Biography & Memoir

Biography & Memoir

episodes

Interviews with biographers and memoirists about their new books.

Audrey Borowski, "Leibniz in His World: The Making of a Savant" (Princeton UP, 2026)

April 16, 2026

Leibniz in His World

Audrey Borowski

Described by Voltaire as “perhaps a man of the most universal learning in Europe,” Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) is often portrayed as a ratio…

Kate Crane, "Whatever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and an Investigation" (Hanover Square Press, 2026)

April 15, 2026

Whatever Happened to Eddy Crane?

Kate Crane
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Kate Crane's new memoir, Whatever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and an Investigation" (Hanover Square Press, 2026) starts when Crane was in eighth…

Elizabeth Rosner, "Third Ear: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening" (Catapult, 2025)

April 14, 2026

Third Ear

Elizabeth Rosner
Hosted by Ilana Maymind

This illuminating book Third Ear: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening (Catapult, 2025) weaves personal stories of a multilingual upbringin…

Rory Naismith, "Offa: King of the Mercians" (Yale UP, 2026)

April 14, 2026

Offa

Rory Naismith
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Offa: King of the Mercians (Yale UP, 2026), Professor Rory Naismith presents an authoritative biography of Offa of Mercia, revealing his importance…

David Potter, "Master of Rome: A Life of Julius Caesar" (Oxford UP, 2025)

April 11, 2026

Master of Rome

David Potter

By any measure, Julius Caesar is one of the most significant and famous figures in Roman history. Self-identified as a "popular" politician, he advoca…

Ed Simon, "Writing During the Apocalypse: Reflections on the Great Unraveling" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

April 9, 2026

Writing During the Apocalypse

Ed Simon

Rising authoritarianism. Covid. Inflation. Wealth disparity. War. Climate change. While every time period is marked by apocalyptic fears, it certainly…

Katharine K. Wilkinson, "Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home" (Amber Lotus Publishing, 2026)

April 8, 2026

Climate Wayfinding

Katharine K. Wilkinson
Hosted by Patricia Houser

When maps come up short and the path ahead is uncertain, how do we find our way? Visionary climate leader Katharine K. Wilkinson offers a compassionat…

Scott M. Kenworthy, "The People's Patriarch: Tikhon Bellavin and the Orthodox Church in North America and Revolutionary Russia" (Oxford UP, 2026)

April 6, 2026

The People's Patriarch

Scott M. Kenworthy
Hosted by Roland Clark

On October 28, 1917, just days after the Bolsheviks seized power, the great Council of the Russian Orthodox Church voted to restore the patriarchate, …

Philip Boris Uninsky, "Invented Lives from Troubled Times: A Jewish Family’s Forms of Resilience after Surviving Pogroms, Revolution, and the Holocaust" (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025)

April 5, 2026

Invented Lives from Troubled Times

Philip Boris Uninsky
Hosted by Marc Katz

How do people rebuild their lives after unimaginable upheaval—and what stories do they tell along the way? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down …

Eleanor Houghton, "Charlotte Brontë's Life in Clothes" (Bloomsbury 2026)

April 5, 2026

Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes

Eleanor Houghton
Hosted by Duncan McCargo

Eleanor Houghton, in conversation with Duncan McCargo and Alexis Wolf Meet the real, thinking, feeling woman that was Charlotte Brontë, as told in …

Meg Groff, "Not If I Can Help It: A Family Lawyer's Battles for Justice for Victims of Domestic Violence and the Poor" (Rivertowns Books, 2025)

April 4, 2026

Not If I Can Help It

Meg Groff
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Meg Groff dedicated forty years of her life to fighting for justice for victims of domestic violence in rural and suburban Pennsylvania. Not If I Can …

Eivind Røssaak, "The Cory Arcangel Hack: Digital Culture and Aesthetic Practice" (MIT Press, 2025)

April 4, 2026

The Cory Arcangel Hack

Eivind Røssaak

The first in-depth exploration of the work of artist Cory Arcangel, a pioneer of DIY-new media art whose influential “hacks” subvert the confines of B…

Caroline Tracey, "Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History" (W. W. Norton, 2026)

April 3, 2026

Salt Lakes

Caroline Tracey
Hosted by Zeb Larson

Salt lakes are some of the most beautiful and unusual landscapes that you can find on this planet, even as they can be quite alien to people used to f…

Episode 52: Chiang Mai 2015

April 3, 2026

52 Chiang Mai 2015

Camille Bégin
Hosted by Gastronomica

The Gastronomica podcast returns to the air, bringing listeners new interviews with authors from the latest issues of Gastronomica: The Journal for Fo…

Peter E. Gordon, "Walter Benjamin: The Pearl Diver" (Yale UP, 2026)

April 3, 2026

Walter Benjamin

Peter E. Gordon
Hosted by Abe Silberstein

Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) is widely considered one of the most creative cultural critics of the twentieth century. Esteemed for his literary acumen …

Melissa Auf der Maur, "Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir" (DaCapo, 2026)

April 2, 2026

Even the Good Girls Will Cry

Melissa Auf der Maur
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Melissa Auf der Maur's new memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir(DaCapo, 2026) is a remarkably open-hearted, clear-eyed memoir of t…

Robert Parish with Jake Uitti, "The Chief: The Story of the Boston Celtics’ Most Enigmatic Icon" (Triumph, 2026)

April 2, 2026

The Chief

Robert Parish and Jake Uitti
Hosted by Paul Knepper

A memoir of basketball, dedication, and longevity from Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish Growing up in the heart of Louisiana, Robert Parish and hi…

Peter Mauch, "Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Most Controversial World War II General" (Harvard UP, 2026)

March 31, 2026

Tojo

Peter Mauch
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The military general who became Emperor Hirohito’s prime minister, Tojo Hideki is most often remembered as an iron-fisted leader who dragged Japan int…

Cathryn J. Prince, "For the Love of Labor: The Life of Pauline Newman" (U Illinois Press, 2026)

March 26, 2026

For the Love of Labor

Cathryn J. Prince
Hosted by Thomas Discenna

My guest today is Cathryn J. Prince the author of For the Love of Labor: The Life of Pauline Newman (U Illinois Press, 2026). From her start as one of…

The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of Sholem Aleichem

March 24, 2026

The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of Sholem Aleichem

Jeremy Dauber and Adam Kirsch
Hosted by YIVO Institute

Novelist, playwright, journalist, essayist, and editor, Sholem Aleichem was one of the founding giants of modern Yiddish literature. The creator of a …