"'This world? And everything in it? Illusions, Richard.'" Greg Ross and I discussed Richard Bach's thought-provoking best seller, “a semi-autobiographical, semi-fictional account of Richard encountering a mysterious man named Donald Shimoda while barnstorming (offering $3 rides in an antique biplane) one glorious 1970s Midwest summer,”  as author Richard Bach describes it.

Film authority Dr. Rebecca Bell-Metereau joined me to explore this lively biography of producer Darryl Zanuck, a cinematic genius and a flawed human being with an outsized personality.

 Du Mez traces the history of a militant masculinity that has shaped white evangelism from the early 20th century until the first election of Donald Trump. She explains how “a nostalgic commitment to rugged aggressive militant white masculinity serves as the thread binding together” attitudes towards women, gays, immigrants, Blacks, and anyone perceived as other, along with support for military action abroad. 

Historian Dwight Watson talked with me about this insightful book.

Amelia leaves Germany for Texas, where she marries a man she barely knows. The Doctor’s Wife, part of a trilogy about German migration into Texas—from 1845-1875, chronicles her coming-of-age, along with the founding and development of the Texas port city of Indianola. Author Myra McIlvain talked with me about her vivid historical novel about German immigrants in Texas.

"Maud thought he hadn't figured out yet that Indian maidens weren't exactly the lovely wildflowers they were made out to be in books." Garrie Borden and I explored Margaret Verble's compelling account of an aspiring young Cherokee woman coping with life in Eastern Oklahoma in 1928.

Ghosts, snakes, family lost and found, and plenty of sweetened ice tea! India Hayford talked with me about her lively, compelling debut novel.

Dr Rebecca Bell-Metereau and I explored this timely and inspiring work, "a blueprint to end voter suppression, empower our citizens, and take back our country," according to the New York Times.

We celebrated National Poetry Month with readings from the brand-new edition of When the River Speaks, A Community Published Poetry + Art Anthology.

Three contributors to this issue--Marieta Hutchison, Jacqueline Miller, and Blaze Turley read and talked about their work.

E. D. Watson, an award-winning local poet and one of the founders of the journal, read from her work and talked about creating the journal.

What could drive a woman to murder? First performed by the Provincetown Players in 1916, the drama opens with the farmer John Wright dead and his wife, the only suspect, held for his murder. As the Sheriff and the County Attorney search for clues, the sheriff’s wife and a neighbor, relegated to her kitchen, imagine the wife’s life. “Trifles” not only solves a mystery but also questions a justice system unconcerned with the realities of women’s lives.

A gifted all-woman cast brings this play to life!

The personal is always political--and vice versa. Historian Victoria Bynum talked with me about her compelling new book, Deep Roots and Broken Branches: a History and Memoir. It’s a history of her family, starting before the Civil War, which is also the history of the country. This family, like all families, has its own dynamic which is nevertheless shaped by economic and cultural forces and by wars, as this book demonstrates so powerfully.