Heather Cox Richardson with Andrew Delbanco: Democracy Awakening
Historian and author Heather Cox Richardson sits down with Andrew Delbanco to discuss her most recent book, Democracy Awakening.
Feb 06, 2024•1 hr
Library Talks
Join The New York Public Library and your favorite writers, artists, and thinkers for smart talks and provocative conversations from the nation’s cultural capital.
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Episodes
Lesbian Poetic Traditions: Judy Grahn and Friends
The iconic feminist poet Judy Grahn re-explores the traditions of lesbian poetry from Sappho to Pat Parker and beyond.
Jan 23, 2024•58 min
Vauhini Vara with Leslie Jamison: This Is Salvaged
Prize-winning author Vauhini Vara sits down with Leslie Jamison to discuss her first collection of short stories, This Is Salvaged .
Jan 09, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Ayana Mathis and Justin Torres
Authors Ayana Mathis, author of The Unsettled , and Justin Torres, author of Blackouts , speak about their award-winning novels.
Dec 26, 2023•1 hr
Outrageous: Kliph Nesteroff with Marc Maron
In this episode of Library Talks, author Kliph Nesteroff sits down with comedian Marc Maron to discuss his new book, Outrageous , which chronicles the controversies of American show business and the ongoing attempts to change what we watch, read, and hear.
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Far from Over: The Fight for the Equal Rights Amendment
Politicians and activists discuss the continuing push to revive the much-contested Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
Nov 28, 2023•57 min
Mary Beard with Tim Gunn: Emperor of Rome
Mary Beard returns to the Library to talk with Tim Gunn about her new book, Emperor of Rome , her long-awaited follow up to the international bestseller SPQR .
Nov 14, 2023•57 min
C Pam Zhang with Padma Lakshmi: Land of Milk and Honey
In this episode of Library Talks, C Pam Zhang sits down with Padma Lakshmi to discuss her latest novel Land of Milk and Honey , which tells the story of climate disaster and a young chef discovering pleasure at the end of the world. Zhang is the winner of the Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Award and the Asian/Pacific Award for Literature, a Booker Prize nominee, and a finalist for numerous other prizes, including the the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Zh...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr
Matthew Desmond and Andrea Elliott: Poverty, by America
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond’s latest book, Poverty, by America , reimagines the American debate on poverty, making an original and ambitious argument about why it persists here: because too many of us benefit from it. In this episode of Library Talks, Desmond speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliot to discuss his new ways of thinking around this morally urgent, uniquely American problem—and imagines practical, achievable solutions for making poverty disappea...
Oct 17, 2023•47 min
Building the World We Want: Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance
Acclaimed scholar and writer Alondra Nelson leads a discussion on the transnational impacts of artificial intelligence and the need for global collaboration. Speakers include Karen Kornbluh, Maria Ressa, Olatunbosun Tijani, Tim Wu
Oct 03, 2023•50 min
Luis Alberto Urrea: Good Night, Irene
The new novel by award-winning author Luis Alberto Urrea, Good Night, Irene , tells an overlooked story of women’s heroism in World War II, inspired by the experiences of his own mother. Urrea speaks about his “moving and graceful tribute to heroic women” that asks whether a friendship forged on the front lines of war defines a life forever.
Sep 19, 2023•55 min
Sasha Velour and Joe E. Jeffreys: Drag Manifesto
Sasha Velour is an iconic queen. Turns out she’s also a historian! In this episode of Library Talks , Velour sits down with drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys to discuss her new book, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag , a treasure trove of revelations about radical queer expressions throughout time. The revered entertainer and winner of RuPaul's Drag Race weaves together gender theory, politics, and memoir to tell the story of drag. Velour redefines drag for a new generation while unc...
Sep 05, 2023•51 min
Sherrilyn Ifill: How America Ends and Begins Again
Welcome back! The Library presents conversations with an incredible array of authors, performers, activists, and thinkers, and our Library Talks podcast brings some of those conversations to you. Today we are relaunching the show with Sherrilyn Iffill delivering the annual Robert B. Silvers Lecture, titled How America Ends and Begins Again . Within this dangerous period of accelerated democratic unraveling, Sherrilyn Ifill argues that our country has a unique opportunity. Can we use this moment ...
Aug 22, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Stonewall 50: The Sound of Memory
The Stonewall Riots were a flash point in LGBTQ history. After the riots that took place at the Stonewall Inn in June 1969, the LGBTQ civil rights movement went from handfuls of pioneering activists to a national movement mobilizing thousands. On this special episode we’ll hear what happened over the nights of the riots through archival audio of iconic transgender rights activists Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. NYPL's Jason Baumann returns for an interview with p...
Jun 23, 2019•49 min
Before Stonewall
Aidan Flax-Clark welcomes co-host Jason Baumann, Assistant Director for Collection Development and Coordinator of Humanities and the Library’s LGBTQ Initiative , for a special episode about queer life before the Stonewall Riots. Frank Collerius, Manager of the Jefferson Market branch at NYPL, interviews writer and curator Hugh Ryan about his new book ' when brooklyn was queer .' We also hear a reading of 'The How and Why of Virginia,' the personal story of Virginia Prince, the founder and editor...
Jun 16, 2019•1 hr 1 min
Marlon James Gets Nerdy with Kevin Young
Marlon James is a Jamaican novelist and winner of the Man Booker Prize. His recent book Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the first in a epic trilogy that blends myth, fantasy, and history—what James has described as "African Game of Thrones." He spoke with fellow fantasy and comic book fan, Kevin Young, who is a poet and the Director for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. They talked about James' two years of research for the series, map making, Afrofuturism, and books they love, whil...
Jun 09, 2019•54 min
A History of the Queer Press
The Gay Liberation Front was an organization recognized for publishing the first gay liberation newspaper in the world,"Come Out!". It provided openly queer media exposure for many activists, writers, and artists. In conjunction with the NYPL exhibition Love & Resistance: Stonewall 50, founding members of the GLF, Perry Brass and Karla Jay, speak with media and activism scholar Michael Bronski, and Kathy Tu and Tobin Low, co-hosts of WNYC Studios’ podcast Nancy. They discussed the fight for ...
Jun 02, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Erin Lee Carr and Ta-Nehisi Coates Remember David Carr
Documentary filmmaker Erin Lee Carr remembers her father, legendary journalist David Carr, in a moving new memoir, "All That You Leave Behind." Erin Lee Carr, went looking for support and comfort in the lifetime of correspondence that they had shared. She was also looking for clues—advice the famous mentor, journalist, and father might have to offer on how to cope with her devastating loss, and continue on with her life and career. Erin Lee Carr will be joined by one of her father’s admiring men...
May 26, 2019•54 min
How Robert Caro Writes About Power and the Powerless
At age 83, Robert Caro pulls back the curtains on his process, in his new book "Working." He also answers the question he is asked most often: why does it take him so long to write his books? Caro is the author of the Robert Moses biography "The Power Broker" and "The Years of Lyndon Johnson," The biographer, who has spent much time doing what he does best in the Allen Room of The New York Public Library, returns to share some stories of his own with William P. Kelly, The New York Public Library...
May 19, 2019•1 hr 1 min
Breaking New Ground with Dr. Carla Hayden and Tracy K. Smith
Dr. Carla Hayden is the 14th Librarian of Congress, the first African American and the first woman to hold this position. Tracy K. Smith is the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States, and Director and Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton University. In a conversation with Schomburg Director, Kevin Young they discussed their work, the future of Black librarianship and the democratization of libraries
May 12, 2019•45 min
Jill Abramson and Jane Mayer's Insider Take on the News
The former executive editor of "The New York Times" tells the story of the news industry in her new book " Merchants of Truth ." Jill Abramson traces the past ten years of four major news outlets and their prospective futures in the face of rapidly changing technologies, shifting business models, and a president who almost daily assails the mainstream media as fake news. She spoke with long-time friend and colleague, investigative reporter Jane Mayer....
May 05, 2019•1 hr
Eliza Griswold Uncovers the Human Cost of Fracking
Journalist, Eliza Griswold just won a Pulitzer Prize and a Bernstein Award for her recent book,"Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America." Even at its most basic level, the book is a fascinating story about the energy boom's relationship to the natural land. But it's also a moving portrait of a family—a resolute mother trying to care for her two children, sickened by the fracking fallout. Griswold sat down with NYPL's Gwen Glazer to talk about the making of this story, imme...
Apr 28, 2019•47 min
Shane Bauer's Undercover Reporting from Inside a Private Prison
Going undercover as a prison guard in Winnifield, Louisiana, journalist Shane Bauer exposes the brutality of for-profit private prison systems, and this country's history of outsourcing criminal punishment in his book "American Prison." This stunning work recently won NYPL's 2019 Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism. In this conversation with Aidan Flax-Clark, Bauer discusses the making of this book, the dangers of private prisons in the U.S., and his personal difficulties balancing his ...
Apr 21, 2019•45 min
Emily Bazelon and Stacey Abrams talk Criminal Justice Reform
In the search for meaningful criminal justice reform, are prosecutors one of the keys to change? In her new book, "Charged," journalist Emily Bazelon argues that prosecutors play an "outsize role" in mass incarceration -- from choosing the charge to setting bail to determining the plea bargain. To discuss the issue, Bazelon was joined by Stacey Abrams, a lawyer, novelist and politician who in 2018 campaigned for criminal justice reform as a candidate in a historic race for governor in Georgia....
Apr 14, 2019•1 hr 18 min
Bending Reality with G. Willow Wilson
G. Willow Wilson is a critically acclaimed novelist and co-creator of the first Muslim superhero with their own Marvel comic book series. Wilson's new book, The Bird King, is the story of a fantastical quest through the Iberian peninsula at the height of the Spanish Inquisition. She read from the novel and spoke with Hugo award-winning writer N. K. Jemisin about the power of imagining different worlds and how writing fantasy can expose reality.
Apr 07, 2019•53 min
Janet Napolitano Explains Homeland Security with Joe Biden
Few people understand the state of our national security as well as Janet Napolitano and Joe Biden. Napolitano, former Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary and the first appointed by President Obama, has written about the subject in her new book, "How Safe Are We?" She spoke with Vice President Joe Biden, who—in addition to being Barack Obama's Vice President— chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and sat on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Securit...
Mar 31, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Still Cringing After 'Cat Person'
When "Cat Person" appeared in "The New Yorker" in December 2017, it quickly became a viral hit, striking a chord with readers at the height of the #MeToo Movement. People seemed surprised by the Internet popularity of a long form fiction story—including its author, Kristen Roupenian. "You Know You Want This" is Roupenian's highly anticipated debut collection of stories that, like "Cat Person," dwells in discomfort and is compulsively readable. "The New Yorker"'s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman,...
Mar 24, 2019•35 min
Paperback Crushin'
The 1970s are sometimes hailed as the true dawn of young-adult literature, the decade when authors like Judy Blume and Lois Lowry showed that teen readers were worth taking seriously. Decades later, J.K. Rowling revolutionized YA, permanently broadening its appeal to adults. But teen fiction of the '80s and '90s is often ignored. Bustle editor and writer Gabrielle Moss has a soft spot in her heart for what she calls the genre's "intellectual dead zone"—the era of The Baby-sitters Club, Sweet Val...
Mar 17, 2019•38 min
Frankenstein: Our Dark Mirror
Over 200 years ago, a teenage girl started a literary legacy that continues to haunt us today. Why do we still keep telling this story and how does it reflect our darkest fears? The New York Public Library's curators join monster theory scholars and best-selling authors to trace the history of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley’s classic. This special podcast episode unpacks the genius of Shelley’s novel, its origins and evolution—from the British Romantics to Black Lives Matter—to uncover how t...
Mar 10, 2019•54 min
Marilynne Robinson: Liberalism and American Tradition Pt. II
This week we're featuring part two of Marilynne Robinson's lecture on American society, government and economy titled "Liberalism and American Tradition." Robinson discusses our country's Puritan history and how society constructs value, referencing a number of political philosophers and social reformers.
Mar 03, 2019•47 min
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