Synopsis
Join The New York Public Library and your favorite writers, artists, and thinkers for smart talks and provocative conversations from the nations cultural capital.
Episodes
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Jonas Hassen Khemiri with Tess Gunty: The Sisters
23/07/2025 Duration: 57minIn this episode of Library Talks, National book award finalist Jonas Hassen Khemiri talks to Tess Gunty about his latest book, The Sisters. Narrated in six parts, each spanning a period ranging from a year to a day to a single minute, Jonas Hassen Khemiri's The Sisters is a big, vivid family saga of the highest order Jonas Hassen Khemiri worked on The Sisters during his 2021-2022 Fellowship at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.
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Bobby Hankinson: Kweendom: A Night of Queer Stand-Up
16/07/2025 Duration: 01h15minIn this episode of Library Talks, New York’s funniest LGBTQ performers take the stage for a one-night-only celebration of queer comedy, community, and joy. Hosted by Bobby Hankinson, Kweendom is an all-LGBTQ comedy show featuring some of the city’s sharpest queer comedians and storytellers. Born from Hankinson’s frustration with lineups lacking authentic queer representation, Kweendom centers a wide range of LGBTQ voices—spanning gender identities, cultures, and backgrounds—each sharing their distinct experiences through stand-up.
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John B. King, Jr. with Lisette Nieves: Teacher by Teacher
09/07/2025 Duration: 42minFormer U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr talks to Lisette Nieves about his latest book, Teacher by Teacher.
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Kate Marvel and Friends, ‘Human Nature’
02/07/2025 Duration: 55minIn this episode of Library Talks, author and climate scientist Kate Marvel explores her latest book, Human Nature, with David Wallace-Wells, Monica Youn, and Lauren Kurtz through talks, performances, and more Each chapter of Kate Marvel’s new book, Human Nature, employs a different emotion to explore the science and stories behind climate change. Kate Marvel shares some of the hope, heartbreak, and humor that she uses to help readers confront the questions about what future lies ahead and how we can help shape it.
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Stephanie Burt with Special Guests: Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry after Stonewall
25/06/2025 Duration: 01h01minIn this episode of Library Talks, poets and critics read from and discuss the new anthology, Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry after Stonewall. In Super Gay Poems, Stephanie Burt curates a boundary-pushing anthology of 51 poems by LGBTQIA+ writers, tracing the evolution of queer poetry since the Stonewall Riots. From sonnets to shaped poems, elegies to joyful provocations, the collection features luminaries like Frank O’Hara and Audre Lorde alongside vital contemporary voices such as Chen Chen and The Cyborg Jillian Weise.
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Barbara Demick with Jessica Bruder: Daughters of the Bamboo Grove
18/06/2025 Duration: 01h09sIn this episode of Library Talks, acclaimed journalist and National Book Award finalist Barbara Demick talks to Jessica Bruder about her latest book, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins Barbara Demick investigates the origins, shocking cruelty, and legacy of China’s one-child rule; the rise of international adoption and the religious currents that buoyed it; and the exceedingly rare phenomenon of twin separation.
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Madeleine Thien with Jiayang Fan: The Book of Records
11/06/2025 Duration: 55minIn this episode of Library Talks, author Madeleine Thien talks to Jiayang Fan about her latest book, The Book of Records. The Book of Records is a novel that leaps across generations, ideas, and centuries, as if different eras were separated by only a door. Madeleine Thien worked on The Book of Records during her 2021-2022 Fellowship at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. She discusses her book with New Yorker staff writer Jiayang Fan.
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Claire Hoffman with Jelani Cobb: Sister, Sinner
04/06/2025 Duration: 01h01minIn this episode of Library Talks, Author and Journalist Claire Hoffman sits down with fellow journalist Jelani Cobb to talk about her latest book, Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson Sister, Sinner chronicles the dramatic rise, disappearance, and near-fall of Aimee Semple McPherson. A pioneer of Pentecostalism and founder of the Foursquare Church, McPherson used spectacle, storytelling, and her own radio station to bring God’s message to the masses. Her innovations brought Pentecostalism into the mainstream, paved the way for televangelists, and shaped the future of American Christianity.
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Russell Shorto with Aidan Flax-Clark: Taking Manhattan
28/05/2025 Duration: 58minBestselling author and historian Russell Shorto talks to Aidan Flax-Clark about his latest book, Taking Manhattan.
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Haleh Liza Gafori with Maya C. Popa: Water Translating Rumi
21/05/2025 Duration: 58minAcclaimed poet Haleh Liza Gafori discusses her latest translations of Rumi's lyric poetry in Water with prize-winning poet Maya C. Popa
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Chris Hughes with Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway: Marketcrafters
14/05/2025 Duration: 54minEconomist and writer Chris Hughes talks to Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Allowa about his latest book, Marketcrafters.
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Mike Hixenbaugh on his Award-Winning Book 'They Came for the Schools'
07/05/2025 Duration: 55minOn this special episode of Library Talks, we speak with Mike Hixenbaugh, winner of the 38th annual Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, for his book They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms.
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Vicky Nguyen with Tracey Nguyen Mang: Boat Baby
30/04/2025 Duration: 01h53sNews anchor Vicky Nguyen talks to Tracey Nguyen Mang about her new memoir, Boat Baby.
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José Andrés with Gail Simmons: Change the Recipe
23/04/2025 Duration: 01h16minMichelin-starred chef José Andrés talks to Gail Simmons about his latest book, Change the Recipe.
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Timothy Snyder: The New Paganism—A Framework for Understanding Our Politics
16/04/2025 Duration: 01h19minAmerican historian Timothy Snyder presents his lecture The New Paganism—A Framework for Understanding Our Politics
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Alissa Wilkinson with Aidan Flax-Clark: We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine
09/04/2025 Duration: 51minFilm critic Alissa Wilkinson talks to Aidan Flax-Clark about her latest book, We Tell Ourselves Stories.
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Edna Bonhomme with Linda Villarosa: A History of the World in Six Plagues
02/04/2025 Duration: 58minHistorian Edna Bonhomme talks to Linda Villarosa about her latest book, A History of the World in Six Plagues.
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Hamid Rahmanian with Ahmad Sadri and Melissa Hibbard: Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings
26/03/2025 Duration: 01h17minArtist Hamid Rahmanian speaks with translator Ahmad Sadri and producer Melissa Hibbard about the Persian epic poem Shahnameh.
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Lisa Kyung Gross with Yael Raviv and Abi Balingit: The League of Kitchens Cookbook
19/03/2025 Duration: 01h18sCookbook Author Lisa Kyung Gross is joined by Yael Raviv and Abi Balingit to talk about her latest book, The League of Kitchens Cookbook
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Kenneth Roth with M. Gessen: Righting Wrongs
12/03/2025 Duration: 55minKenneth Roth, the long-time head of Human Rights Watch, talks to M. Gessen about his first book, Righting Wrongs.