Free Library Podcast

The author of more than two dozen books for young adults, Jacqueline Woodson has won three Newbery Honors, a Coretta Scott King Award and three Coretta Scott King Honors, as well as the 2014 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Her books confront difficult subjects, including teen pregnancy, drug addiction, gender identity, and juvenile crime, with a gentle hand and lyrical prose. In Brown Girl Dreaming, Woodson tells the moving story of her childhood in poems, ''offering a poetic, eloquent narrative that is not simply a story . . . but a mature exploration of grown-up issues and self-discovery'' (The New York Times Book Review). (recorded 4/29/2015)

Joel Meyerowitz was the only photographer granted unimpeded right of entry into Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11. With ingenuity and sheer determination, Meyerowitz - a native New Yorker and renowned street photographer - systematically documented the work of rescue, recovery, demolition, and excavation, creating a visual archive of more than 8,500 photographs. Published to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, Aftermath is a poignant elegy that stunningly conveys the emotional magnitude of the destruction and loss suffered in New York City, and a touchstone for the national memory. Joel Meyerowitz will present a slideshow of his photographs.

Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Endowed Lecture (recorded 9/19/2006)

(This recording contains explicit content.) Jane Mayer's The Dark Side offers a riveting account of how the United States made what she sees as self-destructive decisions, particularly the choice to torture information out of often-innocent prisoners, in the wake of September 11. Mayer, a staff writer at the New Yorker for over a decade, argues that whatever the short-term gains, there were incalculable losses in terms of our country's moral and political standing in the world as a result of these decisions. (recorded 7/29/2008)

Richard Clarke's recent public testimony before the 9/11 Commission prompted an unprecedented furor in the media. Clarke's allegations are further detailed in his new book, Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror.

Known as a hard-liner against terrorists, Richard Clarke was appointed by President Clinton as the first National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism in May 1998 and continued in that position under President George W. Bush. Clarke has worked for seven administrations and devoted three decades of his life to combating the terrorist threat to America. In Against All Enemies, Clarke tells of his experience as the nation's crisis manager during the September 11th attacks, describing - for the first time - the scene in the nation's Situation Room and his dismay at what followed. The ultimate insider, Clarke provides a fascinating history of America's confrontation with terrorism and a frank perspective on the inner workings of the Bush White House.

(recorded 4/30/2004)

Steve Coll, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism, was managing editor of the Washington Post from 1998-2004, and covered Afghanistan as the Post's South Asia bureau chief from 1989 to 1992. Ghost Wars gives details of the CIA's involvement in the evolution of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the years before the September 11 attacks. The paperback version has been updated with new material covering the 9/11 hearings.

"Have you read this book Ghost Wars? It's a good book. I mean, it confirms a lot of what we're finding out in this investigation. I'd recommend it." - Thomas Kean, 9/11 Commission Chairman

(recorded 1/25/2005)

Michael Scheuer-the former chief of the bin Laden unit at the CIA's Counterterrorist Center-is the bestselling author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terrorism and Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America. With Osama bin Laden, Scheuer challenges bin Laden biographers who depict the mastermind of the attacks of September 11, 2001, as a no-longer-relevant historical figure. Instead, he offers a hard-headed, closely reasoned portrait that shows bin Laden as a leader and strategic genius with considerable rhetorical abilities. Patient, devout, and ruthless, Scheuer's bin Laden remains a formidable enemy of the West.

  (recorded 2/10/2011)

The Patriot Act, warrantless wire taps by the NSA, increased government secrecy and monitoring. Since September 11, 2001, the government of the United States has taken steps to keep us safe. But at what cost? And are we truly safer? In her book, Susan N. Herman, the president of the ACLU takes a hard look at the human and social costs of the War on Terror. In Taking Liberties, Herman describes multiple cases where innocent people had their civil rights violated and their lives turned upside-down under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. This a wake-up call for all Americans, who remain largely unaware of the post-9/11 surveillance regime's insidious and continuing growth. (recorded 10/19/2011)

In The Bin Ladens, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Coll (Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the C.I.A., Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to Sept. 10, 2001), delivers a sprawling history of the bin Laden clan. Coll pays special attention to its two most emblematic members: Muhammad, the family patriarch and self-made millionaire, and Osama, the world's most notorious terrorist. Coll's "psychologically detailed portrait of the brutal 9/11 mastermind,'' writes the New York Times, reveals the role his extended family, and their relationship with the royal house of Saud, played in shaping his thinking, ambitions, and tactics. (recorded 3/31/2009)

From the number one bestselling author of House of Sand and Fog (an Oprah's Book Club selection and finalist for the National Book Award) comes The Garden of Last Days. Set in Florida in early September, 2001, the book brings together four characters who delude themselves into thinking that the path they have chosen is the only possible option. Inspired by actual events (the visit of 9/11 hijackers to a Florida strip club), The Garden of Last Days is another ''page-turner with a beating heart.'' (Boston Globe). (recorded 6/10/2008)

The star of the hit film Trainwreck, comedian-actress-producer Amy Schumer is one of the brightest and bawdiest lights in the entertainment world. Her TV series Inside Amy Schumer has won a broad following and a slew of awards, including a Peabody and two Emmys. In her candid new collection of essays, she shares the stories of her teenage years, family, and relationships that have shaped the woman she is.

In conversation with Laura Kovacs (recorded 8/17/2016)