Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amran Gowani interviewed Kathleen Rooney, bestselling author of the contemporary novel MAN OVERBOARD!. They discussed what's ailing modern men, the “death cult” of capitalism, her unfashionable fascination with clowns, the nourishing power of literature, and why men should read more fiction. 

Kathleen Rooney is the nationally bestselling author of LILLIAN BOXFISH TAKES A WALK, as well as CHER AMI AND MAJOR WHITTLESEY and FROM DUST TO STARDUST. She has won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from Poetry magazine and the Adam Morgan Literary Citizen Award from the Chicago Review of Books. Kathleen’s criticism can be found in The New York Times, Chicago Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and beyond. She lives in Chicago and teaches English and creative writing at DePaul University.

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Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Abir Mukherjee, author of the thriller THE PINNACLE. In the novel, a washed-up American actor living in India wakes up from a drunken stupor one morning to the discovery of his murdered Bollywood star wife. In the interview, Abir discusses how his experiences working with the super-rich in India helped inspire the novel.

Abir Mukherjee is the Times bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in British colonialist India.

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On June 28, 2014, Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Danielle Allen about her newly published book, OUR DECLARATION: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality for Austin radio station KAZI 88.7 FM. Featured on the front page of the New York Times, her book publisher writes in its description of the book, "Challenging conventional wisdom, she boldly makes the case that the Declaration is a document as much about political equality as about individual liberty." The interview was originally published as a podcast episode on July 4, 2024.

Danielle Allen is James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. She is a professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy and director of the Democratic Knowledge Project and of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. Daniell Allen's latest book is RADICAL DUKE: How One Aristocrat-and the American Revolution-Transformed Britain.

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In the latest episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, media scholar Sarah J. Jackson chronicles the contributions of Black mediamakers since the 1700s in advocating for freedom in her new book A SECOND SIGHT: How the Wonder and Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Toward Freedom. In the interview with host Hopeton Hay, she explained how she used W.E.B. Dubois's concept of second sight as her framework for writing about the unique view that Blacks have of America. Jackson reviews the contributions of many Black mediamakers from journalists to podcasters to digital creators to filmmakers and more, from the past and the present—to provide a holistic view of the challenges and progress of Black Americans toward realizing the freedom promised in democracy.

Sarah J. Jackson is a scholar of race, media, and politics, her other works include #HashtagActivism (2020) and Black Celebrity, Racial Politics, and the Press (2014). She is an Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and co-directs the Media, Inequality & Change Center.
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Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed award winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, author of ON JUNETEENTH. In the interview, Gordon-Reed discussed the historical significance of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas. She also shared her personal experiences and perspectives on the holiday's origins, evolution, and cultural significance. Born and raised in Texas, Annette Gordon-Reed is a history professor at Harvard University and the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO.  Her web site is https://annettegordonreed.com/.

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Historian Ada Palmer provides a fresh perspective on the Renaissance in her book INVENTING THE RENAISSANCE: The Myth of A Golden Age. In the conversation with Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay, Palmer shared why this celebrated era of history, spanning the 14th to the 17th century, was both the best of times and the worst of times for Renaissance Italy.

Ada Palmer is a historian, novelist, and composer, and a professor in the History Department at the University of Chicago. She also writes science fiction and fantasy.  Her first novel TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING, begins the four volume science fiction series Terra Ignota. Follow her on Bluesky at @adapalmer.bsky.social or on her web site ExUrbe.

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Austin nonprofit Put It In A Book and Black Pearl Books recently launched a new program to support community storytelling. Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Katrina Brooks, founder of Put It In A Book and owner of Black Pearl Books, Eric Brooks, Put It In A Book board treasurer and owner of Black Pearl Books, and Put It In A Book executive director Charley Rejsek. The new initiative, Put Your Story In A Book: A Community Writing Project, is a three-month community writing journey that will culminate with a published anthology. In the interview they also discussed the journey of Black Pearl Books, the other programs of Put It In A Book, and why Katrina created Put It In A Book.

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British writer and actor Andi Osho's latest novel explores how a couple's desperation to buy a home in a hot housing market pushes them into petty crime in her novel MOST WANTED. In her conversation with Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay, she shared how she really wanted the young couple to be hapless and out of their depth. They also discussed how she used her experiences as an actor and television writer in creating her novels.

Andi Osho is an accomplished actor, writer, stand up comedian and film maker. As an actor, Andi has appeared in US and UK TV shows including Blue Lights, Breeders, I May Destroy You, The Sandman, Curfew, Death In Paradise, EastEnders, Pandora and Stay Close. Shazam and Lights Out are among her film credits. MOST WANTED is her third novel.

Follow her on Instagram at @theandioshow, and on Facebook at TheAndiOshow.

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In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay and author Tori Eldridge discuss her writing experience exploring Hawaiian cowboys, the Paniolos, a suspicious death, and family drama in her latest novel HAWAII RAGE. This is her second novel featuring ranger Makalani Panukula. In the interview Eldridge explained she wrote the book because "I really wanted to celebrate our Paniolo culture. I mean, come on, cowboys in Hawaii, how sexy is that?"

Tori Eldridge is the bestselling author of Kaua‘i Storm (Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery) and the Lily Wong mystery thriller series—The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, The Ninja Betrayed, and The Ninja’s Oath. Before writing, Tori performed as an actress, singer, dancer on Broadway, television, and film. Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

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In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay speaks with historians Jorge Cañizares‑Esguerra and Adrian Masters, co‑authors of THE RADICAL SPANISH EMPIRE: How Paperwork Politics Remade the New World. Their groundbreaking research overturns the familiar narrative of Spanish conquest and reveals a hidden history of Indigenous agency, political strategy, and bottom‑up power.

Drawing on hundreds of thousands of archival documents, the authors show how Indigenous people, commoners, Afro‑descendants, and even women used petitions, lawsuits, denunciations, and paperwork to challenge conquistadors, confront corrupt officials, and reshape colonial society. As Masters explains, “this paperwork… very strangely, is really what conquers the New World, but in the process, it allows hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people to participate in shaping society.”

Jorge Cañizares‑Esguerra is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of How to Write the History of the New World, Puritan Conquistadors, and Nature, Empire, and Nation.

Adrian Masters is a project leader in the Department of History at Trier University in Germany and the author of We, The King: Creating Royal Legislation in the 16th‑Century Spanish New World.

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