WYPL Book Talk

Jeff Shesol is back today for the second of a two-part interview. Jeff worked as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, as a communications strategist, and even as a cartoonist. His previous books include Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court and Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade. Today we’ll be talking about his latest book, Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War which is published by W.W. Norton.

Jeff Shesol is here today for the first of a two-part interview. Jeff worked as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, as a communications strategist, and even as a cartoonist. His previous books include Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court and Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade. Today we’ll be talking about his latest book, Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War which is published by W.W. Norton.

Olivia Campbell is a respected journalist having written for outlets such as The Guardian, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, among others. Today we’ll be talking about her debut book, Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine, which looks at three women who blazed the trail for others to attend medical schools and earn MD degrees in 19th century America and Britain. I’d also like to add a note that internet weather didn’t do our connection any favors, so the audio is a bit dicey at times, but it is a very interesting conversation which I hope that you’ll stick around for. 

We're pleased to welcome a new guest host, David Mason, to the program today. Dave is an associate professor at Rhodes College.  He is also the editor of Ecumenica : Journal of Theatre and Performance. He’s the author of the books The Performative Ground of Religion and Theatre (Routledge, 2019) Brigham Young: Sovereign in America (New York: Routledge, 2014) Theatre and Religion on Krishna’s Stage (New York: Palgrave, 2009) 

Dave will be speaking with Vanessa R. Sasson, a professor of religious studies at Marionopolis College in Quebec. She has a good deal of academic writing and editing under her belt, including the collection, Little Buddhas: Children and Childhood in Buddhist Texts and Traditions and the forthcoming, Jewels, Jewelry, and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary. But today, she and Dave will be discussing her debut novel, Yasodhara and the Buddha, which was recent published in the United States by Bloomsbury Academic. 

John Archibald is a long-time reporter and columnist for The Birmingham News. In 2018, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Today we’ll be discussing his first book, Shaking the Gates of Hell: A Search for Family and Truth in the Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution, which is published by Knopf. 

Julia Cooke is a writer whose journalism has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Salon and many others. Her first book was The Other Side of Paradise: Life in the New Cuba, and today we’ll be discussing her latest, Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am which is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 

Memphian Mark Greaney return to talk about his latest Gray Man novel, Relentless, and about The Grey Man being developed for Netflix. 

E.A. Barres is a pseudonym of the crime fiction writer, E.A. Aymar, who is also known as Ed. As E.A. Aymar, he’s published the novels The Unrepentant, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, and You’re As Good As Dead, as well as contributed to several anthologies. He has taken on the pseudonym E.A. Barres to publish They’re Gone, which is available from Crooked Lane Books. 

Mateo Askaripour to the program. He’s a former director of sales for a tech company who has shifted to the written word. His writing has appeared in Entrepreneur, The Rumpus, and Medium, among others. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has recently published his debut novel, Black Buck.