An interview with Nathan J. Robinson, co-author of the new book, The Myth of American Idealism. The book is an indictment of both American foreign policy and the political influence that supports it.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in November 2022. An interview with Ben Macintyre, author of the new book, Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison. In the book, Macintyre looks at one of history’s most notorious prisons, and the remarkabl…

An interview with Kevin Grange, author of Grizzly Confidential. Part science, part travelogue, the book is a both a gripping account of the famous North American species and a passionate plea for bear conservation.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Russell Muirhead, co-author of the new book, Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos. The book details how a concentrated attack on political institutions threatens to disable the essential workings of government.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Marsha E. Barrett, author of Nelson Rockefeller's Dilemma. The book is a compelling political history of the influential career of the four-time New York State governor and US vice president.By Bob Kustra

An interview with legendary travel writer Rick Steves about his new book, On the Hippie Trail. The book offers a glimpse into the memories and misadventures of his formative 1978 trek from Istanbul to Kathmandu.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Christian Cooper, author of the book, Better Living Through Birding. Part memoir, part travelogue, the book explores how birding helped Cooper during the most difficult parts of his life, and how we can all benefit from looking up more.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Sy Montgomery, author of What the Chicken Knows. Part science writing, part personal narrative, the book explores the surprising traits and unique personalities of the world’s most recognizable bird.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Greg Barnhisel, author of Code Name Puritan. The book is a fascinating biography of Norman Holmes Pearson, an unassuming literary scholar and part-time spy who transformed postwar American culture.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Maria Popova, co-author of the new book, Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States. The book examines how the fall of the Soviet Union started an identity and regime divergence between Russia and Ukraine, and set both countries on an inevitable collision course.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in November 2022.An interview with Nate Schweber, author of the new book, This America of Ours: Bernard & Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild. In the book, Schweber tells the story of the extraordinary couple who rescued national parks from McCarthyism…

An interview with Mark Greaney, author of the new thriller, Midnight Black. The book is a taut new addition to Greaney’s bestselling Gray Man series.By Bob Kustra

An interview with David Rohde, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Where Tyranny Begins. In the book, Rohde details how Donald Trump used threats, co-option, and conspiracy theories to bend DOJ and FBI officials to his will.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Lindsey Cormack, author of the new book, How to Raise a Citizen. The book is a practical guide to nurturing the next generation of responsible, informed citizens.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Bryce Andrews, author of the new book, Holding Fire. The book is a memoir of inheritance, history, and one gun’s role in the violence that shaped the American West.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in October 2022. An interview with Chris Pavone, author of the thrilling novel, Two Nights in Lisbon. The book is story of a woman under pressure, and what she will resort to when everything is on the line.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Hansen Shi, author of the thrilling new novel, The Expat. The book follows a young businessman who travels to China for a job offer, only to find himself thrust into a world of corporate espionage.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Adam Higginbotham, author of Challenger. The book is a thrilling minute-by-minute account of the 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster, based on new archival research.By Bob Kustra

Producer's Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in October 2022. An interview with Toya Wolfe, debut author of the novel, Last Summer on State Street. The book is a striking coming-of-age debut about friendship, community, and resilience, set in the housing projects of Chicago.…

An interview with Marcel Dirsus, author of How Tyrants Fall. The book is a deeply-researched examination of how dictators are overthrown, and what happens to nations in the aftermath.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Brian Rosenwald, author of the book, Talk Radio's America. The book takes a close look at the infotainment format pioneered by Rush Limbaugh on AM radio, and the effect it had on the Republican party.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in September 2022. An interview with Mark Follman, author of Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America. The book casts new light on the behind-the-scenes work being done to predict and prevent mass shootings.…

An interview with Rob Hart, author of the new novel, Assassins Anonymous. The book is a thrilling story of suspense, murder, and redemption, as a reformed hitman tries to stay on the straight and narrow while running for his life.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of Stolen Pride. Set in Appalachia, the book takes a hard look at the “pride paradox” that has given the Right Wing’s appeals such resonance.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore presentation of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in September 2022.An interview with Edward H. Miller, author of A Conspiratorial Life: Robert Welch, the John Birch Society, and the Revolution of American Conservatism. In the book, Miller argues that Welch’s paranoid right-wing nativism, dismissed by thinkers li…

An interview with Melissa B. Jacoby, author of the new book, Unjust Debts. The book offers an incisive look at the hidden role of bankruptcy in perpetuating inequality in America.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Amor Towles, bestselling author of the new book, Table for Two. The book is a collection of short fiction based in New York, along with a novella set in the Golden Age of Hollywood.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore episode of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in June 2022. An interview with David Gelles, author of The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy. In the book, Gelles profiles the man who ushered in a new, cutthroat era of A…

An interview with Timothy Snyder, author of the new book, On Freedom. The book is an exploration of the American ideal of freedom—what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it may be our only chance for survival.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Sergey Radchenko, author of the new book, To Run the World. The book offers a detailed portrait of Russian leadership during the Cold War, helming a sprawling nation with irreconcilable ambitions as a self-proclaimed superpower and the leader of global revolution.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Illia Ponomarenko, author of the new book, I Will Show You How It Was. The book is powerful and personal chronicle of the war in Ukraine from the front lines.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in August 2022. An interview with Scott Weidensaul, author of A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds. The book is exhilarating exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Jonathan Blitzer, author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here. The book is a vivid portrait of the people whose lives ebb and flow across the U.S. border, and how the immigration crisis shapes American politics and culture.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Minxin Pei, author of The Sentinel State. The book argues that the endurance of dictatorship in China owes less to advanced technology than it does to the human resources of the Leninist surveillance state.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in August 2022. An interview with Tom Lin, author of the novel, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu. A twist on the classic western, it’s a story of one man's quest for redemption in the face of a distinctly American brutality.…

An interview with Paul Hendrickson, author of the new book, Fighting the Night. The book is a moving story of his father’s wartime service as a night fighter pilot, and the prices he and his fellow soldiers paid for their selfless acts of service.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Nicholas Shakespeare, author of the new book, Ian Fleming: The Complete Man. The book offers an eye-opening portrait of the mysterious and fascinating man behind James Bond, and his enduring impact.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in July 2022.An interview with Gary Gerstle, author of The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era. The book illuminates how the ideology of neoliberalism became so infused in the daily life of an era.…

An interview with David L. Roll, author of the new book, Ascent to Power. The book focuses on the fascinating story behind the most consequential presidential transition in US history, from Roosevelt to Truman.By Bob Kustra

An interview with David Ignatius, author of the new novel, Phantom Orbit. The book is a thrilling story of espionage against the backdrop of our nation’s renewed interest in space exploration amid geopolitical tumult.By Bob Kustra

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in July 2022. An interview with Peter S. Goodman, author of Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World. The book is must read for anyone concerned about economic justice and the sanctity of representative government.…

An interview with Steve Inskeep, author of the new book, Differ We Must. The book is a compelling portrait of Abraham Lincoln’s political acumen in a country divided – and lessons for our own disorderly present.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Margot Susca, author of Hedged. The book reveals a newspaper industry rocked by an obsession with profit and beholden to private fund interests.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Amy Gajda, author of Seek and Hide: The Tangled History of the Right to Privacy. The book is an important primer for today’s privacy wars - the surprising history of the right to privacy, and its battle against the public’s right to know.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Erik Larson, author of the new book, The Demon of Unrest. The book examines the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Rob Percival, author of The Meat Paradox: Eating, Empathy, and the Future of Meat. The book offers a vital and nuanced investigation into the current debate around meat.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Stephen F. Knott, author of Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy. The book offers a broad view of the young President, and shows how politicians on both sides of the aisle distorted JFK's record for their own purposes.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Terry Hayes, acclaimed author of the new book, The Year of the Locust. A thriller set in the borderlands of the Middle East, the novel follows a CIA spy as his plans to extract a source are complicated by a powerful adversary.By Bob Kustra

An interview with Moisés Naím, author of The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century. The book examines the future of freedom and how to contain and defeat the autocrats popping up around the world.By Bob Kustra