Podcast

The Free Library Podcast is an easy way to participate in the author events and lectures that take place at the Central Library. Visit Author Events to find upcoming events.

Recent Episodes

  • André Aciman | Find Me

    • Recorded Dec 3, 2019

    In conversation with writer and film critic Gary Kramer André Aciman is the author of the nationwide bestseller Call Me by Your Name , a novel that chronicles the bittersweet love story of a teenage boy and the young academic staying at his… more

    Author Events  Fiction  LGBTQ  Literature 

  • Ronan Farrow | Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

    • Recorded Nov 26, 2019

    In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition New Yorker writer Ronan Farrow has won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, a National Magazine Award, and a George Polk Award for his “indefatigable and imaginative”… more

    Author Events  Biography & Autobiography   General Research 

  • Deirdre Bair | Parisian Lives: Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and Me

    • Recorded Nov 21, 2019

    Deirdre Bair won the National Book Award for her “blockbuster biography” of Samuel Beckett, “the best introduction to an enigmatic giant of 20th-century literature” ( Christian Science Monitor ). Her other acclaimed biographies include portraits… more

    Author Events  Biography & Autobiography   Literature  History 

  • Jeanine Basinger | The Movie Musical!

    • Recorded Nov 19, 2019

    In conversation with Carrie Rickey, former film critic for the Inquirer Mentor to some of contemporary cinema’s top directors (Joss Whedon and Michael Bay) and founder of the department of film studies at Wesleyan University, Jeanine Basinger… more

    Author Events  Movies & Television  Music  Performing Arts  General Research 

  • Jon Dorenbos | Life Is Magic: My Inspiring Journey from Tragedy to Self-Discovery

    • Recorded Nov 18, 2019

    In conversation with Larry Platt, co-founder/co-executive director of The Philadelphia Citizen and former editor of the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Magazine and co-author of Life is Magic Philadelphia Eagles long-snapper Jon Dorenbos… more

    Author Events  Biography & Autobiography   Body, Mind & Spirit  Self-Help  Sports & Recreation 

  • Susan Orlean | The Library Book

    • Recorded Nov 14, 2019

    A staff writer for the New Yorker  since 1992, Susan Orlean won wide acclaim for the 1998  New York Times bestseller The Orchid Thief , the story of a renegade Florida swamp plant poacher that was adapted into an Academy Award–winning film by… more

    Author Events  General Research  History 

  • Saeed Jones | How We Fight for Our Lives with Clifford Thompson | What It Is: Race, Family, and One Thinking Black Man’s Blues

    • Recorded Nov 12, 2019 Explicit Content

    Saeed Jones is the author of the “hard and glaring and brilliant” ( NPR Book Review ) poetry collection Prelude to Bruise , winner of the 2015 Stonewall Book Award/Barbara Gittings Literature Award. He is also the co-host of BuzzFeed’s morning… more

    African American  Biography & Autobiography   LGBTQ  Literature  Poetry  Politics  General Research 

  • Carmen Maria Machado | In the Dream House

    • Recorded Nov 7, 2019 Explicit Content

    In conversation with Emma Eisenberg, author of the forthcoming book The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia Carmen Maria Machado’s bestselling debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties , was a… more

    Author Events  Biography & Autobiography   Body, Mind & Spirit  Literature  General Research 

  • Erica Armstrong Dunbar | She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman

    • Recorded Nov 5, 2019

    In conversation with Lorene Cary , author of Black Ice , The Price of a Child , Ladysitting and the forthcoming Arden Theatre production of My General Tubman Erica Armstrong Dunbar is the author of the National Book Award finalist Never Caught,… more

    African American  Author Events  Biography & Autobiography   Philadelphia History  General Research  History 

  • Paul Hendrickson | Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright

    • Recorded Nov 4, 2019

    Paul Hendrickson’s books include Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934–1961 , a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; Sons of Mississippi , winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; and The Living and the… more

    Art  Author Events  Biography & Autobiography   General Research  Sports & Recreation  Technology  History 

Find More Episodes

20th & Vine - Backstage with Adam Rippon

This month we're featuring Adam Rippon who recently visited the Free Library of Philadelphia to discuss his new memoir Beautiful on the Outside. Rippon spoke with Laura Kovacs backstage about some of the challenges that he faced writing the book. 20th & Vine features behind-the-scenes conversations from the Free Library of Philadelphia's award-winning Author Events series. Subscribe now for more videos with your favorite authors.

Top 10 Podcast Episodes October 2019

  1. Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Gladwell
  2. Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Coates
  3. Adam Rippon Adam Rippon
  4. Susan Rice Susan Rice
  5. James B. Stewart James B. Stewart
  6. Richard Vague Richard Vague
  7. Gabby Rivera Gabby Rivera
  8. Imani Perry Imani Perry
  9. Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer
  10. Chris Hedges Chris Hedges

Ten Most Recent YouTube Videos October 2019

  1. Sean Brock
  2. Gail Collins
  3. Joey Baldino and Adam Erace
  4. James B. Stewart
  5. Hoda Kotb
  6. Adam Rippon
  7. Tim O'Brien
  8. Susan Rice
  9. Imani Perry
  10. Gabby Rivera