Enoch Pratt Free Library Podcast

Jamal Joseph discusses his memoir, Panther Baby. In the 1960s, he exhorted students at Columbia University to burn their college to the ground. Today, he’s chair of Columbia's School of the Arts film division. Joseph’s personal odyssey—from the streets of Harlem to Riker’s Island and Leavenworth to the halls of Columbia—is as gripping as it is inspiring. Joseph is an activist, urban guerrilla, the FBI’s most wanted fugitive, drug addict, drug counselor, convict, writer, poet, filmmaker, father, professor, youth advocate, and Oscar nominee.Reading and conversation with Marc Steiner, "The Marc Steiner Show," WEAA.CityLit Festival was made possible in part by the generous support of the following: Recorded On: Saturday, April 13, 2013

Jen Michalski is author of the novel The Tide King, winner of the 2012 Big Moose Prize, the short story collections From Hereand Close Encounters, and the novella collection Could You Be With Her Now. She is the founding editor of the literary quarterly jmww, a co-host of The 510 Readings and the biannual Lit Show, and interviews writers at The Nervous Breakdown. She also is the editor of the anthology City Sages: Baltimore, which Baltimore magazine called a "Best of Baltimore" in 2010. Her book featuring two novellas includes “I Can Make It to California Before It’s Time for Dinner,” which explores the dangers of living in a world while having a compromised reality, and “May-September,” which tells the story of a young writer is hired by a much-older woman over the summer to help blog her memoirs for her grandchildren.Terese Svoboda’s Tin God contains two distinct stories told in intertwining chapters connected by setting and other elements that emerge by the novel’s end. One story involves a Spanish conquis

 Afaa Michael Weaver is the author of eleven previous poetry collections, including Timber and Prayer: The Indian Pond Poems,My Father’s Geography, and The Plum Flower Dance: Poems 1985 to 2005. He is Alumnae Professor of English at Simmons College in Boston. Weaver is the recipient of an NEA fellowship, a Pew fellowship, and a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship. He has been awarded a Pushcart Prize and a Fulbright scholar appointment, among other honors. The Government of Nature is the second volume of a trilogy (the first was The Plum Flower Dance) in which Weaver analyzes his life, striving to become the ideal poet. Reginald Harris, Poetry in The Branches Coordinator and Information Technology Director for Poets House in New York City, won the 2012 Cave Canem / Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize for Autogeography. A Pushcart Prize Nominee, recipient of Individual Artist Awards for both poetry and fiction from the Maryland State Arts Council, and Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and the

 Tim Wendel’s books include Summer of ’68, High Heat, Red Rain, and Castro’s Curveball. A writer-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University, his stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, and Esquire.  His newest release, Habana Libre, is a novella set in Cuba and Baltimore. Get a sneak peak before the book's official publication on May 1, 2013.Leigh Newman’s memoir Still Points North—set in Maryland and Alaska—is hot off the press from Dial Press. She is the Deputy Editor of Oprah.com where she writes about books, life, happiness, survival, and—on rare, lucky days—food.  Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in One Story, Tin House, The New York Times "Modern Love" and "City" sections, Fiction, O The Oprah Magazine, Oprah.com, Condé Nast Brides, Condé Nast Concierge, and Bookforum among other publications. Her work has been anthologized in Crown’s The Collected Traveler book series, My Parents Were Awesome (Villard, 2011), andCity Sages: Baltimore (CityLit Press, 2010).CityLit Fe

George Saunders is the author of three collections of short stories: the bestselling Pastoralia, set against a warped, hilarious, and terrifyingly recognizable American landscape; CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award; and In Persuasion Nation, one of three finalists for the 2006 STORY Prize for best short story collection of the year. The New York Times Magazine called Saunders's latest collection, Tenth of December, "the best book you'll read this year."In 2006, Saunders received a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation, which described him as a “highly imaginative author [who] continues to influence a generation of young writers and brings to contemporary American fiction a sense of humor, pathos, and literary style all his own.”Saunders reads from his new book and talks with Tom Hall, Arts and Culture Editor, “Maryland Morning,” WYPR. Signing will take place after the program on the library's first floor adjacent to the Barnes & Noble table.CityLit Festival was made

Poets laureate Stanley Plumly of Maryland and Dick Allen of Connecticut read their latest work. Plumly is the author of Orphan Hours and is recipient of the 2010 John William Corrington Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature). Allen is the author of Present Vanishing and recipient of the 2013 New Criterion Poetry Prize, one of the country's most prominent prizes for a book-length collection of poems that pays close attention to form. Introduced by Michael Salcman, poet and critic, Past Chair, CityLit Project CityLit Festival was made possible in part by the generous support of the following: Recorded On: Saturday, April 13, 2013

Letters About Literature is a national writing contest for students in grades 4 to 10 sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The program encourages young readers to write to the author of a book expressing how that book changed their view of themselves or the world. In state program is managed by the Maryland Humanities Council. Every year at CityLit Festival, students and their families from around the state gather to recognize regional winners.Special Guest Author:Jonathon Scott Fuqua’s latest book, Calvert the Raven In the Battle of Baltimore, is an illustrated book for children. Fuqua has written YA novels, novels for adults, illustrated chapter books, and graphic novels.CityLit Festival was made possible in part by the generous support of the following: Recorded On: Saturday, April 13, 2013

Fiscal sponsorship allows a nonprofit organization (the “fiscal sponsor”) to provide administrative services, access to 501 (c)(3) status and capacity building support for groups or individuals engaged in work that relates to the fiscal sponsor’s mission. The program is presented by Keith Gavazzi of FusionPartnerships, Inc., a local nonprofit fiscal sponsor for grassroots community based projects and programs working for social change in Baltimore. Recorded On: Friday, April 5, 2013

Actions have consequences -- and the ability to learn from them revolutionized life on earth. While it's easy enough to see that consequences are important, few have heard there's a science of consequences, with principles that affect us every day and applications everywhere -- at home, at work, and at school. Despite their variety, consequences appear to follow a common set of scientific principles and share some similar effects in the brain. Further, scientists have demonstrated that learning from consequences predictably activates genes and restructures the neural configuration of the brain. In The Science of Consequences, Susan M. Schneider, an internationally recognized biopsychologist, brings together research from many scientific fields to tell the story of how something so deceptively simple can help make sense of so much.(www.scienceofconsequences.com) Recorded On: Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Inextricably connected to issues of autonomy, privacy, and sexuality, the abortion debate remains home base for the culture wars in America. Yet, as Sarah Erdreich argues in Generation Roe, there is more common ground than meets the eye in favor of choice. Erdreich tells the stories of those who risk their lives to pursue careers in the abortion field. She also outlines the legislative battles that are being waged against abortion rights around the country. A women's health advocate, Sarah Erdreich has worked for several prominent pro-choice organizations and written for numerous publications.Presented in partnership with Planned Parenthood of Maryland. Recorded On: Wednesday, March 27, 2013

In this overview of health and healing in early America, Elaine G. Breslaw describes the evolution of public health crises and solutions. Breslaw examines "ethnic borrowings" of early American medicine and the tension between trained doctors and the lay public. Orthodox medicine didn't take hold over other healers until the early 20th century when germ theory finally migrated from Europe to the United States and American medical education achieved professional standing.Elaine Breslaw taught in the history department of Morgan State University for 29 years and is now a visiting scholar at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is the author of Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem. Recorded On: Tuesday, March 26, 2013

How can multiculturalism go wrong? Through extensive interviews conducted in a large Midwestern school district, Antonia Randolph explores how teachers perceive students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and the unintended consequences of a kind of "colorblind multiculturalism." This provocative book challenges readers to look beyond the surface benefits of diversity and raises issues about American schools that need to be addressed.Antonia Randolph is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware.  Recorded On: Thursday, March 21, 2013

The first book to investigate Jane Austen's popular significance today, Everybody's Jane considers why Austen matters to amateur readers, how they make use of her novels, what they gain from visiting places associated with her and how they create works of fiction and nonfiction inspired by her novels and life. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, the Pratt Library is proud to present this talk by Austen scholar Juliette Wells, associate professor of English at Goucher College. Recorded On: Wednesday, March 20, 2013

In 1961 President Eisenhower warned Americans about the dangers of a "military industrial complex." Today, as more and more Americans fall into poverty and the global economy spirals downward, the U.S. is spending more on the military than ever before. Melvin Goodman, a 24-year veteran of the CIA, argues that U.S. military spending is making Americans poorer and less secure, while undermining our political standing in the world. Drawing on his first-hand experience with war planners and intelligence strategists, Goodman offers an insider's critique of the U.S.  military economy and outlines a much-needed vision for how to alter our military policy, practices and spending.Melvin Goodman was a Soviet analyst at the CIA and the Department of State for 24 years and a professor of international relations at the National War College for 18 years. Currently he is Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington and adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University.  Recorded On: Tuesday,

Marian Anderson (1897–1993) was an African American singer who overcame both poverty and the blatant racism of her day to become an international opera star. She may be best remembered now for her historic 1939 performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In the crowd that day was 10-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr. Sabrina Coleman Clark, operatic soprano and educator, celebrates the life of this true American heroine in “Legacy of Hope: The Marian Anderson Story.” Ms. Coleman Clark melds together the music, history, and life story of this great artist into a captivating and thought-provoking narrative.  Recorded On: Saturday, March 16, 2013

Kweku Sai is dead. A renowned surgeon and failed husband, he succumbs suddenly outside his home in suburban Accra. The news of Kweku's death sends a ripple around the world, bringing together the family he abandoned years before. In Ghana Must Go, Taiye Selasi charts the Sais' circuitous journey to one another as Kweku's children gather at their mother's new home. What is revealed in their coming together is the story of how they came apart: the hearts broken, the lies told, the crimes committed in the name of love. Born in London, Taiye Selasi was raised in Massachusetts. She holds a B.A. in American Studies from Yale and a M.Phil. in international relations from Oxford. She made her literary debut in Granta with "The Sex Lives of African Girls," which the New York Times called a "standout piece of fiction." Recorded On: Thursday, March 14, 2013

Is relativity Jewish? The Nazis denigrated Albert Einstein's revolutionary theory by calling it "Jewish science," a charge typical of the ideological excesses of Hitler and his followers. Philosopher of science Steven Gimbel explores the many meanings of this provocative phrase and considers whether there is any sense in which Einstein's theory of relativity is Jewish.Einstein's Jewish Science intertwines science, history, philosophy, theology, and politics in fresh and fascinating ways to solve the multifaceted riddle of what religion means -- and what it means to science.Steven Gimbel is the Edwin T. and Cynthia Shearer Johnson Professor for Distinguished Teaching in the Humanities and chair of the Department of Philosophy at Gettysburg College. He is author of Exploring the Scientific Method: Cases and Questions and other books. Recorded On: Wednesday, March 13, 2013

This collection of essays by black scholars and activists, edited by Jared Ball and Todd Burroughs, is a critical response to Manning Marable's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. Though lauded by many, Marable's book was debated and denounced by others as a flawed biography, full of conjecture and errors and lacking in new factual context. Dr. Jared A. Ball is associate professor of communication studies at Morgan State University. Dr. Todd S. Burroughs is a lecturer in the communication studies department at Morgan State University. Recorded On: Tuesday, March 12, 2013

A panel of four women writers from across the globe discusses the intersection of place, time and culture in literature and in the lives of women. The conversation will be moderated by Linda A. Duggins, Hachette Book Group.Jami Attenberg has written about sex, technology, design, graphic novels, books, television and urban life for the New York Times, Salon, New York, Details.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post and other publications. She is the author of The Middlesteins (Grand Central Publishing).Raquel Cepeda is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. Cepeda edited the critically acclaimed anthology And It Don't Stop: The Best Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years, winner of a PEN and Latino Book Award. She is also former editor-in-chief of Russell Simmons' Oneworld magazine. Her new book is Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina (Atria Books).Ayana Mathis is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, where she will be teaching this spring. She is a recipient of the Michener-Cop

In The Secret Financial Life of Food, Kara Newman reveals the economic pathways that connect food to consumer, unlocking the mysteries behind culinary trends, grocery pricing, and restaurant dining. Kara Newman shows how contracts listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange can read like a menu and how market behavior can dictate global economic and culinary practice. A former board member of the Culinary Historians of New York, Kara Newman is the spirits editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine and the author of two cocktail books. Recorded On: Thursday, March 7, 2013