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Fiction/Literature

LAPL ID: 
1

Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home

In conversation with Patt Morrison
Thursday, October 27, 2011
01:13:12
ALOUD
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Episode Summary
Twenty years after her testimony in the Clarence Thomas confirmation mesmerized the nation, Hill shifts her focus from the public forum to the private. As today's families are being devastated by the subprime mortgage crisis, Hill speaks out for a new understanding about the importance of home and its place in the American Dream.
Participant(s) Bio
Anita Hill is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University, where she teaches courses on race and the law, and gender equality. After graduating from law school she worked as the attorney-advisor to Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Department of Education. In 1991, she testified at the Senate confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas. She is the author of Speaking Truth to Power, in which she wrote about her experience as a witness in the Thomas hearings. Hill has written widely on issues of race and gender in publications such as the New York Times, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, Critical Race Feminism, and others.

Patt Morrison is a writer and columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of the daily Patt Morrison public affairs program on KPCC. She has won six Emmys and six Golden Mike awards as founding host and commentator on Life & Times Tonight, the nightly news and current affairs program on KCET. Her one-on-one television interview subjects include Salman Rushdie, Henry Kissinger, Frank Gehry, Ray Bradbury, Joan Didion, and many more.

Zone One: A Novel

In conversation with David Kipen
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
01:00:35
ALOUD
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Episode Summary
In MacArthur Award-winning Whitehead's satiric take on the post-apocalyptic horror novel, a plague has sorted humanity into two types: the infected and the uninfected, the living and the living dead. How will these civilians rebuild their lives? Join this subversive discussion about the 21st century zombie.
Participant(s) Bio
Colson Whitehead is the author of the novels The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and Sag Harbor. He has also written a book about his hometown, a collection of essays called The Colossus of New York. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Granta, Harper's, and the New Yorker. He is a recipient of a Whiting Writers Award, a MacArthur grant, and a fellowship at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

David Kipen is author of The Schreiber Theory: A Radical Rewrite of American Film History, and translator of Cervantes' The Dialogue of the Dogs. Until January 2010, he was the Literature Director of the National Endowment of the Arts. He also served from 1998 to 2005 as book critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. His introductions to the WPA Guides to Los Angeles and San Francisco were recently published. In July of 2010 he opened a lending library/used bookstore in the Jewish-turned-Latino neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, called Libros Schmibros.

The Forgotten Waltz

In conversation with Brighde Mullins
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
01:00:33
ALOUD
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Episode Summary
The Irish author of The Gathering (Man Booker Prize) discusses her new novel-set in suburban Dublin with an unforgettably spirited heroine- that explores the momentous romance of everyday life and the volatile arena of family and marriage.
Participant(s) Bio
Anne Enright has published essays, short stories, a non-fiction book, and four novels, including The Gathering, which was named the 2008 Irish Novel of the Year. Ms. Enright's books also include The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch; Yesterday's Weather; and Making Babies, among others. Her newest novel is The Forgotten Waltz. Enright's writing explores themes such as family relationships, love and sex, and Ireland's difficult past and modern zeitgeist. She has also worked extensively as a television producer and director and served for some time as a regular contributor to BBC Radio.

Brighde Mullins is an award-winning playwright and poet. Her work includes Monkey in the Middle; Fire Eater and Pathological Venus. Current theatre projects include a commission by the Pioneer Theatre Company and a site-specific piece with the Imaginists Theatre at Ann Hamilton's Tower. She is currently the Director of the Master of Professional Writing Program at U.S.C.

From Nickerson Gardens to National: An End in Sight to Violence in Inner-City America?

In conversation with Robin Kramer
Thursday, October 6, 2011
01:23:53
ALOUD
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Episode Summary
Award-winning criminologist Kennedy, who orchestrated the \"Boston Miracle\", a revolutionary method for gang intervention in the mid-1990s, writes about this successful approach in his new book, Don't Shoot, and discusses solving the problem of crime in our country today, along with the launch of \"Operation Ceasefire\" in Los Angeles with Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Charlie Beck.
Participant(s) Bio
David M. Kennedy is the director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the author of Deterrence and Crime Prevention: Reconsidering the Prospect of Sanction and he has been called on as an adviser on illicit drug and firearm markets, youth and domestic violence, and deterrence theory for the Justice Department, the Department of the Treasury, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the White House, as well as for international governmental bodies.

Charlie Beck, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department since 2009, oversees the third largest police department in the United States. Having facilitated his predecessor's successful reengineering and reform effort, Chief Beck continues to evolve and refine those strategies to further the Department's ascendancy to the pinnacle of 21st Century Policing. Major components of this endeavor include the mitigation of crime, the reduction of gang violence, the containment of terrorism, and the continuation of the reforms that brought the Department into compliance with the Consent Decree.

Robin Kramer has been an active leader in Los Angeles civic affairs for over three decades. She was the first woman to hold the position of Chief of Staff to both Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Richard Riordan, and was a senior executive at the California Community Foundation, Broad Foundation and Coro Southern California. She is currently working as Senior Advisor to The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, chairs the Pitzer College Board of Trustees, and serves as one of five commissioners of the Port of Los Angeles, the economic engine for Southern California.

The Dolphin in the Mirror: Exploring Dolphin Minds and Saving Dolphin Lives

In conversation with Amy Parish
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
01:19:57
ALOUD
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Episode Summary
Reiss, a leading expert on dolphins (adviser for the Oscar-winning film, The Cove), offers both a scientific revelation and an emotional eye-opener in this reflection on one of the greatest intelligences on the planet.
Participant(s) Bio
Diana Reiss is a cognitive psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology at Hunter College and the Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate Program of CUNY. She is a research scientist and director of dolphin research at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and a research associate at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in DC where she conducts research on elephants. Much of her work focuses on vocal communication and vocal learning in dolphins using observational and experimental approaches. Her advocacy work in conservation and animal welfare includes the protection of dolphins in the tuna-fishing industry and her current efforts to bring an end to the killing of dolphins in the drive hunts in Japan. Dr. Reiss was the scientific advisor to the 2009 award-winning documentary, The Cove.

Dr. Amy Parish is a biological anthropologist, primatologist, and Darwinian feminist who has taught at University of Southern California in the Gender Studies, Arts and Letters, and Anthropology programs and departments since 1999. She has taught at University College London and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Giessen in Germany on the topic of reciprocity.

Conscious Capitalism: Start Something That Matters

In conversation with Kai Ryssdal
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
01:05:30
ALOUD
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Episode Summary
Mycoskie, the man behind TOMS Shoes and Goldhirsh, founder of GOOD, discuss alternatives for creating work that simultaneously fulfills our hunger for material success, philanthropic impact, and personal meaning.
Participant(s) Bio
Blake Mycoskie is the Founder of TOMS. Upon learning that most children in developing countries grow up barefoot, he created TOMS Shoes with a simple promise: to give a pair of new shoes to children in need with every pair sold. The One for One business model harnesses the power of consumers for good and has become the hallmark of social enterprise. TOMS has given over one million pairs of new shoes to children through giving partners around the world in 28 countries. This June, TOMS launched its second One for One product, TOMS Eyewear, to help save and restore sight to people in need. On September 6th, Blake launches his first book, Start Something That Matters. With every book purchased, a new children's book will be provided to a child in need. One for One.T

Benjamin Goldhirsh is the co-founder and chairman of GOOD, an editorially led, member-driven community of people, NGOs, and corporations committed to pushing our world forward. Active in both regional and international philanthropic endeavors, Goldhirsh is the Chair of The Goldhirsh Foundation, which supports dynamic social programs, environmental initiatives, and innovative medical research. Goldhirsh serves on the Board of Millennium Promise, an organization guided by the UN's Millennium Development goals to end global poverty, as well as the Los Angeles Board of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and the board of City Year Los Angeles.

Kai Ryssdal is the host of Marketplace on American Public Media. Before joining Marketplace, Kai was a reporter and substitute host for The California Report, a news and information program distributed to public radio stations throughout California. His radio work has won first place awards from the Radio and Television News Directors Association and the national Public Radio News Directors Association. Before his career in public radio, Kai served in the United States Navy, was a Pentagon staff officer, and was a member of the United States Foreign Service.

L.A. Crime Writers: "We Murder, so You Don't Have To..."

Moderated by Paula L. Woods
Thursday, July 14, 2011
01:18:47
ALOUD
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Episode Summary

Four veteran Los Angeles crime writers discuss the genre they love and the stories that keep them up at night. Paula L. Woods (Charlotte Justice mystery series) talks murder and mayhem with Haywood (Cemetery Road), Hirahara (Blood Hina), and Smith (Moist).

Participant(s) Bio

Gar Anthony Haywood is the Shamus and Anthony award-winning author of eleven crime novels and numerous short stories. His short fiction has been included in the Best American Mystery Stories anthologies and Booklist has called him "a writer who has always belonged in the upper echelon of American crime fiction." Haywood has written for both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and for such television shows as New York Undercover and The District. His most recent novel is Cemetery Road, and his next thriller-Assume Nothing -will be published this December. He blogs at: http://www.wisdommistakenforlunacy.com

Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award-winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, which features a Japanese American gardener and atomic-bomb survivor who solves crimes. Nominated also for Macavity and Anthony awards, the novels in the series include Summer of the Big Bachi, Gasa-Gasa Girl, Snakeskin Shamisen and Blood Hina. Her crime short stories are featured in Los Angeles Noir, Los Angeles Noir 2: The Classics, A Hell of a Woman and The Darker Mask. Hirahara, born and raised in Southern California, is a former editor of The Rafu Shimpo daily newspaper.

Mark Haskell Smith is the author of four novels: Moist, Delicious, Salty (which was a Book Sense Notable Book in 2007 and voted "Top 100 Beach Reads" by NPR), and Baked. His novels have been published in the UK, France, Italy, Norway, and Russia. In addition, he has worked extensively in film and television; his credits include the feature films Playing God and the Brazilian film A Partilha that won the Audience Award for Best Picture and the Crystal Lens Award for Best Screenplay at the Miami Brazilian Film Festival; and original pilots for ABC and CBS television. Currently he is writing the non-fiction book Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers and the Race to the Cannabis Cup due in spring 2012. He is part of the core faculty of the UC Riverside Palm Desert M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts program.

Paula L. Woods is the author of the acclaimed Charlotte Justice mystery series, including the forthcoming Smiling Faces. Stormy Weather, the second in the series, was named one of the Best Books of 2001 by the Los Angeles Times and Dirty Laundry, the third novel in the series, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and was named a Best Mystery of 2003 by The Seattle Times. Paula is also the editor of the critically acclaimed anthology Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes: Black Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction of the 20th Century, nominated for an Anthony Award, Macavity Award, and received a special award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, she reviews books regularly for the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. Paula is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Fire Monks: Wildfires in California

Moderated by William Deverell
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
01:13:51
ALOUD
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Episode Summary
When a massive wildfire blazed across California in June 2008, five monks risked their lives to save Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Pyne-- wildfire expert and the country's pre-eminent fire historian-- and Busch-- author and longtime Zen student-- discuss the ways of wildfires in the West and what it means to meet a crisis with full presence of mind. Program one of four, co-presented with the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West
Participant(s) Bio
Colleen Morton Busch's nonfiction, poetry, and fiction have appeared in a wide range of publications, from literary magazines to the San Francisco Chronicle and Yoga Journal, where she was a senior editor. Busch has been a Zen student since 2000.

Stephen Pyne is a professor at Arizona State University and the author of over 20 books mostly dealing with the history, ecology, and management of fire and include big-screen histories for America, Australia, Canada, Europe, and Earth overall. Others deal with the history of exploration, notably How the Canyon Became Grand, The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica, and most recently Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds in the Third Great Age of Discovery. Both interests, fire and exploration, grew out of 15 seasons he worked the North Rim Longshots, a fire crew at Grand Canyon National Park. He is currently researching a fire history of the U.S. over the past 50 years. He teaches a graduate course on nonfiction writing, which became the basis for his book Voice and Vision.

William Deverell is a professor of history at USC, where he specializes in the history of California and the American West and directs a scholarly institute that collaborates with the Huntington Library in San Marino. He is the author of Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past and Railroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910. With Greg Hise, he is co-author of Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles Region. He is past chair of the California Council for the Humanities and a recent Fellow of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation of Los Angeles. He is also a Fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for Humanities at USC.

Newer Poets XVI: A Reading

Thursday, July 7, 2011
01:15:37
ALOUD
Listen:
Episode Summary
In this popular, long-running event, six talented Los Angeles poets present short readings of their work. Hosted by Suzanne Lummis, Los Angeles Poetry Festival, and Richard Modiano, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Participant(s) Bio
Lory Bedikian's manuscript The Book of Lamenting, was recently awarded the 2010 Philip Levine Prize in Poetry - an annual book contest sponsored by the M.F.A. Program at California State University, Fresno - and will be published this fall. She earned her MFA in Poetry from the University of Oregon, where she was awarded the Dan Kimble First Year Teaching Award for Poetry. She teaches poetry workshops in Los Angeles.

A. Razor was born in New York but was brought to California at the age of 1. He was raised with a strong desire to read and write, but an even greater desire to survive his circumstances. He began writing and publishing around 1980 in various underground zines and publications. He has read his work at many readings and spoken word events over the years. He has participated recently in the Poets & Prison panel at Beyond Baroque. He has traveled extensively, seeking and enduring everything from homelessness and imprisonment to serenity and peace.

Cassandra Love is a 2008 PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellow. Swagger is a Woman is her first book of poetry. Her poems have been featured in journals and anthologies, such as: Forth Magazine, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and Mezcla. She also hosts the radio show For the Love of Poetry on BlogTalkRadio. With a mother who emigrated to LA from Manila, and a father from North Dakota, Cassandra finds truth in fluidity, ambiguity, and the space between spaces.

Sherman Pearl is president of the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center and was among the founders of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival. He also served as a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets and co-editor of CQ poetry journal. His work has appeared in nearly 50 literary publications and has received numerous awards, among them the 2002 National Writers Union prize, judged by Philip Levine, and the 2010 Margie Review award.

Anthony Seidman is the author of On Carbon-Dating Hunger and Where Thirsts Intersect. A selection of his work was included in international anthologies Corresponding Voices in 2005, and Barco a vapor transatlántico. He has also published translations of contemporary American poetry in La Jornada, Mexico City's major newspaper, and Revista Solar, among others. Some of Seidman's more recent poems have been published in The Bitter Oleander, The Bloomsbury Review; Beyond Baroque, Parteaguas (Aguascalientes, Mexico), La Prensa (Managua, Nicaragua),and La Reforma (Mexico), among others. He has a new book forthcoming in 2012 entitled Cosmic Weather

Mehnaz Turner was born in Pakistan and raised in southern California. She is a 2009 PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellow in Poetry. Her work has appeared in publications such as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mascara Literary Review, The Journal of Pakistan Studies, Cahoots Magazine, The Pedestal Magazine,/i>, and An Anthology of California Poets.

Gary Shteyngart, "Super Sad True Love Story"

In conversation with Justin Veach
Thursday, May 12, 2011
00:57:34
ALOUD
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Episode Summary

Shteyngart, one of the New Yorker's "Best Under 40" novelists, offers a devilishly funny cyber-apocalyptic vision of an America future that seems eerily like the present.

Participant(s) Bio

Gary Shteyngart was born in Russia and came to the United States at age seven. He is the author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, and most recently, Super Sad True Love Story-- an instant New York Times Bestseller . Shteyngart was named a Granta Best Young American Novelists and a New Yorker "Best Writer Under 40." His novels have been translated into over 24 languages.

Justin Veach is the Library Foundation's Director of New Initiatives responsible for creating programming designed to appeal to new and diverse audiences. He is the producer and host of This is Your Library a new series of live conversations presented in a late night talk show-like format (without the TV) at the Central Library. Justin is a third generation Angeleno, a veteran of the US Coast Guard, former performance artist, and one-time gallery owner who has been producing literary events for 20 years.

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