This month were celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Book Reviews podcast, the first podcast at The Times and still going strong. Pamela Paul, the shows host and the editor of the Book Review, recently wrote about 15 of her favorite episodes from the eight years she has been at the helm. I thought I would expand the scope to the entire archive Sam Tanenhaus, Pauls predecessor, hosted for seven years and share 10 more memorable conversations. (As an editor at The Times, Ive had a hand in the podcast since 2011.) Below youll hear Toni Morrison discuss her vision for her novel A Mercy; Andre Agassi, Christopher Hitchens and Jeanette Winterson talk about their memoirs; Andrew Solomon on the profound lessons of death and dying; and more.
Nov. 30, 2008
This was a different era of the podcast, when each episode aired on the radio and had to fit a 15-minute template. So this extended conversation with Toni Morrison is, alas, only about seven minutes long. But given that its Morrison, theyre a full seven minutes. (Her segment starts about five minutes into the episode, after an update on the publishing industry.) Morrison spoke about why she set A Mercy when she did, beginning in the 1680s, because it was a time before there was even an idea of America, just the name of a continent, when the separation of whites, Black people and Native Americans wasnt as strictly codified as it would become. Dividing the world up ethnically or racially was a deliberate and sustained event that grew, she said. But before that, I just wanted to suggest what it could have been like. Before the narrative that we have now about the beginnings of this country.
Nov. 22, 2009
With all due respect to all of our guests over the years, some episodes, more than others, have no clear lead guest but multiple headliners, and this is one of those cases. Agassi was on the show to discuss his highly acclaimed autobiography, Open. He talked about the dislike of tennis that he felt through much of his youth and storied career, and about the process of finding and working with his co-writer, J.R. Moehringer. Stephen King was on this episode to talk not about his own work, but that of the great short story writer Raymond Carver. The occasion was twofold: a new biography of Carver, by Carol Sklenicka, and a collection of Carvers stories published by the Library of America.
June 20, 2010
Hitchens appeared on the podcast several times, but never more revealingly than in this episode to discuss his memoir Hitch-22. But in addition to getting personal about his father, his friendship with Martin Amis, his first experiences after moving to the United States he also makes time to discuss politics, including his impression of then President Barack Obama. I think that his humor and intelligence and niceness and open-mindedness may be in some ways a disadvantage to him, Hitchens said. Quite a lot of the major problems of our time do not, in fact, arise out of misunderstandings, as he sometimes gives the impression of thinking, or hoping, that they do.
March 25, 2012
If youre in a bad mood, I challenge you to listen to this interview with Jeanette Winterson and remain that way. Even though Winterson was appearing to talk about her troubled childhood and the portrayal of it in her unbeatably titled memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? her conversation is energetic and hyper-articulate, as if shes writing one of her books while she talks. She begins this segment talking about her adoptive mother: I call her a monster, but I say she was my monster. She was the big-screen character in the small screen of our lives. She had operatic dimensions.
In 2016, Andrew Solomon wrote about five books that concerned the subjects of death and dying. As he described them in his review: one by a historian; two by hospice workers; one by a widow; one by a man who is dying himself. Solomons visit to the podcast to discuss his piece and those books resulted in one of the more emotional and profound episodes in the shows history. Part of whats compelling about these books is that the enormous beauty thats in them constitutes a form of hope, Solomon said. So on the one hand, that people die, and on the other hand, that people live so richly in that instant before they die. And when you read these books, not only do you have to reconcile yourself to your own mortality, you also think, Maybe I can do that as beautifully as they did, and if I can, maybe it wont be so bad for me, for the people I leave behind; maybe the death of someone else wont be so bad for me. Theres a strange comfort thats buried in these books.
April 26, 2019
The historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. had two new books out when he sat down for this episode books covering similar ground but intended for different audiences. Stony the Road is about the backlash to Reconstruction and the establishment of Jim Crow. Dark Sky Rising is a work of nonfiction for young adults about the same era, which he co-wrote with Tonya Bolden. Wallace-Wells was on the show to discuss The Uninhabitable Earth, his terrifying book about our future in the face of climate change. Both guests proved that a depressing subject can sometimes be the best foundation for engaging conversation.
Dec. 13, 2019
Reginald Dwayne Betts came on the podcast to talk about his third collection of poems, Felon, and about his remarkable personal story: After spending more than eight years in prison for a carjacking he committed at 16, Betts earned a graduate degree in writing, then a doctorate in jurisprudence from Yale Law School, and has become an acclaimed memoirist and poet. Betts said that Felon was his attempt to write directly about the challenges, stigma and vulnerabilities that come with life after incarceration. I wanted to think about the ways in which its just this whole landscape of harm that exists that we dont address, he says. Its me trying to explore the complicated ways in which we figure out how to be human once we come home.
July 10, 2020
Regularly featuring critics as well as authors on the podcast is one of the things that we believe sets the show apart. When Daniel Mendelsohn reviewed David Mitchells novel Utopia Avenue on the cover of the Book Review, he used it as an occasion to also consider Mitchells varied and estimable career as a whole. This wide-ranging conversation on the podcast, about not just Mitchells work but about the general art of reading any author over the course of a long career, is a particular favorite from the critic category.
Continue reading here:
10 Memorable Conversations From 15 Years of the Book Reviews Podcast - The New York Times
- Travel & Resources: HONG KONG - Gay Asia and... - Utopia - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- DELHI / NEW DELHI: Massage and Spas - Utopia - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Utopia (book) - Wikipedia - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Who is authorized to bind your family business to contracts? - Lexology (registration) - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Meanwhile in Canada Things Are Just as Bad - New York Times - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Stellaris: Utopia expansion lets you craft megastructural ringworlds - PC Gamer - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- JME Will Play Himself In A New Movie About A Vegan Utopia - The FADER - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- 'Stellaris' Utopia DLC Gets First Trailer; Will Introduce New Buildings And Perks - iDigitalTimes.com - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Utopia Pipeline project to bring 300 temporary jobs to New Philadelphia - New Philadelphia Times Reporter - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- With violin in hand, Mark Menzies finds hope for the future in the past - Los Angeles Times - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- The village aiming to create a white utopia - BBC News - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Brooklyn's A/D/O Co-Working Space Is Building a Utopia for Creatives of All Kinds - Artsy - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Revolution: Russian Art review from utopia to the gulag, via teacups - The Guardian - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- A notable show BAMPFA's 'Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia' - Berkeleyside - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- In praise of utopias, not dystopias: Salutin - Toronto Star - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- British Airways Concorde 'Alpha Foxtrot' Arrives at New Bristol Home - AirlineGeeks.com (blog) - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- The Bannon-Trump Arc of History | The American Spectator - American Spectator - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Plotting 'No-Place' in 'Utopia Neighborhood Club' - Seattle Weekly - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Bruno Ganz on New Film About Last Days of East Germany: 'This Is a Subject That Will Never Let Me Go' - Variety - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Utopia releases its next version of master data governance solution for enterprise asset management - SDTimes.com - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Drought-crazed utopia flushes away common sense - NewHampshire.com - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- New Barbarians: Inside Rolling Stones' Wild Seventies Spin-Off - RollingStone.com - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Katy Perry's New Music Video Might Just Be Her WILDEST Yet - TeenVogue.com - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Lenkom Theater: From Soviet utopia to post-modern dystopia - Russia Beyond the Headlines - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Utopia Opera Presents THE GRAND DUKE, 3/3-3/11 - Broadway World - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Chuck Huckelberry: Pima County sees the world as it is - Arizona Daily Star - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Mardi Gras brings on the fun - Tullahoma News and Guardian - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Anglea Henderson-Bentley: New take on Jack the Ripper an idea whose 'Time' has come - Huntington Herald Dispatch - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Knowledge can fight ignorance: New speakers series will shed light on Yemen - Detroit Metro Times - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Utopian sci-fi survival horror game, PAMELA, enters Steam Early Access on March 9th New Screenshots - DSOGaming (blog) - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Reese Witherspoon on New Zealand: 'You can't capture it in pictures' - Newshub - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- $168000 headphones to go on display - The New Paper - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- A peek inside the Downtown Project with Aimee Groth - Las Vegas Review-Journal - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- Utopia is coming, with a basic income for all - The Times (subscription) - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Government shakeups and political unrest are coming to Stellaris in its Utopia expansion - PCGamesN - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- The board hoard: your guide to the best new board games - The Guardian - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Tempted To Move Out Of The U.S.? New Zealand Wants To Help ... - Forbes - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- New Utopia | Prometheism.net - Part 4 - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Utopia expansion for Stellaris coming in April, new trailer - PC Invasion - PC Invasion (blog) - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- THE SOUND OF MUSIC to Welcome New 'Georg von Trapp' on Tour in Hershey - Broadway World - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- At BAMPFA, 'Hippie Modernism' Proves the Fight for Utopia is Far from Over - KQED - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Watch brutal Xenomorph attack in new 'Alien: Covenant' trailer - CNET - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Stellaris: Utopia Path to Ascension release date trailer - Gameplanet - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Utopia Frozen Yogurt and Coffee House | Ellensburg, WA - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Stellaris Utopia Gameplay Expansion Out In April - Attack of the Fanboy - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Dr. John to headline Utopia Fest in final year at Four Sisters Ranch ... - austin360 (blog) - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- JUSTIN JOHNSON: It's a TRAP! - SCNow - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Want utopia? Start with universal basic income and a 15-hour work week - Wired.co.uk - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Extreme Channel 4 reality challenge Mutiny makes its sailors suffer - iNews - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Rutger Bregman: 'We could cut the working week by a third' - The Guardian - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- March 4, 2017 - EDP Foundation - Utopia/Dystopia / Hctor Zamora: Order and Progress - E-Flux - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Utopia for Realists and How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman ... - The Guardian - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- A taste of 'Utopia' - Otago Daily Times - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Father John Misty references Taylor Swift in new song, 'Total Entertainment Forever' - EW.com - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- 'Time After Time' delivers Jack the Ripper to modern-day New York - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Father John Misty Explained The Taylor Swift Sex Line In 'Total Entertainment Forever' - UPROXX - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Why everyone hates the GOP's new health plan - The Week Magazine - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Hello Cuba, Adios Utopia: Cuban Art in Texas - Observer - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Why Canada will come to regret its embrace of refugees - New York Post - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Utopia in the Time of Trump - lareviewofbooks - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Whole of It: 'Free Cake at the Top' - Scottsbluff Star Herald - March 12th, 2017 [March 12th, 2017]
- Portugal's MAAT could become the world's most exciting venue for art and architecture - The Architect's Newspaper - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Stellaris Utopia DLC Review - Paradox's spacefaring grand strategy ... - PC Invasion (blog) - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- The post-Brexit fantasy of a utopia of flammable sofas - New Statesman - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Why Open Borders Would Strengthen Our Economy | The Huffington ... - Huffington Post - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Best of the Week: Focal Utopia, Sonos Playbase, Sgt. Pepper reissue, new 4K Xbox and more - What Hi-Fi? - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Stellaris: Utopia review | PC Gamer - PC Gamer - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Utopia lost: Man wants Berrien 'town' on the map - Valdosta Daily Times - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Psych Ward: The Hulk - Marvel (press release) (registration) (blog) - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Men Are from Mars, Wonder Woman is Also from Mars - VICE - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Jordie Bellaire: Vision Visionary - Marvel (press release) (registration) (blog) - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- The Dark Side of Globalization - American Spectator - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- China's next 'city from scratch' called into question - Financial Times - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Wonder Woman's dueling origin stories, and their effect on the hero's feminism, explained - Vox - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Introduction: Open Utopia | The Open Utopia - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Paperback Row - New York Times - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- NEXUS pipeline revved and waiting - News - Times Reporter - New ... - New Philadelphia Times Reporter - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- MAVI Museum of Visual Arts - E-Flux - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- World-famous author has found his writing utopia outdoors, under a tarp, in Davis - Sacramento Bee - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Let's break down the incredible Black Panther trailer - The Verge - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]