Host Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. Kristof was in Boise in October, 2018 to address the fall conference of the Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation. The two discuss Kristof's views on current social issues in America. His next book will look at those concerns, focusing on his hometown of Yamhill, Oregon. Kristof talks about programs he believes would help ameliorate the problems, and they also discuss the role of private philanthropy....
Jul 31, 2022•29 min
Host Marcia Franklin interviews Michael Ames, the co-author of "American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan." Ames, a former reporter for the Idaho Mountain Express and Sun Valley Magazine, became fascinated with the story of Bowe Bergdahl, an U.S. Army soldier who grew up in Hailey, Idaho, who was captured by the Taliban and held for five years. Ames and co-author Matt Farwell take a deeper look into Bergdahl’s life and the politics surrounding the search for him and his ...
Jul 24, 2022•29 min
Montana author Pete Fromm joins host Marcia Franklin to talk about his latest book, "A Job You Mostly Won’t Know How to Do." The novel tells the story of a young man who has to raise his child when his wife dies in childbirth. Fromm talks about how he developed the story, as well as his writing style. The two also discuss the success he’s had with his books in France. Fromm also reminisces about the seven months he lived in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho, which he recounted in his awa...
Jul 17, 2022•27 min
Marcia Franklin talks with author Kirk Wallace Johnson about his book The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century. The book details Johnson’s investigation into a major theft of 300 rare bird skins from a British museum in 2009 by a 20-year-old American, Edward Rist. Rist then illegally sold the feathers into the arcane world of Victorian salmon fly-tyers. Johnson discusses why he felt it was important to write the book, and how the crime and other heists l...
Jul 10, 2022•29 min
As the United States heads for what portends to be a raucous convention season, Dialogue host Marcia Franklin talks with Eric Liu, the founder of Citizen University in Seattle, about whether it’s even possible in a seemingly fractured society to have a civil discussion about politics. Liu, also the executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute, is trying to reclaim civic education from the doldrums and encourage Americans to act on their rights. His T...
Jul 03, 2022•29 min
Host Marcia Franklin continues her conversation with Idaho-born playwright Samuel Hunter, focusing on the craft of playwriting, some of the actors he admires, and a new project he's working on that's not for the stage. Hunter, a Moscow, ID native, is the recipient of a 2014 MacArthur Fellowship, known colloquially as the "Genius Grant." He also won an Obie Award in 2011. Originally Aired: 10/16/2015...
Jun 26, 2022•29 min
He's only 34, but has already won some of the most prestigious awards for creativity in the country. On this episode of Dialogue, Marcia Franklin interviews playwright and Moscow, ID native Samuel Hunter. Hunter is the recipient of a 2014 MacArthur Fellowship, known colloquially as the "Genius Grant." He also won an Obie Award in 2011. Hunter talks about what it was like to win the MacArthur, and what he plans to do with the time and money it affords him to dedicate to his craft. He also discuss...
Jun 19, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Fredrik Logevall, Ph.D. about the antecedents to the Vietnam War. Logevall, the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and a professor of history at Harvard College, won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in History for his book, "Embers of War." It examined France's colonial involvement in Vietnam, and how and why U.S. support of the French led to the Vietnam War. In its citation, the Pulitz...
Jun 12, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin talks with poet Richard Blanco, the first LatinX and gay inaugural poet. Blanco wrote a poem for President Obama's second inaugural and read it at the ceremony. He discusses the process of writing the inaugural poem, "One Today," how the piece reflected his life and his philosophy of writing, the themes of his work, and the power of poetry to change lives. Mr. Blanco was the keynote speaker at the Idaho Humanities Council's annual event in 2019. Originally aired: 12/20/19...
Jun 05, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin talks with leading death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J. about her views, as well as the success of the book and film about her life, 'Dead Man Walking.' The two also discuss the potential future of the death penalty, women in the priesthood, and her next project. Originally aired: 05/13/98
May 29, 2022•29 min
As part of the events in 2016 surrounding the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Dialogue host Marcia Franklin talks with Professor Eric Rasmussen of the University of Nevada, Reno. Rasmussen, the chair of the English department at UNR, is a pre-eminent Shakespeare scholar and an expert on the First Folio, which was published in 1623 and includes almost all of the Bard of Avon’s plays. Rasmussen, also the author of a 1000-page catalog called The Shakespeare First Folio, worked wit...
May 22, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt about storytelling and the power of memory. (Note: McCourt died July 19, 2009) The two talk about the loss of the storytelling ethos in our culture, and the need to preserve history through both oral and written tradition. They also discuss the rigors of teaching; McCourt taught high school English for 30 years and wrote about the experience in his 2005 book "Teacher Man". He says it was his students who urged him to write hi...
May 15, 2022•29 min
Idaho native and author Alyssa Harad talks with Marcia Franklin about her first book, Coming to My Senses , which chronicles her surprise at discovering how the power of perfume helped her grow personally as both a writer and feminist. She also recommends books for good winter reading. Harad, who grew up in Boise, had been working in a series of unfulfilling jobs in Austin, TX after receiving her Ph.D. One day she started reading about perfume. Her academic interest in the language and history o...
May 08, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin talks with Judge Joan E. Donoghue of the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court. Donoghue is the first female American judge to sit on the court, which is in The Hague, Netherlands, and is only the third female judge to be seated in that court's history. She discusses the role of the court, which hears disputes between nation-states, her experience on the court, and the importance of international law. The court's opinions are sometimes controversial, and s...
May 01, 2022•29 min
As Russia’s dominance on the international stage increases, along with its presence in the American presidential election, Dialogue host Marcia Franklin talks with journalist Jill Dougherty about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dougherty, who reported for CNN for 30 years, most recently as its Foreign Affairs Correspondent, was also the network’s Moscow Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent. She left CNN in 2013 to get a Master’s degree in International Relations from Georgetown Universit...
Apr 24, 2022•29 min
Director, writer and performance artist Miranda July talks with host Marcia Franklin about her life and work. The conversation was filmed at the Church of the Big Wood in Ketchum, as part of an event sponsored by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts. July discusses the inspirations for her work, her creative process, and how becoming a mother has changed her. Miranda July wrote, directed and starred in the film "Me and You and Everyone We Know," which won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film ...
Apr 17, 2022•29 min
Host Marcia Franklin talks with bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Anna Quindlen. The two discuss the political and cultural landscape of today, including the "Me Too" movement. The author of "How Reading Changed My Life," Quindlen also talks about the power of reading to bridge gaps between people. Quindlen has written 17 books of fiction and non-fiction, including "Lots of Candles," "Plenty of Cake," "Still Life with Bread Crumbs," "A Short Guide to a Happy Life," "Miller'...
Apr 10, 2022•29 min
Host Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Idaho native Laurel Thatcher Ulrich about her latest book, "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History." Ulrich, a professor at Harvard University, coined the phrase in a scholarly paper she wrote in the 1970s. Franklin and her guest discuss how growing up in Idaho influenced Professor Ulrich to become a historian. She also explains why she calls herself "a Mormon feminist" and why she believes "good history is almost always danger...
Apr 03, 2022•27 min
Marcia Franklin talks with novelist Dinaw Mengestu about the themes of his books, which include All the Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears and All Our Names . Mengestu, who emigrated from Ethiopia with his family when he was two, often writes about the lives of immigrants. He is the recipient of many honors, including the Guardian First Book Award and the MacArthur Fellowship. Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter. Originally Aired: 11/27/20...
Feb 27, 2022•29 min
Host Marcia Franklin sits down with historian and law professor Annette Gordon-Reed about her book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family . The book, which won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, explores the complex bonds between President Thomas Jefferson and one of his slave families, the Hemingses. Using primary source documents, as well as second-hand accounts, Gordon-Reed tries to piece together the relationship between Jefferson and Sally Hemings, with whom most...
Feb 20, 2022•29 min
Dialogue host Marcia Franklin talks with historical novelist Lois Leveen about two of her works: The Secrets of Mary Bowser, about a former slave who was a spy in the Confederate White House, and Juliet's Nurse, which imagines the life of the nurse in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Franklin asks Leveen about how she researches her ideas and what she hopes readers will glean from her works. Originally Aired: 02/13/15
Feb 13, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson about her book, The Warmth of Other Suns. The work, about the Great Migration of African-Americans from the south to other parts of the country, took Wilkerson 15 years to research and write. They discuss the reasons for the migration, its influence on the country, and how the book's success has affected Wilkerson. Originally Aired: 10/16/14
Feb 06, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Richard Russo about his book, Elsewhere: A Memoir. The book describes the complicated relationship Russo had with his mother, who raised him, but who needed assistance herself. He and Franklin also discuss the themes of his other works, the process of adapting his books for the screen, and his upcoming projects. Originally Aired: 11/30/12
Jan 30, 2022•29 min
In this extra segment, host Marcia Franklin continues her discussion with Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan, focusing on the changes that have taken place in Germany since World War II, and her thoughts on Israel. Originally Aired: 09/05/13
Jan 23, 2022•11 min
Host Marcia Franklin talks with Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan about her experiences in several concentration camps, including Bergen-Belsen, and her life educating others about how to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. Lazan is the co-author of a young adult book about her experiences called Four Perfect Pebbles, and is the subject of a documentary called Marion's Triumph. Originally Aired: 09/05/13
Jan 23, 2022•29 min
Marcia Franklin talks with Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), the last of the so-called "Big Six" leaders of the African-American civil rights movement. Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter! Originally Aired: 11/14/2014 Lewis was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966, and played a seminal role in some of the 56 most important activities of the movement, including the Freedom Rides, the march from Selma ...
Jan 16, 2022•46 min
Novelist Tayari Jones describes the process of writing “An American Marriage,” a novel that chronicles the trajectory of a marriage when one of the spouses is wrongfully convicted of a crime. Jones talks with Marcia about the serendipity that led to the book’s characters, as well as how her writing is informed by the experiences of her parents, who were both active in the civil rights movement. Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter. Original...
Jan 09, 2022•30 min
Longtime New Yorker writer and author Susan Orlean rounds out the month with a lively chat with Franklin about her writing style and her work, including hundreds of magazine articles, “The Library Book,” and an upcoming memoir. Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter. Originally Aired: 12/31/2021 The interview is part of Dialogue ’s series “Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference” and was taped at the 2021 conference. Since 1995,...
Jan 02, 2022•30 min
Sarah Broom unpacks her National Book Award-winning memoir, “The Yellow House,” which chronicles the devastating effects that decades of neglect and bureaucratic amnesia have had on her childhood neighborhood of New Orleans East. The book also pays homage to the house she and her 11 siblings grew up in, which was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, but which lives on in Broom’s prose. Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter. Originally Aired: 12/2...
Dec 26, 2021•30 min
Catherine Grace Katz talks with host Marcia Franklin about “The Daughters of Yalta,” her first book. In it, she illuminates the contributions that Anna Roosevelt, Sarah Churchill and Kathleen Harriman made during the seminal 1945 meeting of world leaders at Yalta, which included their fathers, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Averell Harriman. Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter. Originally Aired: 12/17/2021 The interview ...
Dec 19, 2021•30 min
