Free Library Podcast

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

Possessed of ''intellectual heft, critical thinking depth and finesse with words and messages'' (Essence), Michael Eric Dyson is the author of 19 books, a frequent New York Times opinion writer, an MSNBC political analyst, and University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown. His many honors include an American Book Award and two NAACP Image Awards, and Ebony named him one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans. Tears We Cannot Stop is a no-holds-barred call for white America to face difficult truths about how it has ignored or dismissed African American grievances.   

(recorded 2/1/2017)

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In conversation with comedian Doogie Horner

Jason Rekulak is the publisher of Philadelphia-based Quirk Books, where he has overseen acquisition of a number of, well, very quirky books, including the no. 1 New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the Edgar Award-winning The Last Policeman, and the literary mashup Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, among many others. In his debut novel, Rekulak travels to 1987 to tell the coming-of-age story of three teenage boys, first love in the age of old school computer programming, and a master plan to heist their own version of the Maltese Falcon: a Playboy magazine containing nude photographs of Vanna White. (recorded 2/6/2017)

Watch the video here.

In conversation with comedian Doogie Horner

Jason Rekulak is the publisher of Philadelphia-based Quirk Books, where he has overseen acquisition of a number of, well, very quirky books, including the no. 1 New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the Edgar Award-winning The Last Policeman, and the literary mashup Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, among many others. In his debut novel, Rekulak travels to 1987 to tell the coming-of-age story of three teenage boys, first love in the age of old school computer programming, and a master plan to heist their own version of the Maltese Falcon: a Playboy magazine containing nude photographs of Vanna White. (recorded 2/6/2017)

Watch the video here.

''Perhaps America's most widely read (and debated) living philosopher'' (New York Times), Daniel C. Dennett is the author of a score of books that explore the intersection of human consciousness and evolutionary biology, including Consciousness Explained, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, and Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking. He is Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. Building on ideas from computer science and biology, From Bacteria to Bach and Back posits bold stances upon how we came to have conscious minds. 

A longtime writer for The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik is the author of Paris to the Moon and Angels and Ages: Lincoln, Darwin, and the Birth of the Modern Age, among other books. (recorded 2/9/2017)

Watch the video here.

''Perhaps America's most widely read (and debated) living philosopher'' (New York Times), Daniel C. Dennett is the author of a score of books that explore the intersection of human consciousness and evolutionary biology, including Consciousness Explained, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, and Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking. He is Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. Building on ideas from computer science and biology, From Bacteria to Bach and Back posits bold stances upon how we came to have conscious minds. 

A longtime writer for The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik is the author of Paris to the Moon and Angels and Ages: Lincoln, Darwin, and the Birth of the Modern Age, among other books. (recorded 2/9/2017)

Watch the video here.

Having garnered wide readership and critical praise for his surreal, darkly funny fiction, ''it's no exaggeration to say that short story master George Saunders helped change the trajectory of American fiction'' (The Wall Street Journal). He is the author of the New York Times notable books Pastoralia and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline; Story Prize finalist In Persuasion Nation; and Tenth of December, a National Book Award finalist. One of Time magazine's 100 most influential people, Saunders is the recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships and has been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Lincoln in the Bardo spins a kaleidoscopic tale of the 16th President's son's death and his bizarre purgatorial afterlife.  (recorded 2/14/2017)

Watch the video here.

Having garnered wide readership and critical praise for his surreal, darkly funny fiction, ''it's no exaggeration to say that short story master George Saunders helped change the trajectory of American fiction'' (The Wall Street Journal). He is the author of the New York Times notable books Pastoralia and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline; Story Prize finalist In Persuasion Nation; and Tenth of December, a National Book Award finalist. One of Time magazine's 100 most influential people, Saunders is the recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships and has been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Lincoln in the Bardo spins a kaleidoscopic tale of the 16th President's son's death and his bizarre purgatorial afterlife.  (recorded 2/14/2017)

Watch the video here.

Mark Danielewski is best known for his 2000 debut novel House of Leaves, a profoundly unconventional love story of terror, claustrophobia, and a house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and for the book's unusual page layout, scores of footnotes, and color-coded words. His 2006 follow-up, Only Revolutions, was a National Book Award finalist, and his novella The Fifty Year Sword was performed on three consecutive Halloweens at REDCAT. Hades is the fourth installment in the planned 27-volume novel The Familiar, a characteristically peculiar multi-narrative story told against unique visuals and book structure. (recorded 2/16/2017)

Watch the video here.

Mark Danielewski is best known for his 2000 debut novel House of Leaves, a profoundly unconventional love story of terror, claustrophobia, and a house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and for the book's unusual page layout, scores of footnotes, and color-coded words. His 2006 follow-up, Only Revolutions, was a National Book Award finalist, and his novella The Fifty Year Sword was performed on three consecutive Halloweens at REDCAT. Hades is the fourth installment in the planned 27-volume novel The Familiar, a characteristically peculiar multi-narrative story told against unique visuals and book structure. (recorded 2/16/2017)

Watch the video here.

In conversation with longtime broadcaster and journalist, Tracey Matisak

One of Forbes' 21 new American money masters, Amanda Steinberg is the founder and CEO of DailyWorth, a website devoted to helping women manage their financial lives. Launched from a Philadelphia attic office in 2009, its newsletter now reaches more than one million subscribers. She has discussed personal finance on a number of news outlets, including Good Morning America, CNN, Today, and MSNBC. In Worth It, Steinberg outlines the vital financial information women need to create a healthy financial future, and draws a direct line to the ways women can use money as a source of personal freedom and power.  (recorded 2/21/2017)