A Novel Idea

Namwali Serpell is an Associate Professor at UC Berkeley and a well-published cultural critic who has now

released an epic novel of Zambia; it is sweeping in scope, wildly imaginative, and grounded in the place along the Zambezi River called The Old Drift Suzanne M. Lang talks with Namwali about it all.

Also featured is Martin Puchner, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and literary scholar takes us from Homer to Harry Potter in his exciting look at how the written word has created us, socially, spiritually, and economically in his book The Written World, The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization.

A Novel Idea airs on the first and fifth Sundays of every month at 10:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org /Download the FREE KRCB mobile app @ iTunes & Google Play!

(All photos courtesy of authors) https://media.krcb.org/podcast/a_novel_idea/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/A_Novel_Idea_20200405_NamwaliSer_APR_05.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Suzanne M. Lang talks with two authors whose novels reflect on gender and family, race and ethnicity, and the effects of heritage on American culture Margaret Wilkerson Sexton talks about her NAACP Image Award-winning novel The Revisioners, a multi-generational story set in Louisiana that is real and magical all at once. Suzanne also talks with […]

Suzanne M. Lang talks with two authors whose novels reflect on gender and family, race and ethnicity, and the effects

of heritage on American culture

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton talks about her NAACP Image Award-winning novel The Revisioners, a multi-generational story set in Louisiana that is real and magical all at once. Suzanne also talks with Jessica Winters Mireles, author of Lost in Oaxaca, a novel of cross-cultural identity and discovery.

A Novel Idea airs on the first and fifth Sundays of every month at 10:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org /Download the FREE KRCB mobile app @ iTunes & Google Play! https://media.krcb.org/podcast/a_novel_idea/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/A_Novel_Idea_20200329_WilkersonS_MAR_29.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Try to Get Lost!  We continue celebrating the work of Joan Frank. We recently featured her book of four novellas, Where You’re All Going. Now we travel with her in Try to Get Lost, Essays on Travel and Place. This is no ordinary “travel writing”, but a journey into who Joan is and who we are as […]

Try to Get Lost! We continue celebrating the work ofJoan Frank. We recently featured her book of four novellas, Where You’reAll

Going. Now we travel with her in Try to Get Lost, Essays on Travel andPlace. This is no ordinary “travel writing”, but a journey into who Joan is andwho we are as travelers in space and time. Joan Frank joins Suzanne M. Lang inconversation.

A NovelIdea airs on the first and fifth Sundays of every month at 10:00 amon KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @norcalpublicmedia.org /Download the FREE KRCB mobile app @iTunes & Google Play!

(Photo: Try to Get Lost, cover art – Courtesy of the author) https://media.krcb.org/podcast/a_novel_idea/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/A_NOVEL_IDEA_20200301_JoanFrank__MAR_01.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

This week on A Novel Idea, richly drawn characters, vivid language, and compelling pace and story create the most satisfying literary experience for readers, and this is what Joan Frank always delivers. Suzanne M. Lang welcomes Joan’s wit and insight, and her luscious conversation on her recent book, Where You’re All Going -Four Novellas. A […]

This week on A Novel Idea, richly drawn characters, vivid language, and compelling pace and story create the most satisfying

literary experience for readers, and this is what Joan Frank always delivers. Suzanne M. Lang welcomes Joan’s wit and insight, and her luscious conversation on her recent book, Where You’re All Going -Four Novellas.

A Novel Idea airs on the first and fifth Sundays of every month at 10:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org /Download the FREE KRCB mobile app @ iTunes & Google Play!

(Photos: Courtesy of the author) https://media.krcb.org/podcast/a_novel_idea/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/A_Novel_Idea_20200202_JoanFrank_FEB_02.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Death and dementia aren’t all that funny, but really, sometimes they are, especially when we open ourselves up to the conversation.  Journalist Susan Swartz has published her first novel, Laughing in the Dark, that is all about navigating life’s challenges in the company of friends and family. Suzanne Lang talks with Swartz and also talks […]

Death and dementia aren’t all that funny, but really,sometimes they are, especially when we open

ourselves up to theconversation. Journalist Susan Swartzhas published her first novel, Laughing in the Dark, that is all aboutnavigating life’s challenges in the company of friends and family. Suzanne Langtalks with Swartz and also talks with Tess Lorraine, a Death Dula whofacilitates the Speaking of Death Cafes in Sonoma County. Sunday at 10am. It’s a Novel Idea.

A Novel Idea airs on the first and fifth Sundays of everymonth at 10:00 am on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org/Download the FREE KRCB mobile app @ iTunes & Google Play!

(Photo: Courtesy of the author) https://media.krcb.org/podcast/a_novel_idea/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/A_Novel_Idea_20200105_SusanSwart_JAN_05.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

On this final week of this last month of the decade, we bring you two favorite conversations of this past year.  Both people’s courage, tenacity, and grace inspire. Brian Fies talks about his graphic novel, A Fire Story; also joining Suzanne M Lang in conversation is Ruth L Rotary on her memoir, The Little Girl […]