Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon

We talk with Rue Matthiessen, daughter of the famed writer Peter Mathiessen about her family memoir, Castles And Ruins: Unraveling, Family Mysteries, And Literary Legacy In The Irish Countryside. Then, Claire Coughlan tells us about her twisty-turny whodunit, Where They Lie. It’s a murder mystery set in 1968 Dublin, where the detective isn’t a policeman, but a young female news reporter on the make. And finally we air a short clip from our conversation with Fintan O’Toole last St. Patrick’s Day about his personal history of modern Ireland, We Don’t Know Ourselves. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Key Words: Rue Matthiessen, memoir, author interview, Claire Coughlan, Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day, , memoir, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon, mystery fiction, crime fiction, Peter Matthiessen A Journey To Ireland Reveals A Family’s Secrets In her memoir Castles and Ruins, Rue Matthiessen uses her memories of those two journeys to Ireland to dig deeper into her parents’ literary legacy, their stormy marriage, and their complicated relationships to their children. Decades after spending a summer in the Irish countryside with her parents—author Deborah Love and National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen—Rue Matthiessen took her young family back to Ireland to revisit locales from that season in the sixties. As a guide, she had her mother’s book, Annaghkeen, named for the castle that overlooked their home in Galway. The book is also a vivid portrait of the artistic community on the East End of Long Island that flourished in the 1960s and 70s. A Thrilling Crime Fiction Debut Set in 1968 Dublin Former investigative journalist Claire Coughlan always wanted to write crime fiction. And we are so glad she’s finally been able to do so. Her debut novel is Where They Lie. It’s 1968 Dublin and Ireland is on the cusp: the strangle grip of the old order of the Catholic Church is just beginning to slacken. There are new opportunities for women — in investigative journalism, for example. But contraception won’t be available until 1985 — and abortion until 2018. That’s fifty years after Coughlan’s protagonist, the young female journalist Nicoletta Sarto, takes on the task of investigating a case long gone cold: the death of a young woman that could be linked to a clandestine abortion clinic. Sarto vividly brings 1968 Dublin to life, where the upper crust thinks its privilege will protect it against accountability for its crimes — until it doesn’t.

We talk with Amitav Ghosh about his masterful history of the opium trade, Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories. Then, Manjula Martin tells us about her personal and “pyro-natural” history of California wildfires — the ones she lived through in 2020 and the ones Indigenous people lived with before white settlers moved in and took their land. Her book is The Last Fire Season. And finally, we read a poem from Mosab Abu Toha’s book Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Key Words: Amitav Ghosh, history, opium trade, author interview, Manjula Martin, climate change, global warming, fire season, memoir, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon Narco States of Colonial Capitalism When Amitav Ghosh finished the novels of his famed Ibis Trilogy, he became curious about the opium trade. The lives of his characters, 19th-century sailors and soldiers who navigated the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, were intertwined with the currents that carried not just ships, but their precious cargo—opium. He was surprised to find how much that commodity had shaped the destinies of not only India, but of China, colonial empires — and the United States. What startled Ghosh even more wasn’t just the historical backdrop, but the realization that his own family history was entangled in that trade. Enter Smoke and Ashes: a book that combines travelogue, memoir, and historical research to weave together threads of horticultural history, the myths of capitalism, and the enduring impacts of colonialism. Read An Excerpt Read The Transcript Fire Season: Past, Present and Future Manjula Martin traded city life for the serene woods of Northern California in pursuit of a deeper connection to the wilderness of her childhood. Struggling with chronic pain, she sought solace in tending her garden beneath the majestic redwoods of Sonoma County. However, the very landscape she cherished was under threat from escalating wildfires exacerbated by climate change. As wildfires ravaged the West in 2020, Martin and countless other Californians were forced to evacuate amidst a global pandemic. The Last Fire Season delves into the intricate role of fire in the ecology of the Western landscape while at the same time shining a critical lens on the colonialist practices that have contributed to their current plight. Read or Listen to an Excerpt Read The Transcript

We talk with Charles Derber about the book he co-wrote with Suren Moodliar, Dying For Capitalism, How Big Money Fuels Extinction And What We Can Do About It. Then we talk with Andy Lee Roth about Project Censored’s yearbook, State of the Free Press 2024: The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2022–23. And finally, we read a poem from Mosab Abu Toha’s book Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read The Transcript Key Words: Charles Derber, Andy Lee Roth, author interview, book podcast, democracy, press freedom, podcast, Project Censored, nonfiction Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Charles Derber Introduction * Charles Derber, a co-author of the book “Dying for Capitalism,” discusses critical issues surrounding capitalism, technology, and climate change with Francesca on Writer’s Voice. * Suren Moodliar is Co-author of the book, a South African with ties to the Mandela household and an ANC activist. Key Points from the Interview * Capitalism and Growth: The conversation emphasizes how capitalism’s inherent drive for infinite growth poses challenges for sustainability on a finite planet. * Fetishism of Commodities: Drawing from Marx’s concept, the interview touches on how consumerism and material production under capitalism contribute to resource depletion. * Triangle of Extinction: Gerber introduces the concept linking capitalism, environmental destruction, and militarism as interconnected forces driving global crises. Insights from the Interview * Challenging Green Capitalism: The interview delves into the limitations of green technology within capitalism in addressing climate change. * Technology and Capitalism: Gerber highlights the misconception that technology alone can solve deep-rooted social, environmental, and political issues. * Historical Context: The discussion explores how capitalism’s evolution from water to coal to oil was influenced by social and political factors rather than just technological efficiency. Podcast Show Notes: State of the Free Press 2024 Introduction In this segment, Andy Lee Roth, the associate director of Project Censored, discusses key trends in the State of the Free Press in the United States. Roth highlights significant changes in the media landscape since Project Censored’s establishment in 1976, emphasizing the impact of media deregulation,

We talk with Les Leopold of the Labor Institute about his groundbreaking study of the political cost of mass layoffs. His book is Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed Are Destroying the Working Class and What to Do About It. Then we re-air a clip from our 2013 interview with Les Leopold about his book, How To Make A Million Dollars An Hour: Why Hedge Funds Get Away with Siphoning Off America’s Wealth. And finally, we read some poems from Mosab Abu Toha’s book Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts at the Writer’s Voice Substack. Key words: Les Leopold, Wall Street, layoffs, author interview, book podcast, nonfiction, podcast, Writer’s Voice Economy Not Working For Many Americans The economy is going great, right? Wages are up, unemployment is at record lows, so why do so many Americans feel that the economy isn’t working for them? And what does that mean for the upcoming presidential election? Wall Street’s War On Workers These are the questions Les Leopold answers in his latest book Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed Are Destroying the Working Class and What to Do About It. As the title makes clear, the crisis of mass layoffs and the failure of either political party to address it has left Americans feeling like the economy is rigged against them – and no one in politics is taking their side. Leopold says that the failure of the so-called “party of the working class,” the Democrats, to stand against mass layoffs is the real reason many working class people have abandoned it. And he says workers are far more progressive, even white workers, than the pundits would have you think. About the Author Les Leopold is the co-founder of the Labor Institute and the author of numerous books, including Runaway Inequality, The Looting of America and How to Make a Million Dollars an Hour. Listen to more of our interviews with Leopold here. Check out Leopold’s Wall Street’s War On Workers Substack here.

The Rundown We talk with Michael Wolraich about his book, The Bishop And The Butterfly: Murder, Politics, And The End Of The Jazz Age. Then, we re-air part of our conversation with Paul Kix about You Have To Be Prepared To Die Before You Can Begin To Live: Ten Weeks In Birmingham That Changed America.  And we read a poem by Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who was abducted by the IDF and brutally beaten before a global outcry resulted in his release. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts at the Writer’s Voice Substack. Key Words: Michael Wolraich, Jazz Age, history, writers voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, creative nonfiction, poetry, Black History Month Gotham’s Golden Age of Corruption New York City has a long history of corruption. Some are calling the current era of financial capitalism the Golden Age of Corruption, and, with New York being the pre-eminent global capital of financial capital, there’s plenty of fraud, grift and graft going around in the present day.  But the Golden Age of Corruption in New York was the century that Tammany Hall sat at the center of the city’s governance, spreading its tentacles into every nook and cranny, from the beat cop on the street all the way up the mayor and beyond to the New York State legislature. And the Jazz Age of the 1920’s was, if not the height of corruption, certainly one of its major peaks. The Bishop and The Butterfly In his book, The Bishop and The Butterfly, Michael Wolraich tells the riveting story of how the 1931 murder of con artist and high class prostitute Vivian Gordon brought about the downfall of New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker, and led to the end of Tammany Hall’s dominance. Michael Wolraich’s writing has appeared at Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, CNN.com, Reuters, and Talking Points Memo. In addition to The Bishop and the Butterfly, he’s the author of Unreasonable Men, and Blowing Smoke. Black History Month: The Battle of Birmingham In August of last year, we spoke with Paul Kix about his riveting chronicle of the fight to end Jim Crow, led by the greatest figures of the Civil Rights Movement—and won by children. The book is  You Have To Be Prepared To Die Before You Can Begin To Live: Ten Weeks In Birmingham That Changed America. We air an extended excerpt from that interview, but you can hear the entire conversation here. Mosab Abu Toha’s poem, “My Grandfather Was A Terrorist” As of February 14, 2024,

We talk with Elizabeth Flock about her book, The Furies. It follows three remarkable women — in the US, in India and in Syria — who took justice into their own hands to defend themselves, other women and their communities against abuse. Then, environmental journalist Stephen Robert Miller tells us about his book, Over The Seawall: Tsunamis, Cyclones, Drought, And The Delusion Of Controlling Nature. He dives into the deep end of disaster mitigation gone wrong. From Arizona’s drought dilemmas to Japan’s daunting seawalls, we hear how “solutions” can turn into bigger problems. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts at the Writer’s Voice Substack. Key words: Stephen R. Miller, Elizabeth Flock, Nonfiction, domestic violence, women’s rights, global warming, climate change, book podcast, author interview Read more: Women, Vengeance, and Justice: Elizabeth Flock, THE FURIES. Plus, Stephen Robert Miller, OVER THE SEAWALL The Furies: Women, Vengeance & Justice In Ancient Greek mythology, the Furies were Goddesses who came out of the ground to exact vengeance on men. In the plays of Sophocles, they were the daughters of Darkness and of Gaea (The Earth). According to Euripides. They were three in number. And that’s the number of the modern day Furies in Elizabeth Flock’s book, The Furies. They include a young mother from Alabama who shot and killed her rapist after an assault where he threatened to kill her; a Dalit (what used to be called “Untouchable”) woman in India who organized a band of women to fight back against gender-based violence; and finally, a Kurdish Syrian warrior in a thousands-strong all-female militia that battled ISIS in Syria. The Furies explores these women’s lives with nuance and compassion, not shrinking from the moral issue of responding to violence with violence, but also showing that these ultimately ordinary women did what they felt they had to do to fight back against oppression. About the Author Elizabeth Flock is an Emmy Award–winning journalist whose work has been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Atlantic, among other outlets. She is the host of the podcast Blind Plea, about criminalized survival. Her first book, The Heart Is a Shifting Sea, won a Nautilus Book Award. Unintended Consequences of Climate & Disaster Mitigation Stephen Robert Miller’s compelling narrative Over the Sea Wall takes us on a journey through the misguided attempts at mitigating natural and climate disasters, emphasizing how our best-intended efforts can backfire and lead to greater problems. In this conversation with the author, we explore the themes of maladaptation, technological interventions, and the pressing need for sustainable solutions in the face of climate change.

Mind & Liberation: Unveiling Frantz Fanon’s Revolutionary Psychiatry and Post-Colonial Vision. Also, a Cherokee murder mystery. We talk with Adam Shatz about his acclaimed biography, The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon. Then, a Cherokee murder mystery based on two very real crises affecting Indigenous communities: missing and murdered women and environmental racism. We talk with Cherokee author Vanessa Lillie about her suspense novel, Blood Sisters. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts at the Writer’s Voice Substack. Key words: Adam Shatz, Frantz Fanon, Vanessa Lillie, suspense, history, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, writer’s voice, Francesca Rheannon Who Was Frantz Fanon? Frantz Fanon lived a mere 36 years, yet his revolutionary legacy has been enduring. He was the intellectual activist of the postcolonial era, and his writings about race, revolution, and the psychology of power continue to shape radical movements across the world As a psychiatrist, he explored how colonialism deforms the psyche of not only the colonized but also the colonizer. As a Black man, he wrote powerfully about identity, alienation and the trauma of being The Other in the view of the White Gaze. And as a revolutionary, he held a nuanced understanding of anti-colonial violence, as both a tool for liberation and a destructive force that can undermine democracy in post-colonial societies. The Rebel’s Clinic We discuss all this and more with my guest Adam Shatz. His biography of Fanon, The Rebel’s Clinic, explores Frantz Fanon’s life, work, and enduring influence on post-colonial theory and beyond. It was named a most anticipated book of 2024. About The Author Adam Shatz is the US editor of The London Review of Books and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and other publications. In addition to The Rebel’s Clinic, he is the author of Prophets Outcast: A Century of Dissident Jewish Writing about Zionism and Israel and Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical Imagination. He is also the host of the podcast Myself with Others. Twin Crises Afflicting Indigenous Communties There are twin crises afflicting Native American communities. The first is the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis: one study found that more than four in five Native American women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime. The other crisis is environmental racism. Indigenous communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental contaminants. One of the worst examples of this racism can be found on Cherokee land in northeas...

We talk with world-renowned climate scientist Michael Mann about climate, past, present and future. His book is Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis. The world is largely past climate denialism (except for the Republican Party and its fascist leader Donald Trump.) But what has replaced it is climate doomism — the notion that it’s just too late to do anything about climate disruption, so we might as well continue with business as usual. But as Michael Mann tells us, it’s not too late to avert climate apocalypse — and there is resilience in the climate system, if we can just give it enough support to kick in. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts at the Writer’s Voice Substack. Key words: climate change, climate crisis, global warming, climate science, Michael Mann, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, writer’s voice, Francesca Rheannon Lessons From the Past For Our Climate Future In his book Our Fragile Moment, Mann explores what past climate shifts tell us about climate system resiliency — and what factors have undermined it in the past to lead to to the greatest mass extinctions — like when oxygen-creating bacteria depleted the atmosphere of planet-warming methane and caused the Earth to become encased in ice — Snowball Earth. But enough of life remained in tiny refuges that a whole new oxygen-breathing life became possible — and eventually led…to us. Now we are like those planet-killing bacteria. The conditions that allowed humans to live on this earth are incredibly fragile, dependent on a climate system that is vastly complex, with influences that can drive us further away from a habitable planet and others that can help restore balance. There’s Still Time For Climate Hope In Our Fragile Moment, Michael Mann explains the complex science behind our climate system in a way that makes the subject easily understandable and compelling to read. He explains why sea level rise is baked in for centuries, but, if we stop polluting our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, global temperatures will quickly stabilize. It’s up to us to make sure that stabilization happens as soon as possible, so we can keep our planet within habitable bounds. About the Author Michael Mann is the Presidential Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s the author of numerous books, including The New Climate War, which we spoke to him about in 2021. Coming Up Next Week We talk with Adam Shatz about his acclaimed biography of Frantz Fanon, The Rebel’s Clinic. Here’s a preview of that conversation: Francesca: I think a lot of people who have a glancing knowledge of Fanon think that he was Algerian because he was so closely connected to the Algeri...

We talk with authors Douglas Preston and Emma Donoghue about a collaborative novel whose characters — and their stories — are each written by a different, major literary voice: Fourteen Days: An Unauthorized Gathering. Then, we remember Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday by airing some of our conversation with Jonathan Eig, about his biography, King: A Life. Listen to the whole interview here. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Key Words: writer’s voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, fiction, Douglas Preston, Emma Donoghue, Covid pandemic. Read The Transcript During the height of the Covid pandemic, many authors found their calendars suddenly empty: no bookstore readings, no writers’ conferences, no research trips. That’s when Author’s Guild president Douglas Preston had a brilliant idea: why not reach out to suddenly idle writers and ask them to contribute stories to a novel taking place during that time? He roped in Margaret Atwood as a co-editor, and the book project, Fourteen Days, was off the races. Set in a Lower East Side tenement in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Fourteen Days features a collection of diverse characters who are stuck in lockdown because they can’t afford to escape to country houses in the Hamptons or elsewhere. To ease the boredom, they meet every night on their tenement’s rooftop to tell stories to each other. What they create is more than an antidote to boredom, but a true community. Each character is written by a different author, including such luminaries as Dave Eggers, Erica Jong, John Grisham, Meg Wolitzer and Scott Turow, as well as my guests Robert Preston and Emma Donoghue. The proceeds from Fourteen Days are supporting the Author’s Guild fight against book bans, AI attacks on copyright and more protections for authors.

We talk with Cory Doctorow about his new novel The Lost Cause, “a solarpunk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency.” It imagines an America where another better world is possible, while confronting the evils of today. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Read the transcript Key Words: writer’s voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, fiction, cli-fi, Cory Doctorow, Green New Deal, climate change A Green New Deal America What would America look like 30 years from now if the Green New Deal were mainstream? A universal jobs guarantee? Renewable energy the law of the land? Social solidarity the guiding principle of society? Now, imagine that the forces of reaction are anything but vanquished. The tax-avoiding tech billionaires have teamed up with MAGA remnants to overthrow progress and reinstate reaction. And the climate crisis is still ongoing. What’s a young person to do? Especially because the MAGA forces are armed to the teeth — and the young person in question is related to one of them, his “Gramps.” That’s the dilemma facing the 18 year -old protagonist of Cory Doctorow’s new novel, The Lost Cause. A Battle For The Future The questions posed in The Lost Cause are salient to our current moment: how to protect democracy against violent extremism; how to build social solidarity within the pressure cooker of crises that threaten to divide us; and how to use technology responsibly for human good instead of for the profit of a few. Those questions and more are wrapped in a package of vivid storytelling — something the incredibly prolific writer Cory Doctorow excels at. About The Author Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He’s been on Writer’s Voice several times to talk about his books Walkaway, Radicalized and Makers. In addition to The Lost Cause, his most recent nonfiction book is The Internet Con: How To Seize The Means Of Computation. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Doctorow is the author of the popular website, Craphound.com.

We explore the people of North Sentinel Island, who are thought to be the last un-contacted tribe on Earth. Our guest is historian, essayist, and author Adam Goodheart and his book is The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth. Read The Interview Transcript Then, we talk with author, gardener and radio host Jennifer Jewell about her book, What We Sow: On The Personal, Ecological And Cultural Significance Of Seeds. Read The Interview Transcript Key Words: Adam Goodheart, Jennifer Jewell, writer’s voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, creative nonfiction, history, environment, seeds Writers Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Adam Goodheart, The Last Island In November 2018, an American missionary was killed while attempting to visit an island he called “Satan’s last stronghold,” a small patch of land known as North Sentinel in the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean. News of the tragedy fascinated people around the world. Most were unaware such a place still existed in our time: an island unmolested by the advances of modern technology. Twenty years before the American missionary’s ill-fated visit, a young American historian and journalist named Adam Goodheart also traveled to the waters off North Sentinel. During his time in the Andaman Islands he witnessed another isolated tribe emerge into modernity for the first time. Now, Goodheart has returned to the Andamans with his new book The Last Island. It tells the stories of others drawn to North Sentinel’s mystery through the centuries, from imperial adventurers to an eccentric Victorian photographer to modern-day anthropologists. It narrates the tragic stories of other Andaman tribes’ encounters with the outside world. And it shows how the web of modernity is drawing ever closer to the island’s shores. Adam Goodheart is a historian, travel writer, essayist, and author of the New York Times bestseller 1861: The Civil War Awakening. Read an Excerpt Jennifer Jewell, AS WE SOW Ever since the evolution of seed-bearing plants some 350 million years ago, most life on this planet has depended, directly or indirectly, on them. But seeds and seed diversity are endangered from multiple threats, ranging from industrialized agriculture to habitat loss. In her book, What We Sow, gardener,

Turtles are jaw-droppingly amazing. Some can run faster than a 10-year-old; some can climb trees; others have shells that glow in the dark. We talk with The Soul of An Octopus author Sy Montgomery and illustrator Matthew Patterson about this and more amazing things about turtles. Their acclaimed book is Of Time And Turtles: Mending the World, Shell By Shattered Shell. We also share our list of Ten Best Shows of 2023 Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts at the Writer’s Voice Substack. Sy Montgomery has a gift for bringing the reader intimately into the mind and world of animals, from her celebrated book The Soul of An Octopus, to the one we spoke with her about in 2022, The Hawk’s Way. Now, she’s teamed up with illustrator and turtle maven Matthew Patterson to bring us into the minds and world of turtles and the people who rescue them. Their book, Of Time And Turtles is both heartbreaking — as they tell us about the plight of these ancient creatures, 60% of which are threatened or endangered — and inspiring, as they recount the stories of turtles brought back from the brink of death to finally be released back into the wild. And what characters the turtles are! Firechief, Pizzaman, and other wonderful beings leap off the page into the imagination as the reader follows them from tragedy to triumph. The real heroes of the story are the founders of Turtle Rescue League, Natasha Nowick and Alexia Belle. We hear about their remarkable operation in Massachusetts and about the thrilling rescue mission they organized (and that Sy Montgomery and Matt Patterson went on) to save endangered sea turtles washed ashore on Cape Cod — all in the middle of a nor’easter. Of Time And Turtles tells us all about these amazing creatures and why we should care about them. Watch A Video About The Turtle Rescue League About The Authors Sy Montgomery is the author of numerous books for adults and children, including The Hawk’s Way, How To Be A Good Creature and Tamed and Untamed. Listen to those interviews here. Matthew Patterson is a wildlife artist and owner of Stoneridge Art Studios. In addition to Of Time and Turtles, he also collaborated with Sy Montgomery on a children’s book The Book of Turtles.

Antisemitism and conspiracy theories. Also, how to protect wildlife by protecting people. First, we talk with Mike Rothschild about his book: Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories. It’s about the persistence of rightwing antisemitism and its link to conspiracy theories. Then, scientist Adam Hart tells us about how people become prey for wild animals and why conservation to preserve wildlife needs to take human needs into account to succeed. His book is The Deadly Balance: Predators and People in A Crowded World. Key words: Mike Rothschild, Adam Hart, antisemitism, conspiracy theories, wildlife conservation, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book show, writer’s voice, Francesca Rheannon Writers Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Read transcripts at the Writer’s Voice Substack The Real Antisemitism Rightwing antisemitism is on the rise. This is a real phenomenon, not to be confused with claims by the pro-Zionist lobby that anyone who criticizes Israeli policy toward Palestinians is an antisemite. In fact, some of the most fervent supporters of the current Israeli government are also promoters of rightwing antisemitic conspiracy theories — like the notion that Jews are a “globalist” cabal that controls the world’s money supply or that Jews are promoting immigration to “replace” the white race. Target: The Rothschilds Many antisemitic conspiracy theories center around one family, the Rothschilds. Over the years, they have been blamed for everything from the sinking of the Titanic, to causing the Great Depression, and even creating the COVID-19 pandemic. How did the Rothschilds become a lightning rod for the conspiracy theories of the last two centuries, and why do these theories persist so widely today? My guest Mike Rothschild — no relation — explores these questions in his new bookJewish Space Lasers. In it, he sorts out myth from reality to find the truth about these conspiracy theories and their spreaders. About the Author Mike Rothschild is a journalist and author of two books, Jewish Space Lasers and The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything. He’s an expert on the intersections between internet culture and politics through the lens of conspiracy theories. Read an excerpt from Jewish Space Lasers Predators And People This past October, a couple camping in Banff National Park in Canada

We talk with labor educator and activist Steve Babson. His book is The Forgotten Populists: When Farmers Turned Left to Save Democracy. Then, Heather Has Two Mommies author Lesléa Newman tell us about the enduring legacy of Matthew Shepard. Her new book is Always Matt: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard. Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice Radio or find us on Threads and Instagram at writersvoicepodcast and at X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts at the WritersVoice Substack. Key words: book recommendations, author interview, history, writer’s voice, Francesca Rheannon, Steve Babson, Lesléa Newman, LGBTQ+ rights, populism, Matthew Shepard Read More

What happened when a poor African-American community went up against the biggest meatpacking company in the world? We spend the hour with Corban Addison talking about his spell-binding legal thriller, WASTELANDS: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice. Read transcripts and subscribe at the Writer’s Voice Substack. Key words: writer’s voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, creative nonfiction, Corban Addison, Smithfield Foods. The Stench Permeates Everything In eastern North Carolina’s hog country, pigs outnumber people 30 to 1. The stench of hog waste permeates everything. There’s no getting away from it, outside or inside the house. It’s not just about the smell. Disease pathogens from waste lagoons pollute the air and water, making it unhealthy to breathe or wash, or drink from the faucet. People living near the hog farms are plagued with headaches, coughing and nausea. Environmental Racism It’s a classic case of environmental racism: The residential communities bordering the hog farms are largely poor and Black, Latino or Indigenous. Many were established long before hog-raising went industrial, cramming thousands of pigs into barns so tightly, they can’t even turn around. The hog farmers themselves are little better than sharecroppers to Big Hog, in thrall to companies like Smithfield Foods that cut farmers profit margins to the bone. Workers in Smithfield plants, overwhelmingly workers of color, endure horrifically dangerous conditions. A David and Goliath Story Corban Addison’s powerful new book Wastelands — his first nonfiction book — is a David and Goliath story that pits some of the most powerless people in North Carolina against the state’s business and political establishment. As vivid and fast-paced as a thriller, Wastelands takes us into the heart of a legal battle over the future of America’s farmland and into the lives of the people who found the courage to fight. From the small group of intrepid neighbors to their legal allies, like Mona Lisa Wallace, who took on their case, Wastelands features a cast of characters as compelling as any in fiction — in fact, more compelling, because they are real people. About The Author Corban Addison is the best-selling author of four novels, including A Harvest of Thorns, which we spoke to him about in 2017. Read or Listen To An Excerpt Next Week on Writer’s Voice We talk with Adam Goodheart about his book about the most elusive tribe on Earth. His book is The Last Island. Also, we learn all about the real Populists, not the fake ones like Donald Trump. We talk with Steve Babson about his book The Forgotten Populists: When Farmers Turned Left to Save Democracy. Don’t miss it!