Showing results for "La Lista" in Art & Literature

In an increasingly divided society, Iain examines why we've all become so disrespectful and intolerant. Using experiences from his career in politics and the media, he says it doesn't have to be this way and suggests how we can all emerge from tribalism and division and become more respectful to each other and those who govern us. It is a book that is optimistic about the fundamental decencies embedded in human nature and uses deeply personal anecdotes to explain why we can look forward in a positive way to a better life both in personal and material terms.

Kurt Vonnegut (November 11, 1922-April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels, including his most famous, Slaughterhouse-Five, published in 1969. His works include fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction pieces. In the following May 1994 recording, Vonnegut addresses the graduating class of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.

Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 - February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement, a style in which the writer becomes a central figure and participant in the events of the narrative. He rose to prominence with the publication of Hell's Angels (1967) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972). The following is from a 1975 interview on gonzo journalism.

Roald Dahl (September 13, 1916 - November 23, 1990), born in Cardiff, Wales, was a novelist, poet, screenwriter, and short story author, as well as a fighter pilot and intelligent officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. Considered one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century, Dahl's classic works include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, The Twits and Matilda. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide.

When best-selling mystery writer David Rosenfelt and his family moved from Southern California to Maine, he thought he had prepared for everything. They had mapped the route, brought three GPSs for backup, as well as refrigerators full of food, and stoves and microwaves on which to cook them. But traveling with 25 dogs turned out to be a bigger ordeal than he anticipated, despite RVs, the extra kibble, volunteers (including a few readers), and camping equipment.

Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (January 9, 1908 - April 14, 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer and social theorist. Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, autobiographies, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and social issues. She was best known for her "trailblazing work in feminist philosophy," including The Second Sex, published in 1949, a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism. The following is from a 1976 interview (in English).

John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 - June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Westchester suburbs, and old New England villages.

Sylvia Plath born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, MA, was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960) and Ariel (1965), and also The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her suicide on February 11, 1963. In this recording, Plath discusses writing, her youth, and her life.

At thirty-five, Elsie Robinson feared she’d lost it all. Reeling from a divorce in 1917, she had no means to support herself and her chronically ill son. She dreamed of becoming a writer and was willing to sacrifice everything for this goal, even swinging a pickax in a gold mine to pay the bills. When the mine shut down, she moved to the Bay Area, where she barged into the offices of the Oakland Tribune and was hired on the spot. She went on to become a nationally syndicated columnist and household name whose column ran for over thirty years and garnered fifty million readers.

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (October 28, 1903-April 10, 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include Decline and Fall (1928) and A Handful of Dust (1934), the novel, Brideshead Revisited (1945). He is recognized as one of the great prose stylists of the English language in the 20th century. In this recording, Waugh discusses God, religion, writing, and his conversion to Catholicism.

John Ernst Steinbeck (February 27, 1902 - December 20, 1968), born in Salinas, CA, was an American writer who won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception."

In 1961, poet Robert Frost was invited to read at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. It would be the first by a poet for an inaugural ceremony. President-elect Kennedy asked Frost to recite the poem "The Gift Outright" unless the poet planned to write a poem especially for the occasion. Frost did, in fact, write a new poem for the day entitled "Dedication." However, when the time came to read, the wind and sun's glare made this impossible, though Frost made a valiant attempt. Instead, he reverted to "The Gift Outright," which he read by heart.

Salvador Dalí, (May 11, 1904 - January 23, 1989), was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in his work. Dali also wrote a novel, Hidden Faces (1944), poetry, essays, art criticism, and a technical manual on art. The following recording is from a 1955 interview.

Hear old-time radio tales of the following "People of History": William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language; Will Rogers, American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator; Edgar Allen Poe, considered the premier American poet and short story writer; Benedict Arnold, American-born military officer who fought with distinction for the American Continental Army in the Revolutionary War; General Claire Channault, American military aviator best known for his leadership of the "Flying Tigers" in World War II.

In October of 1949, a few months after publication of George Orwell‘s masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four, he received a letter from fellow author Aldous Huxley, a man who, 17 years previous, had seen his own nightmarish vision of society published in the form of the classic, Brave New World. What begins as a letter of praise soon becomes a brief comparison of the two novels, and an explanation as to why Huxley believes his own earlier work to be a more realistic prediction

Tim Cockey is the best-selling author of Backstabber, the latest in his celebrated mystery series, and the creator of the inimitable undertaker/Detective Hitchcock Sewell. In this half-hour interview, Cockey discusses a variety of subjects, including his entry into the mystery-writing world, how he creates his characters, and the importance of his hometown of Baltimore in his novels.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 - December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his four novels—This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby, and Tender Is The Night—depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. In this recording, Fitgerald reads from Shakespeare's Othello, John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale, and John Masefield's On Growing Old.

Hear a recorded interview between Donald H. Kirkley and H.L. Mencken, American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (May 22, 1859-July 7, 1930) was a Scottish physician and author, best known for his Sherlock Holmes stories—considered milestones in the crime fiction genre—and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works included science fiction and fantasy novels, most notably The Lost World, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels.

Hear a fascinating discussion between author Michael Davis and narrator Caroll Spinney, the man (and voice) behind two of America's most iconic children's characters—Bird Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Listeners will learn about Spinney's contributions to the creation and history of the media masterpiece and pop culture landmark TV series, Sesame Street. Spinney also discusses, among other things, recollections of his early days on TV, the creation of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, and, of course, working with Muppet's creator Jim Henson.