This interview was originally broadcast in August, 2019.

In the waning days of 1981, the Polish government, run by a Kremlin-backed prime minster, declared martial law in the country. An early test of a new administration, President Reagan wrote in his diary that this test would signify “the last chance in our lifetime to see a change in the Soviet Empire’s colonial policy regarding Eastern Europe.”

It’s May 1943. The Battle of Attu between American and Japanese forces was raging on the Aleutian island, with an Arctic cold, impenetrable fog, and rocketing winds that combined to create some of the worst weather on Earth. In this unlikely place, a Silver Star-winning American sergeant discovers a Japanese surgeon’s war diary, and finds solace for his own tortured soul. In his latest book, The Storm on Our Shores , bestselling author Mark Obmascik tells a heart-wrenching but ultimately

This interview originally aired in February, 2019.

It’s not everyday that we interview an author who has stared into Vladimir Putin's eyes while being accused of "purposely seeking to ruin U.S.-Russia relations." As President Barack Obama’s adviser on Russian affairs, Michael McFaul helped craft the United States’ policy, known as “reset,” that fostered new and unprecedented collaboration between the two countries. And then, as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, he had a front-row seat when this fleeting, hopeful moment crumbled with

China is a nation in pursuit of a new role on the global stage. But what implications will those reversing trends have on the US and the rest of the world?

Lake Success, now out in paperback, focuses on self-deluded husband and father Barry Cohen, a discontent hedge fund manager who oversees $2.4 billion in assets. Overwhelmed by an SEC investigation and by his three-year-old son’s diagnosis of autism, he flees New York on a Greyhound bus in search of a simpler, more romantic life with his old college sweetheart. A darkly funny novel about a life divorced from the world most of us know, Lake Success is a very human portrait of American despair in

This encore interview originally aired in February, 2019.

Esi Edugyan is the author of the book, Washington Black . The novel won the prestigious Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The paperback edition of the book is out now.

On the home front, Russia is a nation in turmoil. A flagging economy, shrinking population, with some rural areas that still don’t have running water. Yet Russia has emerged from the ashes of post-Soviet Communism as an international broker of mediation and disruption, lead by President Vladimir Putin.