Biography

Biography

episodes

Interviews with memoirists and biographers about their new books.

Crawford Gribben, "J. N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism" (Oxford UP, 2024)

April 24, 2024

J. N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism

Crawford Gribben
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

J.N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism (Oxford University Press, 2024) describes the work of one of the most important and under-studied theolo…

Tarek El-Ariss, "Water on Fire: A Memoir of War" (Other Press, 2024)

April 24, 2024

Water on Fire

Tarek El-Ariss
Hosted by Tugrul Mende

In this evocative, insightful memoir, a leading voice in Middle Eastern Studies revisits his childhood in war-torn Lebanon and his family’s fascinatin…

Alexander Greenhough, "Albert Brooks: Interviews" (UP of Mississippi, 2024)

April 24, 2024

Albert Brooks

Alexander Greenhough
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Albert Brooks: Interviews (UP of Mississippi, 2024) brings together fourteen profiles of and conversations with Brooks (b. 1947), in which he contempl…

Nora E. H. Parr, "Novel Palestine: Nation Through the Works of Ibrahim Nasrallah" (U California Press, 2023)

April 23, 2024

Novel Palestine

Nora E. H. Parr
Hosted by Tugrul Mende

Palestinian writing imagines the nation, not as a nation-in-waiting but as a living, changing structure that joins people, place, and time into a dist…

Jason Bell, "Cracking the Nazi Code: The Untold Story of Canada's Greatest Spy" (Pegasus Books, 2024)

April 23, 2024

Cracking the Nazi Code

Jason Bell

The thrilling true story of Agent A12, the earliest enemy of the Nazis, and the first spy to crack Hitler's deadliest secret code: the framework of th…

Steven Nadler, "Spinoza: A Life" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

April 22, 2024

Spinoza

Steven Nadler

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) was one of the most important philosophers of all time; he was also one of the most radical and controversial. The story of…

Peter Gray, "William Sharman Crawford and Ulster Radicalism" (U College Dublin Press, 2023)

April 21, 2024

William Sharman Crawford and Ulster Radicalism

Peter Gray
Hosted by Crawford Gribben

Exploring both his life and legacy, the first full biography of William Sharman Crawford, the leading agrarian and democratic radical active in Ulster…

Diana Chapman Walsh, "The Claims of Life: A Memoir" (MIT Press, 2023)

April 21, 2024

The Claims of Life

Diana Chapman Walsh
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

The engaging memoir of a legendary president of Wellesley College known for authentic and open-hearted leadership, who drove innovation with power and…

Amanda Wunder, "Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez: A Tailor at the Court of Philip IV" (Yale UP, 2024)

April 20, 2024

Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez

Amanda Wunder
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez: A Tailor at the Court of Philip IV (Yale University Press, 2024) by Dr. Amanda Wunder is the first archival s…

On Fiorello La Guardia and Why He Still Matters: A Discussion with Author Terry Golway

April 19, 2024

On Fiorello La Guardia and Why He Still Matters

Terry Golway
Hosted by Paul Starobin

Has any American mayor ever made a greater stamp on the public consciousness than the Little Flower, Fiorello La Guardia, mayor of New York City from …

Charles E. Curran, "Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian" (Georgetown UP, 2006)

April 19, 2024

Loyal Dissent

Charles E. Curran
Hosted by Al Bertrand

Over the course of our 60th anniversary in 2024, we'll be revisiting some classic Georgetown books. First up is Loyal Dissent by Charles E. Curran. …

Tanisha Ford, "Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement" (Amistad Press, 2024)

April 19, 2024

Our Secret Society

Tanisha Ford
Hosted by Mickell Carter

An engrossing social history of the unsinkable Mollie Moon, the stylish founder of the National Urban League Guild and fundraiser extraordinaire who r…

Jonathan Chatwin, "The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China's Future" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

April 18, 2024

The Southern Tour

Jonathan Chatwin
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Deng Xiaoping’s 1992 Southern Tour has become a milestone in Chinese economic history. Historians and commentators credit Deng’s visit to Guangzhou Pr…

Jerry Grillo, "Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize" (U Nebraska Press, 2024)

April 17, 2024

Big Cat

Jerry Grillo
Hosted by Paul Knepper

Johnny Mize was one of the greatest hitters in baseball’s golden age of great hitters. Born and raised in tiny Demorest, Georgia, in the northeast Geo…

Thor Rydin, "The Works and Times of Johan Huizinga (1872-1945): Writing History in the Age of Collapse" (Amsterdam UP, 2023)

April 17, 2024

The Works and Times of Johan Huizinga (1872-1945)

Thor Rydin
Hosted by Jana Byars

Thor Rydin joins to talk about his new book, The Works and Times of Johan Huizinga (1872- 1945): Writing History in the Age of Collapse (Amsterdam UP,…

D. J. Taylor, "Who Is Big Brother?: A Reader's Guide to George Orwell" (Yale UP, 2024)

April 17, 2024

Who Is Big Brother?

D. J. Taylor
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

An intellectual who hated intellectuals, a socialist who didn't trust the state--our foremost political essayist and author of Animal Farm and Ninetee…

Philip Freeman, "Two Lives of Saint Brigid" (Four Courts Press, 2024)

April 17, 2024

Two Lives of Saint Brigid

Philip Freeman
Hosted by Crawford Gribben

St. Brigid is the earliest and best-known of the female saints of Ireland. In the generation after St. Patrick, she established a monastery for men an…

Eve Golden, "Strictly Dynamite: The Sensational Life of Lupe Velez" (UP of Kentucky, 2023)

April 17, 2024

Strictly Dynamite

Eve Golden

Before Salma Hayek, Eva Longoria, and Penelope Cruz, there was Lupe Velez―one of the first Latin-American stars to sweep past the xenophobia of old Ho…

Kerry Wallach, "Traces of a Jewish Artist: The Lost Life and Work of Rahel Szalit" (Penn State UP, 2024)

April 16, 2024

Traces of a Jewish Artist

Kerry Wallach
Hosted by Paul Lerner

Graphic artist, illustrator, painter, and cartoonist Rahel Szalit (1888-1942) was among the best-known Jewish women artists in Weimar Berlin. But afte…

Traian Sandu, "Ceausescu: The Ambiguous Dictator" (Perrin, 2023)

April 10, 2024

Ceausescu

Traian Sandu
Hosted by Roland Clark

Today I talked to Traian Sandu about his book Ceausescu: Le dictateur ambigu (Perrin, 2023). Born in January 1918, Nicolae Ceauşescu began his appre…