Free Library Podcast

In conversation with Peter Dobrin, classical music critic and culture writer, The Philadelphia Inquirer

One of classical music's most celebrated pianists, Jeremy Denk has performed with ensembles such as the National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he has frequently appeared at Carnegie Hall. His recordings have been number one on Billboard's Classical Chart and have been selected in best-of-the-year lists for several media outlets, including The Washington Post, BBC, The New Yorker, and NPR. A member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Denk is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Musical America's Instrumentalist of the Year Award, and the Avery Fisher Prize. His writing on music has been published in The New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, and The New Republic, among other periodicals. In Every Good Boy Does Fine, Denk explores the composers, teachers, and professional struggles that have most influenced not only his career, but also his larger concept of what music means to us.  (recorded 3/28/2022)

Hannah Tinti is the author of the bestselling novels The Good Thief and The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley and the short story collection Animal Crackers. A creative writing professor in New York University's M.F.A. program, she is the co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference and the co-founder and executive editor of One Story magazine.

Jai Chakrabarti's debut novel A Play for the End of the World was selected as one of 2021's best books by numerous periodicals. Formerly an emerging writer fellow with A Public Space, he has had his Pushcart Prize–winning short fiction anthologized in The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Best American Short Stories.

Marie-Helene Bertino is the author of the novels Parakeet and 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas, and the story collection Safe as Houses. A creative writing teacher at NYU and The New School, she has earned The O. Henry Prize, The Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from MacDowell, Sewanee, and The Center for Fiction.

Mira Jacob is the author of the celebrated novel The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing and Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations. A fiction teacher at NYU, The New School, and Randolph College, her articles, drawings, and short fiction have been published in The New York Times Book Review, Tin House, and Literary Hub.

Edited by Tinti and published in partnership with the Selected Shorts literary radio program and live show, Small Odysseys presents never-before-published short stories by some of contemporary fiction's most acclaimed authors. (recorded 3/24/2022)

A Dublin native and a 34-year columnist and drama critic for The Irish Times, Fintan O'Toole is the author of nearly two dozen books, including A History of Ireland in 100 Objects, Enough is Enough: How to Build a Republic, and Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain. He is also a professor at Princeton University, a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and The Guardian, and formerly worked as the drama critic for the New York Daily News, The Sunday Tribune, and In Dublin magazine. Named to The Observer's list of ''Britain's top 300 intellectuals'', O'Toole is the recipient of the 2017 Orwell Prize for Journalism, the 2017 European Press Prize, and three Irish Book Awards. Combining memoir and national history, We Don't Know Ourselves documents the turbulence that has transformed Ireland over the past half century. (recorded 3/23/2022)

Donna Leon is the author of the internationally bestselling Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery novels, the ''endlessly enjoyable'' long-established series of books that combines ''deep thoughts about justice and vengeance and charming classical allusions'' (The New York Times Book Review). Born and raised in New Jersey, Leon is a 30-year resident of Italy and current resident of a small Swiss village. She worked as a copywriter in London, and taught literature in universities in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia. In the series' 31st installment, Leon's dapper Venetian detective questions the bounds of loyalty as an innocent request reveals corruption and financial wrongdoing. (recorded 3/21/2022)

In conversation with Michael Kulikowski

''A national treasure, and easily the world's most famous classicist'' (The Guardian), Mary Beard ''radiates authority and expertise'' in guiding her readers through the world of Ancient Roman civilization. She is a professor at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and a Royal Academy of the Arts professor of ancient literature. Some of her seminal works include Rome in the Late Republic, The Parthenon, The Fires of Vesuvius, and S.P.Q.R.: A History of Ancient Rome. Beard is also the classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, where her column ''A Don's Life'' is regularly published. A frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, she has written and presented several BBC historical documentaries. Twelve Caesars explores the ways in which images of Roman emperors have influenced artists and thinkers for more than 2,000 years.

The head of the history department and the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Classics at Pennsylvania State University, Michael Kulikowski is the author of Rome's Gothic Wars, Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, The Triumph of Empire, and The Tragedy of Empire. He has appeared in several History Channel documentaries, has published numerous academic articles, and is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books and The Wall Street Journal. (recorded 3/17/2022)

In conversation with Danielle M. Conway

The Nation's legal analyst and justice correspondent, Elie Mystal is an Alfred Knobler fellow at the Type Media Center and is the legal editor of More Perfect, Radiolab's podcast about the U.S. Supreme Court. A Harvard Law School graduate and former litigator at Debevoise & Plimpton, he was the executive editor of Above the Law, a news site sharing details and original commentary about the legal profession. Mystal is a frequent guest on MSNBC and Sirius XM. Referred to by Don Winslow as ''a powerful and important book of brightly alive ideas,'' Allow Me to Retort is a guidebook for how the U.S. Constitution should accurately be interpreted in opposition to Republican claims.

Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law, Danielle M. Conway is an expert in procurement law, entrepreneurship, intellectual property law, and licensing intellectual property. She formerly was the dean of the University of Maine Law and served on the faculties at several other law schools. The author of numerous books, articles, and essays, Conway is the co-recipient of the Association of American Law Schools' Impact Award, and in 2016 she retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel after 27 years of service. (recorded 3/15/2022)

The Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Howard Gardner is the author of 30 books, including A Synthesizing Mind, The App Generation, and Responsibility at Work. He is the recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, honorary degrees from 31 colleges and universities, and the Brock International Prize in Education.

A project director at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Wendy Fischman has written about development and learning for several scholarly and popular periodicals. She is the lead author of Making Good: How Young People Cope with Moral Dilemmas at Work, co-developed a classroom curriculum for teachers and students, and has consulted on school reforms.

In The Real World of College, Gardner and Fischman utilize more than 2,000 interviews with students, faculty, parents, alumni, and administrators from a variety of colleges and universities to examine why students consider learning secondary to their résumés, job prospects, and earning potential. (recorded 3/16/2022)

In conversation with Jason Freeman, editor and producer, author events

Lee Kravetz's acclaimed nonfiction books include Supersurvivors: The Surprising Link Between Suffering and Success and Strange Contagion: Inside the Surprising Science of Infectious Behaviors and Viral Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves. He has contributed writing to a wide array of publications, including The New York Times, Psychology Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Daily Beast. In the debut novel The Last Confessions of Sylvia P., Kravetz creates three interwoven narratives to reimagine the time in which poet Sylvia Plath wrote her renowned semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar.

(recorded 3/14/2022)

In conversation with comedienne, actor, and author Catherine "Cat" Cohen

An acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and actor, Harvey Fierstein is the Tony Award–winning author of Torch Song Trilogy and La Cage aux Folles. His play A Catered Affair was nominated for 12 Drama Desk Awards and he received Tony nominations for Kinky Boots, Newsies, and Casa Valentina. He also won Tonys for his performance in the Torch Song Trilogy and as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Fierstein has appeared in dozens of films and television shows, including Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day, Cheers, and The Good Wife, and he has voiced animated characters in Mulan, The Dark Crystal, and Big Mouth, among many others. In I Was Better Last Night, he reveals details of his personal trials and triumphs, explores his status as a cultural icon and gay rights activist, and reflects on his best-loved roles and writings.

Catherine "Cat" Cohen hosts the weekly cabaret show at Alan Cumming's East Village venue, Club Cumming, and co-hosts the popular weekly podcast Seek Treatment with Pat Regan. Her Netflix comedy special The Twist...? She's Gorgeous will hit screens on March 15, and last year she joined the cast of the FX series What We Do in the Shadows. Winner of the best newcomer title at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she recently published her first book with Knopf, titled God I Feel Modern Tonight, a collection of comedic poetry. (recorded 3/13/2022)

Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Endowed Lecture

In conversation with Tamala Edwards, anchor, 6ABC Action News morning edition

Michael Kazin's many critically acclaimed books include War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914–1918, selected as an editor's choice by The New York Times Book Review; American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation, chosen as a best book of 2011 by The New Republic, Newsweek, and The Progressive; A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan; and The Populist Persuasion. A history professor at Georgetown University, Kazin is editor emeritus of Dissent magazine, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and editor of The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History. In What It Took to Win he offers a thorough history of the Democratic Party and its historically imperfect but recently reinvigorated journey towards making genuine progress for U.S. society. (recorded 3/8/2022)