Vesper Stamper is an illustrator and author who was born in Nuremberg, Germany and raised in New York City. Her family was an eclectic mix of engineers, musicians and artists who didn't think Voltaire too tough for bedtime reading, Chopin Valses too loud for wake-up calls, or precision slide rules too fragile as playthings. She married filmmaker Ben Stamper right out of college, and together they have two wildly creative children. When Vesper earned her MFA in Illustration from School of Visual Arts, Ben gave her an orange tree. She illustrates and writes under its leaves and blossoms at her grandfather 's old drafting table, in the pine woods of the Northeast.

In this episode, Stephen talks with Vesper about her debut, young-adult historical novel, What The Night Sings. The two discuss Vesper’s creative process in writing and illustrating the book and how her interest in the Holocaust led her on a search for redemption in the midst of unimaginable circumstances.