Free Library Podcast

In conversation with Hannah Gadsby

The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning creator of the Amazon series Transparent, Jill Soloway is the director of the feature film Afternoon Delight, creator of the series I Love Dick, and was a writer and executive producer for Six Feet Under, How to Make It in America, and United States of Tara. They are also the author of Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants and founder of the activism groups 5050by2020 and East Side Jews. Pondering the #MeToo movement, gender dynamics, and the nature of inclusion, She Wants It draws on Soloway's own unique truth, including their experience in the entertainment industry and their metamorphosis from a married mother of two to identifying as queer and nonbinary.

Watch the video here.

(recorded 10/17/2018)

Praised for his ''elegant, jaunty, and very British high style'' (New York Times), Ben Macintyre is the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat, and Double Cross, among other books. He has adapted several of these stories into popular documentaries for the BBC. Writer-at-large for The Times of London, Macintyre has twice been nominated for the Edgar Award in ''Best Fact Crime.'' The Spy and the Traitor tells the tale of real-life Russian double agent Oleg Gordievsky, the Soviet Union's top man in London for more than a decade whose disgust with his nation's communist system led him to covertly work with Britain's MI6 to turn the tables on the KGB.

Watch the video here.

Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture

(recorded 10/18/2018)

Praised for his ''elegant, jaunty, and very British high style'' (New York Times), Ben Macintyre is the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat, and Double Cross, among other books. He has adapted several of these stories into popular documentaries for the BBC. Writer-at-large for The Times of London, Macintyre has twice been nominated for the Edgar Award in ''Best Fact Crime.'' The Spy and the Traitor tells the tale of real-life Russian double agent Oleg Gordievsky, the Soviet Union's top man in London for more than a decade whose disgust with his nation's communist system led him to covertly work with Britain's MI6 to turn the tables on the KGB.

Watch the video here.

Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture

(recorded 10/18/2018)

With a ''special gift for the vivid evocation of landscape and of her characters' state of mind'' (New York Times Book Review), Barbara Kingsolver is the author of The Poisonwood Bible, a finalist for both the Pulitzer and the Orange prizes. Her other novels include The Bean Trees, The Lacuna, and Flight Behavior. She is founder of the PEN/Bellwether Prize, winner of the National Humanities Medal, and recipient of the James Beard Award. Unsheltered tells the story of a woman who, amid familial strife and sea change, researches the history of her rural New Jersey home and discovers a kindred spirit in its harried 19th century occupant.

Watch the video here.

(recorded 10/19/2018)

With a ''special gift for the vivid evocation of landscape and of her characters' state of mind'' (New York Times Book Review), Barbara Kingsolver is the author of The Poisonwood Bible, a finalist for both the Pulitzer and the Orange prizes. Her other novels include The Bean Trees, The Lacuna, and Flight Behavior. She is founder of the PEN/Bellwether Prize, winner of the National Humanities Medal, and recipient of the James Beard Award. Unsheltered tells the story of a woman who, amid familial strife and sea change, researches the history of her rural New Jersey home and discovers a kindred spirit in its harried 19th century occupant.

Watch the video here.

(recorded 10/19/2018)

In conversation with award-winning broadcaster and journalist Tracey Matisak

Former San Antonio mayor and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during President Obama's second term, Julián Castro burst onto the national political stage as the keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Castro's activist mother helped guide him and his twin brother, Joaquín, to Stanford and then Harvard Law School. From there he returned to his native San Antonio, which he helped transform into one of America's leading economies. In An Unlikely Journey, Castro echoes the transcendence and aspirational spirit of Obama's Dreams from My Father, affirming just what it means to be an American during an era of political cynicism and cultural divisiveness. 

Watch the video here.

(recorded 10/22/2018)

In conversation with award-winning broadcaster and journalist Tracey Matisak

Former San Antonio mayor and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during President Obama's second term, Julián Castro burst onto the national political stage as the keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Castro's activist mother helped guide him and his twin brother, Joaquín, to Stanford and then Harvard Law School. From there he returned to his native San Antonio, which he helped transform into one of America's leading economies. In An Unlikely Journey, Castro echoes the transcendence and aspirational spirit of Obama's Dreams from My Father, affirming just what it means to be an American during an era of political cynicism and cultural divisiveness. 

Watch the video here.

(recorded 10/22/2018)

''A writer with soul'' (Los Angeles Times) who captures the delicacies of the human condition, author, journalist, screenwriter, and nationally syndicated columnist Mitch Albom is best known for the phenomenon that is Tuesdays with Morrie, the best-selling memoir of all time. His debut novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, sold an only slightly more modest 10 million copies in 35 languages. His other books include Have a Little Faith, The Time Keeper, and The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven reveals the continuing story of Annie, the little girl saved by Eddie, protagonist of the blockbuster original novel.

 

(recorded 10/22/2018)

''A writer with soul'' (Los Angeles Times) who captures the delicacies of the human condition, author, journalist, screenwriter, and nationally syndicated columnist Mitch Albom is best known for the phenomenon that is Tuesdays with Morrie, the best-selling memoir of all time. His debut novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, sold an only slightly more modest 10 million copies in 35 languages. His other books include Have a Little Faith, The Time Keeper, and The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven reveals the continuing story of Annie, the little girl saved by Eddie, protagonist of the blockbuster original novel.

 

(recorded 10/22/2018)

In conversation with Sam Sifton

Acclaimed for ''cooking that bursts with freshly ground spices and complex flavors'' (New York Times), Michael Solomonov brought Middle Eastern, North African, Mediterranean, and Eastern European influences to bear in his Philadelphia flagship restaurant, Zahav, named an ''essential'' restaurant by Eater magazine. Together with partner Steven Cook, his other restaurants include Federal Donuts, Abe Fisher, Dizengoff, The Rooster, and Goldie. Solomonov's honors include 2011 and 2017 James Beard Awards, as well as recognition by Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Travel + Leisure. Solomonov and Cook's new cookbook is a zesty blend of history, photos, and recipes gleaned from their Israeli travels to bustling seaside cities, sleepy mountain villages, and everywhere in between.

Sam Sifton is the food editor of The New York Times and the founding editor of NYT Cooking, the Times's digital cookbook. Formerly the newspaper's national news editor, restaurant critic, and culture editor, he is the author of the cookbooks Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well and the forthcoming See You on Sunday: Recipes for Family and Friends. 

Watch the video here.

Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture

(recorded 10/23/2018)