Ethnology - Indonesia; Indonesia - Description and travel
Lawrence and Lorne Blair discuss their book, “Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey.” They talk about their travels to Indonesia financed by Ringo Starr, and Lawrence’s interest in psycho-anthropology. The Blairs describe their adventures...
United States - Politics and government - 2001-; Fanaticism - United States; Right-wing extremists - United States; Political corruption - United States; Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946- - Ethics; Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-
Arianna Huffington discusses her book, “Fanatics and Fools.” She begins by explaining how she tried to use humor and satire in her book in an effort to engage readers and to try to avoid being “preachy.” She stresses the power of words and...
Engineers - United States - Biography; Architects - United States - Biography; Authors, American - 20th century - Biography; Miller, Henry, 1891-1980 - Interviews; Henry Miller odyssey. [Motion picture]; Authors, American - 20th century -...
Robert Snyder discusses his book, “R. Buckminster Fuller: An Autobiographical Monologue/Scenario.” He says Fuller saw things in shapes and correlated forms in nature, and claims Fuller wore trifocals. Clips of Fuller’s documentary are also...
African American women - Fiction; African American men - Fiction; Female friendship - Fiction; Phoenix (Ariz.) - Fiction; Arizona - Fiction
Terry McMillan discusses her book, “Waiting to Exhale.” She says the characters are women who are experiencing voids in their personal lives. McMillan describes the women and their troubles with men. She explains the meaning of the title of...
AIDS (Disease) - Social aspects - Tennessee - Johnson City; Physicians - Tennessee - Johnson City - Biography
Abraham Verghese discusses his book, "My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and its People in the Age of AIDS." The non-fiction story is about his experiences as a doctor in Johnson City, Tennessee and dealing with his patients who...
Dani Shapiro discusses her book, “Family History.” She begins by sharing the basic plot of the book that follows the narrator, Rachel Jenson who is a housewife and art restorer married to Ned, a former painter. The couple live in a small town...
Boris Akunin discusses his book, “Winter Queen.” He begins by sharing that this novel is the first from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels that will eventually consist of 16 books. Akunin explains that the book’s...
Christopher Phillips discusses his book, “Six Questions of Socrates.” He begins by explaining that to write this book he traveled all over the globe visiting, Greece, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico. In each of these places he would conduct a...
Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography - Dictionaries; Silent films - United States - History and criticism
Anthony Slide discusses his book, “Silent Players.” He begins by explaining that he first became interested in silent films in the 1960s. He then explores some of the actors and actresses that he writes about in his book, including May Marsh,...
Nineteen thirty-six, A.D.; Depressions - 1929 - United States - Personal narratives; United States - Social conditions - 1933-1945; United States - History - 1933-1945
Frank Pierson discusses his book, “A Nation Lost and Found.” He begins by sharing that in 1936 he was ten years old and his co-author Stanley Sheinbaum was thirteen and how they may have seemed very different, but in fact experienced much of...
Jews - United States - Biography; Lawyers - United States - Biography; Jews - United States - Politics and government; Jews - Politics and government - 1948-; Jews - Identity; Antisemitism - United States; United States - Ethnic relations
Alan Dershowitz discusses his book, “Chutzpah.” Dershowitz talks about Yale Law School and the difficulty finding employment at Wall Street law firms because of antisemitism. He also talks about Supreme Court justices, Elie Wiesel, Ronald...
Gross, Nelson, 1932-1997; Lenney, Dinah; Murder - New Jersey - Case studies; Millionaires - Crimes against - New Jersey - Case studies; Children of murder victims - United States - Biography; Fathers and daughters - United States - Biography;...
Dinah Lenney discusses her book, “Bigger than Life.” She begins by explaining that the book is a memoir of her life and experiences beginning with the traumatic event of her father’s kidnapping in 1997. She shares how her father, Nelson...
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969 - Assassination attempts - Fiction; Attempted assassination - Fiction; World War, 1939-1945 - Commando operations - Fiction; Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945 - Fiction
Mark Frost discusses his book, “The Second Objective.” He begins by explaining that the book is a World War II thriller based on a real German operation that took place during the war. Frost discusses the plot which involves Lieutenant Colonel...
Brown, Dan, 1964- Da Vinci Code; Jesus Christ - In literature; Mary Magdalene, Saint - In literature; Christian saints in literature; Christianity in literature
Daniel Burstein discusses his book, “Secrets of the Code.” He begins by talking about Dan Brown’s bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code and how he decided to base his book on stories that Dan Brown had alluded to. Burstein talks about the...
Van Nuys (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Social life and customs - Humor; Loh, Sandra Tsing - Homes and haunts - California - Los Angeles; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Social life and customs - Humor; Loh, Sandra Tsing; Van Nuys (Los Angeles, Calif.) -...
Sandra Tsing Loh discusses her book, “ A Year in Van Nuys.” She begins by explaining while this book may seem like an autobiography it is really a combination of fact and fiction. She talks about how people like the voice of an author to be...
Nadine Nardi Davidson discusses her book, “Travel with Others.” She begins by talking about people’s different travel personalities and how although people may get along together, things are different while traveling. She gives personal...
Wasserman, Lew; Wasserman, Edie; Music Corporation of America; Chief executive officers - United States - Biography
Kathleen Sharp discusses her biography, “Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood.” She begins by giving background information on the lives of Lew Wasserman, the head of the Music Corporation of America (MCA), and his wife Edie. Sharp talks about her first...
Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt, 14th cent. B.C. - Fiction; Akhenaton, King of Egypt - Fiction; Queens - Egypt - Fiction; Egypt - History - Eighteenth dynasty, ca. 1570-1320 B.C. - Fiction; Egypt - Kings and rulers - Fiction
Michelle Moran discusses her novel, “Nefertiti.” She begins by giving background information on the early life of Nefertiti. Nefertiti married Amenhotep who changed his name to Akhenaton, and eventually became the Pharaoh of Thebes. Moran...
James Burke discusses his book, “The Day the Universe Changed.” The book takes a look at several important discoveries and schools of thought that changed the way people viewed the world. He begins by discussing the outlook of the ancient...
Richard III, King of England, 1452-1485; Edward V, King of England, 1470-1483 - Death and burial; Richard, Duke of York, 1472-1483 - Death and burial; Political prisoners - Great Britain - Biography; Princes - Great Britain - Biography; Murder -...
Bertram Fields discusses his biography, “Royal Blood.” He begins by explaining the kingship of Richard III and the mysterious disappearance of young princes Edward V and Richard, the Duke of York. The princes were the sons of Edward IV and...
