Biographers International Organization

Biographers International Organization
  • 4.7 (16)
  • Arts
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Sharing a passion for biography!

  1. 1d ago

    Podcast #269 – Richard Kopley

    Photo: David Shopper Edgar Allan Poe: A Life is the latest book by this distinguished Penn State DuBois professor emeritus and author. Published in March 2025 by the University of Virginia Press, it won the Patrick F. Quinn Award for outstanding monograph, offered by the Poe Society, and was nominated for a 2025 Edgar Award offered by the Mystery Writers of America. Kopley also wrote The Thread of the Scarlett Letter: A Study in Hawthorne’s Transformation; Edgar Allan Poe and the Dupin Mysteries; and The Formal Center in Literature: Explorations from Poe to the Present. Richard Kopley was interviewed during BIO’s May 2026 annual conference in New York City by BIO member and podcast producer Jenny Skoog Mondesir.

  2. Sep 25

    Podcast #268 – Susannah Cahalan

    The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Time and Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary is the latest book by this New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and public speaker. It was published by Viking in April 2025. Cahalan’s first book, Brain on Fire, sold over a million copies, was translated into more than twenty languages, and was made into a Netflix movie. Her second book, The Great Pretender, was named a best book of 2020 by Time, The Guardian and The Sunday Times, and it was shortlisted for the Royal Society’s 2020 Science Book Prize. Her advocacy work concerning brain disorders and mental health awareness has earned her speaking engagements around the world, and she received the American Brain Foundation’s Ambassador Award for this work. Susannah Cahalan was interviewed at BIO’s 2026 conference in New York City by fellow biographer and BIO member Sonja Williams.

  3. Sep 18

    Podcast #267 – T.J. Stiles, Part II

    This celebrated author received the Biographers International Organization’s 2026 BIO Award—an annual and prestigious recognition of individuals who have made significant contributions to the art and craft of biography. Stiles’ Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History, the Spur Award for Best Western Biography, and the William H. Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History, and the California Book Award. He also wrote The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2009 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War, winner of the 2003 Ambassador Book Award. T.J. Stiles is currently working on a biography of Theodore Roosevelt, and this is the conclusion of a two-part conversation at BIO’s 2026 conference in New York City with fellow biographer and BIO member John A. Farrell.

  4. Sep 11

    Podcast #266 – T.J. Stiles, Part I

    This celebrated author received the Biographers International Organization’s 2026 BIO Award – an annual and prestigious recognition of individuals who have made significant contributions to the art and craft of biography. Stiles’ Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History, the Spur Award for Best Western Biography, and the William H. Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History, and the California Book Award. He also wrote The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2009 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War, winner of the 2003 Ambassador Book Award. T.J. Stiles is currently working on a biography of Theodore Roosevelt, and this is the first of a two-part conversation at BIO’s 2026 conference in New York City with fellow biographer and BIO member John A. Farrell.

  5. Jun 26

    Podcast #265 – Victoria Johnson

    Photo by Shelley Thomas 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.

  6. Jun 19

    Podcast #264 – Andy Beta

    Photo by Natalie Keyssar 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.

  7. Jun 12

    Podcast #263 – Steven C. Smith

    Photo by Mark A. Vieir 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.

  8. Jun 5

    Podcast #262 – Steven C. Bowie

    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.

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4.7
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About

Sharing a passion for biography!

Information

  • Creator
    Biographers International Organization
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    269
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018 Biographers International Organization
  • Show Website
    Biographers International Organization

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