources.
Friday, January 23
Rick Kleffel
speaks with Colson Whitehead, author of The Colossus of New York,
The Intuitionist and John Henry Days. Whitehead discusses
the humor behind technology and the language required to capture the
rhythms of New York City.
Friday, January 16
Robert Pollie
and Stuart Dybek discuss Dybek's new novel-in-stories I Sailed
with Magellan. Reflections on literature, memory and myth--plus
a surprise musical moment--from a master of the short story.
Friday, January 9
Kathryn Petruccelli
talks with Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston about her new novel The Legend
of Firehorse Woman. The story explores love, independence and belonging
among three generations of women.
Friday, January 2
Jenn Ramage
talks with journalist Daniel Bergner. His new book, In the Land
of Magic Soldiers, offers a close-up view of war-ravaged Sierra
Leone from a range of perspectives--black and white, European and African.
2003
Friday, December 26
Rick
Kleffel talks with Jonathan Lethem about his novel The Fortress
of Solitude. Lethem combines autobiographical fiction and fantastic
literature in this story of growing up in America over the last 30 years.
Friday, December 19
Robert
Pollie and cosmologist Janna Levin discuss her book How the Universe
Got Its Spots. Thoughts on life and physics from a working scientist.
Friday, December 12
Kathryn
Petruccelli interviews Saul Landau on his latest book The Pre-Emptive
Empire: A Guide to Bush's Kingdom. Recounting highlights from his
collection of political commentaries, Landau weaves scathing commentary
with humor and anecdote.
Friday, December 5
Rick
Kleffel talks with writer and musician John Shirley about Beat poets,
French surrealists and the birth of the cyberpunk genre. From 1978 vintage
punk rock to Jesus the Gnostic, from the happy apocalypse to the condominium
nightmare with a science fiction visionary.
Friday, November 28
Jenn
Ramage talks to Chilean writer and film critic Alberto Fuguet. They
discuss Fuguet's new book, The Movies of My Life, an epic novel
about the power of American pop culture and the way movies embed themselves
in our souls.
Friday, November 21
Robert
Pollie interviews linguist and social commentator John McWhorter.
McWhorter discusses his book Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation
of Language and Music, and Why We Should, Like, Care. It's about
the decline of formal speech and music in contemporary America.
Friday, November 14
Kathryn
Petruccelli speaks with Kevin Armstrong about his collection of
short stories, Night Watch. His first book features some of the
many cultures of the South Pacific. Kevin shares thoughts on his love
of travel and the ocean that inspired it.
Friday, November 7
Linda
Cicada talks with award-winning local author and illustrator Jim LaMarche
about his new children's book, The Elves and the Shoemaker. The
classic tale, about a pair of elves who restore a poor shoemaker to
prosperity, is made new by LaMarche's retelling and his dazzling images.
October 31st
Rick
Kleffel talks with Chuck Palahniuk about his new horror novel, Diary,
his Portland tour guide, Fugitives & Refugees, and the joys
of writing horror fiction. Minimalism and maximizing terror, from one
of America's most controversial authors.
Friday, October 24th
Robert
Pollie talks to Tracy Kidder about his acclaimed book, Mountains
Beyond Mountains. It's an exhilarating, unsettling and deeply moving
portrait of physician Paul Farmer and his quest to improve health care
for the world's poor. A longer, uncut version of the interview will
be posted here soon.
Friday, October 17th
Jenn
Ramage speaks with Daniel Ellsberg about his memoir, Secrets.
Ellsberg reveals how and why he became one of the nation's most impassioned
and influential anti-war activists--and how his actions helped alter
the course of U.S. history.
Friday, October 10th
Kathryn
Petruccelli speaks with Kate Avraham about local poet Sandra Dasmann
and Dasmann's book Praying for Fog, published just days before
her death in March, 2003. Avraham discusses her friend's life and reads
from the collection.
Friday, October 3rd
Linda
Cicada talks with Tony Cohan about his memoir, Native State.
The book traces Cohan's life from his childhood in 1950's Hollywood
to a bohemian life in Europe and his eventual return to California,
where he faced the man who had driven him away.
Friday, September 26th
Jenn
Ramage talks to Elinor Langer about her book A Hundred Little
Hitlers: The Death of a Black Man, The Trial of a White Racist, and
the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement in America. The book investigates
the 1988 murder of an Ethiopian man in Portland, Oregon.
Friday, September 19th
Rick Kleffel
interviews mystery writer David Corbett. Corbett, a former San Francisco
private investigator, draws on his background as a real-life detective
to create top-rated mystery novels.
Friday, September 12th
Kathryn Petruccelli
takes us on a tour of the Beat Museum in Monterey, with proprietor
Jerry Cimino. He recently founded the museum after years of gathering
expertise and memorabilia about the Beat Generation of writers. In addition,
Kathryn
Petruccelli reviews Memoirs of a Beatnik, by one of the few
women writers of the Beat Generation, Diane DiPrima.
Friday, September 5th
Rick Kleffel
talks with Charles de Lint about the migration of myths and folklore
from the fields and forests to the World Wide Web in his novel, Spirits
in the Wires. Pixilated pixies and digital dervishes.
Friday, August 29th
Linda Cicada
speaks with author Roger King about his new novel, A Girl form
Zanzibar. The book explores issues of global migration and challenges
the idea of exoticism.
Friday, August 22nd
Rick Kleffel
speaks with Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of
Human Cadavers. Stiff is a witty, fun and wise look at the
lives of the dead and the absurdity of our attitudes towards death.
Post-mortem career advice from author Mary Roach.
Friday, August 15th
Kathryn
Petruccelli talks with Ann Cummins about Red Ant House, her
book of short stories in which cultures, genders and generations collide
and the human spirit is pushed to the limit.
Friday, August 8th
Linda Cicada
talks to Regina McBride about her novel The Land of Women.
Set in Ireland, the book addresses a mother’s sins and her daughter’s
quest to forgive them.
Friday, August 1st
Robert Pollie
talks to Jane Smiley about her new novel Good Intentions.
It's a tale of real estate chicanery during the get-rich-quick '80s.
Friday, July 25th
Kathryn Petrucelli
interviews cookbook author Sarah Kramer about The Garden of Vegan:
How It All Vegan Again. Sarah discusses recipes from her second
vegan cookbook, her friendship with co-author Tanya Barnard, and reasons
and resources for going vegan both in and out of the kitchen.
Friday, July 18th
Rick Kleffel
interviews James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces,
the story of Frey's battle with the 12-step ideology and his own addictions.
Frey rejected the religious background of the AA program and recovered
instead with the help of his fellow inmates, including a highly-placed
mobster and a federal judge. Also, Linda Cicada talks about writer Regina
McBride.
Friday, July 11th
Robert Pollie
interviews Jamie O'Neill about his book At Swim Two Boys.
It's a novel of Irish identity and gay self-discovery, set during the
Irish uprising of 1916.
Friday, July 4th
Jenn Ramage
talks with Khaled Husseini about the first Afghan novel written
in English, The Kite Runner. The book covers the dynamic political
climate in 1970’s Kabul. Also, Kathryn Petruccelli reviews a first
novel from Gayle Brandeis, The Book of Dead Birds.
Friday, June 27th
Kathryn Petrucelli
talks to Isabel Allende about her new book, My Invented Country.
The memoir covers Allende's life in Chile up through the attacks of
September 11th, 2001. Then, Linda Cicada reviews Robert Sepolsky's book
about life with baboons, Affirmative Memories.
Friday, June 6th
Robert Pollie
and Israeli writer Oz Shelach discuss Shelach's debut novel Picnic
Grounds: A Novel In Fragments. It's an exile's tour through Israel's
culture of denial.
Friday, May 30th
Jenn Ramage
talks with young Palestinian lawyer Raja Shehadeh about his new
memoir, Strangers in the House: Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine.
Rick Kleffel speaks to Michael Nelson about his new book, Death Rat.
Friday, May 16th
Linda Cicada
talks with Chitra Divakaruni about her novel, The Vine of Desire.
The book explores the difficulty of staying friends in a new country
and new culture.
Friday, May 2nd
Robert Pollie
talks with former Jesuit priest and novelist John L’Heureux
about his novel The Miracle. Faith and love in the life of a
young priest.
Friday,
April 25th
Jenn Ramage
speaks with author Richard Price about his new novel Samaritan
and his Hollywood screenplays.
Friday, April 4th
Jenn Ramage
speaks with Rabih Alameddine about his novel I, The Divine. Caught
between two cultures, awakening politically and socially, Lebanese-American
Sarah El-Din finds a way to define herself. A Lebanese perspective and
a new novel form.
Monday, January 6, 2003
Jenn Ramage
speaks with Jonathan Schorr about his new book Hard Lessons:
The Promise of An Inner City Charter School.
2002
Monday, December 23rd
Linda Cicada
talks with Suzanne Rodriguez about her new biography, Wild Heart:
A Life - Natalie Clifford Barney's Journey from Victorian America to
the Literary Salons of Paris.
Monday, December 23rd
Jenn Ramage
talks with Christina Schwarz about her dark satire, All is Vanity.
The novel is an exploration of female friendship, envy and misguided
ambition.
Monday, December 16th
Rick Kleffel
talks with Fight Club author Chuck Palahnuik about his new
novel, Lullabye. Followed by Rick’s interview with author
Jonathan Carroll.
Monday, November 4th
Eric Shoeck
talks with novelist Christopher Moore about his book The Lust
Lizard of Melancholy Cove.
Monday, November 11th
Linda Cicada
talks with Rick Bragg about his personal history of the Deep South,
Ava's Man.
Monday, September 9th
Eric Schoeck
talks with physicist and philosopher Peter Russell about his book
From Science to God: the Mysteries of Conciousness and the Meaning
of Light. And Rick Kleffel talks with astronomer and noted author
Alistair Reynolds about the interaction between science and science
fiction.
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