Businesswoman and philanthropist Melinda Gates on James Baraz's Awakening Joy, spirituality, and the books that come into our lives later -- and put everything into perspective. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss, The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, Awakening Joy by James Baraz and The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo.

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Writer Michael Frank on Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart, infertility and waiting. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart. Also look for Michael Frank’s The Mighty Franks and What is Missing? Stay in the know about the latest Macmillan news by reading our free newsletter here.

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Thought provocateur Michael Eric Dyson on James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, fictionalizing race and immersing himself in all forms of learning. To learn more about the books, poems and lyrics we discussed in this episode, check out Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast, Thomas Gray’s poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, John Paul Sartre’s Les Mots, James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time and Jay-Z’s What More Can I Say. Stay in the know about the latest Macmillan news by reading our free newsletter here.

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Author and environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams on W.S. Merwin’s poem The Last One, leaving Mormonism and writing from pain. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Michael DiGiorgio and Roger Tory Peterson’s Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Marie Louise Von Franz’s Creation Myths and Gladys Reichard’s Navajo Religion. To hear the latest at Macmillan, be sure to check out our newsletter here.

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TV writer Gary Janetti on Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, and writing his own script. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Randy Shilts's And the Band Played On:: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic and Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. You can read Macmillan's newsletter here.

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Author and playwright Jessica Hagedorn on Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, taking risks and the place of the writer in America. To learn more about some of the books we discussed in this episode, check out Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and iovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Also see A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig and The Savage Detectives and 2666, both by Roberto Bolaño.

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This week, we're revisiting our conversation with Last Week Tonight writer Josh Gondelman, who just released his new memoir, Nice Try. He talks David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, his comedy career, and the value of goodness over niceness. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, It by Stephen King, and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. You can find transcripts of this episode and past ones on LitHub.

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Director and producer Lisa Cortes on Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, cultural consciousness and finding her voice through different mediums. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Dr. Suess’s One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Also mentioned is the poetry of Anna Akhmatova and Gwendolyn Brooks.

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Writer Monique Truong on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, food in literature, and seeing stories from a different angle. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lafcadio Hearn’s Creole Cookbook by Lafcadio Hearn and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. 

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Editor of The New York Times Book Review Pamela Paul on Thalia Zepatos's A Journey of One's Own, travel, and nonlinear life paths. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and A Journey of One's Own by Thalia Zepatos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices.

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