Free Library Podcast

After more than 20 years of bringing attention to progressive issues underreported by the mainstream media, Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! program now airs simultaneously on satellite and cable television, more than 1,400 radio stations throughout the world, and the internet. Her many honors include the first Right Livelihood Award, a lifetime achievement award from Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism, and the George Polk Award. Goodman's five New York Times bestselling books include Breaking the Sound Barrier and her newest work, Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America. Now she returns to the Free Library to analyze and contextualize the last year's tempestuous political events. 

(recorded 5/8/2017)

In conversation with longtime broadcaster and journalist, Tracey Matisak

Gabourey Sidibe received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her debut role in the 2009 film Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire. Sidibe won instant fame for her heartbreaking portrayal of the movie's title character. Since then she has appeared on three seasons of American Horror Story, was a cast member of the Showtime series The Big C, has hosted Saturday Night Live, and has appeared in several films. She currently plays Becky on Fox's popular musical drama series Empire. This Is Just My Face tells the behind-the-scenes story of Sidibe's Bed-Stuy upbringing and rise to fame while proffering sensible dispatches on celebrity, depression, friendship, and self-image.  (recorded 5/4/2017)

In conversation with Jason Freeman

''A greater National Treasure than 90 percent of the people who are given ‘Kennedy Center Honors' (The Washington Post), filmmaker, actor, and writer John Waters was also lovingly described as ''The Pope of Trash'' by William Burroughs. His movies include Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Cry Baby, Serial Mom, and Cecil B. Demented, and his many books include Shock Value, Crackpot, Role Models, and Carsick, in which, provisioned with only his trademark mustache, wit, and a cardboard sign that read ''I'm Not Psycho,'' Waters met America's citizenry as he hitchhiked to the west coast. Make Trouble is a manifesto for all those who seek happiness on their own terms.  (recorded 4/29/2017)

In conversation with Dr. James Peterson, Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University. MSNBC Contributor

An outspoken Christian reproductive justice advocate, Dr. Willie Parker is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who is one of the few abortion providers to women in Mississippi and Alabama. Chair-elect of the board of Physicians for Reproductive Health, winner of Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger award, and one of Ebony's Power 100 list, he has been profiled in NPR's Morning Edition, Esquire, and Slate, among other places. He is also the subject of the documentary film Trapped, a look at the legal battle to keep Southern abortion providers open. In Life's Work, Parker illustrates the complex realities of abortion in America. 

(recorded 4/12/2017)

In conversation with Andrew Knowlton, Bon Appétit

Joe Beddia is the owner and chef of Philly's own Pizzeria Beddia, named by Bon Appétit as the best pizza in America. This distinction is not surprising, considering that he devoted the last 10 years solely to the pursuit of the perfect pie. James Beard Award winner and fellow Philly chef Michael Solomonov says, ''Never have I encountered an individual so singularly focused on his craft. Joe Beddia is hilarious, intelligent, and lovingly produces the best pizza in the f*cking universe.'' In Pizza Camp, this pizza maestro begins with the pizza basics and moves on to more than 50 iconic and inventive recipes to bake at home. 

(recorded 4/24/2017)

In conversation with Buzz Bissinger, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of four books, including The New York Times bestsellers 3 Nights in August and Friday Night Lights.

Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete, reality television star, and businesswoman. When she came out in a 2015 television interview she also became the world's most famous transgender person. She subsequently received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs, was named one of Glamour magazine's women of the year, and was listed by Time magazine as one of 2016's 100 most influential people in the world. Millions of viewers tuned into the E! network's I Am Cait, a docu-series chronicling Jenner's transition and its effect on her many relationships. From childhood to the present, The Secrets of My Life tells her singular story.

(recorded 4/28/2017)

In conversation with Laura Kovacs

Possessed of ''a magnificent gift for humanizing characters,'' (San Francisco Chronicle), Elizabeth Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for the 2008 bestseller Olive Kitteridge, a linked collection of narratives about a woman in coastal Maine. It was adapted into a multi-Emmy-winning HBO miniseries starring Frances McDormand. A PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and Orange Prize nominee, Strout also penned the novels Amy and Isabelle, Abide with Me, and My Name is Lucy Barton, a no. 1 New York Times bestseller about an estranged mother and daughter's reconnection. Written in tandem with that book, Anything is Possible is a latticework of fiction that fleshes out the lives of the inhabitants of Lucy Barton's little town. 

*Optional book with ticket purchase

Please allow extra time to get to Parkway Central, due to extensive road work in the area.

(recorded 5/1/2017)

In conversation with Jason Freeman

''A greater National Treasure than 90 percent of the people who are given ‘Kennedy Center Honors' (The Washington Post), filmmaker, actor, and writer John Waters was also lovingly described as ''The Pope of Trash'' by William Burroughs. His movies include Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Cry Baby, Serial Mom, and Cecil B. Demented, and his many books include Shock Value, Crackpot, Role Models, and Carsick, in which, provisioned with only his trademark mustache, wit, and a cardboard sign that read ''I'm Not Psycho,'' Waters met America's citizenry as he hitchhiked to the west coast. Make Trouble is a manifesto for all those who seek happiness on their own terms.  (recorded 4/29/2017)

Blending liberalism with old values, David Callahan's many nonfiction books include Fortunes of Change, The Moral Center, and The Cheating Culture, a ''meticulously researched, thoughtful and damning look at our broken moral compass'' (Philadelphia Inquirer). He is founder of the website Inside Philanthropy and co-founder of the think-tank Demos, a frequent media commentator, and has contributed articles to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. In The Givers, Callahan delves into the secretive realm of elite philanthropists and the ways they shape governmental policy.

Sandra Shaber Memorial Lecture (recorded 4/27/2017)

In conversation with Andy Kahan, Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams director of author events.

''A talent as strong and varied as American fiction has to offer" (The New York Review of Books), Richard Ford won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award for Independence Day, the sequel to his bestselling 1986 novel The Sportswriter. In 2006 and 2014 he returned to his most indelible character, famed everyman protagonist Frank Bascombe, in The Lay of the Land and the Pulitzer Prize finalist Let Me Be Frank With You. He is also the author of several other novels and story collections. His first memoir is an intimate portrait of his parents' travails across the panorama of mid-20th century America. 

Natalie Cohn Memorial Lecture

(recorded 5/2/2017)