Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon

In today’s show, we discuss two novels about World War II, told from very differing perspectives. First, Jennifer Steil tells us about her novel Exile Music. It’s the story of a young girl who flees to Bolivia with her family after the Nazis annex Austria in 1938. Then, a rare depiction of the war from the point of view of an ordinary German family as their lives and society crumble around them: we talk with L. Annette Binder about her novel The Vanishing Sky. Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts! Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Jennifer Steil When Nazi Germany annexed Austria in March of 1938, it was the beginning of the end of Austria’s Jews. Vienna had long been home to a flourishing Jewish community, with many illustrious figures active in literature, science and the arts. Among them were many members of the famed Viennese Philharmonic under the direction of Bruno Walter, also Jewish. When the Nazis marched in, those Jewish musicians lost their jobs. And most of them lost their lives, unless they were able to emigrate somewhere else. The problem was, almost no country would take them. But Bolivia did. In her novel Exile Music, Jennifer Steil tells the story of a family that flees Vienna for safe harbor in the mountains of Bolivia. It centers around a young girl, Orly, daughter of two musicians with the Viennese Philharmonic, as she struggles with traumas of loss and war and eventually adapts to her new homeland. Exile Music is a fascinating look at a little known corner of World War II history, with salient lessons for our current global refugee crisis. In addition to Exile Music, Jennifer Steil is the author of a memoir, The Woman Who Fell From the Sky, and the novel The Ambassador’s Wife. Hear a sample of Exile Music Read an excerpt Bruno Walter conducts the Viennese Philharmonic in 1935   L. Annette Binder What was it like for ordinary German civilians to go through crushing defeat in the waning months of World War II? It’s a perspective American readers seldom get to contemplate. L. Annette Binder’s parents were children during that time, but the experience left the searing mark of trauma on her father’s life, a teenager then, as well as profoundly impacting her much younger mother. Drawing on family recollections and archival research for inspiration, in her novel The Vanishing Sky, Binder has crafted an intimate, harrowing story about a family of German citizens during World War II and the choices we make for country and for family. In addition to The Vanishing Sky, Annette Binder is the author of an award-winning collection of stories, Rise. The Vanishing Sky is her first novel. [The top image is of Würzburg after it was firebombed in 1945]

We talk with Sue Monk Kidd about her novel, The Book of Longings. It’s the story of a brilliant young woman who becomes the wife of Jesus Christ. Then we re-air our 2016 interview with Monique Morris about her book Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools. Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use! Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Sue Monk Kidd Christianity has always assumed that Jesus Christ was not married. But could that really be true of a man who lived in a time when marriage was a fundamental marker of adulthood? And if Jesus was married, what would his wife have been like? That question is at the heart of Sue Monk Kidd’s wonderful new novel The Book Of Longings. It’s the story of a young woman named Ana, rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. At a time when women’s longings for a life of their own are brutally suppressed, Ana is a secret writer of narratives about neglected and silenced women. Then, she meets Jesus of Nazareth and they fall in love. Yet Ana never gives up her dedication to her own voice, just as Jesus follows his passion for a new ethos of love and justice. Grounded in meticulous research, The Book of Longings is an compelling account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize the potential inside her, while living in a time, place and culture devised to silence her. Sue Monk Kidd is the author of four novels, including The Secret of Bees and four works of nonfiction. Read an excerpt from The Book of Longings Web Extra! A Poem About Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene by Meg Fisher So, I was drawn to him, as were so many. I stood out from the rest for being woman but we all wore robes and sandals, so I blended in. It was the stories he could tell, the way they lived in him, the way he tossed them to the crowd like silver fish, to multitudes or even just to two or three. I had stories of my own; we all did. Sometimes when he was tired, he’d listen to the rest of us, around the fire, or on the road. I felt the trouble brewing as that band of his increased—First one, then two, two more, another—didn’t stop til there were twelve— and how they left their wives, their parents, friends— how all our heads were turned. I could have warned him, did in fact. But there’s no warning someone who’s so bitten by the truth and so, like the others, I lived in his presence when I did and in his absence the rest of the time caring for my father mending thatch and fetching water from the well, grapes from the vineyard, bringing our family loaf to the common  oven, chatting there with friends who’d tease me: You’re preoccupied these days! Oh, I was occupied all right. And still I am, and will be. This rare sap, radical sweetness, lifts my arms, fills these my hands.   Monique Morris We first aired our interview with Monique Morris in 2016, soon after the murder of Philando Castile at the hands of the police. Now, as protests against police violence sweep the land, we though this would be a good time to re-air our conversation with Morris about her book Pushout. It’s about another aspect of systemic racism: The criminalization of Black girls in schools.

We talk with Elizabeth Wetmore about her stunning debut novel, Valentine. Ann Patchett called it “a novel of moral urgency and breathtaking prose,” saying “This is the very definition of a stunning debut.” Then we play excerpts from our 2017 interview with Carol Anderson about her award-winning book White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use! Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Elizabeth Wetmore Let’s say this right up front: You must read Elizabeth Wetmore’s wonderful novel Valentine. The writing is a sheer pleasure, but the book goes way beyond just good writing. Wetmore’s characters are deeply and lovingly developed— this reader wanted to know what happened to them after the end of the story. (That will have to wait.) Valentine begins hard: with the brutal rape of a fourteen year old Mexican American girl in a hardscrabble town in Texas’ oil patch in 1976. But you quickly realize this is not a story about victimhood. It’s about resilience and the solidarity of women, even in the face of a racist and sexist culture. Read A Story by Elizabeth Wetmore Carol Anderson In 2017 Writers Voice interviewed African American studies scholar Carol Anderson about her groundbreaking book, White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Anderson says every time African Americans make gains — from ending slavery to voting rights to the election of a Black President — white Americans mobilize relentlessly to roll back those gains. She says the correct question is not why Black people are angry; it’s why are whites so angry when Black people get rights? At a time when the Black Lives Matter movement is sweeping the country and hopefully bringing about sweeping change to systemic racism, our conversation with Carol Anderson is as relevant today as it was in 2017. What’s notably different now is how many white people have gotten the message that Black Lives Matter to them, as well. Among a host of other recent important books on race, Anderson’s WHITE RAGE may well have contributed to that raising of consciousness among whites. We play a shortened version of our 2017 conversation about the book. Hear the entire hour’s 2017 interview with Carol Anderson.

We talk with Dr. Abdul-El Sayed, former Michigan gubernatorial candidate and health director of Detroit’s public health department about his new book, Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey Into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic. Then, a debut novel explores the power dynamics inside a county jail. We talk with David Moloney about his book, Barker House. Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. And if you are listening to our podcast, give us some love on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Abdul El-Sayed Americans everywhere are in the streets protesting police violence against black people, saying loud and clear that Black Lives Matter. But while the killing of George Floyd was the spark — or maybe the last straw — the protests are about much more: the violence of health disparities against people of color the Covid pandemic has revealed, the violence of poorly funded schools, the violence of poisoned neighborhoods…and the list goes on. All of these means of social violence hit black and brown communities the hardest. But they have been devastating poor and working class white Americans, as well. That may be why many whites are beginning to understand that they, too, have a stake in fighting systemic racism. That’s because of what Abdul El-Sayed calls in Healing Politics an “epidemic of insecurity” affecting broad swathes of the American population. An epidemiologist, El-Sayed decided to run for governor of Michigan in 2018 because he saw so clearly how our political and economic system is rigged against the communities he had been tasked to protect as director of Detroit’s public health department. He lost that fight, but won a very respectable 400,000 votes, despite being a first-time candidate with a politically difficult name. He was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Healing Politics combines memoir, science, and public policy to diagnose the challenges facing America and lay out a way forward. It’s a crucial text for those who want to see a better America for all. Read An Excerpt      Read More from Abdul El Sayed David Moloney David Moloney was an aspiring teacher when the Great Recession hit. In his early twenties at the time, the only secure job he could find was as a corrections officer in a county jail in New Hampshire. After four years, he’d had it: the ugly power dynamics between guards and inmates; the stress; the way the jail culture promotes dehumanization. Now he’s turned his experiences into a book of linked stories following nine correctional officers over the course of one year on the job. Barker House is a fascinating and detailed look at an environment that few on the outside know or understand. We talk about that and also Moloney’s take on what needs to change in America’s criminal justice system. David Moloney teaches writing at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Barker House is his first book. Next Week on Writer’s Voice Join us for a terrific conversation with Elizabeth Wetmore about her novel Valentine.

We talk with filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld about his memoir, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother. Then Katy Simpson Smith tells us about her new novel of historical fiction, The Everlasting. It’s a quadruple love story spanning two millennia. Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. And if you are listening to our podcast, give us some love on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Barry Sonnenfeld Filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld’s philosophy is, “Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future.” It’s a pessimistic creed he developed early as the son of two truly meshugganah parents. Constantly threatened with suicide by his over-protective mother, disillusioned by the father he worshiped, and abused by a demonic relative, Sonnenfeld somehow went on to become one of Hollywood’s most successful producers and directors. His memoir, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is a hilarious recounting –with tragic elements–about coming of age and going to Hollywood. Along the way, he also got to fire Donald Trump. (We all should be so lucky.) Barry Sonnenfeld worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing such films as The Addams Family and its sequel Addams Family Values, as well as the Men in Black trilogy, Big and Get Shorty (1995). He also produced TV series such as A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Tick and Fantasy Island. Read Excerpts from Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother Excerpt 1 Excerpt 2 Katy Simpson Smith Katy Simpson Smith used to be a historian — she wrote a book about motherhood in the American South in the early years of our nation’s history. Her first two novels, The Story of Land and Sea and Free Men also took place in the American South. But for her latest novel, Simpson Smith turned to Rome. The Everlasting tells the story of four characters whose struggles resonate across the centuries: an early Christian child martyr; a medieval monk on crypt duty in a church; a Medici princess of Moorish descent; and a contemporary field biologist conducting an illicit affair. Each of the four grapple with common themes, such as the necessity for sacrifice and the power of love to sustain and challenge faith. And throughout, their struggles are witnessed and provoked by an omniscient, time-traveling Satan. Hear our other interviews with Katy Simpson Smith about her novels The Story of Land and Sea and Free Men. Next week, join us as we talk with former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dr. Abdul El Sayed about his book Healing Politics.

We spend most of the hour talking with Tyson Yunkaporta about his groundbreaking book, Sand Talk : How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World. Then we air a clip from my 2018 interview with Paul Greenberg, author of The Omega Principle and Four Fish, about sustainable aquaculture. 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. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Tyson Yunkaporta It’s clear that Western thinking, with it’s emphasis on competition, dominion over the natural world and enshrinement of hierarchy isn’t working. Indeed, it threatens our very existence. But isn’t that “human nature” — that “survival of the fittest?” way of thinking? Maybe not. In fact, for the vast majority of human existence, people didn’t think that way. They thought of people and the world we inhabit in relational terms — as Native Americans say, “all my relations.” When everything is part of your family, you take care of it. Native and aboriginal cultures today have preserved that way of thinking. Author Tyson Yunkaporta straddles the two world views. He’s a member of the Aboriginal Apalech Clan in far north Queensland Australia who carves traditional tools and weapons — and he also works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne. His brilliant new book Sand Talk looks at global systems from an Indigenous perspective. He asks how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently? How, in fact, can Indigenous thinking save the world? [Break Music Credit: Didgeridoo – Yigi Yigi – David Hudson] Read An Excerpt from SandTalk Listen To A Guided Meditation From Sand Talk Read By Tyson Yankaporta Paul Greenberg In 2018, Francesca interviewed Paul Greenberg, author of The Omega Principle, for home station WPKN 89.5FM’s Evening Report. She spoke with him just before the airing of a PBS Front-line documentary, The Fish On My Plate, inspired by Greenberg’s book. The documentary, like the book, looks at sustainable fishing and aquaculture. We play an excerpt from that interview

We spend most of the hour with master of the legal thriller Scott Turow, talking about his latest novel The Last Trial. We also talk with him about some very real cases going on right now. Then, we hear from a former Writer’s Voice guest, the poet Kathryn Levy, who was involved in a just decided legal case with critical implications for the 2020 election. Writer’s Voice — in depth progressive conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. And remember to rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use! Scott Turow Scott Turow has a gift for exploring the meticulous details of the law in a way that is utterly spellbinding. And he matches that with a deep examination of the twisty—and twisted—pathways of the human heart and its motivations. That’s exemplified in his latest novel, The Last Trial. Its protagonist is octogenarian Sandy Stern, defense lawyer extraordinaire, who has decided he’ll bring the curtain down on his legal career at the conclusion of what appears to be an unwinnable final case. It involves a supremely narcissistic defendant, a world famous cancer doctor accused of murder, insider trading and fraud. He’s also one of Sandy Stern’s doctor and one of his best friends. We also talk with Turow about his recent post in Vanity Fair concerning the Supreme Court’s consideration of whether Trump’s tax returns can be released, as well as get his opinion of the move by Attorney General William Barr to drop the case against Michael Flynn. Scott Turow is the author of ten novels and three works of nonfiction, including Presumed Innocent and The Burden of Proof. Read an excerpt from The Last Trial Kathryn Levy A very important case was decided in New York State in the last week: it mandated that the New York presidential primary will go forward. That’s news, because the state’s Board of Election commissioners, appointed by Governor Cuomo, had decided to cancel the primary, claiming they were concerned about health concerns around the coronavirus. This, in spite of the fact, that down ballot primaries were always still in effect and that the state is well capable of allowing the vote by mail. A lawsuit to reinstate the primary was filed by Andrew Yang and supporters of and delegates for Senator Bernie Sanders. In early May, Judge Anneliese Torres ruled for the plaintiffs, saying the primary must go forward. The state appealed the decision but this week, the Second Circuit Court Of Appeals upheld Judge Torres’ ruling. The primary shall proceed. But before that final decision, Francesca spoke with plaintiff and previous guest on Writer’s Voice poet Kathryn Levy about the case for a news report on WPKN 89.5, serving southern CT and eastern Long Island. We play an excerpt from that interview. Listen to the full interview on Soundcloud Next week, we talk with Tyson Yunkaporta about his book SAND TALK: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World.

The 2020 presidential election is looming on the horizon. Many fear the outcome will be hotly disputed. Yet neither the United States electoral system nor the Constitution is likely to help us out of the mess. We talk with constitutional scholar Alan Hirsch about his book A Short History of Presidential Election Crises: (And How to Prevent the Next One). Then, Bernie Sanders has indicated he’s probably done running for president. What’s next for the Political Revolution? Micah Uetricht discusses the book he co-authored with Meagan Day, Bigger Than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism. Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. And like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Alan Hirsch What if, on account of Covid-19, we try to hold the 2020 presidential election entirely online or through the mail—and it turns into a logistical nightmare? (Not that the alternative, in-person voting, is necessarily any safer, for the vote or for our health.) What if hackers succeed in changing votes from one candidate to another, calling into question the accuracy of the electoral count? And, what happens if our current president doesn’t accept election day results if he’s not declared the winner? It will cause a crisis the likes of which this country has never seen. In 2000, we learned that an exceptionally close presidential election can produce chaos, because we have no reliable Constitutional mechanism for resolving disputes. Constitutional scholar Alan Hirsch addresses the problem in his book, A Short History of Presidential Election Crises. He takes us through a concise history of presidential election crises and proposes some common-sense solutions, including abolishing the Electoral College and the creation of a permanent, non-partisan Presidential Election Review Board to prevent or remedy future crises. Alan Hirsch is Chair of the Justice and Law Studies Program at Williams College. And, talking about Constitutional crises—New York State is having one right now. The NY state Constitution mandates that, once a candidate is on the ballot, they must remain there. Yet, the New York Board of Elections recently cancelled the presidential primary. Andrew Yang & supporters of Bernie Sanders sued in court for the primary to go forward—and won. The State is appealing. Hear Francesca’s interview of one of the plaintiffs here. Micah Uetricht When Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign, many people asked what’s next for the Political Revolution? But the goals of the movement behind him were never just about winning the White House for Sanders. They have always been about creating a mass, multicultural working class movement to uplift ordinary Americans and get them involved in the political process — not just in elections, but in building real power on the job and in communities. That revolution is already underway, as evidenced by the massive growth of the Democratic Socialists of America, the teachers Bernie motivated to lead strikes across red and blue states, and the rising new generation of radicals in Congress inspired by his example.

With COVID19 causing lockdowns throughout the globe, demand for oil has plummeted. The bottom has fallen out of the petroleum market. What long term impacts could that have on how we power our economies? To find out, Francesca called up energy policy analyst Michael Klare. His article “Covid-19 Is Forcing Us to Rethink How We Consume Energy” appeared in the Nation magazine. Listen here for our interview with Klare about another article about the impact of the pandemic: Covid-19’s Third Shock Wave: The Global Food Crisis.  

We talk with Rory MacLean about his new book, Pravda Ha-Ha: True Travels to the End of Europe. MacLean travels from Russia and the former Soviet Union states to uncover what has happened since the Fall of the USSR thirty years ago. Then, the COVID19 pandemic has crashed the world oil market. That might be a good thing for US consumers, but could it be causing a global food crisis? We talk with defense correspondent for the Nation, Michael Klare. He tells us about his latest article for the Nation: Covid-19’s Third Shock Wave: The Global Food Crisis. Writer’s Voice — in depth progressive conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use. It really helps others find the show. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Rory MacLean In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell. In that euphoric year, Rory MacLean traveled from Berlin to Moscow, exploring lands that were part of the forgotten half of Europe. Thirty years later, In Pravda Ha-Ha MacLean traces his original journey backwards, across countries confronting old ghosts and new fears: from revanchist Russia, through Ukraine’s bloodlands, into illiberal Hungary, and then Poland, Germany and the UK. As Europe sleepwalks into a perilous new age, MacLean explores how opportunists – both within and outside of Russia, from Putin to Home Counties populists – have made a joke of truth, exploiting refugees and the dispossessed. He asks what happened to the optimism of 1989 and, in the shadow of Brexit, chronicles the collapse of the European dream. In addition to Pravda Ha-Ha, Rory MacLean is the author of more than a dozen books including Stalin’s Nose and Under the Dragon. Read an excerpt from Pravda Ha-ha Michael Klare The COVID19 pandemic is wrecking havoc on the global economy. Millions are out of work, supply chains are being disrupted. Many people are already going hungry in the United States; many more will face hunger or starvation in other parts of the world. One little-known factor in the emerging global food crisis is the fact that oil prices have dropped precipitously. We spoke with energy analyst and defense correspondent for the Nation magazine Michael Klare about his recent post: Covid-19’s Third Shock Wave: The Global Food Crisis.

We talk with poet William Evans about his powerful new collection of poetry, We Inherit What the Fires Left. Then, anti-trust policy analyst and author Matt Stoller tells us about his blog post, Antitrust After the Coronavirus: A Government of Corporate Monopolies. William Evans It’s the last week of poetry month: just in time to squeeze in the wonderful conversation we recorded a few days ago with award-winning poet William Evans about his new poetry volume, We Inherit What the Fires Left. In the book, Evans explores the lived experience of race in the American suburbs and what dreams and injuries are passed from generation to generation. He examines not only what these inheritances are composed of, but what price the bearer must pay for such legacies, the costly tolls exacted on both body and spirit, as a son, a man and a father. In our interview, he shares his struggles as a parent over how to talk with his young daughter about the ugly realities of racism in America without damaging her spirit. William Evans is the author of two previous poetry collections, and is the founder of the Writing Wrongs Poetry Slam in Columbus, Ohio. He’s co-founder of the blog Black Nerd Problems. Listen to William Evans Reading His Poetry Matt Stoller Climate activist Naomi Klein coined the phrase “the shock doctrine” after Hurricane Katrina to describe how economic and politic elites exploit large-scale disasters to advance their interests to the detriment of everyone else. The COVID19 pandemic bids fair to follow the shock doctrine on steroids. Some have predicted the death of small business throughout America, leaving only the biggest players to dictate prices and crush labor rights. In his recent post on his blog, Big, “Antitrust After the Coronavirus: A Government of Corporate Monopolies,” Matt Stoller predicts the pandemic will accelerate the monopolization of the economy, with dire consequences for democracy and economic security. Stoller has dedicated himself to studying and writing about the politics of monopoly and finance. He worked in Congress for six years during the last financial crisis as a policy maker in finance and trade law and he recently came out with the book Goliath: The 100-year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy.

Renowned ecologist and writer Carl Safina joins us to talk about his new book, BECOMING WILD: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace. Then, we talk with Margaret Klein Salamon, founder of The Climate Mobilization about her book FACING THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY: How To Transform Yourself With Climate Truth (with Molly Gage). Writer’s Voice — in depth progressive conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use. Carl Safina The last time we spoke with ecologist Carl Safina, it was about his book, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. His new book, Becoming Wild goes deeper into one aspect of that: culture. We think of what is learned from parents and one’s social group as constituting culture in the human world. But it’s just as true among many of the other animals we share the planet with. Some whales have a babysitter culture; others a culture of song. Macaws are connoisseurs of beauty. And chimps learn how to be peacemakers. In Becoming Wild, Carl Safina explores the cultures of whales, birds and chimps. With reporting from deep in nature, alongside individual creatures in their free-living communities, Becoming Wild offers a privileged glimpse behind the curtain of life on Earth. It helps to answer that most urgent of questions: Who are we here with? Carl Safina is founder of the environmental advocacy organization the Safina Center. He hosted the 10-part PBS series Saving the Ocean with Carl Safina. His books include Beyond Words and The View From Lazy Point. Read an excerpt from Becoming Wild. Margaret Klein Salamon What if you are so paralyzed by despair at the climate crisis that you just ignore it because it’s just too overwhelming to face? Deal with it and get active, says Margaret Klein Salamon. But Salamon, a former clinical psychologist, also understands your pain. She feels it, too. Her new book, Facing The Climate Emergency, is a kind of self-help manual to confront the despair and turn it into joyous action. That’s what happened to her, when Hurricane Sandy slapped her in the face with climate reality and she decided to do something about it. She founded The Climate Mobilization, a grassroots environmental advocacy group working toward large-scale political action against global warming. TAKE ACTION! Open Letter to Congress to enact a Green Stimulus to Rebuild Our Economy Petition for a Green Stimulus FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CLIMATE CRISIS POLICY ClimateCrisisPolicy.org

We talk with poet Deborah Paredez about her new volume of poetry, Year of the Dog. It bears powerful witness to the legacy of war, violence and the struggle for social justice. Then, whither the Left in a moment of institutional meltdown? We talk with writer, activist and Iraq War veteran Vincent Emanuele about his article in Counterpunch, The New Normal: Cascading and Multilayered Crises. Writer’s Voice — in depth progressive conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or whatever podcast app you use! Deborah Paredez In a time of crisis, like our current pandemic, poetry becomes essential to our survival. Nothing illustrates this better than the poetry of Deborah Paredez. In her new poetry collection, Year of the Dog, Paredez witnesses with a spare and eloquent ferocity the injustices of our time and the courage of those who contest them. Paredez’ view is intensely personal and also broad, historical, and contextual. In this episode, we get to hear her read her poems and discuss them. Deborah Paredez is a poet and scholar whose lectures and publications examine Black and Latinx popular culture, poetry of war and witness, feminist elegy and cultural memory. She is co-founder and co-director of Canto Mundo, a national organization for Latinx poets and is a professor at Columbia University. Vincent Emanuele The COVID19 pandemic has exposed deep fissures and failures in our society: the catastrophe of our private health care system privileging profit over preparation for disaster; the cruel inequities that condemn the poor, the homeless, prisoners, and above all black and brown people to much higher risk of death from the virus; and the flagrant disregard for the safety of essential workers by corporate owners. And that’s just a start. We’ve seen our voting system being discarded as an afterthought by the Supreme Court and State Legislatures from Wisconsin to New York. We’ve seen a presidency and a Congress who care more for the survival of the privileged few than the people they were elected to serve. It’s a bipartisan epic fail. In his April 9 article for Counterpunch, The New Normal: Cascading and Multilayered Crises, activist and Iraq War veteran Vincent Emanuele explores the roots of our institutional meltdown, the current situation, dire prospects for the future and how the Left should respond. Vincent Emanuele is a writer, activist and Iraq War veteran. He’s a member of Veterans for Peace.

Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign two days ago. The suspension left many grassroots organizations that had endorsed him wondering where to go from here. Francesca speaks with Micah Uetricht, co-author of Bigger Than Bernie, about it. Micah Uetricht is a member of Democratic Socialists Of America, which endorsed Bernie Sanders for President. He’s also managing editor of Jacobin and co-author with Meagan Day of Bigger Than Bernie: How We Go From The Sanders Campaign To Democratic Socialism. Francesca called Uetricht up to get his reaction to the suspension of the Sanders campaign and how he thought the movement that supported him might continue growing.

We talk with Helen Fremont about her stunning new memoir, The Escape Artist. It’s about the toxic influence of closely held secrets on the glue that should hold families together — and about how trauma echoes down the generations. Then, Bernie Sanders ended his presidential run this week, leaving Joe Biden the only remaining candidate in the race. We air an interview we did last week with Branko Marcetic about how the Democratic Party is handling allegations of sexual assault against Biden. (It was also published on the WV website as a Web Only Extra.) Writer’s Voice — in depth progressive conversation with writers of all genres. On the air since 2004. Rate us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. And like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon or find us on twitter @WritersVoice. Helen Fremont Anyone who has ever studied the psychology of families knows that secrets are toxic. And they tend to work their poison from one generation to the next. That’s what happened in Helen Fremont’s family. Born to Holocaust survivors, Fremont wrote her first very successful memoir, After Long Silence, about finding out only as an adult that her parents were Holocaust survivors. But while that memoir answered many questions about her parents’ past, it left open the question of how long-held secrets affected the family as she and her sister were growing up. Now, Fremont has come out with a sequel to After Long Silence to answer that question: The Escape Artist. She delves deeply into the family dynamic that produced such devotion to secret keeping, beginning with the painful and unexpected discovery that she has been disinherited in her father’s will. In a family devoted to hiding the truth, Fremont learns the truth is the one thing that can set you free. Hear an audio excerpt from The Escape Artist Tribute to John Prine, who died April 7 from COVID-19. Branko Mercetic We learned this week that Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign. That leaves one remaining candidate to go up against Donald Trump, Joe Biden. Several weeks ago, we interviewed Branko Marcetic about his new book about Biden, Yesterday’s Man. And last week, we interviewed him about an article he wrote for Jacobin magazine about a development that has serious implications for the candidate and for the Democratic Party’s ability to go up against Donald Trump. We posted that interview to the Writers Voice website last week, but are including it in this week’s episode, as well.