Library Talks
295 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★ - 307 ratingsJoin 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
Anne Applebaum: Fighting Against the Great Forgetting
November 14, 2017 11:00 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBThe Soviet famine of the early 1930s killed around 5 million people; almost 4 million of them were Ukrainians. As Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum demonstrates in her latest book, Red Famine, it wasn't fate or chance that skewed those numbers so heavily—it was something much more deliberate, and much more sinister. And the story behind it was, until recently, in danger of disappearing. Applebaum spoke about recovering it at the New York Public Lib...
Theaster Gates: "I'm Trying to Create an Intimate Moment with Our Most Treasured Assets."
November 07, 2017 11:00 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBEnvisioning the archives of the future with the Chicago-based artist, who was joined by Nettrice Gaskins, director of the STEAM Lab at the Boston Arts Academy, and Greg Carr, a professor at Howard University.
Van Jones: "You have to keep open the possibility for redemption."
October 31, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 75.1 MBJones may be known as a liberal activist, but his new book, "Beyond the Messy Truth," is a call to action for all Americans seeking a way out of our ideological and cultural divisions. He spoke about it at the Library with CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin.
Ron Chernow: Grant
October 24, 2017 10:00 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBUlysses S. Grant has for decades routinely listed as one of our worst presidents. Ron Chernow says the legacy of the Civil War hero and 18th president is deeply misunderstood, making the case in both his latest book and in this conversation with Richard Stengel, former managing editor of TIME magazine.<\P>
Nasty Women
October 18, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 70.1 MBThe co-editors of the essay collection Nasty Women along with select contributors to it explore the complications of being an American woman in 2017. Featuring Kate Harding and Samhita Mukhopadhyay, with Kera Bolonik, Zerlina Maxwell, and Meredith Talusan. Moderated by Jezebel founder Anna Holmes.
Mike Wallace, Greater Gotham
October 10, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 55.4 MBTwenty years in the making, Greater Gotham is Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Mike Wallace's follow-up to his 1999 Gotham. He spoke about the New York City history, which covers 1898 to 1918, with the New Yorker's Jelani Cobb.
Salman Rushdie, The Golden House
October 03, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBThe Booker Prize–winning novelist discusses his twelfth, and most recent, novel, The Golden House.
Jesmyn Ward on 'Sing, Unburied, Sing'
September 26, 2017 10:00 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBThe National Book Award–winning author spoke at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture about her most recent novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing. She was joined by Lisa Lucas, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation.
Atul Gawande & Elizabeth Alexander
September 19, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 65.6 MBTwo writers, two beautiful books, both on the subject of death. Atul Gawande's Being Mortal examines the lengths modern medicine must go to better humanize the final stages of our lives. Elizabeth Alexander's The Light of the World is the memoir of her husband Ficre's sudden and unexpected death, and Alexander's process of grieving and rebuilding that followed it. <\p>
Kurt Andersen, Fantasyland
September 12, 2017 10:00 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBThe host and co-creator of Studio 360 discusses his new book, Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, a 500-Year History. He spoke with NYU professor Kwame Anthony Appiah. Andersen argues that the roots of our post-truth, alternative facts present can be discovered in America's "promiscuous devotion to the untrue" and its instinct to believe in make believe, evident across four centuries of magical thinkers and true believers, hucksters and suckers, who have embedded an appetite for believe-w...
Raoul Peck, "I Am Not Your Negro"
September 05, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 64.4 MBThe filmmaker speaks about his groundbreaking documentary I Am Not Your Negro at the Schomburg Center with the Schomburg's Director, Kevin Young and LIVE from the NYPl's Paul Holdengräber.
Ayobami Adebayo on her debut novel "Stay With Me"
August 29, 2017 19:00 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBThe Nigerian writer discusses her debut novel, Stay With Me, the haunting tale of a young couple whose childless marriage threatens to tear them apart. It was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and hailed by Michiko Kakutani as "powerfully magnetic and heartbreaking."
Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning
August 22, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 71.9 MBKendi discussed his National Book Award–winning work on the history of racist ideas in America with Khalil Gibran Muhammad, the Director Emeritus of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Noam Chomsky and Wallace Shawn: Rigorous Rationality
August 15, 2017 13:30 - 1 hour - 73.5 MBMIT linguist, philosopher, and political theorist Noam Chomsky, in conversation with actor Wallace Shawn.
How Judy Collins Conquered Her Cravings
August 08, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 56 MBGrammy-winning singer, songwriter, and best-selling author Judy Collins came to the Library back in February, to celebrate the publication of her most recent book, Cravings. “As an active, working alcoholic with an eating disorder,” she writes, “I yearned for serenity and was tormented for much of my life by longings, addictions, and painful crises over food: bingeing, bulimia, weight loss and gain.” Collins spoke with William Kelly, who is NYPL’s Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research L...
Lynn Nottage & Sweat
August 01, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 61.4 MBThe Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright was joined in May by members of the Broadway cast of Sweat to talk about the play and the issues behind it at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Immigrant Stories—Min Jin Lee with Simon Winchester
July 25, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 56.2 MBBest-selling novelist Min Jin Lee on her latest book, the ups and downs of her career, the history of Koreans in Japan, and the treatment of Asians in America.
Phillip Glass, Words Without Music
July 18, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 113 MBPhilip Glass is a giant of twentieth-century American music, arguably of the most influential composers of his time. He spoke with LIVE from the NYPL’s Paul Holdengräber last June about his memoir "Words Without Music." It is a riveting record of a life very well lived, and a fascinating conversation with a legendary artist.
Janet Mock, Surpassing Certainty
July 11, 2017 10:00 - 56 minutes - 77.8 MBWriter, activist, and podcast host Janet Mock joins for a discussion of her second memoir, Surpassing Certainty. She's interviewed by Lisa Lucas, the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. The two talked about everything from Mock’s time in the publishing industry to her work in a Honolulu strip club, from spam recipes and Zara dresses to the influence of writers like Maya Angelou and Zora Neale Hurston.
Inside the Work and Mind of Nick Cave
July 04, 2017 10:00 - 50 minutes - 69.5 MBOne of contemporary art's most towering figures guides us through his astonishing new exhibition at MASS MoCA.
David Grann
June 27, 2017 13:28 - 49 minutes - 67.9 MBIn the 1920s, the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma become oil millionaires after black gold was discovered under their land. Discover the stories of the mysterious that followed and one of the FBI's earliest investigations.
Tracy K. Smith, New U.S. Poet Laureate
June 20, 2017 10:00 - 37 minutes - 51.9 MBTracy K. Smith was named 22nd U.S. Poet Laureate last week. In 2016 she came by the Library to discuss her memoir, Ordinary Light.
Jelani Cobb, The Half-Life of Freedom (Part 2: Demagogues of American History)
June 15, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 88.9 MBThis week, the second part of Jelani Cobb's lecture on politics, journalism, and history entitled "The Half-Life of Freedom: The Demagogues of American History."
Jelani Cobb, The Half-Life of Freedom (Part 1: The Media and Alternative Facts)
June 13, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBNew Yorker staff writer and Columbia Journalism School professor Jelani Cobb delivers a lecture on politics, journalism, and history entitled "The Half-Life of Freedom." This episode is part 1: "The Media and Alternative Facts."
Alec Baldwin
June 06, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 109 MBAlec Baldwin spoke with NY Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris about his recent memoir, "Nevertheless," at LIVE from the NYPL.
Journalism in the Age of Trump, part 2
May 30, 2017 18:07 - 57 minutes - 79.3 MBKatherine Boo, Anand Giridharadas, and Philip Gourevitch are all past winners of the Library's Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, which celebrates its 30 anniversary this year. They came to the Library to speak on the shifting responsibilities, purposes, and even definitions of journalism.
Jane Mayer, Winner of the Bernstein Award
May 23, 2017 10:00 - 52 minutes - 42.2 MBIs the Trump Administration a dream or a nightmare for the Koch brothers? This week's episode asks and answers many questions about the intricate relationship between money and politics in American life with Jane Mayer, a New Yorker staff writer and winner of NYPL's 2017 Bernstein Award for her book "Dark Money."
George Packer and Reihan Salam with Tony Marx
May 15, 2017 23:12 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBExplore both the seeds and the fruits of our present American political condition with New Yorker writer George Packer, National Review editor Reihan Salam, and New York Public Library President Tony Marx.
Syria's Human Side, with Janine di Giovanni
May 09, 2017 10:00 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBBernstein Award finalist Janine di Giovanni talks about her book, "The Morning They Came For Us: Dispatches from Syria," the story of Syria's civil war as told through the people who have lived through it.
Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, Bernstein Award Finalist
May 02, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.3 MBBernstein Award finalist Charlotte McDonald-Gibson talks about her book, 'Cast Away: True Stories of Survival from Europe's Refugee Crisis,' which follows individuals fleeing violence and persecution in Syria, Libya, Nigeria, and Eritrea.
The Librarian Is In: American Passions
April 27, 2017 09:30 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBBONUS: We're giving you a taste of the Library's other podcast, The Librarian Is In. Each week hosts Gwen and Frank discuss books, culture, what you should read next , and interview interesting figures from the world of books and libraries. Give it a listen, and subscribe if you like what you hear! Back to regularly scheduled programing on Tuesday.
Lawrence Krauss w/ Alan Alda. Reality, the Real Story
April 25, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 64.1 MBA hilarious, confounding, perplexing, and thoroughly engrossing conversation between theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss and actor Alan Alda. They came to the LIVE from the NYPL stage to discuss Krauss’s new book, The Greatest Story Ever Told…So Far: Why Are We Here?
Gary Younge, Bernstein Award Finalist
April 18, 2017 10:00 - 55 minutes - 44.3 MBAn interview with Bernstein finalist and Guardian editor-at-large Gary Younge. His book is called Another Day in the Death of America: a Chronicle of Ten Short Lives. On an average day in the U.S., seven children and teens will die from gun violence. Younge picked one such day in November 2013 and told the stories of the ten young people whose lives were lost in that 24-hour span.
Like Passover, But Funnier
April 11, 2017 14:46 - 59 minutes - 47.5 MBIf you’ve ever made it through a full Seder, you know that celebrating Passover can last as long as the Exodus itself. Today, on day two of the annual holiday, the NYPL podcast has a measure of comic relief for you in the form of an all-new Haggadah called For This We Left Egypt? It's written by Dave Barry, Alan Zweibel, and Adam Mansbach.
Sonia Shah & Pandemic, Bernstein Award Finalist
April 04, 2017 14:32 - 57 minutes - 45.8 MBSonia Shah's new book 'Pandemic' uses the history of cholera as a template toward understanding the life cycles of disease outbreaks and how our how our next global pandemic might arise.
Women's and Girls' Lives Matter
March 28, 2017 10:00 - 1 hour - 64.2 MBAn extraordinary group of women who are on the front lines of the fight for bettering the lives for young black women and girls across the country gathered at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture this International Women's Day to highlight the roles, needs, and contributions of black women and girls in the context of the Black Lives Matter.
What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear with Dr. Ofri and Mary Harris
March 21, 2017 20:37 - 1 hour - 49.5 MBModern medicine is infatuated with high-tech gadgetry, yet the single most powerful diagnostic tool remains the doctor-patient conversation, which can uncover the lion’s share of illnesses. Dr. Danielle Ofri speaks with WNYC host Mary Harris about her new book, What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, which proves that medicine doesn’t have to work that way, and how better communication can lead to better health for all of us.
Etgar Keret, the Rock and the Hard Place
March 16, 2017 20:10 - 1 hour - 74 MBWhether evoking the tragicomic and surreal for which his short stories first gained acclaim, or awakening the keen love of family in 2015’s The Seven Good Years, Etgar Keret mines the human experience for all of its farce and dignity. The Israeli author recently came by the Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building to speak with Paul Holdengräber, the director of LIVE from the NYPL. The conversation began on Keret’s lost luggage and the two unexpected donations, of a coat and boxer shorts, th...
Journalism in the Age of Trump
March 08, 2017 17:41 - 1 hour - 63.5 MBThis year, the New York Public Library will, for the thirtieth year, dispense the Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism. In the first in a series of events to celebrate the award, we welcomed Dean Baquet, Executive Editor of The New York Times; Shawna Thomas, DC Bureau Chief of VICE News; Jose Antonio Vargas, Founder of Define American; Jacob Weisberg, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Slate Group; and Bill Moyers, Managing Editor of BillMoyers.com to discuss the shifting responsi...
Civil Rights Journeys Across Generations
February 28, 2017 15:22 - 57 minutes - 46.4 MBFor this week's episode of the New York Public Library Podcast, we present discussions presented by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture on two documentaries about icons Maya Angelou and John Lewis. To talk about American Masters - And Still I Rise, a film about the Pulitzer-nominated Dr. Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander, Director of Creativity and Free Expression at the Ford Foundation; Rita Coburn Whack, co-director and co-producer of Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise; Louis Gossett...
Casanova: Seduction and Genius in Venice
February 21, 2017 15:28 - 59 minutes - 47.6 MBToday the name Giacomo Casanova has become synonymous with the skilled lover. The Venetian claimed to have seduced countless women over his lifetime. Laurence Bergreen's new biography Casanova: the World of a Seductive Genius recounts the life of Casanova from an impoverished youth to infamous writer to librarian. For this week's episode of the New York Public Library Podcast, we're proud to present Laurence Bergreen in conversation with psychosexual therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer on the life...
Hugh Ryan on the Queer Histories of Brooklyn's Waterfront
February 14, 2017 11:00 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBHugh Ryan is a curator and journalist based in Brooklyn, whose work primarily explores queer culture and history. He is the Founder of the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History, and sits on the Board of QED: A Journal in LGBTQ Worldmaking. As the Library’s Martin Duberman Visiting Scholar for 2017, he has been researching the queer history of Brooklyn's working waterfront, in preparation for an upcoming exhibition at the Brooklyn Historical Society. For this week's episode of the New York Public Li...
Emmett Till: True Stories of An American Tragedy
February 07, 2017 11:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBThe year was 1955, and the place was America. The murderers were white men, and the fourteen-year-old boy who was kidnapped, beaten, murdered, and dumped in a river was Emmett Till.
George Washington and the Hyper-Partisan Now
January 31, 2017 15:28 - 1 hour - 48.7 MBNew York Times political correspondent Maggie Haberman joins Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon to discuss his new book, Washington’s Farewell: the Founding Father’s Warning to Future Generations.
New York Never Built
January 24, 2017 14:41 - 1 hour - 69.5 MBIt's hard to imagine a New York different from the one we know, but what would the city have been like if the ideas of some of the greatest architectural dreamers had made it beyond the drawing boards and into built form? The new book Never Built New York paints the picture of an alternative New York, with renderings, sketches, models, and stories of proposals for the city that never came to be. Internationally acclaimed architects Daniel Libeskind. Steven Holl, and Elizabeth Diller come tog...
Art Spiegelman on How He Sees Himself, Becoming a Devotee to Another Artist, and the Artist After Art
January 17, 2017 15:05 - 1 hour - 73 MBArt Spiegelman moved readers with Maus, the renowned graphic novel recounting his father’s experience of the Holocaust. Now, Spiegelman has brought to our attention the forgotten Si Lewen masterpiece, The Parade, a wordless meditation on the cycle of war. He joins NYPL’s Paul Holdengraber for a discussion on his work past and present. If you’re curious about some of the images discussed in this episode, visit nypl.org/podcast where you can find a link to a video of the discussion.
Our Compelling Interests: A Panel on Diversity and Democracy
January 10, 2017 11:00 - 1 hour - 66.7 MBThis week we’re proud to present a compelling panel discussion on diversity and democracy. The discussion features participants from education, government, journalism, and non-profit sectors, with moderator Brian Lehrer of WNYC. At a time when American society is swiftly transforming, discussion sheds light on how our differences will only become more critical to our shared success.
Rebecca Solnit, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, Garnette Cadogan, Suketu Mehta, and Luc Sante on Phone Maps, Libraries, and Walking
January 03, 2017 15:17 - 1 hour - 81.6 MBThis week we’re bringing you a conversation with the minds behind Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. Writer and activist Rebecca Solnit, geographer Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, essayist Garnette Cadogan, and authors Suketu Mehta and Luc Sante participate in a discussion about the layers of vitality and diversity, but also inequity and erasure that make up this thriving metropolis
Michael Chabon and Richard Price on Plot, Secular Judaism, and Remembering to Make Stuff Up
December 27, 2016 11:00 - 58 minutes - 46.9 MBLying on your deathbed, how does the story of your life unfold? Michael Chabon's new novel, Moonglow, unfolds surrounded by this question, in a story both imagined and researched, fictionalized and biographical. Joined by author Richard Price, the two explore the story of Chabon’s own life, and the life of his stories.
Neil Gaiman Reads "A Christmas Carol" (Rebroadcast)
December 20, 2016 11:00 - 1 hour - 70.2 MBThis week we’re rebroadcasting one of our favorite episodes: acclaimed author Neil Gaiman delivering a memorable reading of A Christmas Carol. You’ll hear Gaiman reading from the Library’s own rare copy, which includes edits and prompts Charles Dickens wrote in his own hand for his unique readings 150 years ago. Joined by writer and BBC researcher Molly Oldfield, Gaiman’s reading of the classic tale as the great author intended has become a New York Public Library tradition.