Featuring Todd Gitlin, Daphne Merkin and Matthew Yglesias
In conversation with Marc Tracy
Can you write critically about Sheldon Adelson without being anti-Semitic? When Rupert Murdoch tweets “Why Is Jewish-owned press so consistently anti-Israel?” what does he mean? Why did every article about Bernie Madoff mention he was a Jew? Journalists Daphne Merkin, regular contributor to the New York Times and the New Yorker; Slate’s Moneybox correspondent, Matthew Yglesias, and Columbia University communications scholar and author Todd Gitlin (Occupy Nation) discuss Jewish images, Jewishness and stereotypes often used by the media.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:12:10 — 33.0MB)

In conversation with Barbara Lane
In the wake of her mother’s death, with her family scattered and her marriage in tatters, author Cheryl Strayed made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the 1,100-mile Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and to do it alone. The story of how that 1,100-mile hike broke her down and built her back up again, chronicled in her bestselling book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, has resonated with audiences around the world.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14:55 — 34.3MB)

The Gershwins and Me
Michael Feinstein was just 20 years old when he got the chance of a lifetime: a job with his hero, Ira Gershwin. The two became close friends. Feinstein blossomed under Gershwin’s mentorship, and Gershwin was reinvigorated by the younger man’s zeal for the legacy he and his brother George had created. Feinstein shares unforgettable reminiscences from his book The Gershwins and Me.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:12 — 25.7MB)

Former CBS News anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Dan Rather is the embodiment of the intrepid broadcast journalist. He was the first to break the news that President Kennedy had been killed, was a Vietnam War correspondent, and has interviewed everyone from Mikhail Gorbachev to Fidel Castro. In his new memoir, Rather Outspoken, he comes out swinging at CBS for showing an “absence of executive backbone” during its investigation of Abu Ghraib and reveals how his determination to air a potentially damning story about then-President George W. Bush’s spotty military record led to his firing from CBS News.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:26:12 — 39.5MB)

In conversation with Greil Marcus
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon has been called “the most significant English-language poet born since the Second World War,” but Muldoon also has a passion for rock. In his new collection, The Word on the Street: Rock Lyrics, Muldoon offers little distinction between poetry and rock music, finding common ground between W.B. Yeats’ ballad-singing porter drinkers, T.S. Eliot, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:31 — 25.4MB)

In conversation with Scott Shafer
Lieutenant Governor of California and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom discusses how ordinary citizens can use new digital tools to dissolve political gridlock and transform American democracy. In his first book, Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government, Newsom argues that, just as the post office and the highway system channel both personal and private enterprises, digital government can be used to share information, needs and concerns, and help an enlightened citizenry collaborate.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:54 — 26.1MB)

Syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry’s work has appeared in more than 500 newspapers and includes 30 books. Barry’s favorite television appearance was on the Late Show with David Letterman, where he proved that it is possible to set fire to a pair of men’s underpants using a Barbie doll. Barry’s new book is the darkly comic novel Insane City.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:33 — 25.4MB)

In conversation with Dr. Abraham Verghese
Get a glimpse into the inner workings of Michael Ondaatje’s literary artistry, which has influenced an entire generation of writers and earned him the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Best known as a novelist (The English Patient, Divisadero, The Cat’s Table), Ondaatje has also delved into poetry, memoir and film.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:38 — 21.8MB)

In conversation with Evan Goldstein, Master Sommelier
Does ordering wine at a restaurant make you jittery? Does choosing a bottle of wine for a dinner party send you into a flurry of anxiety? Eric Asimov, chief wine critic for the New York Times and author of How to Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto, will help bolster your confidence. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn about the diversity and complexity of wine with one of the world’s leading experts.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:04 — 33.5MB)

Paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin is famed for discovering the fossilized Tiktaalik roseae, the missing link between ancient sea creatures and land dwellers. In his new book, The Universe Within, he explains how the universe’s 14-billion-year history is reflected in our bodies, right down to our molecules.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:10 — 27.5MB)