Talking with Authors
HEC Media
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Talking with Authors is a weekly podcast with award winning and best-selling authors from around the world, spanning genres, topics, and ideas.
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Feb 18, 2021
Joan Lunden: "Why Did I Come Into This Room?: A Candid Conversation about Aging"
This is the fifty-third episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is journalist, broadcaster, and New York Times Best Selling writer Joan Lunden. We spoke with her via Zoom in October of 2020 about her newest book "Why Did I Come Into This Room?: A Candid Conversation about Aging" by publisher Forefront Books.
Joan Lunden was a co-host on Good Morning America for 17 years in the 80s and 90s and is currently a special correspondent at NBC. And among many other things, she’s written eight books as well. In her most recent book, “Why Did I Come Into This Room,” she takes on the subject of aging, specifically in women, and how the seldom discussed issues associated with getting older leaves so many women feeling isolated.
However, from minor aches and pains, to major health issues, this new book reflects many of the issues that she’s dealt with...but handled with a sense of humor. We’ll hear more about the book and life experience of journalist, broadcaster, and best selling writer Joan Lunden on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our interviewer this time is Victoria Babu.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Interviewer and producer for this episode - Victoria Babu
Video Editor - Greg Kopp
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Paul Langdon
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthorsd
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Feb 11, 2021
Connor Towne O'Neill: "Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy"
This is the fifty-second episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is journalist Connor Towne O'Neill. We spoke with him via Zoom in October of 2020 about his book "Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy" by publisher Algonquin Books.
Writer Connor Towne O’Neill is a Pennsylvania born journalist that has had work in thoroughly northern publications like New York Magazine, and has been a producer on the Southern history based NPR podcast, “White Lies”. He’s a in instructor at Auburn University in Alabama now and researched and penned the book “Down Along with That Devil’s Bones” after more than 5 years of trying to pick apart some of the reasons why monuments to Confederates are still so common, like ones to the slave-owning, Southern General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first head of the Ku Klux Klan. In the book he explores not just the odes to Forrest, but to other racist and problematic figures from Southern history. And he digs into how even those from the North, like himself, that wish they were absolved from the current presence of the memorials, could and should feel otherwise. We’ll explore more details of the book and of the life experience of journalist and writer Connor Towne O’Neill on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our host and interviewer this time is Paul Schankman.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Interviewer, producer, and editor for this episode - Paul Schankman
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Ben Smith
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Feb 4, 2021
Reid Forgrave: "Love, Zac"
This is the fifty-first episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is journalist and sports writer Reid Forgrave. We spoke with him via Zoom in October of 2020 about his book “Love, Zac” by publisher Algonquin Books.
Writer Reid Forgrave has spent most of his career covering sports. He’s done long form reporting on the Olympics, basketball, and the NFL, and worked with the New York Times, CBS Sports and other organizations. But in his book, “Love, Zac”, he takes on the real life tragic death of a small town, high school football player that was ultimately found to have died from the effects of CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
Zac Easter took his own life, but left behind enough clues to what he thought was wrong with him so that he would feel like his life had meaning. We’ll find out the impact that Zac’s death had on his family, his home town, the sports community, and our guest as well, writer Reid Forgrave on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our host and interviewer this time is Victoria Babu.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Interviewer for this episode - Victoria Babu
Video Editor - Kerry Marks
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Paul Langdon
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Jan 28, 2021
Laila Lalami: "Conditional Citizens"
This is the fiftieth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and best selling author, Laila Lalami. We spoke with her via Zoom in October of 2020 about her newest book “Conditional Citizens” by publisher Pantheon Books.
Laila Lalami is a naturalized US citizen of Arab descent born in Morocco. The professor of linguistics’ pathway to citizenship lasted from 1992 to 2000 and she experienced a wide range of contradictions along the way. She notes in “Conditional Citizens” that she realized while she had to declare herself as ethnically “white” on official paperwork…she didn’t see Arabs existing the same way as other “white” people in the real world.
In her memoir that consists of her essays she’s written over the years, she breaks down how “accidents of birth” such as national origin, race, or gender play a large role in shaping the experience of what it means to be “American” to this day. We’ll learn more about this book, other best sellers, and the life of professor and writer Laila Lalami on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our interviewer this time is Anna Crosslin.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Interviewer for this episode - Anna Crosslin
Video Editor - Peter Foggy
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Ben Smith
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Jan 21, 2021
Jill Wine-Banks: “The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President”
This is the forty-ninth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
The now celebrated and respected lawyer Jill Wine-Banks was a young prosecutor and only woman on the team during the Nixon impeachment hearings. In “The Watergate Girl”, she tells how she elicited this testimony and exchange from the president’s secretary about the missing audio from the famous taped recordings.
from that famous revelation, she moved along as a trailblazer throughout her career in law at the US Army, for the state of Illinois, and the American Bar Association. The memoir of the status quo breaking jurist, writer Jill Wine-Banks is our guest on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
A side note and another reminder for context…this conversation was recorded on November 6, 2020…which was just after the 2020 presidential election. It was also after the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump in December of 2019, but before the events around the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021…and subsequent second impeachment of Trump.
Our host and interviewer this time is Kathy Bratkowski.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Host and video producer of this episode - Kathy Bratkowski
Video Editor - Peter Foggy
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Paul Langon
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
Special thanks to The Jewish Book Festival.
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Jan 14, 2021
Jan Greenberg: “World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly”
This is the forty-eighth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is the Best Selling author Jan Greenberg. We spoke with her in St. Louis in November of 2020 about her newest book “World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly” by publisher Abrams Books. The award winning writer Jan Greenberg has penned books for adults and children about art of all types. From poetry to pottery…ballet to van Gogh, she’s been able to break down interpretations of all of the forms for readers to make the works more accessible to all that encounter them. This time she went into the “World of Glass”, which she wrote with her frequent collaborator Sandra Jordan, and artist Dale Chihuly because of the transformative nature of his work.
We’ll hear about her visits to Chihuly’s studio for research on this book, how and why she got started writing about art, how she works with her collaborator and more. Best selling writer Jan Greenberg is our guest on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our host and interviewer this time is Angie Weidinger.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Host and video producer of this episode - Angie Weidinger
Video Editor - Greg Kopp
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Ben Smith
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
Special thanks to Left Bank Books and the St. Louis County Library.
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Dec 24, 2020
Jasper Fforde: “The Constant Rabbit"
This is the forty-fifth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is New York Times Best Selling author Jasper Fforde. We spoke with him via Zoom in October of 2020 about his newest book "The Constant Rabbit" by publisher Viking Books.
The British novelist Jasper Fforde writes works of fantasy in what’s been called an “absurdist reality” style. He uses concepts and situations that are grounded in real life, but then he gives himself a “narrative dare” when composing the work, and fuses the two together. The original spark this time produced the book “The Constant Rabbit”. It’s our world, but one with anthropomorphic bunnies that speaks to how humans relate to others…and themselves. We’ll hear about this book, the “Thursday Next” book series and more of the creative life of New York Times Best Seller Jasper Fforde on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our host and interviewer this time is Angie Weidinger.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Host and video producer of this episode - Angie Weidinger
Video Editor - Greg Kopp
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Ben Smith
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
Special thanks to Left Bank Books and the St. Louis County Library.
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Dec 17, 2020
Matt Haig: “The Midnight Library"
This is the forty-fourth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is the Sunday Times best selling and award winning author Matt Haig. We spoke with him via Zoom in October of 2020 about his newest book “The Midnight Library" by publisher Viking Books.
English writer Matt Haig has penned two dozen works…both children’s and adult…fiction and non-fiction in his career as a novelist. He’s worked as a journalist as well. But what he likes to infuse his work with is from a career path he didn’t take. we’ll certainly hear about different philosophies in his book “The Midnight Library”, along with a look into his love of science, libraries, and screen adaptations of his pieces. Award winning author Matt Haig is our guest today on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our host and interviewer this time is Carrie Robb.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Host of this episode - Carrie Robb
Video Producer - Christina Chastain
Video Editor - Kerry Marks
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Paul Langdon
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
Special thanks to The Novel Neighbor.
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Dec 10, 2020
Rachel Howzell Hall: “And Now She's Gone"
This is the forty-third episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is Rachel Howzell Hall. We spoke with her via Zoom in September of 2020 about her newest book "And Now She's Gone" by publisher Macmillan.
Rachel Howzell Hall is based in Los Angles and the author of 9 novels and many short stories and essays. She’s written science fiction, mystery, and crime stories featuring the character Lou Norton. But the story in “And Now She’s Gone” is one that really began a long time ago for her. We’ll find out more about the mix of magic, intrigue, and abuse in this latest work. And we’ll her about the literary volunteer efforts and very busy life outside of the page of author Rachel Howzell Hall on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
Our host and interviewer this time, Heather Ash.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Host of this episode - Heather Ash
Video Editor - Kerry Marks
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Ben Smith
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Dec 3, 2020
Ann Cleeves: “The Darkest Evening"
This is the forty-second episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is New York Times Best Selling British crime novelist Ann Cleeves. We spoke with her via Zoom in September of 2020 about her newest book “The Darkest Evening" by publisher Macmillan.
Ann Cleeves is the author of more than 30 books, some of which have spawned two TV series with a third on the way. The BBC has the show “Shetland”, and the station ITV has the very popular show “Vera” based off of Cleeves’ character from her novels, Detective Vera Stanhope. Why does the author think “Vera” has caught on so well with audiences?
Our host and interviewer this time, Angie Weidinger.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri. With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
Host and producer of the video version of this episode - Angie Weidinger
Video Editor - Greg Kopp
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Jayne Ballew & Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Paul Langdon
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam
You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors
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Nov 26, 2020
Yaa Gyasi: "Transcendent Kingdom"
This is the forty-first episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is New York Times Best Selling author Yaa Gyasi. We spoke with her via Zoom in September of 2020 about her second and newest book “Transcendent Kingdom" by publisher Penguin Random House.
Yaa Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama as a daughter of immigrant parents. She uses that lived experience in her newest work of fiction to broaden the conversation around the way that many stories are told about newcomers to the United States….this time through the tale of the main character, a neuroscientist named “Gifty". We’ll get into detail about the gripping life and times of Gifty and her family from the book and the real life of our guest Yaa Gyasi in our conversation today with this award winning, New York Times Best Seller on this edition of Ta…
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Nov 19, 2020
Elise Hooper: "Fast Girls"
This is the fortieth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is author Elise Hooper. We spoke with her via Zoom in September of 2020 about her third and newest book “Fast Girls" by publisher HarperCollins.
Elise Hooper is a writer of historical and biographical fiction. She’s taken on the subjects of women in different periods of history in all of her work…such as the real women of the novel “Little Women”, and early 20th century documentary photographer Dorothea Lange. In “Fast Girls” she focuses on the story behind some of the women on the US Olympic team that competed in the summer games of 1936 in Berlin. we’ll get into detail about three of these athletes and their individual paths to Germany…along with a story about finding the stories when we start our conversation with writer Elise Hooper on this edition o…
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Nov 12, 2020
Kathy Reichs: "A Conspiracy of Bones"
This is the thirty-ninth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is forensic anthropologist, television producer and author Kathy Reichs. We spoke with her via Zoom in June of 2020 about her newest book "A Conspiracy of Bones" by publisher Scribner Books.
The 12 seasons of the TV show “Bones” was produced by Kathy Reichs and the title character Temperance Brennan is loosely based on Kathy’s life as a practicing forensic anthropologist. When Kathy started writing the character of Temperance 20 books ago, she was able to bring her experience to the page and make the readers’ experience very authentic. But writing the books changed how she worked in forensics a little bit too.
We’ll get into detail about how she details her written work and learn about how she’s remained a prolific writer while working for TV and being an…
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Nov 5, 2020
Tom Clavin: "Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday and the Vendetta Ride from Hell"
This is the thirty-eighth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is New York Times Best Selling writer, Tom Clavin. We spoke with him via Zoom in June of 2020 about his recent book "Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday and the Vendetta Ride from Hell" by publisher St. Martin's Press.
Tom Clavin was a reporter at the New York Times and has written on a variety of topics for prominent magazines like Smithsonian, Golf, and Cosmopolitan. But his series of historical books that focused on the legends from the United States’ westward expansion, helped bring him multiple best sellers. The research and work he did for his final book of the trilogy, “Tombstone”, dispels some of the myths about the OK Corral, but reveals some even more fascinating stories. And the fictionalized print and movie versions of the tales of Doc Holli…
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Oct 29, 2020
Roddy Doyle: "Love: A Novel"
This is the thirty-seventh episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is a screenwriter and Booker Prize winning author, Roddy Doyle. We spoke with him via Zoom in June of 2020 about his newest book “Love: A Novel” by publisher Penguin Random House.
Roddy Doyle has placed the setting of many of his 11 novels for adults in and around his home stomping grounds of Dublin.“Love: A Novel” continues in that vein. This tale centers around a pub crawl of two 50-year-old drinking buddies of decades. They find that this on night out they try to talk a bit more deeply than they ever have with hopes of continuing a their kinship on a more mature level. The subject of love comes up and they talk about a woman that they knew long ago in their younger days of carousing. Roddy wrote this conversation with some intentional ambiguity. And from…
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Oct 22, 2020
Bonnie Tsui: "Why We Swim"
This is the thirty-sixth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is award winning writer, Bonnie Tsui. We spoke with her via Zoom in June of 2020 about her recent book “Why We Swim” by publisher Algonquin Books. Bonnie Tsui is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and California Sunday Magazine and has previously written a book about some of the “Chinatowns” that are around the US. In her newest offering, however, she’s focusing on humans and their relationship to the water. She’s the daughter of two swimmers and grew up being a competitive swimmer herself.
“Why We Swim” takes a look at the stories of a wide range of people from swimmers of all types around the world and goes into the reasons why they…and other humans…seem to have an innate attachment to the water. We’ll go deeper into the subject of p…
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Oct 15, 2020
Jennifer Steinhauer: “The Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress”
This is the thirty-fifth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re excited to be back after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is Political Journalist Jennifer Steinhauer. We spoke with her via Zoom in Jun…
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Oct 8, 2020
Camilla Lackberg: “The Golden Cage”
This is the thirty-fourth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is Sweden’s “Queen of Crime” Camilla Lackberg. We s…
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Oct 1, 2020
Linda Castillo: “Outsider: A Novel of Suspense”
This is the thirty-third episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re excited to be back after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is New York Times Best-Selling author Linda Castillo. We spoke with her via Zoo…
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Sep 24, 2020
Anne Applebaum: “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism”
This is the thirty-second episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is Pulitzer-prize winning historian Anne Applebaum. We sp…
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Sep 17, 2020
Lisa Woodruff: “The Paper Solution: What to Shred, What to Save, and How to Stop It From Taking Over Your Life”
This is the thirty-first episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is founder and CEO of Organize 365, Lisa Woodruff. We spoke…
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Sep 10, 2020
Fiona Davis: “The Lions of Fifth Avenue”
This is the thirtieth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is bestselling author Fiona Davis. We spoke with her via Zoom…
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Sep 3, 2020
Wes Moore: “Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City”
This is the twenty-ninth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is Wes Moore. We spoke with him via Zoom in July of 2020 ab…
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Aug 27, 2020
Jeffery Deaver: "The Goodbye Man"
This is the twenty-eighth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re very excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. Now sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Readers…
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Aug 20, 2020
Ruth Reichl: "Save Me The Plums"
This is the twenty-seventh episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re very excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. Now sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is renown restaurant critic and former editor of Gou…
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Aug 13, 2020
Alex George: "The Paris Hours"
This is the twenty-sixth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re very excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. Now sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Our guest this time is international bestselling author Alex George. We s…
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Jul 2, 2020
Alma Katsu: "The Deep"
This is the twenty-fifth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re very excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. Now sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Today, our author is an intelligence expert and award winning creator of 5…
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Jun 25, 2020
Chris Bohjalian: "The Red Lotus"
This is the twenty-fourth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re still back with you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. After the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. Now sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Today, our author is an award winning, #1 New York Times Bestselling creator of over 20 novels, Chris Bohjalian. We spoke with him via Zoom in April of 2020 about his book “The Red Lotus” by publisher Knopf Doubleday.
This Vermont based writer has been a published novelist since 1995. And like most writers, he gets ideas from his own experiences…
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Jun 18, 2020
James Rollins: "The Last Odyssey"
This is the twenty-third episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re very excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. Now sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Today, our author is the #1 New York Times Bestselling creator of over 30…
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Jun 11, 2020
Eduardo Porter: "American Poison - How Racial Hostility Destroyed our Promise”
This is the twenty-second episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
We’re very excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned. But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. Now sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.
Today, our author is a New York Times economic reporter and writer, Eduar…
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Mar 5, 2020
Robert Matzen: "Dutch Girl - Audrey Hepburn and World War II”
This is the twenty-first episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is documentary filmmaker and writer of books about Hollywood history, Robert Matzen. We spoke with him as he was on tour in November of 2019 with his book “Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II” by publisher GoodKnight Books.
Robert Matzen was working on his second book in the mid-2010s about Hollywood actors during World War II, when he learned that Audrey Hepburn actually lived in German occupied The Netherlands throughout the conflict. It had been believed that she’d been part of the Dutch resistance during that time, but Robert, ever the documentarian, couldn’t find any definitive writings that could confirm that OR much about her life during that time. The reason…her parents’ pre-war sympathies and activities. Even with press questions at time,…
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Feb 20, 2020
Dave Itzkoff: "Robin" - A Biography of Robin Willams
This is the twentieth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is a culture reporter for the New York Times and four time book author Dave Itzkoff. We spoke with him as he was on tour in November of 2019 with his then brand new book “Robin” a biography of Robin Williams by publisher Pan Macmillan.
Dave Itzkoff is a journalist that has covered the worlds of film, theatre, TV, and pop culture…and he would need to use his knowledge of all of those worlds to take on the subject of the comedian and actor Robin Williams when he decided to write his biography. The multi-talented artist that died back in 2014 had previously given some interviews with Itzkoff back in 2008 and 2009. Those talks coupled with more than another 100 interviews with family and friends, helped Dave learn about the ways that Williams connected to his fame and…
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Feb 6, 2020
Ben Westhoff: "Fentanyl, Inc. - How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic"
This is the nineteenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Our author is award winning investigative journalist Ben Westhoff. We spoke with him as he was on tour in September of 2019 with his then brand new book “Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic” by publisher Grove Atlantic.
But after following that thread of information, he found himself tracking down the source of the additives to China, tracing the spread of the synthetic drug throughout the world, and testifying in the halls of the Congress about the manufacture, use, abuse, and effect of fentanyl in the United States. We’ll learn about investigative journalist Ben Westhoff’s deep journey through the illicit drug world and hear some stories about the lives of the businesses and people effected by it on this edition Talking Wit…
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Jan 23, 2020
Marra Gad: “The Color of Love - A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl”
This is the eighteenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is independent film and television producer and writer Marra Gad. We spoke with her as she was on tour in November of 2019 with her book “The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl” by Agate Publishing.
Marra Gad was born as the product of a relationship between an unwed black father and white Jewish mother in Chicago, Illinois, and was adopted into an all white Jewish family in 1970 at three days old. As an obviously mixed race child of the time, she grew up standing out in the close knit Jewish community and synagogue of her adopted parents and in the city of Chicago in general. But her parents were firmly behind her and against all people that couldn’t understand that she was who she was. But the strain from too much attention was always with her.…
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Jan 9, 2020
Dr. Michael Roizen: "What to Eat When - A Strategic Plan to Improve Your Health and Life Through Food"
This is the seventeenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is the New York Times Best Selling writer Dr. Michael Roizen. We spoke with him as he was on tour in November of 2019 with his book “What to Eat When: A Strategic Plan to Improve Your Health and Life Through Food” by publisher The National Geographic Society.
Dr. Roizen is a board certified anesthesiologist and internist, and the chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic, an academic based medical center in Cleveland, Ohio. He became a 5-time New York Times Best Selling author with a series of books from his RealAge service of personal health tools for the general public. He has made many media appearances over the years and been part of the Dr. Oz Show for several episodes. In this new book “What to Eat When” that he penned with fellow doctor Michael Cru…
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Dec 26, 2019
Lori Gottlieb: "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone"
This is the sixteenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our guest is a journalist, psychotherapist, and New York Times best selling author Lori Gottlieb. We spoke with her as she was on tour in November of 2019 for her book “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” by publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Lori Gottlieb’s professional career has taken her from film development, to TV writing and production in the 1990s with NBC, to medical school, to journalism, and to psychology later on. And now with her behind-the-scenes look into the life of a therapist in the book “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” being adapted to a TV series, she’s coming full circle…back to the media world. She very much wants to tell stories about real life and to help lead people to take care of their mental health like they would other aspects of their…
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Dec 12, 2019
Issac Mizrahi: "I.M.: A Memoir"
This is the fifteenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is famed fashion designer Issac Mizrahi. We spoke with him at the Jewish Community Center in St. Louis as he was on tour in November of 2019 with his book “I.M.: A Memoir” by publisher Macmillian.
This world famous fashion designer and TV personality started off his life in Brooklyn, New York in the 1960s as one of three children in an observant Syrian-Jewish family. His father was in the clothing business and gave him a sewing machine when he was 10 and he eventually went to school at the famed LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. His eventual voyage to fame in the very liberal and open worlds of high fashion and television performance was far from smooth, especially given the very conservative background he came from.…
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Nov 28, 2019
Erin Entrada Kelly: "Lalani of the Distant Sea"
This is the fourteenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is a Newberry award winning writer Erin Entrada Kelly. We spoke with her at the HEC Media studios as she was on her summer book tour in September of 2019 when her book “Lalani of the Distant Sea” was hot off the presses.
This New York Times Best Selling children’s book writer was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana and started off her career as a journalist in The South. She then relocated to the American Northeast and became an author in 2015 and only 2 years later in 2017, she won the Newberry award for her third book, “Hello, Universe”. Writing for and being able to relate to middle schoolers and young people is clearly a passion for Erin Entrada Kelly. And she knows that being able to provide a sense of belonging in book form for her audience is very importan…
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Nov 14, 2019
Dr. Marty Makary: America's Healthcare Crisis
This is the thirteenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is New York Times best selling writer Marty Makary, M.D. We spoke with him as he was touring the United States talking about his book “The Price We Pay: What Broke the American Healthcare System - and How to Fix It”. This one-on-one was done in October of 2019.
More than a writer, Dr. Makary is an oncology and gastrointestinal surgeon plus a teacher of public health policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Through all of his contact with his patients, he knows that the trust that people have with doctors is one of the most critical components in promoting good public health. But given the way that people are forced to interact with the financial part of healthcare system, Dr. Makary knows that trust can become eroded bec…
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Oct 31, 2019
Ann Leckie: "Provenance"
This is the twelfth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today our author is a Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Award winning science fiction writer Ann Leckie. We spoke with her in December of 2017, shortly after the release of her book “Provenance”, part of the “Ancillary” universe of books from the publisher Orbit that made her beloved by readers of the science fiction genre.
This New York Times Best Selling author’s rise to sci-fi stardom began with her first novel “Ancillary Justice” in 2013 and kicked off her award winning career. The “Imperial Radch” trilogy continued with “Ancillary Sword” in 2014 and “Ancillary Mercy” in 2015 and featured sharply tuned characters dealing with ancient alien cultures. And while “Provenance” is set on the other side of the same universe as the “Ancillary” books, Leckie w…
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Oct 17, 2019
Kate DiCamillo: "Raymie Nightingale"
This is the eleventh episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Our author this time is a two time Newberry award winning writer Kate DiCamillo. We spoke with her at the Ladue Middle School in Ladue, Missouri as she was on her summer book tour in 2018. We talked with her about her then most current book, “Raymie Nightingale” by Candlewick Press…as well as her then upcoming companion book, “Louisiana’s Way Home”.
New York Times Best Selling author Kate DiCamillo’s wildly popular first published novel “Because of Winn-Dixie” was eventually adapted into a movie in 2005. Her first Newberry award came for her book “The Tale of Despereaux” in 2004, and she repeated the accomplishment with the book “Flora & Ulysses” in 2014. In the world of children’s literature she writes picture and early chapter books, as well as novels, like…
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Oct 3, 2019
Patricia Cornwell: "Flesh and Blood"
This is the tenth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Our author this time is 100 plus million book selling and Edgar award winning crime writer Patricia Cornwell. We spoke with her as she was touring the United States talking about her 22nd crime novel in her Kay Scarpetta series, “Flesh and Blood” by Harper Collins Books. This one-on-one was done in November of 2014.
Patricia Cornwell started out working with words professionally as a reporter in North Carolina in the late 70s. She began doing feature work, but eventually moved to the the crime beat where she eventually won an award for a series on prostitution. By the time she started writing novels in 1984, her news background lead her to want to make her imagined subjects as real as possible…so she began to take an almost participatory journalistic approach to her novels.
And from t…
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Sep 19, 2019
Piper Kerman: "Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison"
This is the ninth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Our author this time is New York Times best selling writer Piper Kerman. We spoke with her as she was touring the United States talking about her non-fiction book “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison” by Spiegel and Grau/Random House books, less than a year after the debut of the fictionalized Netflix program “Orange is the New Black” based on her life. This one-on-one was done in September of 2014.
Piper Kerman was born in Boston and had a family full of educators, attorneys, and doctors. But through a relationship she had with a girlfriend in her 20s, she became involved in the drug trade and was eventually convicted of felonious drug trafficking and money laundering. Her memoir of her time in federal prison became the book “Orange Is the New Black”. The on-s…
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Sep 5, 2019
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano: "How Safe Are We?"
This is the eighth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is the former cabinet Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. We spoke with her about her book “How Safe Are We?: Homeland Security Since 9/11” by PublicAffairs Books in February of 2019 at Spot Studios in St. Louis, Missouri.
As the third full-time head of the Department of Homeland Security since its creation post September 11th, Secretary Napolitano is very well versed about the threats that the United States faces: foreign states acting against US interests, transnational terror organizations, and domestic groups wishing to disrupt the lives of the American public directly being among the many threats on the list. But she says while people don’t often think of climate change and security in the same sentence, they ought to.
In this wide-ranging intervi…
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Aug 22, 2019
Karin Slaughter: “Pieces of Her”
This is the seventh episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is a New York Times best selling crime writer Karin Slaughter. We spoke with her as part of a tour for her book “Pieces of Her” by Harper-Collins Book. This interview conducted in August of 2018 at the Hilton Saint Louis Frontenac.
Karin Slaughter was born in Georgia and is very well known for her two groupings of books, the “Will Trent Series” and the “Grant County Series”…both of which are set in her home state. Karin’s desire to create written works was apparently born with her in the South. When she was a little girl, she used to make little short stories with as few as 10 pages where her sisters were characters, but they didn’t always come off so well on paper. The paying consumer group of one of all of those stories was her father. She says he alwa…
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Aug 8, 2019
Nick Offerman: “Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop”
This is the sixth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is Hollywood actor, humorist, woodworker, and New York Times best selling writer Nick Offerman. He sat down with us for an interview in September of 2016 at the Goebel & Company Furniture woodworking shop in St. Louis, Missouri.
“Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop” is only one of 4 books that Nick has penned or helped pen. But his work as a writer isn’t what the Illinois native is best known for. Most people know him as the character Ron Swanson from the hit TV show “Parks and Recreation". Ron Swanson is a self-described “man’s man”. A hairy, bearded man. A flannel wearing, Canada and France hating political libertarian man. And while Nick Offerman embodies that role for the camera and has shades of his true self show through, like h…
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Jul 25, 2019
Sarah Kendzior: “The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America”
This is the fifth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is journalist and writer, Sarah Kendzior. She sat down with us for a discussion in February of 2018 at one of her alma maters Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Sarah Kendzior is a Connecticut born, St. Louis based international journalist whose education in anthropology and career as a reporter in Europe, Russia, and the US led her to publish the book “The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America” from Flatiron Books. This book is a collection of essays that she wrote for the network Al Jazeera English between 2012 and 2014 and it covers the increasingly difficult state of the lives and careers of American citizens from the perspective of people who don’t live on the East and West coasts of the country. Our conversation will cover t…
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Jul 18, 2019
Charles Fishman: “One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that Flew Us to the Moon”
This is the fourth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
Today, our author is journalist and New York Times best selling writer Charles Fishman. We spoke with him as part of a book tour for his latest work “One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that Flew Us to the Moon” in July of 2019….50 years to the month after the first historic words transmitted from the surface of the moon were heard, "Houston...Tranquility Base here...the Eagle has landed."
Charles went from being a little kid in 1969 repeatedly listening to that call from Neil Armstrong on the moon to capsule communicator Charlie Duke on Earth on a phonograph record, to being a journalist with multiple beats, including being a space reporter with the Washington Post. When writing this book, he didn't want to tell the stories of the 21 individuals that flew to the moon during NASA…
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Jul 11, 2019
Alexis Clark: “Enemies in Love: A German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance”
This is the second episode of “Talking with Authors” where we’ll be talking to a variety of best selling authors spanning genres — authors like Judy Blume, Brad Meltzer, Janet Napalitano, and so many more.
Today, our author is journalist and writer, Alexis Clark. She sat down with us for a discussion in July of 2018 at the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes Jewish College in St. Louis, Missouri.
We interviewed Ms. Clark at a nursing school. Why? Because the extremely unlikely, non-fiction story that she researched and published, “Enemies in Love”, tells the tale of a World War II era, Black, American Army nurse and her relationship with a captured German POW in the United States while the hostilities were still going on. The story of how these two people that would never have met, if not for the extremes in the societies on both sides of that war, is what we’ll hear about from our guest, journalist and writer Alexis Clark on “Talking with Authors” from HEC Media a…
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Jul 11, 2019
Brad Meltzer: "The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington"
This is the third episode of “Talking with Authors” where we’ll be talking to a variety of best selling authors spanning genres — authors like Judy Blume, Janet Napalitano, and so many more.
Today, our author is New York Times best selling writer Brad Meltzer. We spoke with him in January of 2019 as part of a book tour for his then latest work “The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington” on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Brad Meltzer is a writer of many genres…from children’s books and comics, to television and political thrillers. But his book that he’ll discuss at length today, “The First Conspiracy”, is his first foray into non-fiction. Here, he heads back to the time period before the end of the Revolutionary War and through the early days of the United States where George Washington had to set up an entire operation to counter a probable attempt against his life. We'll also hear about other items he uncovere…
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Jul 11, 2019
Jenna Fischer: "The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide"
This is the first ever episode of “Talking with Authors” where we’ll be talking to a variety of best selling authors spanning genres — authors like Judy Blume, Brad Meltzer, Janet Napalitano, and so many more.
HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri, and with the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch all of these video interviews on hecmedia.org.
Today, our author is Emmy Award Nominee and writer Jenna Fischer. She sat down with us for this discussion in March of 2018 at the Marriot St. Louis Grand Hotel.
We’ll hear how the now famous St. Louisian went from being passionate about one subject area growing up, and on to becoming a star in Hollywood and landing the role of Pam Beesly in the hit TV show “The Office”. She decided to write her book “The Actor’…
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