Great Podversations

This conversation features renowned lawyer and Professor of Law at Yale and Georgetown Universities, Stephen Bright, interviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winner and Yale Law Professor James Forman Jr. They discuss Bright’s book, “The Fear of Too Much Justice: Race, Poverty, and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts” before a live audience at the Kentucky Author Forum. This conversation was recorded on November 13th, 2023 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. Bright is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and a Visiting Professor at Georgetown Law. He has tried capital cases in many states, including four capital cases before the United States Supreme Court. He previously served as president of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta. Subjects of his litigation, teaching and writing include capital punishment, legal representation for the poor, and racial discrimination in the criminal courts. Bright has received the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award. Social Justice activist Bryan Stevenson, in the foreword, called Bright’s new book “an urgently needed analysis of our collective failure…” James Forman Jr. is a Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Forman’s scholarship focuses on schools, police, and prisons. Forman’s first book, “Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America", was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Forman was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He is the son of renowned civil rights leader James Forman.

This conversation features best-selling author Jill Lepore and U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin discussing Lepore’s book, “The Deadline: Essays,” before a live audience at the Kentucky Author Forum. This conversation was recorded on September 11th, 2023 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. Jill Lepore is a professor of history and of law at Harvard University. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. Her many books include the best-selling “These Truths: A History of the United States,” was named one of Time magazine’s top ten non-fiction books of the decade. Lepore’s “The Deadline: Essays” collects forty-six of her essays that offer a prismatic portrait of Americans’ techno-utopianism, frantic fractiousness, and unprecedented yet armed aimlessness. Congressman Jamie Raskin represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. He serves as the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Raskin also served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. He has authored several books, including the New York Times #1 best-seller, “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy.”

This conversation features best-selling author Geraldine Brooks and former NPR journalist Jacki Lyden discussing Brooks’ book, “Horse: A Novel” before a live audience at the Kentucky Author Forum. This conversation was recorded on March 27th, 2023 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. Geraldine Brooks grew up in Australia and became a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald, and later with The Wall Street Journal. Brooks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2006 for her novel “March”. Many of her novels and nonfiction books have been New York Times bestsellers. Her first novel, “Year of Wonders”, is an international bestseller. It has been translated into more than 25 languages. In 2016, Brooks was named an Officer in the Order of Australia. Jacki Lyden is an award-winning former NPR host and foreign correspondent of over three decades. She is the author of the bestselling memoir “Daughter of the Queen of Sheba”, which was published in twelve countries. A frequent speaker on the topic of mental health, the American Psychiatric Association named her “Patient Advocate of the Year” in 2021. Lyden is a proud board member of the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center and Writers for Democratic Action, both groups promoting democracy through literature.

This conversation features author Maggie Haberman and CNN host Laura Coates discussing Haberman’s book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America” before a live audience at the Kentucky Author Forum. This conversation was recorded on January 9th, 2023 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman, wrote “Confidence Man” in 2022. Ms. Haberman joined The New York Times in 2015 and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for reporting on the investigations into Donald Trump’s advisers and their connections to Russia. She has twice been a member of a team that was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, in 2021 for reporting on the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus, and in 2022 for coverage related to the January 6th riot at the Capitol. Laura Coates is a CNN Host and Senior Legal Analyst who specializes in the intersection of civil rights and criminal prosecution. A former federal prosecutor, she served as Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, as well as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice during the Bush and Obama administrations. She is the bestselling author of “Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness.”

This conversation features author Josh Chin and New Yorker journalist Evan Osnos discussing both of their books before a live audience at the Kentucky Author Forum on September 29th, 2022 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. Josh Chin wrote “Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control” with fellow Wall Street Journal writer, Liza Lin. He tells the gripping story of how China’s Communist Party is building a new kind of political control: shaping the will of the people through the sophisticated—and often brutal—harnessing of data. For more than a decade, Chin has covered politics and tech in China for The Wall Street Journal. He led an investigative team that won The Gerald Loeb Award for international reporting in 2018 for a series exposing the Chinese government’s pioneering embrace of digital surveillance. He was named a National Fellow at New America in 2020, and is a recipient of the Don Bolles Medal, awarded to investigative journalists who have exhibited courage in standing up against intimidation. Evan Osnos joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2008 and covers politics and foreign affairs. His book “Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China'', is based on eight years of living in Beijing. “Age of Ambition'' won the 2014 National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Previously, Osnos worked as Beijing Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune, where he was part of a team that won a 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting. He is a CNN contributor and a frequent guest on The Daily Show, Fresh Air, and other programs.

Author Maggie Nelson discusses her book, On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint, with writer Eula Biss. Maggie Nelson is a writer working in autobiography, art criticism, theory, feminism, history, aesthetic theory, philosophy, scholarship, and poetry. Nelson received a 2016 MacArthur Fellowship, a 2012 Creative Capital Literature Fellowship, a 2011 NEA Fellowship in Poetry, and a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship in Nonfiction. Other honors include a 2007 Andy Warhol Foundation/Creative Capital Arts Writers Grant. Nelson has written several acclaimed books of poetry and prose, including the National Book Critics Circle Award winner The Argonauts. She currently teaches at the University of Southern California. Eula Biss is the author of four books and has been recognized with a National Book Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library. Biss’ books have been translated into a dozen languages. As a 2023 National Fellow at New America, she is at work on a collection of essays about how private property has shaped our world. She currently teaches nonfiction for the Bennington Writing Seminars.

Politician and author Charles Booker discusses his book, “From the Hood to the Holler: A Story of Separate Worlds, Shared Dreams, and the Fight for America’s Future,” with writer and Professor Eddie Glaude. Charles Booker represented the 43rd District in the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he served on the economic development and workforce, judiciary, and natural resources and energy committees. A graduate of the University of Louisville and its Brandeis School of Law, Booker is a Bingham Fellow and a Bloomberg Innovation Delivery Team fellow. He is the founder of the advocacy group Hood to the Holler, which continues the work of his campaign, building bridges between previously siloed communities. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. He is a former president of the American Academy of Religion. Glaude is the author of several important books including “Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul.” Glaude is a columnist for Time magazine and an MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe, and Deadline Whitehouse. He also regularly appears on Meet the Press.

Artist and author James Bridle discusses their book, Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence with writer and musician Claire Evans. James Bridle is an artist, technologist and philosopher whose artworks have been commissioned by galleries and institutions and exhibited worldwide, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Oslo Architecture Triennale, the Istanbul Design Biennial, and the Design Museum, London. Bridle’s writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including Wired, The Atlantic, The New Statesman, The Guardian, and the Financial Times. They lecture regularly on radio, at conferences, universities, and events, including South by Southwest, the Global Art Forum, and TED. Claire Evans is a writer and musician exploring ecology, technology, and culture. She is the singer of the Grammy-nominated pop group YACHT, and co-founder of VICE’s imprint for speculative fiction, Terraform. Evans’ 2018 book, Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet, has been translated into five languages. Her writing has appeared in VICE, The Guardian, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Eye on Design, among others.

Author Geraldine Brooks discusses her book “Horse: A Novel” with journalist Gal Beckerman. Geraldine Brooks grew up in Australia and became a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald, and later with The Wall Street Journal. Brooks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2006 for her novel “March.” Many of her novels and nonfiction books have been New York Times bestsellers. Her first novel, “Year of Wonders,” is an international bestseller, translated into more than 25 languages. In 2016, Brooks was named an Officer in the Order of Australia. Gal Beckerman is an author and the senior editor for books at The Atlantic. Before joining The Atlantic, Beckerman was an editor at The New York Times Book Review for six years. He also served as the opinion editor at the Forward newspaper and a staff editor and writer at the Columbia Journalism Review. Beckerman’s writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic, and Bookforum. His first book, “When They Come for Us We’ll Be Gone,” was chosen as a book of the year by The New Yorker and The Washington Post.

Author Keri Blakinger discusses her book, “Corrections in Ink: A Memoir” with writer Piper Kerman. Keri Blakinger is an investigative reporter based in Texas, covering criminal justice and injustice for The Marshall Project. She previously worked for the Houston Chronicle and her writing has appeared in the New York Daily News, the BBC, VICE, and The New York Times. Blakinger was a member of the Houston Chronicle's Pulitzer-finalist team in 2018, and her 2019 coverage of women's jails for The Washington Post Magazine helped earn a National Magazine Award. Piper Kerman is the author of the memoir “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.” The book has been adapted by Jenji Kohan into an Emmy Award-winning original series for Netflix, which ran for seven seasons. Kerman collaborates with nonprofits, and philanthropies, and serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Prison Association. She is also on the advisory boards of the PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, InsideOUT Writers, Healing Broken Circles, and JustLeadershipUSA.

Author Anna Quindlen and writer Amy Bloom discuss Quindlen’s book “Write for Your Life.” Anna Quindlen is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, novelist, and opinion columnist. She is the best-selling author of nine novels, including “Every Last One,” and “Still Life with Bread Crumbs.” Her memoir “Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake”, published in 2012, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Quindlen’s book “A Short Guide to a Happy Life” has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at The New York Times, Quindlen won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Amy Bloom is the author of four novels and three collections of short stories. Her first book of nonfiction, “Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops and Hermaphrodites with Attitudes,” is a staple of university sociology and biology courses. Her most recent book is the widely acclaimed New York Times best-selling memoir, “In Love”. Bloom has written for magazines such as The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Elle, The Atlantic Monthly, Slate, and Salon, and her work has been translated into fifteen languages. She is the Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing at Wesleyan University.

Journalist and author Moisés Naím discusses his book, “The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century” with radio host Ari Shapiro. Moisés Naím is an internationally-syndicated columnist and best-selling author. He is the chief international columnist for El País and La Repubblica, the largest daily newspapers in Spain and Italy. His columns have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, Newsweek, Time, Le Monde, El Estadão, and Berliner Zeitung. Dr. Naím is a Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC. He is the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Group of Fifty (G50), which brings together top-flight progressive Latin American business leaders, and is a member of the board of directors of several global companies. Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. Shapiro has reported from above the Arctic Circle and aboard Air Force One. He has covered wars in Iraq, Ukraine, and Israel, and he has filed stories from dozens of countries and most of the 50 states. Shapiro's reporting has been consistently recognized by his peers. He has won two national Edward R. Murrow awards, and additional awards from the Columbia Journalism Review, The American Bar Association, and the American Judges Association.

This conversation features Congressman Jamie Raskin and Russian expert Dr. Fiona Hill discussing both their books before a live audience at The Kentucky Author Forum on January 24th, 2022 at The Kentucky Center in Louisville. Jamie Raskin represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was renamed Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties for the 117th Congress. Representative Raskin’s moving memoir “Unthinkable,” tells the story of the forty-five days at the start of 2021 that permanently changed Raskin’s life as he confronted the painful loss of his son to suicide, lived through the violent insurrection in our nation’s Capitol, and was appointed House lead impeachment manager in the effort to hold President Trump accountable for inciting the political violence. He is a former constitutional law professor. Fiona Hill is recognizable to many Americans as the key impeachment witness during the U.S. House of Representatives Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry, and its investigation into charges of presidential misconduct. Growing up in a working-class town in northeast England, she rose to become Senior Director of European and Russian Affairs at the U. S. National Security Council. She served three presidents: two Republicans and one Democrat. Her poignant memoir “There Is Nothing for You Here” reveals how declining opportunity has set America on the grim path of modern Russia. Dr. Hill is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institution

Author Roya Hakakian discusses her book "A Beginner’s Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious” with journalist Jen Balderama. Roya Hakakian is the author of three books in English and has published two collections of poetry in Persian. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and on NPR’s All Things Considered. Hakakian has collaborated on journalistic programming for network television, including 60 Minutes. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and served on the editorial board of World Affairs. Since 2015, she has taught at THREAD, a writing workshop at Yale, and is a fellow at the Davenport College at Yale. Jen Balderama is an editor in the Opinions section of The Washington Post, where she edits columns and essays by staff and contributing writers. Previously, she was an editor at The New York Times Book Review and on the national desk of The Times. For several years Balderama worked as a freelance editor of book-length nonfiction, novels, and essays. She was also a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where she studied literary and cultural criticism. Her writing has appeared in Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications.

Author and professor Amy Zegart discusses her book “Spies, Lies, and Algorithms” with journalist Scott Shane. Amy Zegart is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, as well as a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies at Stanford University. She is a contributing writer to The Atlantic and has written five previous books, including co-authoring with Condoleezza Rice “Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity,” based on their popular Stanford MBA course. Zegart specializes in U.S. intelligence, emerging technologies, national security, grand strategy, and global political risk management. Scott Shane is a journalist and author who spent 15 years covering national security and other subjects for The New York Times, where he won the Pulitzer Prize with Times colleagues in 2017 and in 2018 for stories on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. His most recent book is “Objective Troy: A Terrorist, A President, and the Rise of the Drone.” Shane has written on interrogation and torture, terrorism and targeted killing, WikiLeaks and secrecy, the National Security Agency and many other topics. He reported for 21 years for The Baltimore Sun and is a former Moscow correspondent whose first book, “Dismantling Utopia,” is a firsthand account of the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Author Laurence Leamer discusses his book “Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal and a Swan Song for an Era” with professor, historian, and film critic Leo Braudy. Laurence Leamer is a New York Times best-selling writer and journalist. He is a former Ford Fellow in International Development at the University of Oregon and an International Fellow at Columbia University. In addition to Leamer’s eighteen books, he has written for New York Magazine, The Washingtonian, Harper’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He is regarded as an expert on the Kennedy family and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, CNN, and NPR discussing American politics. Leamer has written several best-selling biographies of other Americans, including Johnny Carson, the Reagan family, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Leo Braudy is a cultural historian and film critic. He is a professor of English and American Literature at the University of Southern California. His work appears in journals such as American Film, Film Quarterly, Genre, Novel, Partisan Review, and Prose Studies—to name a few. Braudy’s book “Jean Renoir: The World of His Films” was a finalist for the National Book Award. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Harper’s.

Physicist Frank Wilczek and Professor Janna Levin discuss Wilczek’s book, “Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality.” Frank Wilczek jointly won The Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004, for his graduate work at Princeton with David Gross. He was among the earliest MacArthur Fellows and has won many awards both for his scientific work and his writing, which includes hundreds of articles in leading scientific journals. His “Wilczek’s Universe” column appears regularly in the Wall Street Journal. Wilczek is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Janna Levin is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. A Guggenheim Fellow, Janna has contributed to an understanding of black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. She is the presenter of NOVA’s Black Hole Apocalypse special, aired on PBS. Levin’s Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space explains the discovery of the century: the sound of spacetime ringing from the collision of two black holes over a billion years ago. Physicist Frank Wilczek and Professor Janna Levin discuss Wilczek’s book, “Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality.” Frank Wilczek jointly won The Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004, for his graduate work at Princeton with David Gross. He was among the earliest MacArthur Fellows and has won many awards both for his scientific work and his writing, which includes hundreds of articles in leading scientific journals. His “Wilczek’s Universe” column appears regularly in the Wall Street Journal. Wilczek is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Janna Levin is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. A Guggenheim Fellow, Janna has contributed to an understanding of black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. She is the presenter of NOVA’s Black Hole Apocalypse special, aired on PBS. Levin’s Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space explains the discovery of the century: the sound of spacetime ringing from the collision of two black holes over a billion years ago.

Writer Mary Roach and NPR host Peter Sagal discuss Ms. Roach’s latest book, “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law”. Mary Roach is the author of six New York Times bestsellers. Roach has written for National Geographic, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and Clinical Anatomy. Her TED talk made the TED 20 Most Watched list. Roach has been a guest editor for The Best American Science and Nature Writing, a finalist for the Royal Society’s Science Book Prize, and a winner of the American Association of Engineering Societies' Engineering Journalism Award. Mary Roach’s books have been published in 21 languages. Peter Sagal is the host of the Peabody Award-winning NPR news quiz show “Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!” He is a playwright, screenwriter, amateur athlete, and host of several documentaries, including Constitution USA with Peter Sagal on PBS. Sagal has contributed to Opera News, Saveur, Finesse, The New York Times Magazine, Chicago magazine, and was the "Road Scholar" columnist for Runner’s World. He's also won the Kurt Vonnegut Humor Award from the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. Sagal is host to a number of podcasts, including HBO’s “The Chernobyl Podcast” and “The Plot Against America Podcast.”

Writer and professor Kathryn Paige Harden discusses her book "The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality," with journalist and author Carl Zimmer. Kathryn Paige Harden is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she leads the Developmental Behavior Genetics lab and co-directs the Texas Twin Project. Her research has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Huffington Post, among others. In 2017, Harden was honored with an award from the American Psychological Association for her distinguished scientific contributions to the study of genetics and human individual differences. Carl Zimmer writes the "Matter" column for The New York Times and has frequently contributed to The Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, and Scientific American. He has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Journalism Award three times. Zimmer teaches science writing at Yale, and has been a guest on NPR’s "RadioLab," "Science Friday," and "Fresh Air." Zimmer is the author of fourteen books about science.

Writer Kurt Andersen discusses his latest book “Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History,” with professor and author Daron Acemoglu. Kurt Andersen is the bestselling author of the novels “Heyday, “Turn of the Century,” and “True Believers.” He is also a contributor to Vanity Fair and The New York Times and was the host and co-creator of Studio 360, the Peabody Award-winning public radio show and podcast. Andersen writes for television, film, and the stage. He regularly appears as a commentator on MSNBC. Andersen co-founded Spy magazine, served as editor in chief of New York Magazine, and was a cultural columnist and critic for Time Magazine and The New Yorker. Daron Acemoglu is an Institute Professor at MIT and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society, the British Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, the European Economic Association, and the Society of Labor Economists. Acemoglu is the author of five books. His academic work covers a wide range of areas, including political economy, economic development, economic growth, technological change, inequality, labor economics, and economics of networks. Daron Acemoglu has received numerous awards including the inaugural T. W. Schultz Prize from the University of Chicago, the Carnegie Fellowship in 2017, the Global Economy Prize in 2019, and the 'CME Group-Mathematical and Statistical Research Institute Prize in 2021.

Writer and Professor Ethan Kross discusses his book “Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters and How to Harness It'', with journalist and author Maria Konnikova. Ethan Kross is a best-selling author and award-winning professor in the University of Michigan’s Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business. He studies how the conversations people have with themselves impact their health, performance, decisions and relationships. Kross’ research has been published in Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among other peer-reviewed journals. He has participated in policy discussion at the White House and has been interviewed on CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper Full Circle, and NPR’s Morning Edition. Kross’ pioneering research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, The Economist, The Atlantic, Forbes, and Time Magazine. Maria Konnikova is the author, most recently of “The Biggest Bluff'', a New York Times bestseller, one of the Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2020, and a finalist for The Telegraph Best Sports Writing Award for 2021. She is a regularly contributing writer for The New Yorker and has won numerous awards, including the 2019 Excellence in Science Journalism Award. Konnikova’s writing has been featured in The Best American Science and Nature Writing and translated into over twenty languages. She also hosts the podcast “The Grift”. Konnikova’s podcasting work earned her a National Magazine Award nomination in 2019.

Professor, writer, and CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter discusses her book “Renewal: From Crisis to Transformation in Our Lives, Work, and Politics" with professor and author Sarah J. Jackson. Anne-Marie Slaughter is the CEO of New America and Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. From 2009-2011 she served as the director of policy planning for the United States Department of State, the first woman to hold that position. Dr. Slaughter has written or edited seven other books. She is also a frequent contributor to various publications, including The Atlantic, the Financial Times, and Project Syndicate. Sarah J. Jackson is a Presidential Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and Co-Director of the Media, Inequality, & Change Center. Dr. Jackson is the author of two books, a 2019 New America National Fellow and 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Her next book traces the contributions of Black media-makers to American democracy.

Journalist and award-winning author Sonia Shah discusses her book “The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move” with journalist Caitlin Dickerson. Sonia Shah is a science journalist and author of critically acclaimed books on science, politics and human rights. She was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/E.O Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and won a Publishers Weekly best nonfiction book of 2020, a best science book of 2020 by Amazon, and a best science and technology book of 2020 by Library Journal. Shah’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Scientific American, and has been featured on CNN, RadioLab, and Fresh Air. Her TED talk about malaria has been viewed by over 1,000,000 people around the world. Caitlin Dickerson is a staff writer for The Atlantic, where she writes about immigration and the American experience. Dickerson joined The Atlantic in 2021 after four years at The New York Times, where she broke news about changes in deportation and detention policy, and profiled the lives of immigrants. Dickerson has also contributed to the Times’ audio work, as a frequent guest and guest-host for The Daily. Dickerson was previously an investigative reporter at NPR, where she won a Peabody Award.

Former commander of NATO, Admiral James Stavridis discusses his geopolitical thriller 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, with New York Times Journalist and George Washington University National Security Professor Thom Shanker. Admiral James Stavridis spent more than thirty years in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of four-star Admiral. He holds a Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he recently served five years as dean. He has published nine previous books and hundreds of articles and is a frequent national and international television commentator as well as a Bloomberg Opinion weekly columnist, and a contributing editor to TIME Magazine. Thom Shanker was named director of the Project for Media and National Security at George Washington University in June 2021, after nearly 25 years with The New York Times, including 13 years as Pentagon correspondent covering the Department of Defense, overseas combat operations and national security policy. Most recently, he had served as Deputy Washington Editor, managing coverage of the military, diplomacy, and veterans affairs. Mr. Shanker is co-author of the best-seller "Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda."

Best-selling author and diplomat Richard Haass speaks with Stanford professor and author Francis Fukuyama about Haass’ book, “The World: A Brief Introduction”, and other timely topics. Dr. Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as the senior Middle East adviser to President George H. W. Bush, as director of the Policy Planning Staff under Secretary of State Colin Powell, and as the U.S. envoy to both the Cyprus and Northern Ireland peace talks. “The World: A Brief Introduction” explores the many challenges globalization presents, and clarifies the most influential events and ideas. Haass aims to promote “global literacy” so that readers can make sense of this complicated and interconnected world. Haass is a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal, the State Department's Distinguished Honor Award, and the Tipperary International Peace Awards. Haass is also the author or editor of fourteen other books, including the best-selling “A World in Disarray.” Francis Fukuyama is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Mosbacher Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. Dr. Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1992 book, “The End of History and the Last Man,” has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His most recent book, “Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment,” was published in Sept. 2018. Dr. Fukuyama is a member of the American Political Science Association and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Writer Matthew Barzun speaks with Harvard Professor and author Amy Edmondson about Barzun’s book, “The Power of Giving Away Power: How the Best Leaders Learn to Let Go”. Matthew Barzun has served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden. He served as National Finance Chair for former President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. He joined CNET Networks in 1993 as its fourth employee and held various management positions during his 11 years with the company, including Chief Strategy Officer.  Amy Edmondson is a Professor at the Harvard Business School. She has been recognized by the biannual Thinkers 50 global ranking of management thinkers since 2011, and most recently was ranked #3. Her most recent book, “The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth”, offers a practical guide for organizations serious about success in the modern economy and has been translated into 11 languages.

Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic, and a Senior Fellow of the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of three critically acclaimed and award-winning histories of the Soviet Union: “Red Famine, Iron Curtain, and Gulag” - winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Applebaum’s “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism” raises an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West and explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. Jason Stanley is a best-selling author of five books, including “How Propaganda Works,” winner of the Prose Award in Philosophy from the Association of American Publishers, and “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.” Stanley serves on the Advisory Board of the Prison Policy Initiative and writes frequently about propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration, democracy, and authoritarianism for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Boston Review.

Investigative journalist and author Barton Gellman speaks with The Washington Post national security reporter Ellen Nakashima about Mr. Gellman’s bestseller, “Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State.” Barton Gellman is a Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award-winning journalist. Since 2013 he has been a senior fellow at The Century Foundation. During 21 years at The Washington Post he served tours as legal, military, diplomatic, and foreign correspondent. He has taught courses at Princeton on nonfiction writing, investigative reporting and national security secrecy. His bestselling “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency” won The Los Angeles Times’ Book Prize and was a New York Times Best Book of 2008. Ellen Nakashima is a national security reporter for The Washington Post who writes about cyber, intelligence and related issues. In 2018, she and her colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Russia’s efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. In 2014, she was part of a team awarded a Pulitzer for reporting on the hidden scope of National Security Agency surveillance and its policy implications. Since joining The Washington Post in 1995, she also has served as a Southeast Asia correspondent and reported on the White House and Virginia politics.

Physician, sociologist and author Nicholas Christakis speaks with NPR journalist Rob Stein about Dr. Christakis’s bestseller, "Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live." Nicholas Christakis directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University, where he is also the Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. Dr. Christakis is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2009, Christakis was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2009 and again in 2010, he was named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global thinkers. Rob Stein is a correspondent and senior editor on NPR's science desk. Stein covers health and medicine, focusing on stories that illustrate the intersection of science, health, politics, social trends, ethics, and federal science policy. Stein's work has been honored by many organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the Association of Health Care Journalists. He was twice part of NPR teams that won Peabody Awards.

The twenty-first episode of GREAT PODVERSATIONS features best-selling writer Elizabeth Kolbert speaking with journalist Kate Aronoff about Ms. Kolbert's book, “Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future,” and other timely topics. Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer for The New Yorker. Her most recent book, “Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future,” was published in February. In it, Kolbert explores whether we can change nature to save it, in Earth's new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. She meets biologists who are trying to preserve the world’s rarest fish, which lives in a single tiny pool in the middle of the Mojave; engineers who are turning carbon emissions to stone in Iceland; Australian researchers who are trying to develop a “super coral” that can survive on a hotter globe; and physicists who are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere to cool the earth. The New York Times praises “Under a White Sky” as: "...important, necessary, urgent, and phenomenally interesting." Kolbert is also the author of “The Sixth Extinction,” which received the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 2015, and “Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change.” She is a two-time National Magazine Award winner, and has received a Heinz Award , a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a National Academies communications award. Kolbert is a visiting fellow at the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College, and was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at The New Republic and the author of “Overheated: How Capitalism Broke The Planet—And How We Fight Back.” Her work has appeared in The Intercept, The New York Times, The Nation, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, among other outlets. Aronoff is the co-editor of “We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism, American Style and the co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal.” She sits on the editorial board of Dissent and the advisory board of Jewish Currents.

Best-selling writer Nicole Krauss speaks with NPR journalist Elizabeth Blair about Krauss’ book of short stories, "To Be A Man." Nicole Krauss is best known for her novels "Forest Dark," and "Great House," and a finalist for the National Book Award and the Orange Prize. Her fiction has been published in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, Esquire, and The Best American Short Stories, and her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages. She is currently the first Writer-in-Residence at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University. Elizabeth Blair is an Award-winning senior producer and reporter on the Arts Desk of NPR. Blair produces, edits, and reports arts and cultural segments for NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She has reported on a range of topics from arts funding to the MeToo movement. Blair has overseen several large-scale series including The NPR 100, which explored landmark musical works of the 20th Century, and In Character, which probed the origins of iconic American fictional characters. Blair's work has received several honors, including two Peabody Awards and a Gracie.

Grammy award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma speaks with conductor, composer, and musician Teddy Abrams about the power of music, healing cultural differences, and other timely topics. Yo-Yo Ma has recorded more than 100 albums, is the winner of 18 Grammy Awards, and has performed for nine American presidents, most recently on the occasion of President Biden’s inauguration. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Kennedy Center Honors. He has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006, and was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Teddy Abrams is the acclaimed Music Director of both the Louisville Orchestra and the Britt Festival Orchestra. Abrams has fostered interdisciplinary collaborations with organizations including the Louisville Ballet, the Center for Interfaith Relations, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Speed Art Museum, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. His rap-opera, ‘The Greatest: Muhammad Ali,” premiered in 2017, celebrating Louisville’s hometown hero. Abrams’ work with the Louisville Orchestra has been profiled on CBS News Sunday Morning, NPR, and in The Wall Street Journal.

Pulitzer-winning writer Philip Rucker speaks with NPR journalist Mara Liasson about Mr. Rucker’s number one New York Times bestseller, “A Very Stable Genius: Donald J Trump’s Testing of America.” The book is an unvarnished exploration of Trump’s presidency and administration. Philip Rucker is the Washington Bureau chief at the Washington Post and has covered Congress, the Obama White House and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. He serves as an on-air political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Mara Liasson is a national political correspondent for NPR. Her reports can be heard regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazine programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Liasson provides extensive coverage of politics and policy from Washington, DC — focusing on the White House and Congress — and on political trends beyond the Beltway.

Today, Pulitzer-winning author Jane Smiley speaks with NPR journalist Eleanor Beardsley about Ms. Smiley’s latest book, "Perestroika in Paris." Jane Smiley is the author of many novels, short stories, nonfiction books and young adult novels. In addition to the Pulitzer prize for fiction, Smiley has been awarded the Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature. She teaches creative writing at the University of California, Riverside. Eleanor Beardsley began reporting from France for NPR in 2004 as a freelance journalist, following all aspects of French politics, economics, and culture. She has become an integral part of the NPR Europe reporting team, covering the first Arab Spring revolution in Tunisia, where she witnessed the overthrow of that government. Beardsley covers all of France for NPR, including three French presidential elections, numerous Tour de France races, and the Soccer world cup.

Award-winning writer, conservationist and activist Terry Tempest Williams speaks with novelist and journalist Nathaniel Rich. Both Williams and Rich are avid supporters of the environment and proponents of ecological issues. Nathaniel Rich is the author of several books and a journalist at The New York Times Magazine. Mr. Rich’s 2019 book "Losing Earth: A Recent History" received awards from the Society of Environmental Journalists and the American Institute of Physicists and was a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. He is a regular contributor to The Atlantic, Harper's, and The New York Review of Books. Rich’s next book, titled "Second Nature," will be published in March 2021. Terry Tempest Williams writes about social and environmental justice, including ecology and the protection of public lands. She has received a John Muir Award for American Conservation and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Ms. Williams 2019 book "Erosion: Essays of Undoing" examines the cultural and environmental issues of public land, and climate crisis. She is the current writer-in-residence at Harvard Divinity School.

Award-winning author Heather Clark speaks with literary critic and novelist Daphne Merkin about Clark’s latest book, "Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath." Heather Clark is the author of several books and a professor of contemporary poetry. She has been awarded several scholarly fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. Daphne Merkin has written as a book critic for The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine. She is also an author of essay collections and a novel titled "Enchantment." She is a contributing editor to Tablet Magazine.

Best -selling author and journalist Thomas Ricks speaks with author, political scientist and Professor Danielle Allen about Mr. Ricks latest book, "First Principles." Thomas Ricks has written for the Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal about American military operations around the world. He is the author of several books, including the number-one New York Times bestseller "Fiasco," which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Danielle Allen is a classicist, political scientist, and professor at Harvard University where she is also the Director of the Edmund J. Safra Center for Ethics. She has written for The Washington Post and published several books and scholarly articles. Professor Allen chaired the bipartisan Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Journalist and best-selling author Wright Thompson and Emmy-award winning television host Andrew Zimmern discuss Mr. Thompson’s book, "Pappyland," and other timely topics. Wright Thompson is a senior writer at ESPN, and author of two books. His writing covers a wide range of topics from sports to history, to his latest book about Bourbon and the history of the Van Winkle family. Andrew Zimmern is a four-time James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, writer and teacher, and is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable personalities in the food world. Zimmern is the creator, executive producer and host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods franchise, Andrew Zimmern’s Driven by Food and the Emmy award-winning The Zimmern List.

Journalist and professor Amanda Little and NPR’s Alison Aubrey discuss Ms. Little’s book, The Fate of Food, and other timely topics. Amanda Little is the author of two books, and her articles have been published in the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Wired, and The Washington Post. Little is a professor of investigative journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University. She has received a number of awards for excellence in environmental journalism. Alison Aubrey is a correspondent for NPR News, where her stories can be heard on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She's also a contributor to the PBS NewsHour and is a co-host of NPR's Life Kit podcast. Along with her NPR science desk colleagues, Aubrey won a 2019 Gracie Award. She is the recipient of a 2018 James Beard broadcast award, and a 2016 James Beard Award for a PBS/NPR collaboration.

Former CIA officer and author Amaryllis Fox discusses her book Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA with NPR’s special correspondent Melissa Block. Amaryllis Fox is a writer, television host, public speaker, and former CIA officer. Fox’s memoir, Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA, examines her ten years hunting the world’s terrorists in sixteen countries while marrying and giving birth to a daughter. Fox has covered current events and offered analysis for CNN, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, and the BBC. She is the co-host of History Channel’s series American Ripper and the host of the Netflix documentary series The Business of Drugs. Melissa Block was the host of All Things Considered on NPR for many years. She now brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting as special correspondent and guest host to NPR’s news programs. She has earned some of the top honors in broadcast journalism. Her reporting has taken her everywhere from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the heart of Rio de Janeiro; from rural Mozambique to the farthest reaches of Alaska and Sichuan, China.

Best-selling author Mary Beth Keane and literary critic Maureen Corrigan discuss Ms. Keane’s book, Ask Again, Yes, and other timely topics. Ms. Keane was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship for fiction, and has published two other books. Most recently, Ask Again, Yes, was an instant New York Times bestseller, and has been translated in twenty-one languages. Maureen Corrigan is the book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air and writes the ‘Book World’ column for the Washington Post. She is a professor of literary criticism at Georgetown University and an author herself.

Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and best selling author. He writes a bi-weekly Op-Ed column for the New York Times. Elaine Pagels is a historian of religion and professor at Princeton University. She is a best-selling author and received the National Medal in the Arts from President Obama. In this episode of Great Podversations, Egan and Pagels discuss Mr. Egan’s book Pilgrimage to Eternity, history, belief and other timely topics.

Dr. Jerome Groopman and Timothy Snyder discuss Snyder’s recent book "Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary," healthcare in the U.S., and other timely topics. Groopman holds an endowed Chair of Medicine and Chief of Experimental Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Snyder is the Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at The Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.

Clarissa Ward is CNN’s Chief International Correspondent. She discusses her new book On All Fronts with Peter Bergen, a journalist, documentary producer and security analyst. On All Fronts is an account of Ward’s riveting career in journalism in this age of extremism.

Best-selling authors Isabel Allende and Madeline Miller in conversation. They discuss literature, gender issues, humanitarianism, and other timely topics.

Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Michael R. Jackson and NPR’s Ari Shapiro, host of All Things Considered, discuss American theater, music, racial issues, and other timely topics.

Best-selling authors Erik Larson and Amor Towles discuss history, research, and the craft of writing.

Writers Franklin Foer and Malcolm Nance discuss politics, the upcoming 2020 election and more.

Authors Ann Patchett and Dani Shapiro discuss books, writing, and these challenging times.

MSNBC political analyst Chuck Rosenberg and The Atlantic columnist David Frum discuss politics and government during these challenging times, and much more.

The Kentucky Author Forum podcast has a new sound, and a new name: Great Podversations. This interview podcast will feature carefully matched pairs of nationally recognized writers in the kind of thoughtful and candid conversations you have come to expect from Kentucky Author Forum. Our guest authors and experts will discuss literature, politics, history, economics, science, and culture, and every episode will be introduced by NPR's Robert Siegel. Watch for our first new episode. which features MSNBC political analyst Chuck Rosenberg in conversation with The Atlantic columnist David Frum. These two experts will discuss politics and government during these challenging times, and much more.

Today's guest is Admiral James Stavridis, a retired four-star officer in the U.S. Navy. His book, Sailing True North, explores ten famous admirals and the profound influence on history through their leadership and character. Stavridis is interviewed by NPR special correspondent Melissa Block. This conversation was recorded on December 16, 2019 at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

Dani Shapiro, author of "Inheritance," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Sept 25, 2019; interviewed by NPR's Robert Siegel.

David McCraw, the deputy general counsel at the New York Times, talks about his book "Truth In Our Times: Inside the Fight for Press Freedom in the Age of Alternative Facts" where he recounts his experiences as a top newsroom lawyer during the most turbulent era for journalism in generations. He's interviewed by former DEA Administrator and current MSNBC legal analyst Chuck Rosenberg, in this conversation recorded on May 14, 2019.

Pulitzer-winning author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses her book, "Leadership in Turbulent Times," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Dec. 6, 2018. Interviewed by A. Scott Berg.

Charles Graeber discusses his book, "The Breakthrough: Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Nov. 15, 2018. Interviewed by Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD.

Casey Gerald discusses his memoir, "There Will Be No Miracles Here," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Oct. 25, 2018. Interviewed by CNN contributor Van Jones.

Sports writer John Feinstein discusses his book, "The First Major: The Inside Story of the 2016 Ryder Cup" at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Sept. 20, 2018. Interviewed by Mike Tirico of NBC Sports.

Counter-terrorism expert Malcolm Nance, author of "The Plot to Hack America," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on April 5, 2018. Interviewed by Ned Price of National Security Action.

David Frum discusses his book, "Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Jan. 31, 2018. Interviewed by David Jolly.

Masha Gessen discusses her latest book, "The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on 12/19/17. Interviewed by Clarissa Ward.

Robert Wright, author of "Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Nov. 27, 2017; interviewed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. (Photo credit: Barry Munger)

Thomas Friedman, Pulitzer Prize winning author and columnist, interviewed by U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on May 8, 2017.

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, interviewed by Rana Foroohar at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on April 13, 2017.

P.J. O'Rourke discusses his book, "How the Hell Did This Happen? The 2016 Presidential Election," at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on March 20, 2017. Interviewed by Robert Siegel of National Public Radio.

Hour-long interview of Colson Whitehead at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Dec. 5, 2016. Interviewed by Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald.

Sebastian Junger, author of War and The Perfect Storm, discusses his latest book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, with journalist Joe Klein at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Sept 21, 2016.

Joe Nocera at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on April 18, 2016. Interviewed by Buzz Bissinger.

Diane Rehm interviewed by Ann Patchett at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on March 23, 2016.

For decades, E.J. Dionne has been one of the most prominent journalists and left-leaning political commentators in the U.S. The Washington Post columnist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution is known not only for his sharp defenses of liberalism, but also for a deep curiosity about the other side of the political aisle. His latest book is called “Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond.” He was interviewed about the book on Feb. 24, 2016 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum. The interviewer was journalist James Fallows, a national correspondent for The Atlantic.

The Avenue of Mysteries: John Irving at Kentucky Author Forum 11/10/15 by Kentucky Author Forum

David Boies is a distinguished American trial lawyer who has litigated some of the highest profile cases in recent history. His recent book, "Redeeming the Dream: The Case for Marriage Equality," offers a dramatic and up-close account of his arguments, and ultimate triumph, in the landmark Supreme Court case which struck down Proposition 8, reinstating the freedom to marry for gays and lesbians in California. In this University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum event dated 3/24/15, Boies was interviewed by Jeffrey Toobin, legal journalist, staff writer for The New Yorker, senior analyst for CNN, and author of "The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court."

Operatic singer Jessye Norman interviewed at the Kentucky Author Forum on Nov. 17, 2014, following publication of her memoir, "Stand Up Straight and Sing!" The interviewer is Gloria Steinem, writer, lecturer, editor, feminist activist, and co-founder of Ms. magazine.

Timothy Geithner discusses his book "Stress Test" at the Kentucky Author Forum on 11/3/14.

Philippe de Montebello: Rendez-vous with Art by Kentucky Author Forum

Alain De Botton: How Does News Shape our Thoughts and Lives? by Kentucky Author Forum

In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, a convicted killer of two teenagers, who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier’s death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know the convicted felon, the families of his victims, and the men whose job it was to execute him. Out of Sister Prejean’s experiences came the #1 national bestseller Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Dead Man Walking. In celebration, the book has been re-released with a new preface by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and new afterwords by the author, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins. Sister Prejean visited the WFPL studios while in town to speak at the Louisville Free Public Library.

In "Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked," Chris Matthews offers a personal history of a time when two great political opponents - President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill - served together for the benefit of the country. Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” served as a top aide to Speaker O’Neill. At this Kentucky Author Forum, Matthews was interviewed by E. J. Dionne, Jr., senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and syndicated columnist for The Washington Post.

John Lewis is Georgia’s 5th Congressional District Representative and an American icon who has witnessed history in the making and made history himself as one of the key figures of the Civil Rights Movement. To share his story with new generations, Lewis turned to the graphic novel format and has published "March" (Top Shelf Productions.) "March" is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, including his key roles in the historic 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma-Montgomery March. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement. Congressman Lewis is interviewed in this Kentucky Author Forum by Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s primetime news and information program, “The Rachel Maddow Show.”

Pat Conroy was the featured guest at the Kentucky Author Forum on Oct. 30, 2013, concurrent with the release of his new memoir, The Death of Santini. He was interviewed by Maureen Corrigan, critic-in-residence and lecturer at Georgetown University, and book critic for NPR's Fresh Air. The new book delves into Conroy's past, furthering the account of family struggle, expanding on the story of his father, the inspiration for his novel, The Great Santini. In the forward, he states, “I’ve been writing the story of my own life for over forty years. My own stormy autobiography has been my theme, my dilemma, my obsession, and the fly-by-night dread I bring to the art of fiction.” With both his parents now deceased, Conroy is able to view them with a bit more detachment, appreciating some redeeming qualities in his father, Marine Corps Colonel Don Conroy, and mother, Peg Conroy Egan.

Rick Pitino, coach of the 2013 NCAA men's basketball champs, author of "The One Day Contract," interviewed by Joe Nocera, opinion and business columnist for the New York Times on Oct 9, 2013.

Jared Diamond spoke in Louisville on January 9, 2013 as featured guest at the Kentucky Author Forum, discussing in detail his latest book, The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies. Diamond is an author, physiologist, evolutionary biologist and bio-geographer, as well as a medical researcher and professor of geography at UCLA. Diamond argues that developed, Western cultures can learn much from small-scale, traditional societies, like those of the New Guinea Highlanders. In evolutionary time it has only been a very short while since traditional cultures and so-called "modern" cultures diverged, and Diamond asserts we moderns still possess bodies and social practices often better adapted to traditional conditions. His research for the book draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. Diamond doesn’t romanticize traditional societies—after all, we are shocked by some of their practices—but he finds that their solutions to universal human problems such as child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness still have much to teach us today. As he notes, "While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgably wide, we can glimpse most of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies that still exist or were recently in existence." Of course, his arguments have provoked some strong reactions from other anthropologists who disagree with some of his conclusions. Diamond is also the author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed and the widely acclaimed Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, which won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

"The Book of Revelation is the strangest book in the Bible. It's the most controversial. It doesn't have any stories, moral teaching. It only has visions, dreams and nightmares. Not many people say they understand it, but for 2000 years, this book has been wildly popular." So says scholar Elaine Pagels, who was in Louisville recently as featured guest at the Kentucky Author Forum. Pagels discussed in depth her latest book, Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation, in a sprawling interview conducted by Gustav Nieburh, a professor of religion at Syracuse University. Pagels tracks The Book of Revelation back to its historical origin, written as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is now known as "the Jewish War," in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem, fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels interprets Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after, however, a new sect known as "Christians" seized on John's text as a weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds: Jews, even Christians who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies.

Ray Kurzweil, arguably today’s most influential—and often controversial—futurist, is one of the leading inventors of our time and a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence. Among his inventions, Kurzweil was the principal developer of the first CCD flat-bed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition device, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and the first commercially marketed large-vocabulary speech recognition. In his book How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed, Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the limitless potential of reverse engineering the human brain. He examines emotional and moral intelligence and the origins of consciousness, while envisioning the radical possibilities of our merging with the intelligent technology we are creating. Kurzweil was the featured guest at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum on Nov. 26, 2012, and he was interviewed by Jim Fleming, Peabody Award-winning host of Public Radio International's To the Best of Our Knowledge.

Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker was the guest at the Kentucky Author Forum on Oct. 2, 2012, interviewed by NPR's Neal Conan. Pinker is a Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on language and cognition and is the author of numerous books, including The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature, and most recently, The Better Angels of Our Nature. In The Better Angels of Our Nature, Pinker examines human violence through the centuries. We’ve all had the experience of reading about a bloody war or shocking crime and asking, “What is the world coming to?” But we seldom ask, “How bad was the world in the past?” In the book, Pinker argues that violence in the past was actually much worse than now. Tribal warfare was nine times as deadly as war and genocide in the 20th century. The murder rate of Medieval Europe was more than thirty times what it is today. Slavery, sadistic punishments, and frivolous executions were unexceptionable features of life for millennia, then suddenly were targeted for abolition. Wars between developed countries have vanished, and even in the developing world, wars kill a fraction of the people they did a few decades ago. Rape, battering, hate crimes, deadly riots, child abuse, cruelty to animals—all substantially down. How could this have happened, if human nature has not changed? What led people to stop sacrificing children, stabbing each other at the dinner table, or burning cats and disemboweling criminals as forms of popular entertainment? The key to explaining the decline of violence, Pinker argues, is to understand the inner demons that incline us toward violence (such as revenge, sadism, and tribalism) and the better angels that steer us away. Thanks to the spread of government, literacy, trade, and cosmopolitanism, we increasingly control our impulses, empathize with others, bargain rather than plunder, debunk toxic ideologies, and deploy our powers of reason to reduce the temptations of violence.