Dialogue with Marcia Franklin

Marcia Franklin talks with Boise resident Kurt Koontz about his book, "A Million Steps," which chronicles his journey along the Camino de Santiago trail in northern Spain.

The 500-mile route, known colloquially as 'The Way,' was originally a trek made by Catholic pilgrims to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, believed to be the burial place of St. James, an apostle of Jesus. Today, 200,000 seekers a year from all backgrounds traverse the path.

Franklin talks with Koontz about why he decided to take the journey, what he learned along the way, and why he wanted to write a book about his experiences. In an Extra, Koontz shares tips for walking the Camino, and describes the process of writing and publishing his book.

Host Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. Kristof was in Boise in October, 2018 to address the fall conference of the Idaho Women's Charitable Foundation. The two discuss Kristof's views on current social issues in America. His next book will look at those concerns, focusing on his hometown of Yamhill, Oregon. Kristof talks about programs he believes would help ameliorate the problems, and they also discuss the role of private philanthropy. Franklin also asks Kristof about international topics, as he spends much of his time reporting from foreign countries, and he shares his thoughts on which of his stories he's most proud.

Nicholas Kristof started his career at the New York Times as a reporter in 1984, becoming a columnist in 2001. During his tenure there, he has traveled to more than 150 countries and every state in the U.S. With his wife, Cheryl WuDunn, Kristof won a Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting in 1990 for their joint coverage of China during the Tiananmen Square uprising. He went on to win another Pulitzer in 2006 for commentary, and has been nominated seven times for the prestigious award.

Originally aired: 01/11/2019

Host Marcia Franklin interviews Michael Ames, the co-author of "American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan." Ames, a former reporter for the Idaho Mountain Express and Sun Valley Magazine, became fascinated with the story of Bowe Bergdahl, an U.S. Army soldier who grew up in Hailey, Idaho, who was captured by the Taliban and held for five years. Ames and co-author Matt Farwell take a deeper look into Bergdahl's life and the politics surrounding the search for him and his eventual release. Franklin talks with Ames about his conclusions and why he felt it was important to write the book.

Originally aired: 12/13/2019

Montana author Pete Fromm joins host Marcia Franklin to talk about his latest book, "A Job You Mostly Won't Know How to Do." The novel tells the story of a young man who has to raise his child when his wife dies in childbirth. Fromm talks about how he developed the story, as well as his writing style. The two also discuss the success he's had with his books in France. Fromm also reminisces about the seven months he lived in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho, which he recounted in his award-winning memoir, Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter Alone in the Wilderness.

A five-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Literary Award, Fromm is the author of five novels and five collections of short stories, including The Names of the Stars, a follow-up to Indian Creek Chronicles, and As Cool As I Am, which was made into a movie starring Clare Danes. He also teaches in the low-residency MFA writing program at the Pacific University Oregon. He was in Boise to speak at the Rediscovered Bookshop.

Originally aired: 12/27/2019

Marcia Franklin talks with author Kirk Wallace Johnson about his book The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century. The book details Johnson's investigation into a major theft of 300 rare bird skins from a British museum in 2009 by a 20-year-old American, Edward Rist. Rist then illegally sold the feathers into the arcane world of Victorian salmon fly-tyers.

Johnson discusses why he felt it was important to write the book, and how the crime and other heists like it damage the field of natural history. He also shares his thoughts on the "feather thief," whom he interviewed. The founder of The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies, Johnson worked in Fallujah, Iraq, for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He wrote a book about his experiences called "To Be a Friend Is Fatal." His third book, "The Fisherman and the Dragon: Two Dreams at War off the Texas Coast," was published in 2022. He was in Boise to speak at The Rediscovered Bookshop.

Originally aired: 01/03/2020

As the United States heads for what portends to be a raucous convention season, Dialogue host Marcia Franklin talks with Eric Liu, the founder of Citizen University in Seattle, about whether it's even possible in a seemingly fractured society to have a civil discussion about politics. Liu, also the executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute, is trying to reclaim civic education from the doldrums and encourage Americans to act on their rights. His TED Talk on the subject has more than a million and a half views.

Franklin and Liu discuss the "tectonic" demographic shift in the country and what it potentially means for governing, how Americans from diverse backgrounds are still bound together by a common creed, and what he describes as a "third Reconstruction Period" in the United States. Liu, an attorney, is the author of more than a half-dozen books, including "Gardens of Democracy," "Guiding Lights," "The True Patriot," and "The Accidental Asian."

Originally aired: 07/15/2016

Host Marcia Franklin continues her conversation with Idaho-born playwright Samuel Hunter, focusing on the craft of playwriting, some of the actors he admires, and a new project he's working on that's not for the stage.

Hunter, a Moscow, ID native, is the recipient of a 2014 MacArthur Fellowship, known colloquially as the "Genius Grant." He also won an Obie Award in 2011.

Originally Aired: 10/16/2015

He's only 34, but has already won some of the most prestigious awards for creativity in the country. On this episode of Dialogue, Marcia Franklin interviews playwright and Moscow, ID native Samuel Hunter. Hunter is the recipient of a 2014 MacArthur Fellowship, known colloquially as the "Genius Grant." He also won an Obie Award in 2011.

Hunter talks about what it was like to win the MacArthur, and what he plans to do with the time and money it affords him to dedicate to his craft. He also discusses the evolution of his works, which have been performed all over the country, and the role of Idaho in his plays.

Originally Aired: 10/09/2015

Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Fredrik Logevall, Ph.D. about the antecedents to the Vietnam War.

Logevall, the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and a professor of history at Harvard College, won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in History for his book, "Embers of War." It examined France's colonial involvement in Vietnam, and how and why U.S. support of the French led to the Vietnam War.

In its citation, the Pulitzer committee called the work a "balanced, deeply researched history of how, as French colonial rule faltered, a succession of American leaders moved step by step down a road toward full-blown war." The book also won the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians.

Franklin talks with Logevall about why he felt it was important for people to know about the pre-history of the Vietnam War, whether the war could have been avoided, and how the decisions made before and during the Vietnam War have affected our country's foreign policy since then.

The author or editor of nine books, Professor Logevall previously taught at Cornell, where he was the director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and at the University of California Santa Barbara, where he co-founded the Center for Cold War Studies. He is the past president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Franklin spoke with him in Idaho Falls, where he gave the keynote speech at the Idaho Humanities Council's 2016 Eastern Idaho Distinguished Humanities Lecture.

Originally Aired: 04/29/2016

Marcia Franklin talks with poet Richard Blanco, the first LatinX and gay inaugural poet. Blanco wrote a poem for President Obama's second inaugural and read it at the ceremony. He discusses the process of writing the inaugural poem, "One Today," how the piece reflected his life and his philosophy of writing, the themes of his work, and the power of poetry to change lives. Mr. Blanco was the keynote speaker at the Idaho Humanities Council's annual event in 2019.

Originally aired: 12/20/19