Search results for

Since she was five years old, Bettye’s mother has reminded her of the family credo, “Always remember you’re a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president.” Her book, The Other Madisons: The Lost History of A President’s Black Family” is Bettye’s gift to her own descendants and to all of us to remember that the Founding Fathers may have laid the foundations for our country, but the actual physical foundations were built and maintained by millions of enslaved people. Bettye is the “griotte” in her family, the one bearing witness to the lives of generations long past by retaining and protecting the oral history which she will in turn pass onto her own daughter. The Other Madisons takes this history and her decades of exhaustive research and puts it in writing for the first time. Yet to listen to this interview with Bettye gives you a taste of the ancient storytelling tradition without which we would never learn the truth. The Other Madisons bettyekearse.com

Mary L. Grow’s beautifully rendered story Night Train to Odessa is set 100 years ago in Ukraine as it is torn apart by civil war and the Bolshevik revolution. Yet events could be mirror images of Ukraine now, of loss of all that is loved and familiar and the desperate need to flee certain death and horror overnight. I ask the author how she creates a novel so immersive, suspenseful and intimate and yet to bring lightness to even the most dire experiences the characters suffer. Mary L. Grow will be reading from Night Train to Odessa at Santa Fe’s Collected Works bookstore at 6:00 on Thursday, September 14th. Learn more about her now at marylgrow.com

A mouth-watering treat for listeners today with three-time James Beard award-winning culinary writer Anya von Bremzen with her new book, National Dish: Around The World in Search of Food, History and The Meaning of Home. Part geography, part history and an exploration of deep cultural roots, we begin in Paris with the classic home-cooked dish, pot au feu, and travel with Anya onto Naples, Italy, to taste pizza unlike any you’ve tasted before. In a few minutes we’re in Seville, Spain relaxing with friends over tapas and onto Oaxaca, Mexico where the secrets of mole are passed down through generations There we learn of the 3,000 year old fight to keep corn, masa, safe from the wheat barons. Our final moments are spent in war-torn Ukraine the home of borsch, or is it Russia who claims to have created the delicious beetroot soup? National Dish is published by Penguin.

Award-winning environmental journalist, Ben Goldfarb, joins me today from Colorado with his fascinating and compassionate new book, Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping The Future of Our Planet. Described as sweeping and spirited Crossings is also filled with humor and hope. Ben is an avid adventurer who brings his research and the science to life and shares his perception with listeners in a way we can all understand. From mountain lions in the Santa Monica mountains near Los Angeles to the tiniest, vulnerable bugs caught in our tire treads on I-25 and highways around the globe, Ben weaves their tales together and illumines our consciousness in the telling. bengoldfarb.com

A fascinating insight into the Western United States with historian Betsy Gaines Quammen in her new book True West: Myth and Mending on The Far Side of America. Her extensive travels and conversations with people on all sides of the political spectrum and of all the different cultures that make up the West bring much needed clarity and integrity to our sometimes distorted images of this magnificent land and it’s peoples. Meet Betsy at Collected Works Bookstore on Tuesday, November 7 at 6:00 and learn more about her observations at betsygainesquammen.com

A fascinating insight into writing and researching a historical novel, Leaving Lissadell, with Helen Molanphy, KSFR Board Vice-President. Helen’s Irish roots and admiration of Irish revolutionary Constance Gore-Booth Markiewicz have inspired her for decades and nurtured the creative seeds of Leaving Lissadell. As a Professor Emeritus in Political Science and author of The American Penal System, Helen is well placed to note the injustices faced by Constance and the Irish people leading up to and after the 1916 Easter Rising. Helen also speaks about her search for a publisher for Leaving Lissadell which we sincerely hope will be rewarded soon. Contact Helen Molanphy through KSFR.

Fourteen months out from the next general election is it possible to break big money’s stranglehold on our electoral system ? Former Santa Fe attorney and social justice activist for more than 40 years, Bruce Berlin joins me with his critically acclaimed book, Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America. With lobbyists and super PACs soliciting seemingly unlimited funds from corporations and individuals how can we break the cycle ? A fascinating and important conversation that we all need to hear, understand and learn effective ways to take action. More in Bruce Berlin’s topical weekly blogs at breakingbigmoneysgrip.com

Today, a delightful and fun chat with author and playwright Rosemary Zibart and director Nick Stofocik ahead of their long-awaited production City Mice. How does a playwright find a director and actors who can turn her long-nurtured seed idea and carefully-crafted script into a play ready for the audience and critics? What happened when Rosemary handed over City Mice to Nick? The answer may surprise you. We also clarify the reasons why Hollywood screenwriters and SAG actors are striking, and again that answer may not be what you think. City Mice will be playing at Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe for two weekends, August 3–5 and 10–12 at 7:30 with matinees on Sundays, August 6 and 13 at 2:00. city-mice.ticketleap.com

A perfect show for a hot day as visual artist and poet Susan Gardner joins me with her perceptive and calming new volume of poetry, Love and The Weather.

Imagine yourself in the excitement at NASA’s manned space center in Houston in the time leading up to the first moon launch in 1969. In elegant and evocative prose Isa Arsen takes us there in her debut novel, Shoot The Moon, described as “deep, bold and crackling smart” we travel backwards and forwards and backwards time and again with Isa’s protagonist Annie from her childhood in Santa Fe’s east side to her dream on the launch team. An interview that may raise the hairs on the back of your neck as we explore how a writer brings the mysterious equations of soul love and the anomalies of physics to the page. Meet Isa Arsen at Collected Works Bookstore on Sunday, October 22nd at 4:00. www.inarsen.com