Librarians by the Sea

Alison Arnett a food and agricultural writer, restaurant critic, and newspaper editor for the Boston Globe, Edible Boston, and other publications and teaches a class on food writing at the Harvard Extension School. During the episode, she gives us many recommendations for brand new and old favorite cookbooks.

Caroline and Julie discuss the recent gothic fantasy, Mexican Gothic, set in 1950s Mexico.

Steve Marantz is an author, journalist, and podcaster. His expansive career started in the newsroom of the Kansas City Star. He then moved on to the Boston Globe where he first covered sports, and then general assignment news and politics. He spent time at Sporting News Magazine and the Boston Herald before moving to ESPN.com and E:60, the sports newsmagazine broadcast by ESPN. He has written four books, including The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central: High School Basketball at the ’68 Racial Divide and Citizen Akoy: Basketball and the Making of a South Sudanese American. He has recently started his own podcast, Championship Stories.

Clem Schoenebeck has published both a book of poetry, Where the Time Went: Poems at Eighty and a memoir, Dancing with Fireflies: One Man’s Escape From Insanity. On today’s episode, Julie and Clem discuss the way that poetry and writing can be a form of therapy and how to get started with an artistic endeavor at any point in your life.

Deb Bogardus tells listeners about Andrews Chapel, a beautiful little non-denominational chapel located in the Swampscott Cemetery.  Built in honor of a former town Selectman, the chapel had fallen into disrepair until Deb and the rest of the Andrews Chapel Committee took on the challenge of getting it brought back to its former glory.

Julie is joined by Janina and Caroline to discuss the similarities and differences between the book Normal People by Sally Rooney and the Hulu show of the same name.

In honor of the first meeting of the Anti-Racism Book Group at the library, Janina shares some of the key takeaways from the group’s first pick, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo.

For more information about the Anti-Racism Book Group click here.

For more Black Lives Matter resources, click here.

To read the transcription of this episode, click here.

Today on the podcast, we have an interview with Adriana Mather, a New York Times best-selling author, producer, and actor. She tells us all about her journey to becoming an author and the deep roots of her family’s history and how they inspired some of her works. 

Alyce, Laurie, and Julie discuss the new book, A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler. There's a lot to discuss within the story, and it would make a great book club pick! Listen to find out what they think, or read the transcription here.

Long time Swampscott Historic Commission member Sylvia Belkin shares her knowledge of one of Swampscott's most illustrious residents, Elihu Thomson, who was a co-founder of the General Electric Company, Acting President of MIT, and holder of almost 700 US patents!