Best Meg Pearson Podcasts (2025)

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Christina Lane, "Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock" (Chicago Review Press, 2020) 1:01:36

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2h ago1:01:36

1:01:36

A platinum beauty with an ugly secret; a tall, dark, and handsome husband with murder in his eyes; starkly lit interiors that may or may not include the silhouette of a rotund British gentleman…. This may sound like a catalog of images from the films of Alfred Hitchcock, but it is just as much an encapsulation of the works of Joan Harrison, a studi…

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9. Authenticity vs. Personal Branding: Where’s the Line? 9:08

13h ago9:08

9:08

In a world where vulnerability is treated like currency, how do you know when you’re being authentic - and when you’re just performing for your brand? In this episode, I unpack the blurry line between personal branding and personal life, the difference between sharing from scars versus wounds, and how to decide what’s yours to share online. From my…

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Noel Foy aka Neuro Noel -330 25:11

16h ago25:11

25:11

Let’s transform the classroom into a place where mistake-making is an opportunity to learn and children feel a sense of connection, value, and belonging. -Noel Foy aka Neuro Noel Meet neuroeducator, anxiety/executive function coach, and author, Noel Foy. She travels the country, sharing her skill set with children, parents, and teachers. Today, in …

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Aaron Magid, "The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan" (Universal Publishers, 2025) 52:47

2h ago52:47

52:47

The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan (Universal Publishers, 2025) is the first comprehensive biography on Jordan’s King Abdullah. Drawing on interviews with over 100 individuals, including Abdullah's classmates, former Jordanian ministers, and CIA directors, The Most American King offers a thorough account of this key Arab leader. Aaron Magid…

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Meg Groff, "Not If I Can Help It" (Rivertown Books, 2025) 38:15

2h ago38:15

38:15

Meg Groff's memoir Not If I Can Help It (Rivertown Books, 2025) recounts some of the most harrowing, infuriating, yet inspiring stories from Groff’s work as a Legal Aid attorney representing women and children whose only resource is the sheer courage they exhibit every day. Groff dedicated forty years of her life to fighting for justice for victims…

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Judith L. Pearson, "Radical Sisters: Shirley Temple Black, Rose Kushner, Evelyn Lauder, and the Dawn of the Breast Cancer Movement" (Mayo Clinic Press, 2025) 1:01:56

5d ago1:01:56

1:01:56

There was a time when women's health was marginalized. There was a time when breast cancer wasn't discussed. There was a time when October wasn't pink. But three women--Shirley Temple Black, Rose Kushner, and Evelyn Lauder--refused to be silenced. Their courage ignited a movement that forever changed the way society addresses breast cancer. When th…

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Al Posamentier, "Math Makers: The Lives and Works of 50 Famous Mathematicians" (Prometheus, 2020) 56:37

7m ago56:37

56:37

Today I talked to Alfred S. Posamentier, a co-author (with Christian Spreitzer) of Math Makers: The Lives and Works of 50 Famous Mathematicians (Prometheus, 2020). This charming book is more than just mathematics, because mathematicians are not just makers of mathematics. They are human beings whose life stories are often not just entertaining, but…

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Martha Biondi, "We Are Internationalists: Prexy Nesbitt and the Fight for African Liberation" (U California Press, 2025) 42:29

8d ago42:29

42:29

Explores forgotten solidarity with African liberation struggles through the life of Black Chicagoan Prexy Nesbitt. For many civil rights activists, the Vietnam War brought the dangers of US imperialism and the global nature of antiracist struggle into sharp relief. Martha Biondi tells the story of one such group of activists who built an internatio…

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Catherine Maloy -329 24:43

10h ago24:43

24:43

There’s a stigma around the word “underwear”. You don’t talk about it until you don’t have it. -Catherine Maloy This week’s guest is a mom who saw a simple need for children in crisis and made it her mission to do something about it. Catherine Maloy is the Founder & Executive Director of a non-profit called Cocotree Kids www.cocotreekids.org. Let’s…

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David T. Beito, "FDR: A New Political Life" (Open Universe, 2025) 32:24

20h ago32:24

32:24

David Beito's new book brings to bear the latest historical scholarship to shed light on the life and achievements of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Professor Beito traces the irresistible political rise of Roosevelt, a scion of inherited wealth who never posed as a man of the people but was always perceived as a genial aristocrat. As well as eyebrow-r…

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House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr. 55:13

10d ago55:13

55:13

At the height of the civil rights movement, Charles C. Diggs Jr. (1922–1998) was the consummate power broker. In a political career spanning 1951 to 1980, Diggs, Michigan’s first Black member of Congress, was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till’s killers, worked behind the scenes with Martin Luther King Jr., and founded the…

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8. From TV Director to Rebel Brand Builder 4:43

4d ago4:43

4:43

Rebel Soul Media didn’t come out of nowhere - it’s the culmination of two decades of grit, reinvention, and unapologetic creativity. In this episode, I share my journey from TV director to retreat chef to Breathwork facilitator to digital brand strategist, and why this evolution makes so much sense when you look at the path I’ve been on. If you’ve …

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Mark L. Clifford, "The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong's Greatest Dissident, and China's Most Feared Critic" (Free Press, 2024) 1:29:57

12d ago1:29:57

1:29:57

The extraordinary life story of the billionaire businessman Jimmy Lai, a leading Hong Kong democracy activist fighting for freedom of speech who became China’s most famous political prisoner. Jimmy Lai escaped mainland China when he was twelve years old, at the height of a famine that killed tens of millions. In Hong Kong, he hustled and often slep…

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Elizabeth R. Hyman, "The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto: The True Story of Five Courageous Young Women Who Sparked an Uprising" (Harper, 2025) 40:58

13d ago40:58

40:58

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the most storied events of the Holocaust, yet previous accounts of have almost entirely focused on its male participants. In The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto: The True Story of Five Courageous Young Women Who Sparked an Uprising (Harper, 2025), Holocaust historian Elizabeth Hyman introduces five young, cour…

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Rob Wells, "The Insider: How the Kiplinger Newsletter Bridged Washington and Wall Street" (U Massachusetts Press, 2022) 23:27

16d ago23:27

23:27

When Willard M. Kiplinger launched the groundbreaking Kiplinger Washington Letter in 1923, he left the sidelines of traditional journalism to strike out on his own. With a specialized knowledge of finance and close connections to top Washington officials, Kiplinger was uniquely positioned to tell deeper truths about the intersections between govern…

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7. When Politics and Relationships DO Collide 6:00

16d ago6:00

6:00

Politics and spirituality aren’t separate - they never were. In this episode, I share my own journey from head-in-the-sand avoidance to seeing politics as a mirror of character and values. From the vaccine moment that exposed cracks in the spiritual community, to the dangerous overlap of religion, politics, and cult dynamics, I unpack why neutralit…

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Lorna Brunelle -328 26:37

10d ago26:37

26:37

Facing an illness is very much like being a buoy: we have to rise up, we have to learn to float, and carry ourselves in the storm. While we’re staying afloat in the storm, we are also a beacon for others. -Lorna J. Brunelle There are lots of stories about the ties that bind mothers and daughters. When Lorna Brunelle’s mother, Wanda, was diagnosed w…

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Brian Baker, "The Road" (Akashic Books, 2025) 34:07

14d ago34:07

34:07

The Road (Akashic Books, 2025) is an illuminating selection of photographs spanning iconic punk rock guitarist Brian Baker’s many years of global touring with Bad Religion, Dag Nasty, and other bands. The images are intelligent and arresting, reflecting time spent both inside and outside the bubble of backstages and tour buses. While touring is eas…

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Diane Ravitch, "An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Schools and Almost Everything Else" (Columbia UP, 2025) 1:02:58

19d ago1:02:58

1:02:58

For many years, Diane Ravitch was among the country’s leading conservative thinkers on education. The cure for what ailed the school system was clear, she believed: high-stakes standardized testing, national standards, accountability, competition, charters, and vouchers. Then Ravitch saw what happened when these ideas were put into practice and rec…

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Patrick Parr, "Malcolm Before X" (U Massachusetts Press, 2024) 26:16

11d ago26:16

26:16

Drawing upon interviews, correspondence, and nearly 2000 pages of never-before-used prison records, Malcolm Before X is the definitive examination of the prison years of civil rights icon Malcolm X. The book was a Kirkus Nonfiction Book of the Year for 2024, a Spectator best book of the year, and a finalist for the 2025 ASALH book prize. In Februar…

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Ashley D. Farmer, "Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore" (Pantheon, 2025) 25:50

22d ago25:50

25:50

In the world of Black radical politics, the name Audley Moore commands unquestioned respect. Across the nine decades of her life, Queen Mother Moore distinguished herself as a leading progenitor of Black Nationalism, the founder of the modern reparations movement, and, from her Philadelphia and Harlem homes, a mentor to some of America's most influ…

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Sarah Smarsh, "Bone of the Bone: Essays on America from a Daughter of the Working Class" (Scribner, 2024) 1:04:56

22d ago1:04:56

1:04:56

National Book Award finalist Sarah Smarsh speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her career writing memoir, essays, and journalism centered on the experience of the rural working class in the US. Her essay in The Common’s fall 2014 issue, “Death of the Farm Family,” became part of her 2018 book Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being B…

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Hank Phillippi Ryan -327 26:36

16d ago26:36

26:36

That little girl in the hayloft always wanted to be a writer. I’m the poster child for following your dreams in midlife because I didn’t write my first book until I was 55. -Hank Phillippi Ryan Imagine a 43-year career as an investigative reporter with 37 EMMYs and 14 Edward R. Murrow awards. Now imagine a brilliant midlife move, where all that exp…

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Abhimanyu Kumar and Aletta André, "The House of Awadh: A Hidden Tragedy" (HarperCollins India, 2025) 45:42

24d ago45:42

45:42

Begum Wilayat Mahal, the self-proclaimed heir to the House of Awadh, has fascinated journalists and writers for decades. She claimed she was Indian royalty, descended from the kings of Awadh, a kingdom annexed by the British in 1856. She spent a decade in the waiting room of the New Delhi train station, receiving journalists intrigued by the image …

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6. Closing Doors Without Apology 6:45

24d ago6:45

6:45

Endings don’t always need an explanation. In this episode, I talk about the radical power of sovereignty - the ability to close doors without apology. From relationships to businesses to lifelong chapters, sometimes “I’m done” is a complete sentence. I share the lessons I’ve learned from closing big doors in my own life, including why I’m bringing …

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Carl Rollyson, "The Making of Sylvia Plath (UP Mississippi, 2024) 55:03

15d ago55:03

55:03

Since her death, Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetry as exemplified by Ariel. Beyond her writing, however, interest in Plath has also been fueled in part by the tragic nature of her death. As a resu…

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Peter C. Zimmerman, "The Jazz Masters: Setting the Record Straight" (UP of Mississippi, 2021) 56:05

18d ago56:05

56:05

The Jazz Masters: Setting the Record Straight (UP of Mississippi, 2021) is a celebration of jazz and the men and women who created and transformed it. In the twenty-one conversations contained in this engaging and highly accessible book, we hear from the musicians themselves, in their own words, direct and unfiltered. Peter Zimmerman’s interviewing…

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Maurice Samuels, "Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair" (Yale UP, 2024) 39:17

16d ago39:17

39:17

On January 5, 1895, Captain Alfred Dreyfus’s cries of innocence were drowned out by a mob shouting “Death to Judas!” In Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair (Yale UP, 2024), Maurice Samuels gives readers new insight into Dreyfus himself—the man at the center of the affair. He tells the story of Dreyfus’s early life in Paris, his prom…

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Stephen Fritz, "The First Soldier: Hitler as a Military Leader" (Yale UP, 2018) 1:16:34

26d ago1:16:34

1:16:34

In his new book, The First Soldier: Hitler as a Military Leader (Yale University Press, 2018), Stephen Fritz professor of history at East Tennessee State University reexamines Hitler as a military commander and strategist. That Hitler saw World War II as the only way to retrieve Germany’s fortunes and build an expansionist Thousand-Year Reich is un…

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Anthony Valerio, "Semmelweis: The Women's Doctor" (Zantedeschi Books, 2019) 1:00:44

19d ago1:00:44

1:00:44

Though his advice has saved the lives of millions of people, the name Ignaz Semmelweis is not one commonly known today. In his book Anthony Valerio’s Semmelweis: The Women's Doctor (Zantedeschi Books, 2019). Valerio details the many struggles Semmelweis faced in winning acceptance for his advice on antiseptic procedures. The son of a Buda spice mer…

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Bill V. Mullen, "James Baldwin: Living in Fire" (Pluto Press, 2019) 59:58

28d ago59:58

59:58

In the first major biography of Baldwin in more than a decade, James Baldwin: Living in Fire (Pluto Press, 2019), Bill V. Mullen celebrates the personal and political life of the great African-American writer who changed the face of Western politics and culture. As a lifelong anti-imperialist, black queer advocate, and feminist, Baldwin (1924-1987)…

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Hilary Holladay, "The Power of Adrienne Rich: A Biography" (Princeton UP, 2025) 57:59

1M ago57:59

57:59

A major American writer, thinker, and activist, Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) transformed herself from a traditional, Radcliffe-educated lyric poet and married mother of three sons into a path-breaking lesbian-feminist author of forceful, uncompromising prose as well as poetry. In doing so, she emerged as an architect and exemplar of the feminist movem…

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Jenna McCarthy -326 22:03

29d ago22:03

22:03

When the scariest thing happens and you get through it, you realize that you’re stronger than you ever thought you could be. -Jenna McCarthy Making that appointment to schedule her first mammogram was on Jenna McCarthy’s mind for a while. At 41, she just wanted to get it over with and “check that box.” What she didn’t expect was what happened next.…

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Francis L. Sampson, "Look Out Below!: A Story of the Airborne by a Paratrooper Padre" (Catholic U of America Press, 2023) 48:21

1M ago48:21

48:21

A veteran of the Second World War and the Korean War, Francis L. Sampson was a real-life hero whose exploits inspired one of the most famous war films of all time, Saving Private Ryan. From rural beginnings in northwestern Iowa, Sampson’s life would take him from the University of Notre Dame to the battlefields of Normandy on D-Day, the ambitious f…

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5. Not Everything Is Your F*cking Ego 8:02

1M ago8:02

8:02

The line between spirituality and religion isn’t as clean as we like to believe. From hierarchy and ritual to toxic leaders and spiritual bypassing, many “wellness” spaces mirror the very systems they claim to break free from. In this episode, I unpack the parallels, call out the manipulation, and share why true spirituality is found in the quiet, …

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Mahboob Qirvanian and Behnaz Mirzai, "Life of an Enslaved African in the Ottoman Empire and Iran" (U Toronto Press, 2025) 1:00:38

1M ago1:00:38

1:00:38

Life of an Enslaved African in the Ottoman Empire and Iran: The Autobiography of Mahboob Qirvanian provides a translation of a compelling autobiography that chronicles the life of Mahboob Qirvanian, from childhood and enslavement in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire to his eventual liberation in Iran. The Life of an Enslaved African in the Ottoma…

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Dayla Arabella Santurri -325 23:21

30d ago23:21

23:21

There’s a difference between doing what you’re good at and doing what you love. -Dayla Arabella Santurri In this week’s episode of The Story Behind Her Success, I welcome longtime friend Dayla Arabella Santurri into my living room for a masterclass in reinvention, fearlessness, and the power of “yes”. From running the iconic Scullers Jazz Club to p…

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Nicolae Steinhardt, "The Journal of Joy" (SVS Press, 2025) 1:34:50

1M ago1:34:50

1:34:50

A conversation with Fr. Bogdan Bucur and Dr. Razvan Porumb This publication represents the officially authorized translation of The Journal of Joy (SVS Press, 2025), carefully rendered to uphold the integrity of the original text in Romanian. The ethos Steinhardt recommends to Christians is that of an aristocrat minus the stiff upper lip and aloofn…

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4. Why I Burned Down Most of My Spiritual Practices But Still Stand By Breathwork 7:52

1M ago7:52

7:52

The wellness world is overflowing with hacks, rituals, and spiritual bypassing that rarely deliver what they promise. In this episode, I share why I’ve burned down most of my spiritual practices; but continue to stand by Breathwork as the one tool that’s accessible, real, and proven to transform both body and mind. Grab my free ⁠Burn It Down Workbo…

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Marion Orr, "House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr." (UNC Press, 2025) 59:46

1M ago59:46

59:46

At the height of the civil rights movement, Charles C. Diggs Jr. (1922-1998) was the consummate power broker. In a political career spanning 1951 to 1980, Diggs, Michigan's first Black member of Congress, was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till's killers, worked behind the scenes with Martin Luther King Jr., and founded the…

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Sarah Hurwitz, "As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story from Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us" (HarperOne, 2025) 50:28

1M ago50:28

50:28

An urgent exploration of how antisemitism has shaped Jewish identity and how Jews can reclaim their tradition, by the celebrated White House speechwriter and author of the critically acclaimed Here All Along. At thirty-six, Sarah Hurwitz was a typical lapsed Jew. On a whim, she attended an introduction to Judaism class and was astonished by what sh…

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Árni Heimir Ingólfsson, "Music at World's End: Three Exiled Musicians from Nazi Germany and Austria and Their Contribution to Music in Iceland" (SUNY Press, 2025) 55:47

1M ago55:47

55:47

A fascinating story of how three musicians, who escaped the Nazis, inspired Iceland's modern classical music. In Iceland in the 1930s, classical music was only beginning to be seriously practiced, at the same time when musicians of Jewish heritage were fleeing Nazi Germany and Austria. Despite the country's strict immigration policy, three outstand…

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Raymond J. McKoski, "David Davis, Abraham Lincoln's Favorite Judge" (U Illinois Press, 2025) 57:47

1M ago57:47

57:47

One of Abraham Lincoln's staunchest and most effective allies, Judge David Davis masterminded the floor fight that gave Lincoln the presidential nomination at the 1860 Republican National Convention. This history-changing event emerged from a long friendship between the two men. It also altered the course of Davis's career, as Lincoln named him to …

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Judith L. Pearson -324 24:04

1M ago24:04

24:04

Radical is the Latin term for “root”. Years ago, the radical mastectomy was developed, with the belief that if the surgeon dug deeper into a woman’s chest, they could get to the root of the cancer. -Judy Pearson Not so long ago, cancer was the “C” word and no one talked about breast cancer, especially women who emerged from their brutal treatments …

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3. Burn Story - Torching Diet Culture: Food Freedom with Kim Baser 27:14

2M ago27:14

27:14

Just in time for Canadian Thanksgiving, I sat down with Kim Basler—a former fitness industry pro who burned it all down to reclaim her freedom with food, body, and life. We talk about: 🔥 The harm of diet + wellness culture 🔥 Kim’s journey from fitness coach to intuitive eating + HAES advocate 🔥 The gifts of radically shifting her relationship with …

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Eibhear Walshe and Eleanor Fitzsimons, "Speranza: Poems by Jane Wilde" (Liverpool UP, 2025) 37:57

2M ago37:57

37:57

Speranza: Poems by Jane Wilde (Liverpool UP, 2025) by Dr. Eibhear Walshe and Dr. Eleanor Fitzsimons is the first contemporary edition of the poetry of Jane Wilde, née Elgee, who also wrote as Speranza. Speranza was, in her time, renowned worldwide, with essays, poetry and translated work published in Ireland, England, America and beyond. She was a …

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Roddy Bottum, "The Royal We" (Akashic Books, 2025) 51:13

2M ago51:13

51:13

The Royal We (Akashic Books, 2025) is a poetic survey of a time set in a magical city that once was and is no more. It is a memoir written by Roddy Bottum, a musician and artist, that documents through prose his coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco, a charged era of bicycle messengers, punk rock, street witches, wheatgrass, an…

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Katie Herzog, "Drink Your Way Sober: The Science-Based Method to Break Free from Alcohol" (Simon and Schuster, 2025) 55:06

2M ago55:06

55:06

After 20 years of fighting and failing to get sober using abstinence-based methods, journalist Katie Herzog found a simple, inexpensive, and effective way to take control over alcohol. Part memoir, part guidebook, Drink Your Way Sober: The Science-Based Method to Break Free from Alcohol (Simon and Schuster, 2025) shares Herzog’s recovery journey as…

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Todd McGowan, "The Cambridge Introduction to Jacques Lacan" (Cambridge UP, 2025) 1:01:10

2M ago1:01:10

1:01:10

The difficulty of Jacques Lacan's thought is notorious. The Cambridge Introduction to Jacques Lacan cuts through this difficulty to provide a clear, jargon-free approach to understanding it. The book describes Lacan's life, the context from which he emerged, and the reception of his theory. Readers will come away with an understanding of concepts s…

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Scott Beekman, "The Last Gladiator: William Muldoon and the Making of American Sports" (U Texas Press, 2025) 41:21

2M ago41:21

41:21

William Muldoon was an infamous athlete whose prowess, savvy, and chicanery across his six-decade career led him to wealth, cultural importance, and political power. Muldoon, the child of poor Irish immigrants, began wrestling in the 1870s and quickly became one of the most famous athletes of the post–Civil War era. He started acting and modeling a…