Free Library Podcast

In conversation with William Kristol, founder and former editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard.

The former chairman and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz led the java giant from eleven cafes in the Seattle area to more than 28,000 locations worldwide and ranked fifth on Fortune's 2018 list of ''World's Most Admired Companies.'' He is the author of several books, including Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time; the former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics; and, with his wife Sheri, the founder of the Schultz Family Foundation, which supports national initiatives focused on employment and the needs of veterans. Part memoir and part manifesto of corporate social responsibility, From the Ground Up interweaves Schultz's inspiring trajectory from a Brooklyn housing project to leading one of the world's most iconic companies. (recorded 2/13/2019)

Amidst a climate of division, tumult, and fear, what will the United States look like tomorrow? In A People's Future of the United States, 25 diverse writers synthesize hopeful, cynical, prescient visions of a country shaped by struggle and strife. Coeditor Victor LaValle's  work-including four novels, two novellas, and a short story collection-has been named to a slew of best-of-the-year lists by The New York Times, The Nation, and The Washington Post, among others. Featured in this anthology are Justina Ireland, author of The New York Times bestselling  Dread Nation; Sam J. Miller, whose The Art of Starving was one of NPR's Best Books of 2017; and 2016 Whiting Award winner Alice Sola Kim.

(recorded 2/12/2019)

Amidst a climate of division, tumult, and fear, what will the United States look like tomorrow? In A People's Future of the United States, 25 diverse writers synthesize hopeful, cynical, prescient visions of a country shaped by struggle and strife. Coeditor Victor LaValle's  work-including four novels, two novellas, and a short story collection-has been named to a slew of best-of-the-year lists by The New York Times, The Nation, and The Washington Post, among others. Featured in this anthology are Justina Ireland, author of The New York Times bestselling  Dread Nation; Sam J. Miller, whose The Art of Starving was one of NPR's Best Books of 2017; and 2016 Whiting Award winner Alice Sola Kim.

(recorded 2/12/2019)

In conversation with State Representative Jordan A. Harris

Convicted of murder at 18 and sentenced to life in prison with no hope of release, Chris Wilson began to improve himself through study, physical fitness, and even started a business. For the next several years he followed the tenets of his ''master plan,'' and in his mid-thirties he convinced a judge of his reformation and earned an early release. Since then he has become a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, and mentor. Praised as ''an incredibly moving book that will change the way you look at the criminal justice system'' by Senator Bernie Sanders, The Master Plan tells the story of Wilson's metamorphosis and extols the power of second chances.

(recorded 2/7/2019)

In conversation with State Representative Jordan A. Harris

Convicted of murder at 18 and sentenced to life in prison with no hope of release, Chris Wilson began to improve himself through study, physical fitness, and even started a business. For the next several years he followed the tenets of his ''master plan,'' and in his mid-thirties he convinced a judge of his reformation and earned an early release. Since then he has become a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, and mentor. Praised as ''an incredibly moving book that will change the way you look at the criminal justice system'' by Senator Bernie Sanders, The Master Plan tells the story of Wilson's metamorphosis and extols the power of second chances.

(recorded 2/7/2019)

Social worker, public speaker, community activist, and blogger Feminista Jones is the author of the novel Push the Button and the poetry collection The Secret of Sugar Water. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Magazine)  and one of The Root's Top 100 Black Social Influencers. Her articles have appeared in a variety of periodicals, including the New York Times, Ebony, Time, and Essence. In Reclaiming Our Space, Jones examines the ways black women are using digital spaces to change the conventional dialogues of culture and social movements.

DaMaris B. Hill is the author of The Fluid Boundaries of Suffrage, Jim Crow: Staking Claims, and the poetry collection Vi-ze-bel\Teks-chers. A double PhD in English and women and gender studies, she teaches creative writing and African American and Africana studies at the University of Kentucky. In A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland, Hill evokes some of the most powerful incarcerated American women of color-from Assata Shakur to Zora Neale Hurston-to present an unflinching, unbridled celebration of struggle and transcendence.

(recorded 2/5/2019)

Social worker, public speaker, community activist, and blogger Feminista Jones is the author of the novel Push the Button and the poetry collection The Secret of Sugar Water. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Magazine)  and one of The Root's Top 100 Black Social Influencers. Her articles have appeared in a variety of periodicals, including the New York Times, Ebony, Time, and Essence. In Reclaiming Our Space, Jones examines the ways black women are using digital spaces to change the conventional dialogues of culture and social movements.

DaMaris B. Hill is the author of The Fluid Boundaries of Suffrage, Jim Crow: Staking Claims, and the poetry collection Vi-ze-bel\Teks-chers. A double PhD in English and women and gender studies, she teaches creative writing and African American and Africana studies at the University of Kentucky. In A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland, Hill evokes some of the most powerful incarcerated American women of color-from Assata Shakur to Zora Neale Hurston-to present an unflinching, unbridled celebration of struggle and transcendence.

(recorded 2/5/2019)

Penning ''nonfiction literature of a high and lasting order'' (Chicago Tribune), Jane Brox is the author of, among other books, Five Thousand Days Like This One, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light, named one of 2010's best books by Time magazine; and Here and Nowhere Else, winner of the L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award. Told through the intrinsically linked histories of the monastery and penitentiary (including a section on Eastern State), Silence traces the complex culturally transformative power of the concept of complete quiet.

(recorded 1/31/2019)

Penning ''nonfiction literature of a high and lasting order'' (Chicago Tribune), Jane Brox is the author of, among other books, Five Thousand Days Like This One, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light, named one of 2010's best books by Time magazine; and Here and Nowhere Else, winner of the L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award. Told through the intrinsically linked histories of the monastery and penitentiary (including a section on Eastern State), Silence traces the complex culturally transformative power of the concept of complete quiet.

(recorded 1/31/2019)

Bridgett M. Davis is the author of Into the Go-Slow, the acclaimed story of a young woman traveling from Detroit to Nigeria as she mourns the death of her sister, and Shifting Through Neutral, a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. She is a professor of journalism and the writing professions at Baruch College and Director of the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program at CUNY. Davis's newest book is a tribute to her mother, a jill-of-all-trades bookie, banker, wife, and parent who bucked the ‘60s and ‘70s decay of Detroit to lead her family into prosperity.

(recorded 1/29/2019)