Biography

Biography

episodes

Interviews with memoirists and biographers about their new books.

Robin Waterfield, "Plato of Athens: A Life in Philosophy" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 28, 2024

Plato of Athens

Robin Waterfield

The first ever biography of the founder of Western philosophy Considered by many to be the most important philosopher ever, Plato was born into a well…

Adam Lazarus, "The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams" (Citadel Press, 2023)

March 27, 2024

The Wingmen

Adam Lazarus
Hosted by Paul Knepper

It was 1953, the Korean War in full throttle, when two men—already experts in their fields—crossed the fabled 38th Parallel into Communist airspace ab…

Brent M. Rogers, "Buffalo Bill and the Mormons" (U Nebraska Press, 2024)

March 24, 2024

Buffalo Bill and the Mormons

Brent M. Rogers
Hosted by Joseph Stuart

In this never-before-told history of Buffalo Bill and the Mormons, Brent M. Rogers presents the intersections in the epic histories of William F. "Buf…

Paul Bew, "Ancestral Voices in Irish Politics: Judging Dillon and Parnell" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 22, 2024

Ancestral Voices in Irish Politics

Paul Bew
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

The story of Charles Stewart Parnell, one of the greatest Irish leaders of the nineteenth century and also one of the most renowned figures of the 188…

David Ostrowsky, "Roberto Alomar: The Complicated Life and Legacy of a Baseball Hall of Famer" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024)

March 22, 2024

Roberto Alomar

David Ostrowsky
Hosted by Paul Knepper

Roberto Alomar was not just a five-tool Hall of Famer; he was a magician on the diamond, a generational talent whose defensive wizardry left teammates…

Amy Absher, "Fritzie: The Invented Life and Violent Murder of a Flapper" (U Oklahoma Press, 2023)

March 21, 2024

Fritzie

Amy Absher

One January day in 1923, a young boy came across the dead body of a twenty-year-old woman on a San Diego beach. When the police arrived on the scene, …

Ashok Gopal, "A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B.R. Ambedkar" (Navayana Press, 2023)

March 18, 2024

A Part Apart

Ashok Gopal
Hosted by Jessica Zu

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) is perhaps the most iconised historical figure in India. Born into a caste deemed ‘unfit for human association’, he…

The Pioneering Life of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

March 18, 2024

The Pioneering Life of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

Manu Bhagavan

Manu Bhagavan and Ellen Chesler discuss Bhagavan’s latest book on Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (Penguin, 2023), admired sister of India’s founding Prime Mini…

Elizabeth B. White and Joanna Sliwa, "The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust" (Simon & Schuster, 2024)

March 17, 2024

The Counterfeit Countess

Elizabeth B. White and Joanna Sliwa
Hosted by Piotr Kosicki

World War II and the Holocaust have been the subject of many remarkable stories of resistance and rescue, but The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Wom…

Rebecca Rego Barry, "The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells" (Post Hill Press, 2024)

March 12, 2024

The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells

Rebecca Rego Barry
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells: Investigations into a Forgotten Mystery Author (PostHill Press, 2024) by Rebecca Rego Barry is the first biography of …

Ilyon Woo, "Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom" (Simon and Schuster, 2023)

March 9, 2024

Master Slave Husband Wife

Ilyon Woo
Hosted by Katrina Anderson

Ilyon Woo's Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom (Simon and Schuster, 2023) tells the remarkable true story of Ellen and…

Patrick Olivelle, "Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King" (Yale UP, 2024)

March 8, 2024

Ashoka

Patrick Olivelle
Hosted by Kshitij Jain

There are few historical figures more integral to South Asian history than Emperor Ashoka, a third-century BCE king who ruled over a larger area of th…

Edda Fields-Black, "Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 7, 2024

Combee

Edda Fields-Black
Hosted by Katrina Anderson

Most Americans know of Harriet Tubman's legendary life: escaping enslavement in 1849, she led more than 60 others out of bondage via the Underground R…

Ben Rothenberg, "Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice" (Dutton, 2024)

March 7, 2024

Naomi Osaka

Ben Rothenberg
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

In July 2021, Naomi Osaka—world number 1 women’s tennis player—lit the Olympic Cauldron at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The half-Japanese, half-American, …

The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You

March 7, 2024

The Ungrateful Refugee

Dina Nayeri

Today’s book is: The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You (Catapult, 2020), by Dina Nayeri, a book which asks “what is it like to be a r…

Jean-Manuel Roubineau, "The Dangerous Life and Ideas of Diogenes the Cynic" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 4, 2024

The Dangerous Life and Ideas of Diogenes the Cynic

Jean-Manuel Roubineau

The ancient philosopher Diogenes--nicknamed "The Dog" and decried by Plato as a "Socrates gone mad"--was widely praised and idealized as much as he wa…

Yaniv Feller, "The Jewish Imperial Imagination: Leo Baeck and German-Jewish Thought" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

March 3, 2024

The Jewish Imperial Imagination

Yaniv Feller
Hosted by Amir Engel

The Jewish Imperial Imagination: Leo Baeck and German-Jewish Thought (Cambridge UP, 2024) discusses the life and work of Leo Baeck (1873–1956) the rab…

Peter Harmsen, "Bernhard Sindberg: The Schindler of Nanjing" (Casemate, 2024)

February 28, 2024

Bernhard Sindberg

Peter Harmsen
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In December 1937, the Chinese capital, Nanjing, falls and the Japanese army unleash an orgy of torture, murder, and rape. Over the course of six weeks…

Judith Pearson, "Crusade to Heal America: The Remarkable Life of Mary Lasker" (Mayo Clinic Press, 2023)

February 27, 2024

Crusade to Heal America

Judith Pearson
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they creat…

Stanley Wells, "What Was Shakespeare Really Like?" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

February 26, 2024

What Was Shakespeare Really Like?

Stanley Wells

Sir Stanley Wells is one of the world's greatest authorities on William Shakespeare. Here he brings a lifetime of learning and reflection to bear on s…