Biographers International Organization: Recent Episodes
Biographers International Organization
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Glorious Country: How the Artist Frederic Church Brought the World to America and America to the World is the latest book by this author and professor of urban policy and planning at Hunter College in New York City. Johnson’s biography of Church, a highly regarded 19th-century painter and landscape artist, was published by Scribner in May 2026. Johnson also authored American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic, which was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction, the Pulitzer Prize for History, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography. Additionally, the book was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize. Fellow biographer and BIO member Natalie Dykstra interviewed Victoria Johnson.
BIO Podcast is going on a summer break! We’ll return with new episodes in September. Catch up on past podcast episodes here.
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Andy Beta is an award-winning arts and music writer. His newest book, Cosmic Music: The Life, Art, and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane, was published in March by Da Capo. His writing on rock, jazz, experimental, and electronic music has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Texas Monthly, NPR, We Jazz magazine, and many more. Andy Beta was interviewed by BIO member and podcast producer Karolyn van Putten.
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Hitchcock & Herrmann: The Friendship & Film Scores That Changed Cinema was written by award-winning author Steven C. Smith. He is a four-time Emmy-nominated documentary producer of over 200 documentaries about film and music. Smith has collaborated with filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Stephen Sondheim, John Williams, Julie Andrews, and Sidney Poitier. His biographies of composers Bernard Herrmann and Max Steiner each received the ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award, and he has lectured at the Library of Congress, American Film Institute, Academy of Motion Pictures Museum, and other organizations. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, and the Los Angeles Times. Fellow biographer and BIO member Sonja Williams interviewed Steven C. Smith.
Concerto for Cootie: The Life and Times of Cootie Williams, published by the University of Mississippi Press in October 2025, is this author’s exploration of the legendary trumpeter and longtime member of the Duke Ellington big band. A curator and host of the Duke Ellington-themed podcast Ellington Reflections, Bowie also has presented papers on Williams and Kenny Burrell for conferences held by the Duke Ellington Society of Sweden, and his articles have appeared in DownBeat and Jazz Improv magazines. Fellow biographer and BIO member Kevin McGruder interviewed Steven Bowie.
Selling Opportunity: The Story of Mary Kay, published by Viking in April 2026, is this author’s latest book, which grew out of a fellowship at the Leon Levy Center for Biography. It’s a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and the book was praised by The Wall Street Journal, Texas Monthly, Lit Hub, and other outlets for its lively cultural history of midcentury America, making Kirkus’s list of “Nonfiction Books That Read Like Novels.” A former editor at Glamour, Mirabella, and InStyle and columnist at ELLE, Gavenas has contributed to Fast Company, Health, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times Magazine, Salon, and other national outlets. Her previous books include Color Stories: Behind the Scenes in America’s Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry and The Fairchild Encyclopedia of Menswear. Fellow biographer and BIO member Lisa Napoli interviewed Mary Lisa Gavenas.
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American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, published by Random House in February 2026, is the latest book by this Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer and historian. Meacham has authored New York Times bestsellers, including And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle; Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power; American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House; Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship; Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush; and His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. He holds the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Chair at Vanderbilt University and is a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Fellow biographer and BIO member John A. Farrell interviewed Jon Meacham.
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American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, published by Random House in February 2026, is the latest book by this Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer and historian. Meacham has authored New York Times bestsellers, including And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle; Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power; American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House; Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship; Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush; and His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. He holds the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Chair at Vanderbilt University and is a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Fellow biographer and BIO member John A. Farrell interviewed Jon Meacham.
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This author’s Twice Born: Finding My Father in the Margins of Biography was published by Catapult Press in October 2025. Kaplan has authored novels and story collections, including The Edge of Marriage, winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in literary journals and anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories series. She is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Awards, and she was named a Mark Twain Fellow for Twice Born. BIO member and podcast producer Jenny Skoog Mondesir interviewed Hester Kaplan.
Baseball’s Outcast: The Story of Ron LeFlore is this author’s latest book, published by Bloomsbury Academic in April 2026. Henig has also penned the well-received Watergate’s Forgotten Hero: Frank Wills, Night Watchman, as well as Alex Haley’s Roots: An Author’s Odyssey, and Baseball Under Siege: The Yankees, the Cardinals, and a Doctor’s Battle to Integrate Spring Training. His writings have appeared in Time, Tampa Bay Times, Washington Independent Review of Books, Detroit Metro Times, and BlackPast. He is an active member of the Biographers International Organization and the Society for American Baseball Research. BIO member and podcast producer Jenny Skoog Mondesir interviewed Adam Henig.
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Nothing Random: Bennett Cerf and the Publishing House He Built is the latest book by veteran journalist and author Gayle Feldman. Published by Random House in January 2026, this biography explores the life of a driven young man who vowed to become a great publisher – and did. Feldman has served as a senior staff editor for Publishers Weekly and a U.S. correspondent for The Bookseller. Her features, reviews, and essays have appeared in a wide range of periodicals, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Times of London, The Nation, and The Daily Beast. Feldman’s previous books were You Don’t Have to Be Your Mother and Best and Worst of Times: The Changing Business of Trade Books. Fellow biographer and BIO member Lisa Napoli interviewed Gayle Feldman.
In this final episode of our six-part miniseries, we’re in January 2026. Kate’s already researching her next book, and it turns out it connects everything she’s ever written. Kevin has one goal: to finish first. Katie Rose has a draft proposal, three kids under five, and no intention of stopping. And Sara has a message for anyone who’s ever thought about writing a book. BIO Podcast producer Jenny Skoog guides listeners through this series’ finale.
“Four Paths, One Impossible Dream” follows four authors navigating the challenges of writing biography. Over eight months in 2025, BIO Podcast producer Jenny Skoog spoke with comedian Sara Benincasa, tackling Abraham Lincoln; professor Kate Culkin, working on a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughters; historian Kevin McGruder, who has spent decades researching Harlem Renaissance writer Rudolph Fisher; and journalist Katie Rose Quandt, on the challenges of completing a book proposal while pregnant.
Sara offers her advice to anyone writing their first book: get a therapist and take a walk. Kate cut a story she loved — about two sisters fighting over politics in 1880 — because it didn’t belong. Kevin is in a race he didn’t sign up for, and Katie Rose is asked if she’s ever thought about quitting. She says no. She wants this book to exist; that’s enough. Part five of our podcast miniseries, produced by Jenny Skoog, explores the quiet, unglamorous work of writing biography — and what it actually feels like.
“Four Paths, One Impossible Dream” follows four authors navigating the challenges of writing biography. Over eight months in 2025, BIO Podcast producer Jenny Skoog spoke with comedian Sara Benincasa, tackling Abraham Lincoln; professor Kate Culkin, working on a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughters; historian Kevin McGruder, who has spent decades researching Harlem Renaissance writer Rudolph Fisher; and journalist Katie Rose Quandt, on the challenges of completing a book proposal while pregnant.
In this fourth episode of our six-part miniseries, Sara finds out that President Lincoln presided over the largest mass execution on American soil, and she wants to know why nobody taught her that. Kevin has a death certificate that answers a question other scholars keep pretending is a mystery. Katie Rose reads congressional testimony from a hundred years ago that could have been written this morning. And Kate has to reckon with the fact that one of her subjects was a racist. The ideas. The arguments. The stuff that keeps them up at night, and BIO Podcast producer Jenny Skoog explores these dilemmas with the four authors.
“Four Paths, One Impossible Dream” follows four authors navigating the challenges of writing biography. Over eight months in 2025, BIO Podcast producer Jenny Skoog spoke with comedian Sara Benincasa, tackling Abraham Lincoln; professor Kate Culkin, working on a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughters; historian Kevin McGruder, who has spent decades researching Harlem Renaissance writer Rudolph Fisher; and journalist Katie Rose Quandt, on the challenges of completing a book proposal while pregnant.
The third episode of our six-part miniseries goes behind the scenes of biography’s business realities — the contracts, proposals, and market pressures authors navigate to get their books published. “Four Paths, One Impossible Dream” follows four authors navigating the challenges of writing biography. Over eight months in 2025, BIO Podcast producer Jenny Skoog spoke with comedian Sara Benincasa, tackling Abraham Lincoln; professor Kate Culkin, working on a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughters; historian Kevin McGruder, who has spent decades researching Harlem Renaissance writer Rudolph Fisher; and journalist Katie Rose Quandt, on the challenges of completing a book proposal while pregnant.
In the second episode of our special six-part miniseries, the authors share updates on their research and writing. “Four Paths, One Impossible Dream” follows four authors navigating the challenges of writing biography. Over eight months in 2025, BIO Podcast producer Jenny Skoog spoke with comedian Sara Benincasa, tackling Abraham Lincoln; professor Kate Culkin, working on a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughters; historian Kevin McGruder, who has spent decades researching Harlem Renaissance writer Rudolph Fisher; and journalist Katie Rose Quandt, on the challenges of completing a book proposal while pregnant.
This time, we present the first episode in a special six-part miniseries that follows four authors on their biographical path. We spent the last eight months of 2025 with comedian Sara Benincasa who is tackling Abraham Lincoln; professor Kate Culkin is publishing a book about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughters that nobody taught her how to promote; historian Kevin McGruder has been carrying around his subject, Harlem Renaissance writer Rudolph Fisher, for decades; and journalist Katie Rose Quandt is finishing a book proposal about five influential women while pregnant with her third child. BIO member Jenny Skoog sat down with each of these writers to ask the obvious question: who gets to write biography?
When Caesar Was King: How Sid Caesar Reinvented American Comedy is the latest book by veteran journalist and author David Margolick. Published by Schocken in November 2025, this book examines the life of one of America’s most enigmatic and influential comedians. Margolick reported on legal affairs for The New York Times, and he was then a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. His many books include Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and A World on the Brink, Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song, Dreadful: The Short Life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns, and Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock. Fellow biographer and BIO member Lisa Napoli interviewed David Margolick.
Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West (Knopf, 2025) is the latest book by this award-winning author and editor of nineteen books on the American Civil War and the American West. A retired Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, Cozzens also served as a captain in the U. S. Army. His previous book, The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West, received the 2017 Gilder Lehrman Prize for the best military history work in the English language. In December 2024, The Economist selected it as one of the seven greatest military history books ever written. In 2002, Cozzens received the American Foreign Service Association’s highest award, given annually to one Foreign Service Officer for exemplary moral courage, integrity, and creative dissent. Fellow biographer and BIO member John A. Farrell interviewed Peter Cozzens.
This author’s The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram: The Man Who Stared Down World War II in the Name of Love was published by Viking/Penguin Random House this month. Whitmire is a respected historian and African American Studies professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research has won awards and funding from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Programs, and the American Library Association, and she has been invited to residences at Yaddo, Ucross, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Fellow biographer and BIO member Eric K. Washington interviewed Ethelene Whitmire.
Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South (Vanderbilt University, March 2024) is the tenth anniversary edition of this author’s award-winning, New York Times bestselling biography. Maraniss has authored nonfiction sports and social justice books for adults, teens, and children, and his books have received numerous honors, including the Lillian Smith Book Award and a Robert F. Kennedy Special Recognition Honor. He has been named to the American Library Association’s Rainbow Book List, the RISE Feminist Book List, and Esquire’s 100 Best Baseball Books Ever Written. Maraniss directs special projects at the Vanderbilt University athletic department and manages the university’s Sports & Society Initiative. BIO member and BIO podcast producer Jenny Skoog interviewed Andrew Maraniss.
Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audrey Moore, published by Pantheon in November 2025, is this latest book by this internationally known and award-winning writer, cultural analyst, and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Farmer’s first book, Remaking Black Power, was shortlisted for numerous prizes, and she has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, and the Whiting Foundation. Farmer’s insights have appeared in multiple venues, including Harper’s Bazaar, NPR, The Washington Post, and Teen Vogue. Fellow biographer and BIO member Tamara Payne interviewed Ashley D. Farmer.
This author and scholar’s latest book, Biography of a Dangerous Idea: A New History of Race from Louis XIV to Thomas Jefferson, will be published in February 2026 by Other Press. Curran, a distinguished humanities professor at Wesleyan University, has written or edited six books, including Who’s Black and Why: A Hidden Chapter in the Eighteenth-Century Invention of Race. It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award, and it won the Association of American Publishers Prose Award. Curran’s journalistic writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Paris Review, Il Pais, Folha de S. Paola and the Wall Street Journal. BIO member and BIO podcast producer Jenny Skoog interviewed Andrew Curran.
Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford and Pride (Harper, November 2025) and Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, October 2025) are the latest books by these veteran authors. Carla Kaplan is an award-winning Northeastern University professor who has published seven previous books, including Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters and Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance, both New York Times Notable Books.Amanda Vaill has authored three previous biographies, Hotel Florida, Somewhere, and the best-selling Everybody Was So Young – a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She also co-authored, contributed to, or edited several books in the field of arts and culture. Vaill is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter, and her journalism and criticism have appeared in many publications. In December 2025, Kaplan’s Troublemaker and Vail’s Pride and Pleasure biographies were longlisted for the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Awards. In this special episode, Kaplan and Vaill interview each other about their research and writing journeys.
Mark Twain, published in May 2025 by Penguin Press, is this celebrated, multiple award-winning biographer’s latest book. Chernow is the recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal, and his first book, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award. Chernow’s Washington: A Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, and Alexander Hamilton—the inspiration for the Broadway musical—won the George Washington Book Prize. Ron Chernow, a former president of PEN America, has twice been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and is one of only three living biographers to have won the Gold Medal for Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Fellow biographer and BIO member John A. Farrell interviewed him.Listen to part one of the interview here.
Mark Twain, published in May 2025 by Penguin Press, is this celebrated, multiple award-winning biographer’s latest book. Chernow is the recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal, and his first book, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award. Chernow’s Washington: A Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, and Alexander Hamilton—the inspiration for the Broadway musical—won the George Washington Book Prize. Ron Chernow has twice been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and is one of only three living biographers to have won the Gold Medal for Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. This past president of PEN America was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member John A. Farrell.
Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer’s Life, is the latest book by this scholar and author, published in November 2025 by Blackstone Publishing. Goddard is an associate professor of literary studies at Utah Valley University, and the Mellon Foundation and a Bordin-Gillette Fellowship from the University of Michigan have funded his work. BIO member and BIO Podcast Producer Jenny Skoog interviewed Goddard.Note: BIO, the Biographers International Organization’s podcast series, will return on January 9, 2026, with a special episode featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow, whose fascinating books include examinations of Alexander Hamilton, Ulysses S. Grant, George Washington, and his latest biography of Mark Twain.
The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfield, Visionary of Weimar Berlin, is this journalist and author’s latest book. It was published by W. W. Norton & Company in May 2025. Brook’s writing has appeared in Harper’s, the New York Times Magazine, and The Nation. One of his previous books, A History of Future Cities, was longlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize and selected as one of the ten favorite books of the year by the Washington Post. To support his research and writing efforts, Brook has received several fellowships, including the Library of Congress’s Kluge Fellowship and BIO’s Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship. Daniel Brook was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Simon Read.
This journalist’s biography, A German Jew’s Triumph: Fritz Oppenheimer and the Denazification of Germany, was published by McFarland in April 2025. Handler’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and a host of other national publications. A former editor-in-chief of multiple USA Today Network magazines, she currently writes for the USA Today Network in northern New Jersey, and her features have appeared in The Record newspaper, online at Northjersey.com, and in Gannett-owned newspapers nationwide. The foreword in A German Jew’s Triumph was written by her historian husband, Harry H. Handler. Cindy and Harry Handler were interviewed by BIO member and BIO podcast producer Jenny Skoog.
House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr., is the latest book by this political scientist and the inaugural Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy at Brown University. House of Diggs was published by the University of North Carolina Press in September of this year. An award-winning author, Orr’s publications include Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore and The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education. He was awarded BIO’s Francis “Frank” Rollin Fellowship to support his work on Congressman Diggs. Marion Orr was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Eric K. Washington.
John Williams: A Composer’s Life, published by Oxford University Press in September 2025, is the first biography by this arts journalist. Greiving, a longtime fan of Williams’ celebrated film scores, has contributed stories to NPR, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. He has written program notes for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Albert Hall, and liner notes for more than one hundred soundtrack albums. He also contributes to the Visual History Program for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and teaches film music history at the University of Southern California. Tim Greiving was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Brian Jay Jones.
Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife, published by Scribner in October 2025, is the latest book by London-based author Francesca Wade. Additionally, Wade is the author of Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars, and her writing has appeared in The New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, Paris Review, Granta, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, the Leon Levy Center for Biography, and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Wade was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Natalie Dykstra.
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Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television, published by Simon and Schuster in June 2025, is the latest book by this veteran journalist and author. Purdum also authored Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution and An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a career spanning more than forty years, Purdum has written extensively about politics and culture, beginning at The New York Times, where he spent twenty-three years, covering politics from city hall to the White House, and later serving as diplomatic correspondent and Los Angeles bureau chief. He has also been a staff writer at Vanity Fair, Politico, and The Atlantic. Todd S. Purdum was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member John (Jack) A. Farrell.
Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship, the latest book by author Dana A. Williams about Toni Morrison’s significant tenure as an editor at Random House, was published by Amistad in June 2025. Williams is Professor of African American literature and Dean of the Graduate School at Howard University. She also authored In the Light of Likeness—Transformed: The Literary Art of Leon Forrest. Williams has edited several books, and her writing has been published in prestigious journals, including PMLA, CLA Journal, African American Review, Early American Literature, American Literary History, and the Langston Hughes Review. Williams was the former president of the College Language Association and the Modern Languages Association, and she currently co-directs the Center for Medical Humanities and Health Justice, a Mellon Foundation-funded collaboration between Howard and Georgetown universities. Dana A. Williams was interviewed by fellow Howard University professor, biographer, and BIO member Sonja D. Williams (no relation).
Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician is James M. Bradley’s current book. It was published in December 2024 by Oxford University Press. Bradley co-edits the Martin Van Buren Papers, based at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, and he serves as an adjunct instructor in the public history program at the State University of New York at Albany. Bradley also served as the senior project editor of the Encyclopedia of New York City, published by Yale University Press. Fellow biographer and BIO member Simon Read interviewed Bradley.
This historian and author’s latest book, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic, was published by Oxford University Press in September 2024. Her other books include the award-winning The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, and the co-edited Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. Chervinsky currently serves as Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library, and she was a historian at the White House Historical Association. She regularly writes for publications like the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, USA Today, CNN.com, Washington Monthly, and the Washington Post, and is a frequent presidential commentator on national TV and radio. Lindsay M. Chervinsky was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member John (Jack) A. Farrell in the Washington Presidential Library.
High and Rising: A Book About De La Soul, published by Dey Street Books in November 2024, is the latest offering by this critically acclaimed author and university professor. Moore’s work explores the intersections of music, race, and culture, and he is the author of The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America. Moore has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, and Rolling Stone, and has penned liner notes and biographies for leading artists across all genres. He also curates and moderates live conversations at major international festivals and has taught courses in music history and cultural criticism, mentoring the next generation of storytellers. Marcus J. Moore was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Kevin McGruder.
This author’s latest book, Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life, examines the life of Robert Crumb, one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. Scribner published Crumb in April 2025, and its author is the Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawings and Prints at The Whitney Museum of American Art. Nadel’s previous books include It’s Life as I See It: Black Cartoonists in Chicago, 1940–1980; Peter Saul: Professional Artist Correspondence, 1945–1976, and Art Out of Time: Unknown Comic Visionaries, 1900–1969. He is also the founder of PictureBox, a publishing company that produced over 100 books, objects, and magazines from 2000 to 2014, including the Grammy Award–winning design for Wilco’s 2004 album A Ghost Is Born. Dan Nadel was interviewed by fellow biography and BIO member Brian Jay Jones.
Mayor of the Tenderloin: Del Seymour’s Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness, is this former broadcast journalist and author’s latest book. It was published by Beacon Press in September 2025, and her previous books include Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich – a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year” and a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice; Hey, Waitress! The USA from the Other Side of the Tray, and Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans. Alison Owings was interviewed by BIO member and BIO podcast producer Jenny Skoog.
This author’s latest book, Collisions: A Physicist’s Journey From Hiroshima to the Death of the Dinosaurs, was published by W. W. Norton & Company in June 2025. It explores the life and times of Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Luis W. Alvarez. Nevala-Lee also authored Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller, listed by Esquire as one of the fifty best biographies of all time, and the Hugo Award finalist, Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Alec Nevala-Lee was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Sonja Williams.
Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me is the award-winning cartoonist, illustrator, and author Mimi Pond’s latest book. Published by Drawn & Quarterly this month, Do Admit is Ponds’ graphic biography of the six famous Mitford sisters of England. Pond’s earlier graphic novel, Over Easy, a fictionalized account of her 1970s waitressing career, was on the New York Times bestseller list and won a PEN Center Award for Graphic Literature, Outstanding Body of Work. Mimi Pond was interviewed by BIO member and Podcast producer Jenny Skoog.
Baldwin: A Love Story, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in August 2025, is author Boggs’s examination of writer James Baldwin — the first major biography of this influential, controversial, and compelling author in three decades. Boggs also rediscovered and co-edited the out-of-print children’s book, Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood, Baldwin’s collaboration with French artist Yoran Cazac. Boggs is the recipient of several writing grants, residencies (Yaddo and MacDowell), and fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Beinecke Library and Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale, and the Schomburg Center Scholars-in-Residence Program. Nicholas Boggs was interviewed by BIO member Karolyn van Putten.
This independent scholar and award-winning author’s latest book, Queen of Bohemia Predicts Own Death: Gilded-Age Journalist Zoe Anderson Norris, was published this month by Fordham University Press. It explores the life of reformer and journalist Zoe Anderson Norris, who used her pen prolifically during the late 1800s and early 1900s to advocate for justice for some of New York City’s poorest immigrants. In addition, the 19th-century impressionist painter Mary Rogers Williams was the subject of Kahn’s book, Forever Seeing New Beauties. Eve M. Kahn was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Sonja Williams. (Author photo by Katherine Lanza.)
Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance is the latest book by this award-winning journalist and author. Published by Scribner this June, it is the first major biography of Bundles’ great-grandmother. Bundles, a Forbes Magazine’s 50 Over 50 Impact honoree, also authored On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, a New York Times Notable Book and bestseller about her great-great-grandmother, an early 20th-century hair care industry entrepreneur and philanthropist. On Her Own Ground inspired Self Made, the fictional four-part 2020 Netflix series starring Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer. Bundles is the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives, the largest private collection of Walker photographs, memorabilia, and ephemera. Bundles’ essays and articles have appeared in national and international newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias, and books. A’Lelia Bundles was interviewed by fellow biographer and BIO member Eric K. Washington.
This journalist, historian, and Vietnam War veteran is the author of eleven books. His most recent book, The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW’s Story of Courage and Resilience […]
90 Seconds to Midnight: A Hiroshima Survivor’s Nuclear Odyssey, published by Potomac Books this month, is this author’s biography of Setsuko Nakamura Thurlow—a passionate Japanese individual whose lifelong endeavors helped safeguard […]
Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough is this author’s first full-length book. It was published by New York University Press in September 2024. […]
In Wallace Stegner: Dean of Western Writers, published by Signature Books in February 2025, this longtime Boston Globe columnist and author takes readers on a brisk and riveting journey through Stegner’s life […]
Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost’s Poetry is literary critic Adam Plunkett’s first biography. His exploration of the life and creativity of one of America’s favorite 20th-century poets was published […]
In this special episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, National Humanities Medal recipient, and New York University history professor emeritus David Levering Lewis discusses his latest book—a sweeping exploration of his own […]
This award-winning filmmaker, showrunner and Academy of Art University professor, talks about her documentary film, Raise HELL: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 […]
These authors talk about a few of the different forms of biography. Caitlin Cass’s graphic book, Suffrage Song: The Haunted History of Gender, Race, and Voting Rights in the U.S., was named […]
As the president of the Biographers International Organization, Steve Paul talks about the organization’s exciting new initiatives in 2025 and beyond. Paul spent more than 40 years in daily journalism […]
This celebrated documentary filmmaker is the recipient of the 2025 BIO Award – Biographers International Organization’s annual recognition of a distinguished colleague who has made significant contributions to the art […]
These celebrated authors talk about BIO’s Plutarch Award for Biography – the organization’s annual recognition of the year’s best biography, as determined by a committee of five distinguished biographers from […]
These guests talk about the awards that BIO offers for biographers. Heather Clarks is an author, literary critic and chair of BIO’s awards committee. Her most recent book, Red Comet: The Short […]
These pivotal BIO members share their experience as co-chairs of BIO’s June 5-6, 2025 annual conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Linda Leavell served as BIO’s president […]
In this special episode, BIO’s former president and one of the organization’s founders, talks about the history of BIO and its influence. In 2019 McGrath Morris received the BIO Award, […]
This award-winning author of biographers for young readers talks about his writing career and his long-term service as a founding BIO board member. His most recent book, A Long Time […]
This first-time biographer’s, Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers, explores the untold story of the world’s most famous X-rated star. Chambers rose to fame as the face of Ivory […]
This scholar and author’s latest book, Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in August 2024. As a queer Black feminist love evangelist, […]
This historian and author’s Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins, was published in January 2025 by New York University Press. It examines the life and legacy […]
This award-winning archaeologist, author and scholar talks about her latest book, Apostle of Liberation: AME Bishop Paul Quinn and the Underground Railroad. Published by Rowman and Littlefield this month, this biography […]
This award-winning musicologist, internationally recognized concert pianist, and London-based popular public speaker talks about her first book, South Side Impresarios: How Race Women Transformed Chicago’s Classical Music Scene, published by […]
Author, professor and retired New York Supreme Court judge, Diane Kiesel, talks about her latest book, When Charlie Met Joan: The Tragedy of the Chaplin Trials and the Failings of American Law. It is […]
This author’s biography, The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic, was published by Simon & Schuster in December 2024. Clifford is […]
This historian, best-selling author and foreign-policy analyst talks about his latest book, Reagan: His Life and Legend. Published by Liveright in September 2024, this biography was recognized as one of the […]
This journalist’s co-authored and Pulitzer Prize winning biography, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, served as the inspiration for the Oscar winning film, Oppenheimer. Bird has written several […]
Historian and author Pamela D. Toler’s latest book, The Dragon from Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany, was published in August 2024 by Beacon Press. In addition […]
This veteran author and Rutgers University journalism professor speaks with BIO member Kevin McGruder about his latest book, John Lewis: A Life. It was published by Simon and Schuster in October 2024 […]
Veteran biographer and emeritus Baruch College journalism professor Carl Rollyson talks about his latest book, Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 2, published by the University Press of Mississippi in August 2024. […]
Award-winning historian, curator and biographer, Heath Hardage Lee, talks about her latest book, The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady. It was published by St. […]
Celebrated documentary filmmaker and Television Hall of Fame inductee Ken Burns, talks about his latest film, Leonardo da Vinci. It will air nationwide on PBS network stations on November 18 and 19, 2024. Burns has directed […]
Author Susan Blumberg-Kason talks about her latest book, Bernardine’s Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China, published by Post Hill Press in November 2023. Blumberg-Kason has also authored Good Chinese […]
This week we interview Benjamin Taylor, author of Chasing Bright Medusas: The Life of Willa Cather. This biography of Cather, a celebrated American novelist, was published in November 2023 by Viking. In 2021, […]
This week we interview Patti Hartigan, award-winning journalist and author of August Wilson: A Life. This biography, Hartigan’s first, about the legendary, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who powerfully and poetically chronicled African […]
This week we interview veteran independent writer, historian, and journalist, Fergus M. Bordewich. His latest book, Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction, was published in October […]
This week we interview Katie Gee Salisbury, author of Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong, a new biography of the first Asian American movie star. […]
This week we interview award-winning journalist and author Kenneth Miller about his first biography, Mapping the Darkness: The Visionary Scientists Who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep. It was published in October 2023 […]
This week we interview Jessica (Max) Stein, author of Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography. This first-time biography of a highly regarded Muppet/Sesame Street performer was published in March 2024 by […]
This week film historian Matthew Kennedy talks about his latest book, On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide, published by Oxford University Press in May 2024. Kennedy also authored Roadshow! The Fall of […]
This week we interview City University of New York (CUNY) professor and author Rachel Kousser. Her latest book, Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander […]
This time we interview author Will Hermes, whose latest book, Lou Reed: The King of New York, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in October 2023. Hermes is a contributing editor at Rolling […]
This week we interview Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, an award-winning author and the Ruth N. Halls Associate Professor of history and gender studies at Indiana University in Bloomington. Her latest book, […]
This week we interview poet, novelist, and biographer Brad Gooch. His latest book, Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring, was published by Harper/HarperCollins in March 2024. Gooch’s previous ten books […]
This week we interview Marsha Gordon, author, professor, and director of Film Studies at North Carolina State University. Gordon’s latest book, Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life & Forgotten Writings […]
This week we interview Adam Nagourney, veteran journalist and author of, The Times: How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn and the Transformation of Journalism, published by Crown Press in September 2023. […]
This week we interview award-winning author and first-time biographer, Barbara D. Savage. Her latest book, Merze Tate: The Global Odyssey of a Black Woman Scholar, is an incisive examination of a scholar who […]
This week we interview Judith Tick, a Matthews Distinguished Professor Emerita at Northeastern University in Boston, and an award-winning author. Her latest book, Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed […]
This week we interview celebrated author Hampton Sides. His latest book, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, was published by Doubleday in […]
This week we interview Scott Shane, author of Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery’s Borderland. Published by Celadon Press in September 2023, Shane has written […]
This week we interview award winning author Cynthia Carr, whose latest book, Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar, was published by Farrar Straus and Giroux in March 2024. Carr’s previous biographies include, […]
This week we interview journalist Larry Rohter, author of the biography about a brilliant Brazilian explorer. Rohter’s Into the Amazon: The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and […]
This week we interview Danny Fingeroth, a veteran biographer and cultural historian/commentator who specializes in history at the intersection of Jewish and American cultures. His latest book, Jack Ruby: The Many Faces […]
This week we interview Jack Kelly, an award-winning author and historian. Kelly’s latest book, God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man, was published in December 2023 by […]
This week we interview Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC’s The Reid Out and a New York Times bestselling author. Reid’s latest book, Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America, was published by Mariner […]
This week we interview award-winning author Natalie Dykstra. Her latest biography, Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, will be published by Mariner on March 26, 2024. Dykstra’s work on Stewart […]
This week we interview Nicholas L. Syrett, the author of four books and most recently, The Trials of Madame Restell: Nineteenth-Century America’s Most Infamous Female Physician and the Campaign to Make […]
This week we interview J. C. Hallman, author of Say Anarcha: A Young Woman, a Devious Surgeon, and the Harrowing Birth of Modern Women’s Health, published by Henry Holt and Company in June […]
This week we interview author and theater arts professor Rachel Shteir, whose latest book, Betty Friedan: Magnificent Disruptor, was published by Yale University Press in September 2023. Friedan was the trendsetting feminist writer […]
This week we interview author Doug Melville, whose first biography, Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy and a Quest to Honor America’s First Black Generals, was published by Atria/Black Privilege Press in […]
This week we interview Rachel Jamison Webster, professor of creative writing at Northwestern University and the author of four books of poetry and cross-genre writing. Her latest book, Benjamin Banneker and Us: […]
This week we interview David Waldstreicher, a history professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center and author of his latest book, The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: a Poet’s Journeys Through […]
This week we interview Tanisha C. Ford, a cultural critic, educator, and author. Her latest book, Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon, and the Glamour, Money and Power Behind the Civil […]
This week we interview Dean King whose latest book, Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship that Saved Yosemite, was published by Scribner in March 2023. King is an award-winning […]
This week we interview Brad Snyder, author of Democratic Justice: Felix Frankfurter, the Supreme Court, and the Making of the Liberal Establishment, published by W. W. Norton & Company in 2022. As a Georgetown […]
This week we interview Yunte Huang, a Guggenheim Fellow and author of Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History, published by Liveright in August 2023. Huang has taught at Harvard University and the […]
Happy New Year! This special episode features a fascinating presentation by the 2023 National Humanities Awardee, Tulane University history professor, television and podcast host, and celebrated biographer, Walter Issacson. His […]
This week, we interview author Justin Martin, who specializes in meticulously researched and engagingly delivered American history books. His most recent, A Fierce Glory: Antietam, the Desperate Battle That Saved […]
This week, we interview Maryemma Graham, author of the first comprehensive biography of famed poet, writer, and educator Margaret Walker. The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret […]
This week, we interview Beverly Gage, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, published by Viking in November 2022. Gage is […]
This week we interview Satvinder Juss, author of Bhagat Singh: A Life in Revolution, a biography of a charismatic Indian revolutionary, published by India Viking in December 2022. Juss serves […]
This week we interview Rachel L. Swarns, a New York University Professor of Journalism and journalist who writes about race and race relations as a contributing author to The New […]
This week we interview Edward O’Shea, a State University of New York at Oswego Emeritus English Professor and author of Seamus Heaney’s American Odyssey. Published by Routledge Press in December 2022, this biography […]
This week we interview Mary Ann Caws, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature, English and French at the Graduate School of the City University of New York. In her latest book, Mina […]
This week we interview the internationally renowned cosmologist Thomas Hertog, who for many years was a close collaborator and mentee of the late Stephen Hawking. His book, On the Origin of Time: Stephen […]
This week we interview Ilyon Woo, the New York Times best-selling author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, published by Simon & Schuster in January 2023. This biography […]
This week we feature award-winning journalist and author Caleb Gayle, who writes about the history of race and identity. His latest book, We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of […]
This week we feature biographer and cultural historian Paul Fisher. His most recent award-winning biography, The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World, was published by Farrar, Straus and […]
This week we feature Angela V. John, an historian and biographer from Wales who serves as the president of Llafur, the Welsh People’s History Society. Her latest book, War, Journalism, […]
This week we feature Jonathan Eig, former senior writer for The Wall Street Journal and the author of a new biography of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—King: A Life […]
This week we interview Kerri K. Greenidge, the Mellon Assistant Professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University. The author most recently of The […]
This week we interview Celia Stahr, author of Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist (St. Martin’s Press, March 2020). This biography of celebrated Mexican artist Frida […]
This week we interview Jonny Steinberg, author of Winnie and Nelson Mandela: Portrait of a Marriage, published by Knopf in May 2023. Steinberg has written several books about everyday life in the wake […]
This week we interview Sung-Yoon Lee, author of The Sister: The Extraordinary Story of Kim Yo Jong, the Most Powerful Woman in North Korea, published in America by Public Affairs […]
This special episode features a spirited conversation between award-winning journalist and biographer Pamela Newkirk and BIO’s 2023 Plutarch Award-winner Jennifer Homans. The Plutarch Award recognizes the best biography of the […]
This week we interview sports journalist and author Jeff Pearlman. His latest book, The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, was published in October 2022 by Mariner Books. […]
This week we interview E. James West, a historian and lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies and Cultures at England’s University College of London. He also serves as co-director of the Black […]
This week we present the second half of our special two-part interview with Candice Millard, author of four New York Times bestsellers. Her most recent book, River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal […]
This week we present the first segment of a special two-part interview with Candice Millard, author of four New York Times bestsellers. Her most recent book, River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal […]
This week we interview Aidan Levy whose latest book, Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins, was published in December 2022 by Hachette Books. Levy also authored, Dirty Blvd.: The […]
This week we interview Chad Williams, the Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Brandeis University. His latest book, The Wounded World: W. E. […]
This week we feature the second segment of a special two-part interview featuring award-winning biographer, Stacy Schiff. Her latest book, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, was published by Little, Brown and […]
This week we feature the first segment of a special two-part interview with award-winning biographer, Stacy Schiff. Her latest book, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, was published by Little, Brown, and Company in […]
This week we interview Ashley Brown, assistant history professor and the Allan H. Selig Chair in Sport and Society in U.S. History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her biography, Serving Herself: […]
This week we interview RJ Smith, author of Chuck Berry: An American Life, published in November 2022 by Hachette Books. Smith is a senior editor at Los Angeles Magazine, a contributor to Details, a columnist […]
This special episode features excerpts from a conversation between award-winning journalist and author Andrew Meier and fellow biographer and BIO member Kai Bird. Meier’s latest book, Morgenthau: Power, Privilege, and […]
This week we interview Helen Rappaport, the British author of sixteen highly regarded biographies. Her latest book, In Search of Mary Seacole: The Making of a Black Cultural Icon and Humanitarian, was […]
This week we interview Andrew Nagorski, an award-winning journalist and author of Saving Freud: The Rescuers Who Brought Him to Freedom, published by Simon and Schuster in August 2022. Nagorski spent more […]
This week we interview Lydia Moland, professor of philosophy at Colby College and author of Lydia Maria Child: A Radical American Life, published by in the University of Chicago Press in October 2022. This biography explores the […]
This week we interview Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos, a historian, journalist, and author of The Pirate’s Wife: The Remarkable True Story of Sarah Kidd. It was published by Hanover Square Press, […]
This week we interview Hilary A. Hallett, the Mendelson Family Professor, Director of American Studies, and Associate Professor of History at Columbia University. Her latest book is Inventing The Hollywood […]
This week we interview writer, editor, and former journalist in the Washington, D.C. area, Diana P. Parsell. Her biography, Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees, was published […]
This week we interview Neil Baldwin, an author whose critically acclaimed biographies include examinations of William Carlos Williams, Man Ray, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. His current biography, Martha Graham: […]
This week we interview Lerita Coleman Brown, author of What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman, published this month by Broadleaf Books. A Distinguished Professor Emerita […]
This week we interview co-authors Marilyn S. Greenwald and Yun Li about their book, Eunice Hunton Carter: A Lifelong Fight for Social Justice, published by Empire State Editions, in April […]
This week we interview journalist Kostya Kennedy, author of True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson, published by St. Martin’s Press, in April 2022. Kennedy is an editorial director at […]
This week we interview Wanda A. Hendricks, Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of South Carolina and author of The Life of Madie Hall Xuma: Black Women’s Global Activism During Jim Crow […]
This special episode features excerpts from a spirited conversation between USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page and fellow award-winning biographer and BIO member John “Jack” Farrell. His latest book, Ted Kennedy: A Life, is a […]
This time we interview Susan Page, an award-winning journalist and USA Today’s Washington Bureau Chief. Page has written biographies of the influential former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former first lady Barbara […]
This week we feature a special episode with BIO’s 2022 Plutarch Award-winner Frances Wilson. Her latest book, Burning Man: The Trials of D. H. Lawrence, published by Farrar, Straus and […]
Happy New Year! We’re pleased to start this year with a special episode featuring Pulitzer Prize Award-winning biographer Megan Marshall. During BIO’s virtual conference last year, Marshall received our organization’s […]
This week we interview Gene Andrew Jarrett, Dean of the Faculty and William S. Tod Professor of English at Princeton University. His latest book, Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and […]
This week we interview Iris Jamahl Dunkle, the former Poet Laureate of Sonoma County, California, and an award-winning author. Dunkle’s biography about the artist and wife of famed writer Jack […]
This week we interview Anastasia Curwood, Professor of History at the University of Kentucky and author of Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics, scheduled for publication by the University […]
This week we interview Winston James, author of Claude McKay: The Making of a Black Bolshevik, published by Columbia University Press in July 2022. A Professor of History at the […]
This week we interview Mark Clague, author of O Say Can You Hear: A Cultural Biography of The Star-Spangled Banner, published by W.W. Norton & Company in June 2022. Clague […]
This week we interview Allison Gilbert, an award-winning journalist and co-author (with writer Julia Scheeres) of Listen, World!: How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman. Published by Seal […]
This week we interview Soyica Diggs Colbert, the Idol Family Professor of African American Studies and Performing Arts at Georgetown University. Her book, Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry, […]
This week we interview E. Stanly Godbold, author of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: Power and Human Rights, 1975–2020. This dual biography of President Carter and his wife Rosalynn was published […]
This week we interview Bernice Lerner, a senior scholar at Boston University’s Center for Character and Social Responsibility. Her latest book is a dual biography of a high-ranking British military […]
This week we interview Li Shan Chan, a Singaporean writer, mental health advocate, and doctoral student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who was awarded the Biography Prize by […]
This week we interview Marko Perko, a veteran writer and the co-author (with psychiatrist Stephen M. Stahl) of Tesla: His Tremendous and Troubled Life. This biography of Nikola Tesla—the Serbian […]
This week we interview Etta Madden, author of Engaging Italy: American Women’s Utopian Visions and International Networks. Published by the State University of New York Press in April 2022, this […]
This week we interview Justin Tinsley, a senior sports and culture reporter for ESPN’s “The Undefeated.” He has written commentaries and feature stories about people as varied as Marvin Gaye, […]
This week we interview Betsy Smoot, an intelligence historian interested in early twentieth-century cryptology and communications. She retired from the Center for Cryptologic History of the National Security Agency in 2017, […]
This week we interview Gwendolyn Mink and Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, co-authors of Patsy Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress, published by New York University Press in May 2022. This […]
This week we interview Toluse Olorunnipa and Robert Samuels, Peabody Award and Polk Award-winning journalists and co-authors of His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice, published by Viking Press […]
This week we interview Philip Short, a British journalist who has written several definitive biographies, including Mao: A Life and Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare. Short has had a long career as a […]
This week we interview award winning writer Mark Lee Gardner. His latest biography, The Earth is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation, was […]
This week we interview Paulina L. Alberto, an Argentine-born historian of Afro-Latin America and Professor of History, Spanish, and Portuguese at the University of Michigan. Her biography, Black Legend: The Many […]
This week we interview award-winning author and Brigham Young University music professor Brian Harker. His latest biography, Sportin’ Life: John W. Bubbles an American Classic, was published by Oxford University Press in January […]
This week we interview Kathleen Stone, a Boston-based lawyer whose reviews, essays and have appeared in MS Magazine, Arts Fuse, Ploughshares, Pangyrus, The Timberline Review, Los Angeles Review of Books and Grist. She also co-hosts Booklab, […]
This week we offer the second part of two special episodes featuring David Maraniss, the veteran journalist and author of 13 highly regarded books. His latest book, Path Lit By Lightning: The […]
This week we offer the first of two special episodes featuring David Maraniss, the veteran journalist and author of 13 highly regarded books. His latest book, Path Lit By Lightning: The […]
This week we interview Tomiko Brown-Nagin, author of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality, published by Pantheon in January 2022. Brown-Nagin serves as Dean of […]
This week we interview John Markoff, a Pulitzer Prize winning, veteran science and technology journalist for The New York Times, the Pacific News Service, InfoWorld, Byte Magazine, and The San Jose […]
This week we interview Alejandro Madrid, an award-winning Cornell University musicologist who specializes in music and expressive culture from Latin America and Latinxs in the United States. He has authored more […]
This week we interview Paulina Bren, an award-winning writer and Vassar College historian. Her latest book, The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free is a New York Times Editor’s […]
This week we interview Sheena Harris, a Woodburn Associate Professor of history and coordinator of the Africana Studies Program at West Virginia University. Previously, she served as an Associate Professor […]
This week we interview Tyrone McKinley Freeman, an award-winning associate professor of Philanthropic Studies and director of undergraduate programs at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. His latest book, […]
This week we interview biographer and historian, Debby Applegate. Her first book, The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography […]
Happy New Year! This week we interview Gary Ginsberg, author of The New York Times bestseller, First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (and Unelected) People Who Shaped Out Presidents, published by […]
This week we offer the next episode in a special mini-series featuring highlights from panel discussions conducted during BIO’s first virtual annual conference, held May 14-16, 2021. The session, Writing […]
This week we offer the next episode in a special mini-series featuring highlights from panel discussions conducted during BIO’s first virtual annual conference, held May 14-16, 2021. The session, The […]
This week we offer the next episode in a special mini-series featuring highlights from panel discussions conducted during BIO’s first virtual annual conference, held May 14-16, 2021. The session, “How […]
This week we offer the next episode in a special mini-series featuring highlights from panel discussions conducted during BIO’s first virtual annual conference, held May 14-16, 2021. The session, “Researching […]
This week we offer the first in a mini-series of special episodes featuring highlights from panel discussions conducted during BIO’s first virtual annual conference, held May 14-16, 2021. The session, […]
This week we interview veteran Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist and writer, Daniel de Visé. Exploring the life and times of a legendary guitarist and singer, his latest biography, King […]