Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon

Can we achieve 100% clean power by 2030? “It would be economically efficient and technologically possible to produce all of our power and all of our energy needs through clean power sources. It’s basically as simple as that.” John J. Berger We spend the hour with John Berger talking about his inspiring new book, Solving The Climate Crisis: Frontier Reports From The Race To Save The Earth. 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. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Key words: climate change, climate crisis, global warming, John Berger, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, writer’s voice, Francesca Rheannon, Oil Deals Over Climate: Controversy Surrounds Annual UN Climate Talks in Dubai The annual UN Climate talks are taking place in the petro-state, the United Arab Republics. It is the largest such Conference of Parties, or COP, so far. But, forgive the cynicism, it’s also likely to be the most corrupt. As they say, fish rots from the head and the head of this COP, its president, is Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil. According to the BBC, The UAE plans to use its role as the host of the UN climate talks in Dubai as a chance to strike oil and gas deals with other countries—deals that would blow right through our fast depleting global carbon budget. (That’s the amount we can still emit before passing the point of no return on climate.) Leaked briefing documents revealed the plans for making the deals, but the UAE is denying the report. Climate Hopes in the Shadow of Scandal: Finding Inspiration in John Berger’s Book The annual COPs seem to be where climate hopes go to die. But John Berger’s book, Solving The Climate Crisis, makes clear that there is still ample room for hope. A practical roadmap for effective climate action, his book is full of inspiring advances in clean power, energy efficiency, and other means of climate protection that will create millions of new jobs and substantial economic benefits for all of us. About the Author John J. Berger is an environmental science and policy specialist, prize-winning author, and journalist. He is the author of eleven books on energy and environmental issues. Read An Excerpt from Solving The Climate Crisis Read The Interview Transcript

We talk with poet, farmer and author Scott Chaskey about his new book, Soil and Spirit: Cultivation and Kinship In The Web of Life. It’s about poetry, soil, farming and community. Then, Chef Ravinder Bhogal introduces us to the comfort and joy of immigrant food. Her book is Comfort and Joy: Irresistible Pleasures from a Vegetarian Kitchen. 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.
Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Farmer-Poet Scott Chaskey As a farmer with decades spent working in fields, Scott Chaskey has been shaped by daily attention to the earth. A leader in the international Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement, he has combined a longstanding commitment to food sovereignty and organic farming with a belief that attention to the soil and the life, microbial and otherwise that inhabit it offers valuable lessons for building healthy human communities. We last spoke with him in 2014 about his book, Seedtime. Now Chaskey’s come out with a collection of essays, wherein he explores the evolution of his perspective, both as a farmer and as a poet. The reader travels with him on a journey accompanied by his beautiful poetry as he shares the people and projects that have inspired him. Food, Community, Celebration The holiday season has begun, a time for celebrating food, family and community. While meat-based dishes are traditional, more people are deciding to go lightly on the planet and their own health with vegetarian fare. But too often, giving up meat and poultry is tied to a narratives of sacrifice. Award-winning chef Ravinder Bhogal knows better. In her new cookbook, Comfort and Joy, she reclaims vegan and vegetarian cooking in all its abundance. Ravinder Bhogal is a food journalist, chef and restauraneur of the London restaurant, Jikoni. Marge Bruchac Sings The Green Corn Song In honor of the indigenous people who were here long before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, we hear Abenaki writer, scholar and musician Marge Bruchac singing The Green Corn Song. Listen to our full conversation with Marge Bruchac here.

We talk with Simon Worrall and Heather Dune-Macadam. About the fascinating and tragic story of a young Jewish artist in Nazi-occupied Paris. Their book is STAR CROSSED: A True Romeo and Juliet Story in Hitler’s Paris. Then, New York Times columnist and author Margaret Renkl tells us about her acclaimed new book THE COMFORT OF CROWS: A Backyard Year. 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 Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. (Note: This week’s and last week’s show commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the first major pogrom against Germany’s Jews, which happened November 9 and 10, 1938.) Paris, 1940 In Nazi-occupied Paris, pursuing art, culture, and jazz becomes an act of defiance for patriotic Parisians. Forbidden love blossoms between Annette Zelman, a spirited Jewish student at the Academy of Beaux-Arts, and the poet Jean Jausion. But escalating restrictions on the Jewish community lead the young lovers down divergent and tragic paths. Literary couple Heather Dune-Macadam and Simon Worrall used a treasure-trove of personal letters to uncover the story behind Starcrossed. Beyond the lovers at the heart of the tale, they paint a fascinating portrait of wartime Paris and its lively scene of intellectual resistance to Nazi rule. About the Authors Heather Dune is the author of the award-winning book, 999: The Extra­or­di­nary Young Women of the First Offi­cial Jew­ish Trans­port to Auschwitz. Simon Worrall is the author of several books, including The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Verse, Violence and the Art of Forgery. Margaret Renkl’s Backyard Year The leaves are falling in ever greater numbers as Fall marches into Winter. And as they do, the question arises, what to do with them? My guest, New York Times columnist and author Margaret Renkl has a simple solution: do nothing. A messy yard is great habitat for our endangered wildlife. Her new book The Comfort of Crows is a a literary devotional: fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. Beautifully written, it reminds us to pay attention to the fragile and wondrous life around us. By protecting it, we enrich our own lives immeasurably. About the Author Margaret Renkl is the author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss and Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache From the American South. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, where her essays appear weekly.

Military violence against hospitals, patients, and health workers has become a common feature of modern war. Israel’s current bombardment of hospitals, ambulances and medical personnel in Gaza is a textbook example of this disturbing trend. That’s why Writer’s Voice is re-posting our 2019 interview with Leonard Rubenstein about his book, Perilous Medicine. It’s about the development of international law and conventions to protect health care workers and facilities from military attack — conventions Israel is violating now — and what remains to be done. The attacks destroy lives. They also destroy the capacity of health systems to tend to those in need. Yet little is being done about this abomination. That’s why Leonard Rubenstein wrote the book Perilous Medicine. A human rights lawyer who has investigated atrocities against health workers around the world, Rubenstein tells of the dangers health workers face during conflict and the legal, political, and moral struggle to protect them. Leonard Rubenstein is professor and director of the Program on Human Rights and Health in Conflict at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He founded the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition and is a former president of Physicians for Human Rights.

Ava Chin tells us about her stunning family memoir/history of the Chinese Exclusion Act in America, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming. Then we talk with Tanis Rideout about her new novel The Sea Between Two Shores. It’s about two families, one Canadian and one from an island in Vanuatu, who must deal with the legacy of colonialism in the South Pacific and the responsibilities they have to each other. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Tags: fiction, nonfiction, memoir, Chinese Exclusion Act, Vanuatu, Ava Chin, Tanis Rideout, writer’s voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, history Ava Chin, Mott Street Ava Chin’s writing studio is in the same building on Mott St in New York City’s Chinatown where her forebears lived for generations—on both sides of her family. But she grew up estranged from her father and his family, raised by her mother and maternal grandparents. Her drive to find out more about her father and his family led her on an odyssey of discovery that had relevance far beyond the circle of her family. It illustrates the whole history of Chinese immigration to the US., a history of exploitation and exclusion, as well as the Chinese community’s long struggle against injustice. Chin relates this history in her spellbinding new book, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming. About The Author Ava Chin is professor of creative nonfiction and journalism at the CUNY Graduate Center. She is the former Urban Forager columnist for the New York Times and her previous book was Eating Wildly. Read an excerpt from Mott Street Tanis Rideout, The Sea Between Two Shores In the early 1800s, a Nova Scotian couple arrives on the shores of an island in the Oceanic archipelago of what is now known as Vanuatu to convert the local Indigenous peoples. The arrival of these strangers leads to exchange and friction, cooperation and violence, culminating in a catastrophe the missionaries unwittingly unleash on the island. Two hundred years later in Toronto, the Stewarts are a family locked in mourning after the accidental drowning of their youngest son. When Michelle Stewart receives an unexpected call from the island of Iparei inviting the Stewarts to participate in a reconciliation ceremony for their respective ancestors, she accepts in a desperate effort to save herself and her family. This is the story that Tanis Rideout weaves in her novel The Sea Between Two Shores. Based loosely on actual events, the book explores how two cultures deal very differently with grief, the tragedies that bind them, and the responsibilities they may hold to each other. About The Author In addition to The Sea Between Two Shores, Tanis Rideout is the author of the bestselling novel Above All Things and the poetry volume, Arguments with the Lake.

July 4, 2023 was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth. Are we exceeding the “Goldilocks zone” of a habitable planet? We ask that question of climate journalist and author Jeff Goodell. His new book is THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. We also revisit a conversation about suing the fossil fuel companies for scorching our planet. We play an excerpt from our 2017 interview with Lynn Zinser of Climate Liability News that is still relevant now, five years later. Writers Voice— in depth 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. 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 Tags: climate change, global warming, extreme heat, Jeff Goodell, climate litigation, Lynn Zinser, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction Jeff Goodell: First Floods, Then Fire The last time we spoke with climate journalist Jeff Goodell, it was about his 2017 book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World. Now, he’s coming out with a sort of companion book, The Heat Will Kill You First, out July 11 from Little, Brown. It’s about how the rise in global temperatures aren’t just playing havoc with sea levels, but affecting us more directly in the form of extreme heat. Extreme Heat Happening Now Reading the The Heat Will Kill You First is like reading the latest headlines: from massive wildfires driven by scorched forests to outside workers dying from heat stroke to oceans hotter than ever recorded, all this is becoming terrifyingly familiar to us all. Taking Action But despite the title, The Heat Will Kill You First isn’t just about the threat that’s cooking the planet, but also about what can be done about it, from holding the perpetrators of this crime accountable—the fossil fuel companies—to how we can adapt in a way that makes for a safer, more equitable world. About The Author Jeff Goodell is the author of six previous books. He’s covered climate change for more than two decades at Rolling Stone and is a Senior Fellow at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. Lynn Zinser: Suing the Fossil Fuel Companies Back in 2017, we spoke with Lynn Zinser of Climate Liability News about the efforts to hold the fossil fuel companies legally responsible for the scorching of our planet. Some of the cases we spoke about then have seen important developments. Climate Suits Go Forward This year, the Supreme Court declined to interfere in states’ ability to sue under public nuisance laws — something that had been challenged by the polluters — allowing the suits to go forward. And the landmark suit brought by a group of young people against the federal government under the public trust doctrine,

We talk with Jeff Sharlet about his new book, The Undertow: Scenes From A Slow Civil War. Then we air part of an interview we did with Sharlet in 2009 about the increasing influence of rightwing extremism into the US military. And finally, a review of Dennis Lehane’s new novel Small Mercies. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Tags: fascism, Trump, MAGA, Christian Right, Jeffrey Sharlet, Dennis Lehane, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction, fiction The Undertow: Rising Fascism in America Jeff Sharlet has long been an astute observer of the rise of the Christian Right in America. His book The Family revealed the long but implacable penetration of our central institutions — the state, the military, the courts — by fundamentalist billionaires of the Christian Right. Now, in his new book The Undertow, Sharlet examines the spread of rightwing ideology among the masses and the new fascist movement it’s spurred. The Trumpocene He calls this era “the Trumpocene,” with its miasma of conspiracy-mongering, white supremacy and hatred of anything resembling true governance. But Sharlet is not without compassion for the foot soldiers of the Trumpocene; he understands how its roots lie partially in the failure of the leaders of both political parties to serve the needs of the people they are supposed to represent. The other part, of course, lies at the heart of America’s original sin — racism. This combustible mixture powers the fascism that threatens our imperfect democracy. In the The Undertow, Sharlet offers us an unflinching look into the Trumpocene’s crucible — because, as he tells us in our conversation with him: “Fascism has a very terrible gravity that we must contend with if we are to stop it.” About the Author Jeff Sharlet is a journalist and bestselling author or editor of seven books. He teaches creative writing at Dartmouth College. Read an excerpt from the Undertow The Christian Right Infiltrates the Military Back in 2009, we talked with Jeff Sharlet about how Christian extremists are embedding into the highest ranks of the military. We air an excerpt from that conversation. Read Sharlet’s 2009 article “Jesus Killed Mohammed.” Review of Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane If you want to trace the backstory of what Jeff Sharlet talks about in The Undertow—the current rise of mass movement fascism in America—you would do well to read Dennis Lehane’s new novel Small Mercies. Set in Boston in the summer of 1974, during the fierce backlash against school bussing that was waged by white residents of the working class neighborhood of South Boston, Small Mercies is part crime fiction, part contemplation of the combustible mixture of class oppression with racial hatred. Lehane writes what he knows: he grew up in Dorchester, a community much like its neighbor, Southie. He writes Small Mercies with an intimate eloquence that puts the reader right inside the story. Whether it’s the crackling dialog, the exquisite detail of place, or the loving but unsparing character developme...

Family separation continues to devastate the lives of children, as explored in Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega‘s book, Drawing Deportation: Art and Resistance among Immigrant Children. This poignant work delves into the traumatic experiences faced by immigrant children and showcases the healing power of art in their recovery. We talk with Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega in this pod’s first segment. Then we talk with Amy Beutens about You Are The Universe: Ram Dass Maps The Journey, which  brings to life the profound teachings of renowned spiritual teacher Ram Dass. With captivating illustrations and co-editing by Julie Weinstein, this graphic book conveys a transformative message of love and unity, appealing to both teens and adults. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Tags: immigration, family separation, Ram Dass, spiritual journey, Amy Beutens, Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega, writers voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, nonfiction Family Separation: Still Happening Many Americans were profoundly shocked at the images of young children held in cages at the southern border when former president Trump imposed his family separation policy. But the US has been separating immigrant families for long before Trump—and continues to do so under Biden. It’s not just happening at the border. Every day, families are being ripped apart as our cruel and dysfunctional immigration system deports parents, leaving traumatized children behind. Just the constant fear of deportation is enough to damage the health and wellbeing of children. Immigrant Children: Healing Trauma Through Art My guest Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega explores the trauma of immigrant children and innovative programs of using art to deal with the trauma. Her book Drawing Deportation draws on her ten years of work with those children, helping them express their fears and hopes through art and theater. It shows the healing power of art, but also calls for systematic change to stop traumatizing kids in the first place. About the Author Sylvia Rodriguez-Vega teaches at US Santa Barbara about structural inequality, ethnic studies, immigration policy, and arts and activism through performance and digital media. *** You Are the Universe: Ram Dass Maps the Journey Ram Dass was one of America’s most loved spiritual teachers. His dedication to the service of others is what drew Writer’s Voice host Francesca Rheannon to him, notably with his book How Can I Help. Ram Dass’ Message But even before that book, he opened her and many others of her generation to a way of being that transcended social expectations with his book Be Here Now. His message wasn’t so much that of his Harvard colleague Tim Leary: turn on, tune in and drop out, as it was tune in and love everybody. That’s the message at the heart of a lovely new graphic book for teens and adults, You Are the Universe: Ram Dass Maps the Journey. Using Ram Dass’ own words from writings and recordings, Amy Beutens illustrated and co-edited the book with her twin sister and long-time collaborator, Julie Weinstein. See illustrations from You Are the Universe

A profoundly humanist novel tackles the tragedies of life: As a physician I’m perhaps more aware than most people of how perilous our everyday lives are and how quickly they could transition to something quite disastrous. And I think in America especially we exist in a sort of denial of our mortality…As a result we are very shocked when any hint of tragedy comes our way. — Abraham Verghese We spend the hour speaking with Abraham Verghese, first about his latest novel, The Covenant of Water. Then, we look back to our 2009 conversation with him about his novel Cutting for Stone. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with FrancescaTags Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Tags: Abraham Verghese, Francesca Rheannon, Writers Voice, fiction, India, Kerala, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show A Peculiar Affliction The Covenant of Water is Abraham Verghese’s acclaimed new novel, fourteen years after his breakout book, Cutting for Stone. Set in Kerala, India, and spanning the years 1900 to 1977, it revolves around a family plagued by a peculiar affliction—drowning deaths occurring in every generation, while living in a coastal community where water is a dominant feature of the landscape. A Tale of Bygone India As part of a Christian community tracing back to the apostles, the matriarch, Big Ammachi, witnesses unimaginable changes during her extraordinary life. Verghese showcases his remarkable storytelling with scenes of medical ingenuity, moments of humor, and deeply moving characters. This beautifully written tale of a bygone India celebrates the resilience of human spirit in the face of adversity and the connections that make that resilience possible. About The Author Abraham Verghese is a best-selling author and a physician. He received the Heinz Award in 2014 and was awarded the National Humanities Medal, presented by President Barack Obama, in 2015. The Covenant of Water is an Oprah’s Book Club selection. Listen to an excerpt Cutting For Stone The first time we talked with Abraham Verghese was in 2009 about his book Cutting for Stone. Like The Covenant of Water, it features the practice of medicine as a major theme of the novel. In Memoriam for Daniel Ellsberg Daniel Ellsberg died June 16. He was an exemplar of courage and integrity. A patriot of the highest order, he was a profound source of good for humankind. We spoke with Ellsberg in 2018. Listen here.  

Travel writer Jane Marshall takes us on her modern quest for Shangri La; her book is Searching for Happy Valley. Then, Francesca shares a story from her own journey to a Happy Valley in the foothills of the Maritime Alps of Haute Provence, where a market vendor of medicinal herbs taught her something about true vocation. “I feel like if we can spend time in a place like one of these Happy Valleys that still holds these wisdom cultures that had these technologies and these systems that survived thousands and thousands of years before industrialization, that maybe we can learn how to respect the land again.” Jane Marshall Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Tags: Writers Voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction, travel, Jane Marshall, Shangri-La Searching for Happy Valley During her career as a travel writer, Jane Marshall has explored remote mountainous destinations worldwide. Through her journeys, she discovered something remarkable: secluded valleys, referred to as “Happy Valleys” by the local inhabitants, that shared common attributes. Common Traits of Happy Valleys They are geographically isolated and shielded by towering mountains, hosting rare and endangered flora and fauna. They exist outside protected zones, which grants them autonomy but also exposes them to vulnerability. The Indigenous populations in these valleys name the land after various body parts, both human and divine, and they hold women in high regard, recognizing their power. Inside these Happy Valleys a harmonious relationship between humans and nature has been established. What Happy Valleys Teach Us Sleeping on ridges, in caves, and in the traditional dwellings of the locals, Marshall endured arduous journeys in her quest to comprehend the profound serenity she experienced within these places. From residing in a goat herder’s hut in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains to participating in a Sundance ceremony with the Blackfoot/Soki-tapi people in Alberta, and ultimately embarking on a perilous pilgrimage in Nepal, where she reaches the heart of a sacred land adorned with treasures hidden by a renowned yogi, Jane Marshall takes readers on an extraordinary adventure. In this episode, she tells us about this quest for Shangri-La and the wisdom that can potentially save the planet and nourish our own spirits. About The Author Jane Marshall is a writer who lives in Alberta, Canada. Her previous book was Back Over the Mountains: A Journey To The Buddha Within. She is the founder of The Compassion Project, which provides free health care and education to a mountain community in Nepal. Read The Transcript A Story From Province of the Heart: “The Cure Hunter”  by Francesca Rheannon  

We talk with Peggy Orenstein about her book, Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater. But first, Katy Simpson Smith tells us about her new novel, The Weeds. It weaves history, botany, feminism and the climate crisis together into a compelling and sharply funny tale. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Episode Transcript Tags: Writer’s Voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, nonfiction, fiction, botany, knitting Katy Simpson Smith, THE WEEDS In The Weeds by Katy Simpson Smith, two women, one from today’s Mississippi and another from Italy in 1854, navigate the Roman Colosseum documenting the plants they find there for their respective employers. Through a list of seemingly minor plants and their uses—medical, agricultural, culinary—these women calculate intangible threats: a changing climate, the cost of knowledge, and the ways repeated violence can upend women’s lives. They must forge their own small acts of defiance and slip through whatever cracks they find to redefine the roles women are given and have taken from them, and the lives they make for themselves. About the Author Katy Simpson Smith is the author of four novels and one book of historical nonfiction. Listen to or read an excerpt from The Weeds Listen to Other Writer’s Voice Interviews with Katy Simpson Smith Peggy Orenstein, UNRAVELING When the Covid Pandemic lockdown upended Peggy Orenstein’s life, she decided she needed something compelling to do. So of course, she decided to learn one of the most difficult skills there is: shearing sheep. That’s because, a lifelong knitter, she thought it would be great fun to make a sweater from scratch: from shearing to carding the wool to dyeing it and, finally, knitting it. Along the way, she learned a lot of other things, too, like the environmental impact of fleece—and even worse, its artificial alternative—how women’s handwork has changed the world, colonialism and color and much more. Orenstein shares her findings in her new book Unraveling. About the Author Peggy Orenstein is the author of numerous books, including Girls and Sex, Boys and Sex, and Cinderella Ate My Daughter. Read or listen to an excerpt from Unraveling Next Week on Writer’s Voice Amy Beutens, You Are The Universe and Jane Marshall, Searching for Happy Valley.        

Today on Writer’s Voice, an eclectic offering. Later in the show, we talk about eggs: actual, mythological and artistic. Author Lizzie Stark tells us about her book, Egg. But first, we talk about media literacy, something that is vital if we are to preserve and strengthen democracy. We speak with Allison Butler about the book she co-wrote for Project Censored, THE MEDIA AND ME: A Guide To Critical Media Literacy For Young People. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Read Transcript Tags: writers voice, podcast, book recommendations, media, media literacy, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, nonfiction, eggs Media Literacy And Young People Young people are voracious media consumers. 8 to 18 year olds pack in more than 11 hours of some form of media every day, often multi-tasking between a number of different media streams and screens. Yet how much do they really understand about how to consume media–the biases and manipulations that are part and parcel of the media landscape? Not so much. In fact, media literacy among young people is quite low. Teaching Critical Inquiry About Media That’s a lack that Allison Butler and her nine co-authors seek to redress with their terrific book for young people, high-school age through college (and just as useful for grownups.) The Media and Me is a guide to critical media literacy, developed by a collective of writers brought together by Project Censored, an organization devoted to educating students and the public about the importance of a truly free press. The book gives readers critical inquiry skills, covering topics like storytelling, building arguments and recognizing fallacies, surveillance and digital gatekeeping, advertising and consumerism, among other issues. About the Author Allison Butler is director of the Media Literacy Certificate Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Amazing Egg The egg is an object so common, so ubiquitous—and we’re talking eggs of all types—that most of us probably don’t think much about it, unless we are planning to cook it, usually in its chicken-derived form. But the egg is a powerful symbol in mythology, an object of art—and not just for Easter, a concern of prospective parents, and even a target for crime. Lizzie Stark’s book Egg: A Dozen Ovatures lays out an unconventional history of this cellular workhorse, from chickens to penguins, from art to crime, and more. Listen to An Excerpt About the Author In addition to Egg, Lizzie Stark is the author of two other nonfiction books, Pandora’s DNA and Leaving Mundania. Her writing has been featured in the Washington Post, the Daily Beast, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, among other publications.

Writer’s Voice spends the hour with Jonathan Eig talking about his acclaimed new biography, KING: A Life. It’s a captivating portrait of the renowned civil rights leader, unveiling new material and providing an intimate perspective. “He suffered tremendously from doubt. And he suffered terribly from the effects of the FBI assault on him. He kept doing his work. He kept marching forward. He kept going more and more boldly into the breach. But it had an impact. He was hospitalized several times, maybe, fair to say, many times for exhaustion, for just succumbing to the stress of what he was doing. So that kind of courage in the face of doubt, to me, makes him even more heroic.” — Jonathan Eig Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Key words: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., MLK, Jonathan Eig, history, biography, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, creative nonfiction An Intimate Portrait There have been many books written about Dr. MLK, Jr. But the one just published by Jonathan Eig stands out, not only for the new material Eig reveals but for the intimacy of his portrait of the famed civil rights leader. A Journey of Purpose The book delves into Dr. King’s upbringing, his initial hesitations about following in his father’s preaching footsteps, and the pivotal moment when he realized that his path was chosen by a higher power, as he saw it, for the cause of racial justice. Relentless Persecution The book uncovers the relentless persecution endured by King at the hands of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, who called the Reverend “the most dangerous man in America.” The Complex Man King: A Life explores the multifaceted character of MLK, Jr., including his flaws as a man and husband, such as sexism and undervaluing women’s leadership in the civil rights movement, as well as his tendency to borrow words from others in his writings. Undaunted Courage Eig writes movingly about King’s profound courage in the face of unrelenting attacks and his undying faith in humanity. The book brings it all comes together in a spellbinding story written by a master storyteller. Jonathan Eig is the author of six books, including a biography of Muhammed Ali. Read or Listen to An Excerpt Read the Interview Transcript New York Times Article about Freedom Riders Coming up Next Week on Writer’s Voice: We talk with Allison Butler, THE MEDIA AND ME: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People. Also, Lizzie Stark tells us about her book, EGG: A Dozen Ovatures.  

Did you know that American English (not British English) is one of the very few languages that has no dialects? No matter where you are from in this big country, you can easily understand the speech of anyone else. That’s true, even with having different regional accents or ethnic differences such as Black English. That’s one of the many fascinating things one learns from reading Ilan Stavans’ anthology of writings in American English, spanning 450 years of our history as a nation. We talk with Stavans about The People’s Tongue: Americans and the English Language. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Key words: language, English language, Ilan Stavans, anthology, podcast, book recommendation American English Spanning the Centuries Ilan Stavans’ anthology The People’s Tongue features a wide array of letters, poems, memoir, stories, songs, documents, and essays, from Sojourner Truth and Abraham Lincoln to Henry Roth and Zora Neale Hurston, from George Carlin and James Baldwin to Louise Erdrich and hiphop artist Kendrick Lamar— all elucidating the breadth and depth of this free-wheeling, eclectic, ever-changing, immigrant-forged magnificent language of ours. Stavans Brings Immigrant’s Sensibility to Our Language Ilan Stavans is an immigrant himself, and, as such, he has a deep understanding of how the immigrant experience has shaped American English, giving it a richness and elasticity that few other languages can rival. But he also notes the debt it owes to the indigenous peoples of this continent, whose stamp on the land is most obvious in the numerous place names that remind of their presence — and of the settler’s theft of their territory. About the Author Ilan Stavans is the author of many books and anthologies. He’s professor of Humanities, Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College.

I’ve been thinking about climate change lately in really simple terms: that it’s really about the people and the places we love. It isn’t actually any more complex than that. So, yes, we talk a lot about parts per million and all these degrees of warming and all these complex things. And they are indeed metrics that scientists use to talk about climate change. But if you just strip it all the way back, it is really about protecting those places that we love and the beautiful planet that we live on as well. — Joëlle Gergis We spend the hour with IPCC climate scientist Joëlle Gergis, talking about her powerful and moving book, Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope. It’s about how she grapples with the grief her scientific findings confront her with — but also the hope she feels as she witnesses how the tide is turning toward climate protection. Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice. Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show. Key terms: climate change, IPCC, Joëlle Gergis, climate science, podcast Climate Impacts Happening Much Faster Than Predicted When climate scientist Joëlle Gergis set to work on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, the research she encountered kept her up at night. Through countless hours spent with the world’s top scientists to piece together the latest global assessment of climate change, she realized that the impacts were occurring faster than anyone had predicted. In Humanity’s Moment, Gergis takes us through the science with unflinching honesty, explaining what it means for our future, while sharing her personal reflections on bearing witness to the heartbreak of the climate emergency unfolding in real time.   Political Will To Act Means Feeling Our Connection To The Planet Gergis shows us that the solutions we need to live sustainably already exist—we just need the political will to create a better world. Humanity’s Moment is a climate scientist’s guide to rekindling hope, and a call to action to restore our relationship with ourselves, each other, and our planet. About the Author Joëlle Gergis is a climate scientist and writer at the Australian National University. She was a lead author on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report and is also an advisor to the Climate Council, Australia’s leading independent body providing expert advice to the public on climate change and policy. In addition to Humanity’s Moment, she is the author of Sunburnt Country: The Future and History of Climate Change in Australia. Read An Excerpt