Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchStuart Klawans, "Crooked, But Never Common: The Films of Preston Sturges" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Episode 112
In a burst of creativity unmatched in Hollywood history, Preston Sturges directed a string of all-time classic comedies from 1939 through 1948--The G…
3 years, 6 months ago
Stephen Dobranski, "Reading John Milton: How to Persist in Troubled Times" (Stanford UP, 2022)
Episode 223
John Milton is unrivalled--for the music of his verse and the breadth of his learning. In this brisk, topical, and engaging biography, Stephen B. Dob…
3 years, 6 months ago
Craig Seymour, "Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross" (2017)
Episode 228
On April 16, 2003, Luther Vandross suffered a near-fatal stroke, and the world held its breath. Inside sources said he might never sing again. He was…
3 years, 6 months ago
Kathe Geist, "Ozu: A Closer Look" (Hong Kong UP, 2022)
Episode 151
Based on a close reading of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s extant films, this book provides insights into the ways the director created narrative s…
3 years, 6 months ago
Zvi Preigerzon, "Memoirs of a Jewish Prisoner of the Gulag" (Cherry Orchard Books, 2022)
Episode 337
Today I talked to Alex Lahav about his edition and translation Memoirs of a Jewish Prisoner of the Gulag (Cherry Orchard Books, 2022).
Zvi Preigerzon …
3 years, 6 months ago
Sonya Y. Ramsey, "Bertha Maxwell-Roddey: A Modern-Day Race Woman and the Power of Black Leadership" (UP of Florida, 2022)
Episode 227
Bertha Maxwell-Roddey: A Modern-Day Race Woman and the Power of Black Leadership (UP of Florida, 2022) examines a life of remarkable achievements and…
3 years, 6 months ago
Neil Baldwin, "Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern" (Knopf, 2022)
Episode 226
Time magazine called her "the Dancer of the Century." Her technique, used by dance companies throughout the world, became the first long-lasting alte…
3 years, 6 months ago
Harvey J. Kaye, "The British Marxist Historians" (Zero Book, 2022)
Episode 337
The British Marxist Historians, originally published in 1995, remains the first and most complete study of the founders of one of the most influentia…
3 years, 6 months ago
Ying-Chen Peng, "Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager Cixi's Image Making" (Yale UP, 2023)
Episode 48
Ying-chen Peng’s Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager Cixi’s Image Making is a beautiful new volume on late Qing imperial art practice from Yale Univer…
3 years, 6 months ago
Daniel Gross. "A Banker's Journey: How Edmond J. Safra Built a Global Financial Empire" (Radius Book Group, 2022)
Episode 334
Who was Edmond J. Safra? "The greatest banker of his generation," in the estimation of a former World Bank President. The founder of four massive fin…
3 years, 6 months ago