The New York Public Library Podcast

In his seventh collection of essays, The Patch, master non-fiction writer John McPhee shares a montage of stories and reflections that range from a visit to the Hershey chocolate factory to encounters with Oscar Hammerstein, Joan Baez, and Mount Denali. Calling on his signature devotion to structure, McPhee has winnowed this body of work to present a random assembly he calls an “album quilt,” a memoir as only he could write it. He spoke with Paul Holdengräber about the arc of his life and career. 

Wyatt Cenac moderates a panel of Washington insiders and journalists  about the mechanics of Congress, the archetypes for today's lawmakers, and advice on how constituents can ensure their representatives take action. Featuring Washington Post senior congressional correspondent Paul Kane and ProPublica's Derek Willis, Stevens Institute of Technology assistant professor of political science Lindsay Cormack, When We All Vote communications director and former Congressional Black Caucus staffer Stephanie L. Young,  and James Wallner, R Street senior fellow and former congressional staffer,

Did you know that when James Baldwin was writing "If Beale Street Could Talk" he was also writing a children's book? "Little Man, Little Man" was inspired by his young nephew and was first published in 1976. At the time, it got mixed reviews, went out of print and was largely forgotten. But 40 years later, that book has been republished. Baldwin's niece and nephew, Aisha Karefa-Smart and Tejan "TJ" Karefa-Smart stopped by the Schomburg for Research in Black Culture to talk about their childhood and memories of their uncle. Joining them were the co-editors of the new edition of the book, Jennifer DeVere Brody and Nicholas Boggs. Their conversation was moderated by author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jacqueline Woodson.

More than 30 years after a fire destroyed 400,000 books at the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library,  journalist Susan Orlean re-examines the tragedy in "The Library Book." Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992; her quest to piece together the events surrounding this little-known tale was fueled by her relentless curiosity, a love of reading, and a profound appreciation for the democratic institution of the library. "Libraries are remembering for a whole culture," she said. "That's what books do for all of us—preserve memory."

Carol Anderson is an historian, educator, and author of "White Rage." Her latest book, "One Person, No Vote," is a timely survey of how voting rights have been rolled back in this country following the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. Dr. Anderson's work exposes racially biased voter suppression methods happening today. Joining Dr. Anderson was Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

The bestselling English novelist of "The Essex Serpent," Sarah Perry, stopped by the Library to talk about her newest novel,"Melmoth." The books origins lie in an obscure 19th-century Gothic novel of the same name and an illness that upended her life. She discussed how the earlier novel and her personal experiences combined to birth the phantasmagoric nightmare at the heart of Melmoth's plot.

Darnell L. Moore and Charlene Carruthers are two dynamic leaders and organizers committed to intersectional liberation in movements for Black lives. They are also friends and writers. Moore and Carruthers recently spoke at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and read from each other's recent works: Moore's debut memoir "No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free", and Carruthers's "Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, & Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements."

While training for a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden, writer Thomas Page McBee gained insight into how masculinity operates in the ring and in society— McBee became the first known trans man to box in the historic venue. He stopped by the Library to talk about this experience, the subject of his new book Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man.  Amanda Hess, a critic-at-large for the New York Times joined McBee to discuss the meaning of toxic masculinity,violence, and what it means to be a "real man."

In her new book, "Good and Mad" Rebecca Traister uncovers the history of women's anger in American politics—from the suffragettes to #MeToo. She argues that this collective fury is often the hidden force that drives political change, but rarely has it ever been hailed as fundamentally transformative or patriotic. To discuss her book and what it says about our current political state, Traister was joined by Aminatou Sow, co-host of the podcast "Call Your Girlfriend." 

When famed fashion and society photographer Bill Cunningham died in 2016, he left behind not only an incredible archive of New York Times columns and photographs, but two identical copies of a secret memoir that he apparently hoped someone would find. His family discovered the book, which Cunningham himself titled Fashion Climbing. The Library celebrated its release with the book’s editor, Christopher Richards, and New Yorker critic Hilton Als, who wrote its preface. They were joined by artist and co-founder of Paper, Kim Hastreiter, who was a close acquaintance of the late photographer. 

The world’s leading philanthropists are constantly working to “make the world a better place,” leading passionate campaigns against everything from climate change to poverty that had once been the province of governments. Journalist Anand Giridharadas asks whether those rich and powerful people who have most benefitted from “our highly inequitable status quo” are in fact the best candidates to take on these challenges. When are their solutions democratic and universal, and when do they reflect and support the biases that introduced the inequity in the first place? In conversation with Joy-Ann Reid, political analyst for MSNBC and host of “AM Joy,” Giridharadas discussed his new book, “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World,” a call to action—for elite and everyday citizens alike—to build more egalitarian institutions.

Vladimin Nabokov's "Lolita" is one of the most widely-read classics of twentieth century; however, few are familiar with the true story of an eleven-year-old-girl named Sally Horner, whose story bears an eerie resemblance to that of Nabokov's Dolores Hayes. In "The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World," author Sarah Weinman traces the connections between these two girls and their stories. Weinman stopped by NYPL to revisit her research using the Nabokov Papers that question the role of facts within fiction.

Tim Gunn is the Emmy Award-winning former producer of "Project Runway," where for 16 seasons he mentored contestants with charm and care. But when he isn’t busy making it work, chances are he has his nose in a book. In a live conversation series presented in collaboration with the National Book Foundation, Gunn spoke about some of the most powerful books in his life, the reads that have stayed with him since his early teens. His conversation partner: fellow avid reader—and best-selling novelist—Min Jin Lee, whose most recent book, Pachinko, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Before the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016, there was The Up Stairs Lounge fire. Author Robert Fieseler sets the largely overlooked tragedy of the Up Stairs Lounge arson that killed 32 people in its rightful historical place with "Tinderbox:The Untold Story of The Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation." The 1973 mass murder dragged a closeted, blue-collar gay community into the national public eye, that shortly after was forgotten—until now. Fieseler discussed how he discovered this story, his research in New Orleans, and other findings in his book with Eric Marcus, creator and host of the award-winning book and podcast "Making Gay History."

Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist. In his new book, The Order of Time,  Rovelli asks "Why do we remember the past and not the future…What ties time to our nature as persons, to our subjectivity?" Rovelli is the head of the Quantum Gravity group at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Aix-Marseille University and has devoted his life's work to understanding what time might truly be. Author and philosopher, Jim Holt spoke with Rovelli about the past, future, and why there isn't exactly a "now."

Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad's most recent book, Two Daughters: A Father, his Daughters, and their Journey into the Syrian Jihad, is a heart-pounding thriller tracing the radicalization of two teenage girls. In 2013, the two Somali youth abandoned their family and their adopted home in Oslo to travel into Syria and become part of a jihadist movement. As soon as they disappeared, their father dedicated his existence to finding them and bringing them home. Seierstad explains the family narrative, her sources, and the ethical concerns of telling their complicated story. The best way to support this podcast is with a gift to The New York Public Library. Click here to donate.

For as far back as she can remember, writer Porochista Khakpour has been sick. She was recently diagnosed with late-stage Lyme disease and has written her first memoir about her illness, Sick. Khakpour sat down with one of her literary heroes Eileen Myles for a conversation about her experience with the disease and how it has affected her as a writer, activist, and lover of New York City. Khakpour says "it's a diaristic book and I wanted there to be a lot of honesty... a lot of capturing myself, not at my best but at my worst." The best way to support this podcast is with a gift to The New York Public Library. Click here to donate.

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins stopped by the Library earlier this Spring to read some of his work, share a few tips on the creative process, and land a few jokes. He sat down with Paul Holdengräber for a conversation about their favorite writers and his career, from the back pages of Rolling Stone magazine to the Library of Congress. Plus, Collins reads some of his recent work. The best way to support this podcast is with a gift to The New York Public Library. Click here to donate.

Earlier this spring, our friends from The World in Words Podcast recorded a live show at NYPL's very own Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library. The podcast, hosted by  is about languages and the people who speak them. For this special episode, hosts Nina Porzucki and Patrick Cox shared stories about the history of Braille, why whale calls go viral like pop songs, and the difficulties of preserving languages in the U.S. through generations.  Subscribe to The World in Words Podcast  

Roxane Gay's latest book, "Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture," is a collection of first-person essays that directly tackle rape, sexual assault and harassment. With writer and organizer, Aja Monet, Gay discusses how their stories fit into the national conversation about sexual assault, the pitfalls of the #MeToo Movement, the pressure to "perform one's trauma," and the complex work that still needs to be done towards healing and justice.