Dialogue with Marcia Franklin

Conversations From the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference is back for a 16th season! In this episode, journalist Andrea Elliott joins host Marcia Franklin to talk about her book, Invisible Child, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

The book chronicles eight years in the life of Dasani Coates, a child in Brooklyn. Elliott shares what compelled her to spend that much time covering the story, and how Dasani’s life exemplifies the challenges of being poor in America. Elliott also discusses some of the ethical considerations involved in reporting this complex and personal story.

Originally Aired: 12/22/2023

The interview is part of the series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference” and was taped at the 2023 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

In this episode, host Marcia Franklin speaks with writer Mohsin Hamid about his latest novel, The Last White Man. The story follows the transformation of a man who wakes up one day to find that his skin color has changed.

Hamid, who often incorporates his own multicultural background into his work, talks with Franklin about how his life changed after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and how he aims with his writing to “imagine the world into a better place.”

Originally Aired: 12/29/2023

The interview is part of the series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference” and was taped at the 2023 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

More of Marcia Franklin’s 2019 conversation with National Book Award-winning author and world traveler Barry Lopez about his life, his philosophy of writing and his new memoir, Horizon.

In December 2020, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference awarded Barry Lopez with the inaugural Writer in the World Prize in recognition of his singular voice in the landscape of English Literature. Lopez died December 25, 2020.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/29/2019

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference” and was taped at the 2019 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Marcia Franklin talks with National Book Award-winning author and world traveler Barry Lopez about his philosophy of writing and his penultimate memoir, Horizon.

In December 2020, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference awarded Barry Lopez with the inaugural Writer in the World Prize in recognition of his singular voice in the landscape of English Literature. Lopez died on December 25, 2020.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/22/2019

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference” and was taped at the 2019 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Marcia Franklin talks with author Brando Skyhorse about his life and works, focusing on his memoir, Take This Man. In the book, Skyhorse writes about what it was like to grow up thinking he was Native American and then to find out that was not true. He also discusses the topic of his next novel, Wall.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/15/2019

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference” and was taped at the 2019 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Marcia Franklin talks with Emily Ruskovich, the author of Idaho: A Novel. In 2019, the novel won the Dublin Literary Award, worth more than $100,000. Ruskovich reflects on what it has been like to win the award. The two also discuss the plot of Idaho, whose setting is based on the landscape of Ruskovich’s childhood in northern Idaho.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/1/2019

Host Marcia Franklin talks with political scientist Yascha Mounk about identity, political divides and his outlook on America. Mounk is the author of several books, including “The People vs. Democracy,” “The Great Experiment,” and “Stranger in My Own Country.”

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/18/2022

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference” and was taped at the 2022 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Catherine Grace Katz talks with host Marcia Franklin about “The Daughters of Yalta,” her first book. In it, she illuminates the contributions that Anna Roosevelt, Sarah Churchill and Kathleen Harriman made during the seminal 1945 meeting of world leaders at Yalta, which included their fathers, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Averell Harriman.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 12/17/2021

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference” and was taped at the 2021 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Host Marcia Franklin talks with author Kalani Pickhart about her debut novel, “I Will Die in a Foreign Land.” Based on the Maidan uprising in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014, the book’s publication coincidentally occurred a few months before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Pickhart talks about what that’s been like, and why she was drawn to write about Ukraine.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/25/2022

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference” and was taped at the 2022 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Marcia Franklin talks with Yale Professor of History Joanne Freeman about her book The Field of Blood. In it, Freeman illustrates how the U.S. Congress leading up to the Civil War was a more violent body than previously thought. Franklin asks her about parallels to current tensions in Congress. Freeman also discusses her next book, “Hunting for Hamilton,” and the value of studying history.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/8/2019

The interview is part of Dialogue’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference” and was taped at the 2019 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.