Dialogue with Marcia Franklin

It's one of his most beloved tales, but was written in a hurry and under duress.

On this holiday episode of Dialogue, Marcia Franklin talks with Boise writer Samantha Silva about "A Christmas Carol," penned by Charles Dickens in 1843. In her debut novel, "Mr. Dickens and His Carol," Silva melds fact with fiction to imagine how Dickens came up with the plot for his now-classic story.

Of Silva's work, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Boise resident Anthony Doerr says, "It's as foggy and haunted and redemptive as the original; it's all heart, and I read it in a couple of ebullient, Christmassy gulps."

Silva talks with Franklin about what drew her to Dickens, how she researched her book, why she thinks "A Christmas Carol" crystallizes Dickens' ethos, and why the story is still relevant.

A graduate of Boise State University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Silva is a screenwriter who has sold projects to Paramount, Universal, New Line Cinema, and TNT. A film version of her short story, "The Big Burn," won the One Potato Short Screenplay Competition at the 2017 Sun Valley Film Festival and will be released in 2018. Silva will also be writing another novel.

Marcia Franklin talks with Liza Long, the Boise author of "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother," a blog post that was eventually read by millions of people around the world. Long wrote the piece hours after the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., on December 14, 2012. In it, she expressed her fears about her teenage son "Michael," who has a mental illness and has physically threatened her. The essay was a plea for help for him and for Long, who had struggled to get him services.

Originally titled "Thinking the Unthinkable," the post was picked up by The Blue Review, a journal published by the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs at Boise State University, and renamed "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother," a phrase Long used in her piece. The Huffington Post then re-published it. Thousands of people have now commented on the piece - some identifying with Long's fear of her son and her frustrations seeking treatment for him, and others berating her for discussing his personal life so openly. Franklin talks with Long about the reaction to the piece and about the past year, during which she testified before a Congressional committee, appeared on numerous television programs (including a PBS NOVA documentary), gave a TedX talk in San Antonio and wrote a book.

Originally aired: 12/13/13

Host Marcia Franklin talks in-depth with author Anthony Doerr about his newest book, "Cloud Cuckoo Land," and the Netflix adaptation of "All the Light We Cannot See," his 2014 novel that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The conversation was taped at the 2022 Sun Valley Writers' Conference.

"Mr. Doerr's been on Dialogue more times than any other author," says Franklin. "But still, it had been eight years since we'd recorded an interview together. So it was a lot of fun to catch up with him."

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. The conversation was recorded at the 2022 Sun Valley Writers' Conference.

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." The conversation was recorded at the 2022 Sun Valley Writers' Conference.

Host Marcia Franklin talks with author Kali Fajardo-Anstine about her short story collection, "Sabrina & Corina," which was a finalist for a National Book Award, and her novel, "Woman of Light." Both draw on her own multicultural history to tell stories set in Colorado. The conversation was taped at the 2022 Sun Valley Writers' Conference.

Conversations From the Sun Valley Writers' Conference on Dialogue returns for its 15th season. Marcia Franklin talks with author Rebecca Donner about "All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days," which chronicles the life of Mildred Harnack, her great-great-aunt. Harnack and her husband helped found one of the largest resistance groups against the Nazis. They were both discovered, however, and killed. Mildred is the only known American woman to be executed on the direct orders of Hitler.

Originally aired: 11/11/2022

Marcia Frankin talks with Stephen Kinzer, a New York Times correspondent and author of "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle Eastern Terror."

In his book, Kinzer recounts the 1953 U.S-led coup against Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh, which resulted in the dictatorship of the Shah. Kinzer talks with Franklin, who just returned from Iran, about the effects the coup continues to have, and the potential future of Iran.

Originally aired: 04/01/2004

Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize–winning author Stacy Schiff about her work, The Witches. The book examines the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, delving into what precipitated them, and the participants involved. Franklin talks with Schiff about why she wanted to write the book, the challenges involved and the legacy of the trials.

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

Originally Aired: 10/29/2015

The interview is part of Dialogue's series "Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference" and was taped at the 2015 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.

Author and professor Andrew Solomon relates how he went from being a bullied child suffering from depression to an award-winning journalist traveling the world. Solomon's 2001 book, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. He has delivered popular TED Talks on culture and psychology.

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

Originally Aired: 9/29/2017

The interview is part of Dialogue's series "Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference" and was taped at the 2017 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.