Sonia Sanchez | Morning Haiku
Recorded 2/2/2010
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An acclaimed poet, activist, and scholar, Sonia Sanchez is the former Laura Carnell Professor of English and Women's Stu... More...

Joshua Ferris | The Unnamed
with Jonathan Dee | The Privileges
Recorded 1/28/2010
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The debut novel, Then We Came to the End by Jonathan Ferris was translated into 24 different languages, was a fin... More...

Stephen Kinzer | All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror In conversation with Trudy Rubin
Recorded 1/25/2010
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Stephen Kinzer, author of the critically acclaimed All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East ... More...

Elizabeth Kostova | The Swan Thieves: A Novel
Recorded 1/21/2010
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The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova was the fastest-selling first novel in U.S. history and the first debut nove... More...

Rebecca Goldstein | 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction
Recorded 1/19/2010
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Rebecca Goldstein's fiction explores ''the dichotomies between mind and body, intellect and passion, logos and eros,'' a... More...

Mika Brzezinski | All Things at Once
In conversation with Joe Scarborough
Recorded 1/14/2010
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Mika Brzezinski is an msnbc anchor and co-host of Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough, a program Time magazin... More...

Tracy Chevalier | Remarkable Creatures
Recorded 1/12/2010
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Tracy Chevalier is the author of the international bestseller Girl with a Pearl Earring. The book, based on the c... More...

Julie Powell | Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession
Recorded 12/15/2009
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Julie Powell, tired of working dead-end jobs, decided to try something new. What she started was a year-long odyssey coo... More...

Terry Teachout | Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong
Recorded 12/10/2009
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Terry Teachout writes about literature and the arts for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and ... More...

Deborah Willis | Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present
Recorded 12/8/2009
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A graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art, Deborah Willis--a 2005 Guggenheim Fellow and a 2000 MacArthur Fellow--cha... More...

Mary Karr | Lit
Recorded 12/3/2009
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Poet and memoirist Mary Karr is the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University. She was a Guggenheim Fe... More...

Leslie Caron | Thank Heaven: A Memoir
Recorded 12/2/2009
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A beloved film star of the Golden Era, Leslie Caron has appeared in such classic movies as An American in Paris, ... More...

Sue Grafton | U is for Undertow
Recorded 12/2/2009
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Published in 26 languages, Sue Grafton's bestselling Kinsey Millhone mysteries feature "a heroine with foibles you can l... More...

Amy Goodman | Breaking the Sound Barrier
Recorded 12/1/2009
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The host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, an award-winning independent news program airing on over 800 s... More...

Lidia Bastianich | Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy
Recorded 12/1/2009
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Carole Phillips Memorial Lecture Renowned chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich is co-owner of Felidia and Becco, two ... More...

Adam Gopnik | Angels and Ages
Recorded 11/24/2009
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Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Endowed Lecture
Co-sponsored by the American Philosophical Society Museum Adam Go... More...

Ken Burns | The National Parks: America's Best Idea
Recorded 11/23/2009
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An American filmmaker who revolutionized the documentary film genre, Ken Burns is the award-winning creator of the docum... More...

George Packer | Interesting Times: Writing from a Turbulent Decade
Recorded 11/19/2009
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New Yorker staff writer George Packer was honored with two Overseas Press Club awards in 2003, for his coverage o... More...

David Wroblewski | The Story of Edgar Sawtelle with Uwem Akpan | Say You're One of Them
Recorded 11/17/2009
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The most successful debut novel of 2008, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle remained on the New York Times Best S... More...

Kate DiCamillo | The Magician's Elephant
Recorded 11/14/2009
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Kate DiCamillo is a critically acclaimed, bestselling author of novels and stories for children. Her books include the N... More...

Lydia Davis | The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis with Jonathan Lethem | Chronic City
Recorded 11/12/2009
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The Los Angeles Times Book Review calls Lydia Davis "one of the quiet giants of American fiction." The author of ... More...

Jonathan Safran Foer | Eating Animals
Recorded 11/10/2009
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In Eating Animals Jonathan Safran Foer synthesizes philosophy, literature, science, and his own detective work in... More...

David Plouffe | The Audacity to Win
Recorded 11/5/2009
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Pine Tree Foundation Endowed Lecture

President Barack Obama's chief campaign manager David Plouffe ... More...

David Sax | Save the Deli
Recorded 11/3/2009
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From corned beef to knishes, Save the Deli is the story of David Sax's quest to observe and preserve a defining e... More...

Gordon S. Wood | Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815
Recorded 10/29/2009
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Ellis Wachs Endowed Lecture The Alva O. Way Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University, Gordon S. Wood won the P... More...

Sherman Alexie | War Dances
Recorded 10/28/2009
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(This recording contains explicit content.) Praised for his unsentimental portrayals of contemporary life among N... More...

Stephen J. Dubner | SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
Recorded 10/27/2009
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Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner spent more than two years on the New York Times Bes... More...

Melvin Van Peebles | Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
Recorded 10/27/2009
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One of the godfathers of modern black cinema and theater, Melvin Van Peebles directed the legendary film Sweet Sweetb... More...

Jeannette Walls | Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel
Recorded 10/23/2009
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The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls's memoir of growing up in an impoverished and nomadic family, is one of the b... More...

Richard Dawkins | The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
Recorded 10/22/2009
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Evolutionary biologist and unapologetic atheist Richard Dawkins taught for many years at Oxford University as the Charle... More...

Haleh Esfandiari | My Prison, My Home with Ali Eteraz | Children of Dust
Recorded 10/20/2009
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A distinguished Iranian-American intellectual, Haleh Esfandiari is the founding Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's ... More...

Eoin Colfer | And Another Thing...
Recorded 10/19/2009
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Douglas Adams' comic space odyssey, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, began as a BBC radio series in the 1970... More...

Andy Goodman | The Four Connecting Points: Communication That Leads to Action
Recorded 10/15/2009
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Sponsored by the Regional Foundation Center, with support from our Advisory Council.

There are four potentia... More...

Steve Poses | At Home By Steve Poses: A Caterer's Guide to Cooking and Entertaining
Recorded 10/15/2009
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Steve Poses is the founding chef of Frög (named Best Restaurant of the past 25 years by Philadelphia magazine in 1998) a... More...

Kay Redfield Jamison | Nothing Was the Same
Recorded 10/13/2009
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An international authority and researcher on mood disorders, Kay Redfield Jamison has unique insight into the world of m... More...

Max Cleland | Heart of a Patriot
Recorded 10/8/2009
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Max Cleland is a decorated Vietnam veteran who, after returning from his tour of duty and recovering from his extensive ... More...

Neil Sheehan | A Fiery Peace in a Cold War
Recorded 10/6/2009
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A war correspondent during the Vietnam War, Neil Sheehan won a Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for breaking the story of the P... More...

Karen Armstrong | The Case for God
Recorded 10/1/2009
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A powerful voice for ecumenical understanding, Karen Armstrong is the author of many acclaimed books on religious affair... More...

Richard Russo | That Old Cape Magic with Peter Dexter | Spooner
Recorded 9/29/2009
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(This recording contains explicit content.) Richard Russo's novels are distinguished by their true-to-life depictions of... More...

James Ellroy | Blood's A Rover
Recorded 9/24/2009
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(This recording contains explicit content.) "Pick it up if you dare; put it down if you can," wrote Time magazine... More...

Howard Dean | Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Health Care Reform
Recorded 9/24/2009
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A physician and the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean served six terms as Governor of Ve... More...

Ralph Nader | "Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!"
Recorded 9/22/2009
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Ralph Nader is one of our country's greatest champions of consumer safety and rights--he is responsible for major federa... More...

Lorrie Moore | A Gate at the Stairs
Recorded 9/22/2009
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Lorrie Moore "writes with such psychological precision, such sharp, unsentimental knowledge of her characters' hopes and... More...

Jeffrey Ross | I Only Roast the Ones I Love
Recorded 9/17/2009
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(This recording contains explicit content.) One of the world's foremost insult comics, Jeffrey Ross is "a one-man... More...

Sam Tanenhaus | The Death of Conservatism
Recorded 9/15/2009
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Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture Series Editor of the New York Times Book Review, Sam Tanenhaus is the author of t... More...

David Allen Sibley | The Sibley Guide to Trees
Recorded 9/13/2009
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David Allen Sibley, author of the popular Sibley Guide to Birds, began watching and drawing birds as a child and ... More...

Nicholson Baker | The Anthologist
Recorded 9/10/2009
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A quirky and compelling writer, Nicholson Baker is the bestselling author of seven novels (among them The Mezzanine... More...

Tom Ridge | The Test of Our Times
Recorded 9/3/2009
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After September 11, 2001, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was appointed the first Secretary of the Department of ... More...

Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson | The Winds of Dune
Recorded 8/11/2009
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Brian Herbert and New York Times bestselling writer Kevin Anderson collaborate on expanding the beloved Dune... More...

Chris Hedges | Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
Recorded 7/28/2009
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In Empire of Illusion, Chris Hedges, author of the bestseller War is a Force that Give Us Meaning, ... More...