NYS Writers Institute Podcast: Recent Episodes
Host: Paul Grondahl
NYS Writers Institute DIrector interviews Rick Reilly, one of America’s preeminent sportswriters, a member of the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame, and author of the New York Times bestseller, "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump" (2019).
Based on Reilly's own experiences with Trump as well as interviews with over 100 golf pros, amateurs, developers, and caddies, Commander in Cheat is a startling and at times hilarious indictment of Trump and his golf game. Reilly reveals how Trump cheats (sometimes with the help of his caddies and Secret Service agents), lies about his scores (the "Trump Bump"), tells whoppers about the rank of his courses and their worth (declaring that every one of them is worth $50 million), and tramples the etiquette of the game.
Edward Berenson, noted scholar of modern French history, presents his new book, "The Accusation: Blood Libel in an American Town" (2019), a chilling investigation of a remarkable incident of antisemitism in the upstate town of Massena, New York in 1928. He spoke with NYS Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl November 21, 2019, during his appearance at the University at Albany History Department’s annual Researching New York Conference. Music provided courtesy of Bryan "Buggy Jive" Thomas. https://buggyjive.com
Pamela Newkirk, professor of journalism at NYU, presents "Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business" (2019), a landmark survey of recent efforts to bring racial equality to America’s major corporations and institutions. She spoke with NYS Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl on Tuesday, November 12, in advance of her two events later that day. Music provided courtesy of Bryan "Buggy Jive" Thomas. https://buggyjive.com
Robert Boyers is the author of "The Tyranny of Virtue (2019), a provocative collection of essays about the decline of civility and academic freedom promoted by excesses of political correctness at America’s universities. Boyers, who defines himself as a liberal, decries the intolerance of his fellow liberals for political and intellectual diversity. Boyers is the editor of Salmagundi, a professor of English at Skidmore College, and the director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute. He spoke with Paul Grondahl on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2019, prior to his public event at the University at Albany.
While still a teen in 1992, Sandi Tan made one of Singapore’s first indie feature films, SHIRKERS, under the mentorship of a shady American teacher who vanished with the film stock before it could be finished and released. Her same-titled 2018 documentary reflects on her shattered creative dreams, and explains what happened when the footage was unexpectedly returned two decades later. She sat down with Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl prior to a screening and discussion of "Shirkers" on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019.
Tom Junod, UAlbany graduate and author of some of the most celebrated pieces in American magazine writing, including "The Falling Man," his meditation on AP photographer Richard Drew’s iconic image of a 9/11 victim plunging to his death, and "Can You Say... Hero", his profile of Fred Rogers, the basis of an upcoming film starring Tom Hanks as the beloved children's television host of "Mister Rogers Neighborhood."
Hal Crimmel, co-director, co-producer and screenwriter of "The Rights of Nature," earned his M.A. (1993) and Ph.D. (1997) in English at the University at Albany. A former graduate intern at the NYS Writers Institute, he is chair of the English Department at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where he is a specialist in the intersections of literature and environmental issues. Crimmel is the author of "Dinosaur: Four Seasons on the Green and Yampa Rivers," (2007) and co-editor of "Teaching About Place: Learning from the Land," (2008) and "Conversations with W. S. Merwin" (2015), a collection of interviews with the former US Poet Laureate and environmental conservationist. He sat down with NYS Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl for a talk in advance of a "Rights of Nature" screening and Q&A on April 22, 2019.
Pamela Paul, Editor of The New York Times Book Review, spoke with NYS Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
Her memoir, "My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues," tells the story of "Bob," Paul's book of books, a journal she started when she was 17 years old exchange student living in France, recording every book she has read since the summer of 1988.
She first wrote about Bob in a 2012 essay in The New York Times.
Sarah Kessler, author of "Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work," a groundbreaking analysis of the new American freelance economy, sat down with Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl during her visit March 27, 2019.
Mark Nepo, bestselling author of 20 books, a graduate of the University at Albany, and a frequent guest on Oprah Winfrey's programs, visited the NYS Writers Institute for a pair of events March 5 and 6, 2019. His newest book is "More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World" (2018).
Esmeralda Santiago visited UAlbany on November 8, 2018, as part of The Creative Life speaker series. Widely celebrated as a founding mother of Nuyorican literature. her 1993 memoir, "When I Was Puerto Rican," was named one of the “Best Memoirs of a Generation” by Oprah’s Book Club. In 2018, it was one of five finalists for the “One Book, One New York” community-wide reading project.
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah has received rave reviews for "Friday Black," his debut collection of short stories.
From the NY Times Books section cover story: "[Adjei-Brenyah] has been compared to works by literary titans like Isaac Babel, Ralph Ellison, Anton Chekhov and Kurt Vonnegut, and has drawn ecstatic blurbs from Mary Karr, Dana Spiotta, Charles Yu and Roxane Gay, who called it 'dark and captivating and essential.'"
Adjei-Brenyah graduated from the University at Albany (2013) and went on to receive his MFA from Syracuse University.
His work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications, including Guernica, Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing, The Paris Review, Printer’s Row, Gravel, and The Breakwater Review, where he was selected by ZZ Packer as the winner of the 2nd Annual Breakwater Review Fiction Contest.
Amy Wallen grew up in Nigeria, Bolivia, Peru and elsewhere, the daughter of a blue-collar Southern father employed as an exploratory driller by the oil industry.
Her memoir, "When We Were Ghouls" (2018), is an attempt to recover the elusive memories of her unusual childhood.
Architect and writer David Gersten visited the University at Albany's College of Arts and Sciences to celebrate its 25th Anniversary celebration event on Tuesday, October 16. He sat down for a talk with Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl.
Helen Rothberg, a sought-after consultant and keynote speaker for major American companies, is the author of The Perfect Mix: Everything I Know About Leadership I Learned as a Bartender (2017), a quirky guide to human behavior based on insights she gathered while tending bar to pay her way through graduate school.
John Leland, Metro Reporter for the New York Times, is the author of the national bestseller, Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old (2018), a book that challenges accepted notions about aging, contentment and quality of life.
Elizabeth Acevedo's young adult novel, "The Poet X" (2018) tells the story of an Afro-Latina teenager growing up in New York City. Bestselling YA author Jason Reynolds called it, “an incredibly potent debut.”
Eugene Lee, has won three Tony Awards for his work on Leonard Bernstein’s "Candide," Stephen Sondheim’s "Sweeney Todd," and Gregory Maguire’s "Wicked." Lee has also served as the production designer for "Saturday Night Live" for more than forty years since its 1975 premiere, and created the set designs for "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "The Late Show with Seth Meyers."
Andrea J. Buchanan is co-author of the million-selling "The Daring Book for Girls" series, an empowering set of how-to manuals for girls with a sense of adventure. Her multimedia YA novel "Gift," a sci-fi story that comes with its own fully playable Minecraft map, was named one of Kirkus Review’s Best Books of 2012.
Her new memoir, "The Beginning of Everything" (2018), recounts her harrowing experience with a real-life neurological mystery after a coughing fit led to brain trauma and months of cognitive impairment.
Writer and director Gloria La Morte sat down with Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl in advance of the screening of her 2009 film "Entre Nos."
Novelist, playwright, and essayist Darryl Pinckney returned to the NYS Writers Institute to headline the "Celebration of the Life and Legacy of James Baldwin" events. Pinckney is the author of the acclaimed novel "Black Deutschland" (2016), "High Cotton" (1992), and other works, including the plays "The Forest" (1988), "Orlando" (1989), and "Time Rocker" (1995).
Emily Witt, author of "Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love" sits down for an interview with NYS Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl during the University at Albany's Sexuality Month. The New York Times review praised "Future Sex" as “…a smart, funny, beautifully written account of contemporary women trying to understand their sexual desires—and fashion physically and emotionally safe ways to express them.” More recently, Witt has published "Nollywood: The Making of a Film Empire," a look at Nigeria's film industry, the second biggest in the world behind Bollywood. Publisher’s Weekly wrote, “Witt’s fascination with the business is contagious, and the view she provides into this fledgling market—punctuated with summaries of the overwrought plotlines of some popular movies—makes for an entertaining book.”
Rodrigo Reyes, director/writer of "Lupe Under the Sun" (Lupe Bajo el Sol, 2017), "Memories of the Future" (2012), and "Purgatorio: A Journey in the Heart of the Border" (2013).
Reyes was born in Mexico City and attended college at UC San Diego, as well as in Madrid and Mexico City. Some of his films have been made under challenging circumstances. He walked 100 miles in four days to follow pilgrims to the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and spent four weeks on the road documenting life along the Mexico-US border.
Nic Stone is the author of the debut novel "Dear Martin"(2017), which is loosely inspired by a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African-American teenagers.
Shaken by a personal run-in with the police, the book’s main character starts a journal to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in an attempt to determine if King’s teaching remains relevant in the modern world.
Nic sat down with Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017
Lois Lowry is one of only six authors to have won two Newbery Medals -- "Number the Stars" (1990) and "The Giver" (1994). She has written more than 30 books. A packed audience gave Lowry a standing ovation at the end of her talk at Page Hall in Albany on Friday, Nov, 10. Earlier that day, she sat down with host Paul Grondahl, director of the NYS Writers Institute. (Photo credit: Matt McKee)
Ryan Smithson, UAlbany graduate (M.A., English, 2015), is an Iraq war veteran whose highly-praised memoir, "Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI" (2009), is a widely-assigned text at high schools and colleges across the country. Publishers Weekly called it “a fascinating, often humorous — and occasionally devastating — account of the motivations and life of a contemporary soldier.” Smithson received the Outstanding Master's Thesis Award for his play "Ten Klicks South of Whiskey," which premiered at Averill Park High School in 2015. "Ghosts of War" was also adapted for the stage by Bill Massolia of the Griffin Theatre in Chicago as a one-man stage performance.
Acclaimed novelist Claire Messud talks about her latest novel, "The Burning Girl," a coming-of-age story of two adolescent girls who are best friends and who drift apart. She also discusses teaching fiction writing at Harvard, her marriage to literary critic James Wood and struggling to balance he duties as a mother to two teenagers with teaching and making time to write. The latest installment of the Writers Institute Podcast with host Paul Grondahl, director of the NYS Writers Institute at the University at Albany
James Hart talks about his memoir "Lucky Jim," a narrative about his 20-year marriage to Carly Simon, his alcoholism, crack addiction and recovery and his coming out as gay.
AWKWAFINA, aka Nora Lum, returned on 8/31/17 to her alma mater, the University at Albany, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2011. In the Writers Institute podcast, she talks about her literary influences, her time at UAlbany, how she writes rap songs and her experience shooting two upcoming major feature films, "Crazy Rich Asians," a film adaptation of Kevin Kwan's best-selling novel, and "Ocean's Eight," an all-female heist movie starring Anne Hathaway, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchette, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter.
David Ebershoff, author of "The Danish Girl," talks about his movie being adapted into an Oscar-winning film. He also discusses his 20-year career as a senior editor at Random House, growing up in Pasadena, Calif., coming out as gay, his writing and editing processes and teaching creative writing at Columbia University. (With NYS Writers Institute Podcast host Paul Grondahl)
Former Army soldier and contract interrogator Eric Fair, author of "Consequence: A Memoir," talks about growing up in Pennsylvania, joining the Army, becoming a cop in Bethlehem, PA and his haunting stories of torturing Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2004. Interviewed by host Paul Grondahl, director of the NYS Writers Institute.
Irish novelist Ruth Gilligan talks about growing up in Dublin, her role in an Irish soap opera "Fair City" as a teenager, publishing a novel at 16, becoming the youngest best-selling novelist in Irish history, studying at Cambridge and publishing her first literary novel, "Nine Folds Makes a Paper Swan," about Jews in Ireland and the diaspora of Jewish and Irish people. With host Paul Grondahl, director of the NYS Writers Institute
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson talks about growing up in Harlem, winning a MacArthur genius gran and making more than 25 documentaries in a 40-year career. He focuses on the film he screened at the Writers Institute in Albany on April 7: "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution." Interview by Writers Institute director and podcast host, Paul Grondahl.
Mexican-American poet Rigoberto Gonzalez is our guest on the Writers Institute Podcast with host Paul Grondahl. Gonzalez talks about his early life, picking grapes in Bakersfield, Calif., the role of the United Farm Workers in his family and his literary path that led him to become an award-winning poet, author of numerous volumes and a professor of English at Rutgers University.
In this edition of the Writers Institute Podcast, postmodern artist David Salle describes his early life and influences in Wichita, Kan., breaking into the New York art scene in the mid-1970s, writing art criticism and the memoir he is currently at work on. Host: Paul Grondahl
Best-selling author-poet-naturalist Diane Ackerman talks about her writer's life and her best-selling book, "The Zookeeper's Wife," which is a major motion picture starring Jessica Chastain.
Welcome to the New York State Writers Institute Podcast Host: Paul Grondahl Director, NYS Writers Institute, the University at Albany. Episode 1: Discussing the documentary "Sacco and Vanzetti" with director-producer Peter Miller and sound editor Amy Linton.