Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon

Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Philip Schultz joins Writer’s Voice to talk about his new collection Enormous Morning—a moving exploration of aging, memory, regret, and the possibility of beginning again. We also talk about poetry as a way of confronting suffering—and even finding joy.

This week on Writer’s Voice: Julia Cooke on the women who helped invent modern journalism—and why history forgot them. And Ida Turpeinen on extinction, memory, and the stories we fail to tell.

What happens when AI takes over medicine—and what can we do to strengthen our own minds? In this episode of _Writer’s Voice,_ Justin C. Key explores the human cost of AI-driven healthcare, while memory champion Nelson Dellis shares techniques to boost memory, focus, and creativity.

This week on Writer’s Voice: Two fascinating stories from women’s history. Eden Collinsworth tells the story of Victoria Woodhull—the first woman to run for President of the United States. Then novelist Shelley Noble takes us to New York’s legendary Book Row during a fierce battle over censorship.

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with bestselling author Jung Chang about her memoir Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China, the long-awaited sequel to her landmark book Wild Swans.

Political philosopher Lea Ypi reflects on dignity, archives, and the manipulation of history in Indignity. Then Eleanor Shearer brings us into the world of the Jamaican Maroons exiled to Nova Scotia in Fireflies in Winter — a novel about freedom, queer love, and the moral cost of survival.

Slavery was never passively endured. Sudhir Hazareesingh on the vast, global resistance of the enslaved — from Africa to Haiti. Plus: Jacqueline Sheehan on Sojourner Truth’s extraordinary moral courage.

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca speaks with D. Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh, and Peter Schmidt about Attensity!, a manifesto for what they call the Attention Liberation Movement.

Historian Andrew Burstein joins us to talk about his biography, Being Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History.

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with biographer Robert M. Dowling about his biography, Coyote: The Dramatic Lives of Sam Shepard.

Nell Bernstein tells us about her book In Our Future We Are Free. It traces the grassroots movement that helped dismantle youth prisons across the United States. Then, Tamar Adler talks about her book Feast On Your Life, a month-by-month meditation on cooking, gratitude, and finding meaning in the everyday.

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Today we explore what it really means to share the planet with other forms of life. We’ll talk with writer Bridget Lyons about her acclaimed book, Entwined: Dispatches from the Intersection of Species, a collection of essays that invites us to see animals, plants, … Continue reading Entwined Lives: Bridget Lyons on the Intersection of Species, with Carl Safina on Alfie and Me →

Eric Lichtblau talks about "American Reich", an investigation into white nationalism in America today.

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. What does a 2,000-year-old epic have to say to us today about exile, duty, love, power, war, misinformation, and the fragile hopes of human community? A great deal, say translators Scott McGill and Susannah Wright, whose new English translation of Virgil’s Aeneid captures both the grandeur of the epic … Continue reading The Relevance of Virgil’s Aeneid: A Conversation with Scott McGill & Susannah Wright →

Francesca Rheannon interviews Joe Dolce about Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration—covering mental health breakthroughs, brain science, spiritual experience, policy debates, and how to safely and thoughtfully approach psychedelics.

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. Francesca speaks with Jonathan Slaght about his remarkable book Tigers Between Empires: The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and China. Slaght tells the story of the 35-year Siberian (Amur) Tiger Project, one of the longest-running wildlife studies in the … Continue reading The Return of the Siberian Tiger: Jonathan Slaght, TIGERS BETWEEN EMPIRES →

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. This week on Writer’s Voice, we look at two stories from history that illuminate the choices people face as they confront evil: collaborate or resist? First, independent scholar Charles Dick joins us to discuss Unknown Enemy: The Hidden Nazi Force That Built the Third … Continue reading Builders of Terror, Ally to Justice: Charles Dick on Organisation Todt & Carla Kaplan on Jessica Mitford →

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with Susana M. Morris, acclaimed scholar of Black feminist thought, about her new biography Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler. Drawing on interviews, archival materials, and Butler’s own journals, Morris shows … Continue reading Positive Obsession: Susana M. Morris on the Life, Vision & Influence of Octavia Butler →

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform. In this, our 1,000th episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon interviews Julian Brave Noisecat about We Survived the Night, his memoir weaving Indigenous oral traditions, personal narrative, political history, and environmental insight. Noisecat explores Coyote stories, the legacy of residential schools, intergenerational trauma, mixed-race … Continue reading WE SURVIVED THE NIGHT: Julian Brave Noisecat on Story, Survival & the Power of Indigenous Truths →