Biography & Memoir

Biography & Memoir

episodes

Interviews with biographers and memoirists about their new books.

Inquisition for Blood: The Making of a Black Female Serial Killer in the Jim Crow South with Lauren Nicole Henley (LSU Press, 2026)

October 13, 2026

Inquisition for Blood

Lauren Nicole Henley
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

For three years in the early 1900s, a serial killer zigzagged across the rice belt region of the United States, using an everyday ax to slaughter Blac…

A Room of His Own: Joseph Brodsky and the Making of a Bilingual Poet with Daria S. Smirnova (Academic Studies Press, 2025)

October 9, 2026

A Room of His Own

Daria S. Smirnova
Hosted by Amber Nickell

A Room of His Own: Joseph Brodsky and the Making of a Bilingual Poet (Academic Studies Press, 2025) makes the original and persuasive claim that Brods…

Flannery and Regina: The Andalusia Chronicles with Carol Loeb Shloss (NewSouth Books, 2026)

October 6, 2026

Flannery and Regina

Carol Loeb Shloss
Hosted by Daniel Moran

The story of two women in the mid-twentieth-century South navigating financial independence, a changing rural landscape, and social norms. Flannery an…

The Afterlife of a Fascist Murder: Giacomo Matteotti in Myth and Memory, 1924-2024 with Amy King (Cambridge UP, 2026)

October 5, 2026

The Afterlife of a Fascist Murder

Amy King

In this episode, I speak with Dr Amy King of Bristol University about her book, The Afterlife of a Fascist Murder: Giacomo Matteotti in Myth and Memor…

Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution with Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia (UNC Press, 2026)

October 4, 2026

Bernardo de Gálvez

Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia
Hosted by Edward Blum

Although Spain was never a formal ally of the United States during the American Revolution, its entry into the war definitively tipped the balance aga…

Our Common Life: Folksong from the Front Porch to the Concert Hall with Stephen Wade

October 4, 2026

Our Common Life

Stephen Wade
Hosted by Kristen Turner

Our Common Life: Folk Song from the Front Porch to the Concert Hall (U Illinois Press, 2026) by Stephen Wade is part memoir, part meditation on Americ…

Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night with Julian Sancton

October 1, 2026

Madhouse at the End of the Earth

Julian Sancton
Hosted by Patryk Babiracki

I spoke with writer and The Hollywood Reporter editor Julian Sancton about his New York Times bestselling book, Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The …

Kennedy’s Only Hero: How JFK’s Obsession with Winston Churchill Defined His Presidency with Joel Nelson (Public Affairs, 2026)

October 1, 2026

Kennedy's Only Hero

Joel Nelson
Hosted by Andrew Pace

President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill remain two of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century and Joel Nelson’s new…

Cool Heat: Anita O'Day and Her Dangerous Jazz Life with James Gavin (Equinox, 2026)

October 1, 2026

Cool Heat

James Gavin
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

How did Anita O'Day-the legendary jazz singer who, along with Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, and Stan Getz, led the so-called "cool school" …

The Last of the Ellis Island Jews: A Brooklyn Memoir with Joel Dinerstein (SUNY Press, 2026)

September 29, 2026

The Last of the Ellis Island Jews

Joel Dinerstein
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Joel Dinerstein's The Last of the Ellis Island Jews (SUNY Press, 2026) is a tragicomic memoir of a dysfunctional, working-class Brooklyn Jewish family…

How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington with Marcia Chatelain (Pantheon, 2026)

September 29, 2026

How Bright the Path Grows

Marcia Chatelain
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

There is no shortage of footage immortalizing the men who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when 250,000 Americans gathered …

Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours with Peter S. Onuf and Francis D. Cogliano (Liveright, 2026)

September 28, 2026

Thomas Jefferson Survives

Peter S. Onuf and Francis D. Cogliano
Hosted by Robert Parkinson

“Does Thomas Jefferson still matter?” ask two leading historians on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson has bee…

The Connoisseur: A Cultural History with Peter Burke (Reaktion, 2026)

September 27, 2026

The Connoisseur

Peter Burke
Hosted by Jana Byars

Eminent historian Peter Burke joins Jana Byars to discuss his new book, The Connoisseur: A Cultural History (Reaktion, 2026), considering the art con…

What Is Life Worth? New Edition with Reflections 25 Years After 9/11 with Kenneth R. Feinberg (Rivertowns, 2026)

September 25, 2026

What Is Life Worth?

Kenneth R. Feinberg
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Kenneth R. Feinberg's What is Life Worth? New Edition with Reflections 25 Years After 9/11 (Rivertown Books, 2026) shares the story that inspired the …

Emmy Waldman, "Filial Lines: Art Spiegelman, Alison Bechdel, and Comics Form" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

September 24, 2026

Filial Lines

Emmy Waldman
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Filial Lines: Art Spiegelman, Alison Bechdel, and Comics Form (Cambridge UP, 2026) by Dr. Emmy Waldman is the first book to place the autobiographical…

Tsunami: Women’s Voices From Mexico

September 24, 2026

Tsunami

Heather Cleary and Gabriela Jauregui eds.

Featuring personal essay, manifesto, creative nonfiction, and poetry, Tsunami: Women’s Voices From Mexico (Feminist Press, 2025) gathers the multiplic…

Tess Chakkalakal, "A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt" (St. Martin's Press, 2025)

September 23, 2026

A Matter of Complexion

Tess Chakkalakal
Hosted by Raymond Williams

In A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt (St. Martin's Press, 2025), Tess Chakkalakal gives readers the first comprehen…

Ru Marshall, "American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda" (OR Books, 2026)

September 23, 2026

American Trickster

Ru Marshall
Hosted by Emily Dufton

A gripping exposé of deception, cult power, and the long shadow of Carlos Castaneda, the man behind the biggest literary hoax of the twentieth century…

Randal Maurice Jelks, "My America: Langston Hughes on Democracy" (Broadleaf Books, 2026)

September 22, 2026

My America

Randal Maurice Jelks
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

Celebrated poet, essayist, playwright, and American artist Langston Hughes is one of the few American writers who consistently wrote about democracy f…

Michael R. Fischbach, "I Did It for My Country: Sirhan Sirhan, Palestine, and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy" (Columbia UP, 2026)

September 22, 2026

I Did It for My Country - Sirhan Sirhan, Palestine, and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

Michael Fischbach

In June 1968, a twenty-four-year-old Palestinian immigrant named Sirhan B. Sirhan assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy, marking yet another killing …