Booknotes+

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Taking the concept from Brian Lamb's long running Booknotes TV program, the podcast offers listeners more books and authors. Booknotes+ features a mix of new interviews with authors and historians, along with some old favorites from the archives. The platform may be different, but the goal is the same – give listeners the opportunity to learn something new.

-5 J

Ep. 251 Frank McCourt on Angela’s Ashes: Pulitzer Prize–Winning Memoir

Irish American writer Frank McCourt wrote a book in 1996 that was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 100 weeks. Over the next 20 years, "Angela's Ashes" sold close to 10 million copies worldwide. It was translated into 24 languages. McCourt was born in New York City, but moved with his family to Limerick, Ireland, for his childhood years. Frank McCourt died at age 78 in 2009 of melanoma cancer. He was a guest on the Booknotes television program on September 19th, 1996. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 h 2 min
23/12/2025

Ep.250 Peter Gomes, "The Good Book"

This week's encore interview is from September 21, 1997. Twenty-eight years ago. Our guest was Peter J. Gomes, former minister of the Memorial Church at Harvard. His father was from Cape Verde, and his mother was African-American. In 1991, he identified himself as gay but says he remained celibate. Professor Gomes passed away in 2011 at age 69. During his lifetime, he received over 40 honorary degrees. Professor Gomes was a registered Republican for most of his life and offered prayer at the inaugurations of Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. However, in August of 2006, he changed his registration to the Democratic Party. His book is titled "The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

58 min
16/12/2025

Ep. 249 Alexandra Churchill, "Ring of Fire"

British historian Alexandra Churchill is no relation to the former prime minister. However, her new book is the history of the world at war in 1914, titled "Ring of Fire." Alex Churchill is quick to tell you she is not an academic but has a research master's degree in the Battle of the Somme. She's a self-starter who writes three times a week for Substack, co-hosts a podcast titled "History Hack," appears in many documentaries, and is a participant in a history touring company in Great Britain. Her book is the story of ordinary people, she says, not those stalking the corridors of power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 h 6 min
09/12/2025

Ep. 248 Kenneth Vogel, "Devils' Advocates"

Most of the names are familiar to those who follow politics and government. Hunter Biden, Rudolph Giuliani, Tony Podesta, Paul Manafort, and many others. Kenneth Vogel has written a book about these figures. It's called "Devils' Advocates: The Hidden Story of Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden, and the Washington Insiders on the Payroll of Corrupt Foreign Interests." In the publisher Morrow's liner notes on the book, they write: "The foreign influence business comprised of shadowy operators who quietly shaped US foreign policy while producing massive paydays for themselves has existed for decades, often unnoticed by Americans." Ken Vogle is a reporter for the New York Times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 h 13 min
02/12/2025

Ep. 247 Doug Most, "Launching Liberty"

Boston-based writer Doug Most's new book is called "Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War." Most, who spent 15 years at the Boston Globe, writes: "In total, American shipyards produced 2,710 Liberty ships in essentially four years, peaking in the spring and summer of 1943, when almost 800 ships were built in seven months..." A lot of the credit is given to Henry Kaiser, who produced half of all Liberty ships – 1,490. By 1943, average time per ship was down to 42 days, the fastest month recorded. Author Doug Most is currently working at Boston University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 h 5 min
25/11/2025

Ep. 246 Constitutional Scholar Akhil Reed Amar on America’s Equality Story

Yale constitutional law professor Akhil Reed Amar's second book in a trilogy is titled "Born Equal: Remaking America's Constitution, 1840-1920." In Professor Amar's introduction, he writes: "Millions of Americans can recite by heart Lincoln's opening line at Gettysburg. But how many of us understand it?" "This sentence," Professor Amar continues, "sits at the very center of this book." Akhil Amar, born in 1958 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was raised in California. After law school at Yale, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and became a junior professor back at his alma mater at age 26. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 h 10 min
18/11/2025

Ep. 245 Kenneth Feinberg, "What is Life Worth?"

Kenneth Feinberg is a Washington-based attorney who served as a special master of the US government's 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Mr. Feinberg worked for 33 months, pro bono, deciding who should be compensated as a result of the deaths and injuries from 9/11. Kenneth Feinberg, who today is 79, was interviewed on C-SPAN's Q&A program about his book, "What is Life Worth: The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9-11." Here is an encore presentation of that July 1, 2005, interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 h 2 min
11/11/2025

Ep. 244 William Galston, "Anger, Fear, Domination"

William Arthur Galston has been a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution since 2006 and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal for the past 12 years. In the first paragraph of his latest 161-page book, he tells us what the book is about: "This book advances this proposition that what I call the dark passions - anger, hatred, humiliation, resentment, fear, and the drive for domination - fuels today's attacks on liberal democracy." Galston also says, "persuasive public speech is the main way demagogues mobilize these passions to pursue power." The name of the book is "Anger, Fear, Domination." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 h 8 min

Tout afficher (256)

BANDE-ANNONCE

Trailer: Booknotes+

Booknotes is back with more compelling interviews in a new podcast Booknotes+. Taking the concept from his long running one-hour Booknotes TV program, Brian Lamb is tailoring the discussion for a new platform and new audience. Booknotes+ offers podcast listeners more books and more interviews in a shorter period of time. Whether you watched Booknotes on TV (1989-2004) or are experiencing it now for the first time on its new platform, the goal is the same – give listeners the opportunity to learn something new. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31/03/2021

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1 min

4,7

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194 notes

Booknotes in the lead

11/12/2024

Llallall

I listen to many of the C-SPAN podcasts and I enjoy them, but Booknotes is my favorite. I especially like the tilt towards history. Many of the topics are interesting, but particularly useful to have historical perspective when we’re going through such turbulent times.
Stop with the commercials

18/09/2025

Jennifer in Nyc

I’ve loved and listened to Csoan got many years. I can’t get t through the podcast due to the endless commercial interruptions! It is truly unbearable . It just ruins the listening experience. One or two are doable- that has not been the case of late and it’s disappointing.
Letting liars lie

17/12/2024

Textdgh

Corey Brettschneider lied when he said Richard Nixon ordered the Watergate break-in. You let him lie. C-SPAN should know better.
Dwight Chapin…”The President’s Man”

29/07/2024

Mark Gassert

Excellent interview with Dwight Chapin. We need stories of this caliber especially regarding Watergate. Bring Dwight back for a part two interview. I was in high school during this Watergate episode and I am more convinced that Dwight Chapin had no business going to jail. Hello, John Dean are you listening!

Taking the concept from Brian Lamb's long running Booknotes TV program, the podcast offers listeners more books and authors. Booknotes+ features a mix of new interviews with authors and historians, along with some old favorites from the archives. The platform may be different, but the goal is the same – give listeners the opportunity to learn something new.