Ten Best Author Interviews of 2021




Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon show

Summary: It’s that time, folks! The time for Ten Best Of The Year lists. We play excerpts from ten of our favorite episodes in 2021:<br> Hugh Raffles, The Book Of Unconformities; Michael Mann, The New Climate War; Heather McGhee, The Sum Of Us; Elizabeth Kolbert, Under A White Sky; Michaeleen Doucleff, Hunt, Gather, Parent; Cal Flynn, Islands of Abandonment; Nina Burleigh, Virus; Elizabeth Hinton, America on Fire; Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois;  and Eyal Press, Dirty Work.<br> Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.<br> Like us on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WritersVoiceRadio/">Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon</a>, on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/writersvoicepodcast/">@WritersVoicePodcast</a> or find us on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/writersvoice?lang=en">@WritersVoice</a>.<br> Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.<br> <br> We start out with our January interview with Hugh Raffles, telling us about The Book Of Unconformities: Speculations On Lost Time. The book was A New York Times Editor’s Choice for 2021. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239688/the-book-of-unconformities-by-hugh-raffles/">Read an excerpt.</a><br> <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2021/01/hugh-raffles-the-book-of-unconformities-more/">Listen to the full interview</a><br> Next, In a year of escalating climate disasters, we spoke in February with famed climate scientist Michael Mann about <a href="https://michaelmann.net/books/climate-war">The New Climate War</a>. The book won numerous accolades, including being listed by several major publications among the best books of 2021. <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2021/02/michael-mann-the-new-climate-war-john-nichols-on-covid9-relief/">Listen to the full interview.</a><br> And also in February, we spoke with Heather McGhee about her groundbreaking book, The Sum Of Us. It was longlisted for the National Book Award. <a href="http://%5Bhttps://www.writersvoice.net/2021/02/heather-mcghee-the-sum-of-us-michelle-commander-unsung/%5D">Listen to the full interview</a>.<br>  <br> March saw our interview with New Yorker environmental writer Elizabeth Kolbert, talking about her book, Under A White Sky: The Nature of the Future. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/617060/under-a-white-sky-by-elizabeth-kolbert/#excerpt">Read an excerpt</a> and <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2021/03/elizabeth-kolbert-under-a-white-sky-ian-shive-the-last-unknown/">listen to the full interview</a>.<br> In May, we spoke with NPR reporter Michaeleen Doucleff about her parenting self-help book Hunt, Gather, Parent. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co3d30XL3pQ&amp;list=TLGG0ughIq-U4SAyOTEyMjAyMQ&amp;t=16s">Watch a video</a> about Hunt Gather Parent and<a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2021/05/michaeleen-doucleff-hunt-gather-parent-sherry-turkle-the-empathy-diaries/"> listen to the full interview</a>.<br> In June, Scottish writer Cal Flynn told us about her book, Islands of Abandonment. It was shortlisted for the British Academy Book Prize, among other honors. <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2021/06/cal-flyn-islands-of-abandonment-james-romm-the-sacred-band/">Listen to the full interview</a>.<br>  <br> In July, we caught up with Nina Burleigh to talk about the systemic failures behind the US’s botched response to the COVID pandemic. Her book is Virus: Vaccinations, the CDC, and The Hijacking Of America’s Response To The Pandemic. <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2021/07/nina-burleigh-virus-celia-jeffries-blue-desert/">Listen to the full interview.</a><br> The coronavirus, along with the climate crisis, were of course two of the three big issues dominating the news cycle in 2021. The third was police violence after the murder of George Floyd unleashed nationwide ...