Free Library Podcast

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In conversation with Carmen Machado, author of the forthcoming story collection Her Body and Other Parties.

Yiyun Li's ''remarkable'' (The Washington Post) debut fiction collection, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the Guardian First Book Award. She was a 2010 MacArthur Fellow, one of Granta's 21 best young American novelists under 35, and one of The New Yorker's top 20 writers under 40. She is also the author of the novel The Vagrants and the story collection Gold Boy, Emerald Girl. In her first nonfiction book, she weaves her identities as author, mother, and immigrant, and her treasured literary influences to confront questions about selfhood, art, and recovery. 

(recorded 3/2/2017)

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The founder and head of the Rittenhouse Writers' Group for its nearly 30-year existence, James Rahn has made this venerable workshop one of America's longest running and most prestigious. His eponymous memoir of the group details not only his growth as a writer and teacher to hundreds of students, but also his life as a husband and father. This volume also includes 10 current and former members' short stories. This event will feature Rittenhouse luminaries Diane McKinney-Whetstone, author of the novels Lazeretto and Tumbling; and Tom Teti, a longtime member and former board member of the People's Light theatre.

(recorded 3/7/2017)

Watch the video here.

The founder and head of the Rittenhouse Writers' Group for its nearly 30-year existence, James Rahn has made this venerable workshop one of America's longest running and most prestigious. His eponymous memoir of the group details not only his growth as a writer and teacher to hundreds of students, but also his life as a husband and father. This volume also includes 10 current and former members' short stories. This event will feature Rittenhouse luminaries Diane McKinney-Whetstone, author of the novels Lazeretto and Tumbling; and Tom Teti, a longtime member and former board member of the People's Light theatre.

(recorded 3/7/2017)

Watch the video here.

''One of his generation's most inventive and gifted writers'' (New York Times), Mohsin Hamid is the author of Moth Smoke, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a PEN/Hemingway Award finalist; the novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, named a Book of the Decade by The Guardian and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize; and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, ''a globalized version of The Great Gatsby'' (NPR). In Exit West, Hamid sets a love story of courage and escape against the backdrop of a country in the throes of civil war.

Social intellectual Pankaj Mishra's numerous books include From the Ruins of Empire, A Great Clamour, and Kashmir: The Case for Freedom. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers, and winner of Yale's Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, he has written political and literary essays for the Guardian, The New York Times, the London Review of Books, Poetry, the Wall Street Journal, and too many others to list. Age of Anger traces the origins of modern paranoid threats to the 18th century in a look at marginalized populations who became susceptible to demagogues, invented enemies, and empowerment through violence.  (recorded 3/9/2017)

Watch the video here.

''One of his generation's most inventive and gifted writers'' (New York Times), Mohsin Hamid is the author of Moth Smoke, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a PEN/Hemingway Award finalist; the novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, named a Book of the Decade by The Guardian and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize; and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, ''a globalized version of The Great Gatsby'' (NPR). In Exit West, Hamid sets a love story of courage and escape against the backdrop of a country in the throes of civil war.

Social intellectual Pankaj Mishra's numerous books include From the Ruins of Empire, A Great Clamour, and Kashmir: The Case for Freedom. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers, and winner of Yale's Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, he has written political and literary essays for the Guardian, The New York Times, the London Review of Books, Poetry, the Wall Street Journal, and too many others to list. Age of Anger traces the origins of modern paranoid threats to the 18th century in a look at marginalized populations who became susceptible to demagogues, invented enemies, and empowerment through violence.  (recorded 3/9/2017)

Watch the video here.

In conversation with Maureen Fitzgerald, Food Editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer

One of America's most beloved food writers, Melissa Clark writes the New York Times column ''A Good Appetite'' and hosts its weekly complementary video series. She frequently appears on the Today show, and has contributed to Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Martha Stewart. She has received IACP and James Beard awards, and her many cookbooks include Cook This Now and In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite. In her newest culinary guide, Clark serves up more than 250 inventive yet informal dinner recipes for chefs of all skill levels.  (recorded 3/8/2017)

Watch the video here.

In conversation with Maureen Fitzgerald, Food Editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer

One of America's most beloved food writers, Melissa Clark writes the New York Times column ''A Good Appetite'' and hosts its weekly complementary video series. She frequently appears on the Today show, and has contributed to Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Martha Stewart. She has received IACP and James Beard awards, and her many cookbooks include Cook This Now and In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite. In her newest culinary guide, Clark serves up more than 250 inventive yet informal dinner recipes for chefs of all skill levels.  (recorded 3/8/2017)

Watch the video here.

''At once outrageous and compelling, fanatical and brilliant'' (The Washington Post), Camille Paglia is the author of the 700-page seminal discourse on paganism, sex, and art, Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. She is a professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts, a regular contributor to Salon.com, and the author of Glittering Images; Break, Blow, Burn; Sex, Art, and American Culture; and Vamps & Tramps. In her new essay collection, Paglia employs her trademark fiery irreverence to celebrate and chastise modern feminism.

Please allow extra time to get to Parkway Central, due to extensive road work in the area.

(recorded 3/13/2017)

Watch the video here.

''At once outrageous and compelling, fanatical and brilliant'' (The Washington Post), Camille Paglia is the author of the 700-page seminal discourse on paganism, sex, and art, Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. She is a professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts, a regular contributor to Salon.com, and the author of Glittering Images; Break, Blow, Burn; Sex, Art, and American Culture; and Vamps & Tramps. In her new essay collection, Paglia employs her trademark fiery irreverence to celebrate and chastise modern feminism.

Please allow extra time to get to Parkway Central, due to extensive road work in the area.

(recorded 3/13/2017)

Watch the video here.

In conversation with Andy Kahan, director, author events

In addition to the reams of Cheech and Chong comedy albums and films he and his partner wrote and starred in, Cheech Marin, half of the eponymous Grammy-winning stoner comedy duo, has dozens of other film and television roles under his belt, including a starring role on the show Nash Bridges and voice credits in a slew of Disney animated films. His long-awaited memoir delves not only into his legendary entertainment career, but also how he dodged the draft, acquired an expansive collection of Chicano art, and became a self-made icon. (recorded 3/16/2017)