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C-SPAN Bookshelf

The C-SPAN Bookshelf podcast feed makes it easy for you to listen to all of the C-SPAN podcast episodes about nonfiction books. Each week we gather episodes from the different C-SPAN podcasts that feature authors talking about history, biography, current events, and culture to make it easier to discover the episodes and listen. If you like nonfiction books, follow this podcast feed so you never miss an episode!
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Episodes

AW: Batya Ungar-Sargon "Second Class"

Newsweek’s Batya Ungar-Sargon talks with working class Americans about their lives & policies they believe could help get them to the middle class. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 13, 20241 hr 1 min

BN+: Jack McCallum, "The Real Hoosiers"

The book is called "The Real Hoosiers". The author is Pennsylvania-based Jack McCallum. He was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated for 30 years. "The Real Hoosiers" is a book about parts of Indiana, race, and basketball. To tell the story, McCallum focuses on the life of "The Big O," well-known basketball success Oscar Robertson, who is now 85 years old. Oscar Robertson started his career at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis. Author McCallum says his is a story of a city, a state, an...

Apr 09, 20241 hr 17 min

Q&A: David Charter, "Royal Audience"

The Times of London U.S. editor David Charter, author of "Royal Audience," discusses the special relationship that Queen Elizabeth II had with the United States and U.S. presidents over her 70-year reign as Britain's Head of State. Queen Elizabeth, who became queen in 1952 and passed away in 2022, had met and had varying degrees of personal relationships with 13 of the 14 U.S. presidents during her reign going back to Harry Truman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...

Apr 08, 20241 hr 4 min

AW: Annie Jacobsen, "Nuclear War"

Journalist Annie Jacobsen chronicled the sequence of events that would occur at home and around the globe following the launch of a nuclear missile. She was interviewed by author and national security analyst Joe Cirincione. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 06, 20241 hr 1 min

BN+: Stephen Puleo, "The Great Abolitionist"

Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was a United States Senator for 23 years. He lived to be 63, from January of 1811 to March of 1874. Stephen Puleo has written the first major, full biography of Sumner since 1960. It's titled "The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union." Mr. Puleo writes: "His positions cost him dearly. Southerners despised him, sometimes feared him, and celebrated gleefully when Sumner was beaten unconscious in the Senate chamber in May of 1856....

Apr 02, 20242 hr 6 min

Q&A: Dr. Uché Blackstock, "Legacy"

Our guest this week is Dr. Uché Blackstock. She and her twin sister, Oni, are graduates of Harvard Medical School, as was their mother, Dr. Dale Gloria Blackstock. In fact, they were the first Black mother-daughter graduates of Harvard Medical School. Dr Blackstock's book, "Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism in Medicine," looks at some of the issues she sees facing Black doctors and patients today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...

Apr 01, 20241 hr 2 min

AW: Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation"

NYU professor Jonathan Haidt argued that technology is harming the social development and mental health of children. He was interviewed by Harvard University Center for Digital Thriving co-director and author Emily Weinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 30, 20241 hr 3 min

AB: Jonathan Karp on 100 years of Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster President & CEO Jonathan Karp discussed the company's 1924 founding, its role in publishing, and some of the authors it has published. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 29, 202426 min

BN+: Andrew Pettegree, "The Book at War"

Andrew Pettegree is a British historian at St. Andrews University in Scotland. His specialty is the history of the book and media transformations. He has written a great deal about the written word with an emphasis on libraries. His latest book is titled "The Book at War: How Reading Shaped Conflict and Conflict Shaped Reading." In his introduction, Prof. Pettegree writes: "In all nations, once war broke out, writers and libraries were expected to play a full role in forging victory….after the S...

Mar 26, 20241 hr 6 min

Q&A: Carlos Lozada, "The Washington Book"

Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic and New York Times columnist Carlos Lozada, author of "The Washington Book," talks about the insights he gleaned from reading the memoirs, political biographies, and official reports written by politicians and government officials in Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 25, 20241 hr 4 min

BN+: Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler, "Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making?"

In Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler's latest book, they open with this introduction: "This is a book of love stories. Every one of them involved a president of the United States, and we will tell their stories through letters they wrote. Through this collection of carefully chosen letters, we reveal the writers at their most vulnerable, providing a surprisingly intimate and deeply personal portrait that is often obscured by the public persona." Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler's book is titled "Are You Prep...

Mar 19, 20241 hr 10 min

Q&A: Rob Henderson, "Troubled"

Columnist Rob Henderson talks about growing up as a troubled child in the U.S. foster care system, the hurdles he overcame to become successful, and what he learned about class divisions in America as a result. By age 8, after 5 years in the system, Mr. Henderson had lived in 9 different foster homes and attended 6 different schools. He eventually went on to join the military and obtain higher degrees in psychology from Yale and Cambridge universities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Mar 18, 20241 hr 3 min

AW: Jane Marie, "Selling the Dream"

Journalist Jane Marie reported on how multilevel marketing businesses make their profits. She was interviewed by Business Insider senior correspondent Emily Stewart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 16, 20241 hr 3 min

AB: 2024 Spring Book Preview

National Book Critics Circle board member J. Howard Rosier previewed some of the nonfiction books being released this spring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 15, 202432 min

BN+: James Traub, "True Believer"

James Traub's latest book is titled "True Believer: Hubert Humphrey's Quest for a More Just America." In the introduction, Mr. Traub writes: "I return to Humphrey in order to explain what liberalism was at its ascendant moment, why it mattered so much to so may people, why it abruptly lost its appeal to the majority of Americans – and, perhaps, how it might rejuvenate itself." Hubert Humphrey served as mayor of Minneapolis, United States Senator, Vice President of the United States under Lyndon ...

Mar 12, 20241 hr 7 min

Q&A: Scott Eyman, "Charlie Chaplin vs. America"

Hollywood biographer Scott Eyman discusses his book "Charlie Chaplin vs. America," about the silent film star's fallout with the U.S. government during the Red Scare. Once a beloved actor and filmmaker, Charlie Chaplin became a target of right-wing politicians and the FBI after World War II because of his liberal political views and sexual interests. He was exiled from the U.S. in 1952 and didn't return until 1972. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...

Mar 11, 20241 hr 4 min

AW: Dr. Elizabeth Comen, "All in Her Head"

Dr. Elizabeth Comen looked at the medical history of women's health and discussed how the narrative around women's bodies was shaped mostly by men. She was interviewed by Muhlenberg College Medical Humanities Program Director Jacqueline Antonovich. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 09, 20241 hr 1 min

BN+: Peter Englund, "November 1942"

The year is 1942, the month is November. The subject of Peter Englund's book is "An Intimate History of the Turning Point of World War II." Mr. Englund, who is based in his native Sweden, features close to 40 people from around the world and what they were doing during that month and year of the war. He writes that: "At the start of that [November] many people still believed that the Axis powers would be victorious. By the end of that month it had become clear that it was only a matter of time b...

Mar 05, 20241 hr 9 min

Q&A: Katie Rogers, "American Woman"

New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers discusses her book "American Woman," about the modern evolution of First Ladies of the United States. She talks about the impact and contributions of First Ladies of both parties going back to Hillary Clinton and their changing roles in the 21st century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 04, 20241 hr 3 min

AW: Kara Swisher, "Burn Book - A Tech Love Story"

Journalist Kara Swisher spoke about her career and covering the tech industry and its key players. She was interviewed by author and Financial Times global business columnist and associate editor Rana Foroohar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 02, 20241 hr

Tony Lyons of Skyhorse Publishing

Skyhorse President & Publisher Tony Lyons discusses the company he founded in 2006, his latest expansion efforts and outlook on the publishing industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 01, 202430 min

BN+: Jim Trusty, Defense Attorney

Jim Trusty, our guest this week, is an attorney with 28 years of experience as a prosecutor, first in the state of Maryland and later with the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, DC. He has worked as an attorney for Donald Trump on several pending cases. In June last year, Mr. Trusty withdrew from representing former President Trump, citing irreconcilable differences. However, in his public appearances, Jim Trusty remains a critic of the different prosecutors and their approach to his former ...

Feb 27, 20241 hr 4 min

Q&A: Patti Davis, "Dear Mom and Dad"

Patti Davis discusses her book "Dear Mom and Dad," a memoir written as a letter to her late parents, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. She talks about being in the spotlight after her father entered politics in the 1960s, her complicated relationship with her mother, her views on the Reagan administration's handling of illegal drugs and the AIDS epidemic, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 26, 202456 min

BN+: Glenn Kirschner, Former Federal Prosecutor & "Justice Matters" Host

Glenn Kirschner, our guest this week, is an attorney with 30 years of trial experience. For 24 of those years, he prosecuted 50 murder trials for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, DC. Three years ago, he created for YouTube viewers a daily video analysis of Donald Trump's legal issues and indictments. He calls his show "Justice Matters" and records his remarks from his home in Virginia. We asked him how he puts it all together. As you'll learn, he is not a fan of Donald Trump. Our next e...

Feb 20, 20241 hr 8 min

Q&A: Speaker Don Scott (D), Virginia House of Delegates

"For every young kid that makes a mistake, they can look at Don Scott and say, 'I'll never give up. I can still be what I want to be in America.'" That was former Republican governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia speaking about our guest this week, the state's newly elected Democratic speaker of the House of Delegates. Don Scott talks about the hurdles he overcame, including spending almost eight years in prison, to become Virginia's first Black speaker in 405 years. Learn more about your ad choices...

Feb 19, 20241 hr 6 min

AW: Andrew Curran, "Who’s Black and Why?"

Wesleyan University professor Andrew Curran looked at how the concept of race emerged during the 18th-century Enlightenment period. George Mason University history professor Christy Pichichero interviewed him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 17, 20241 hr 4 min

AB: Daniel Paisner on Ghostwriting

Author Daniel Paisner discusses his ghostwriting career and the recent National Convention of Ghostwriters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 16, 202432 min
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