Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon Francesca Rheannon

Larry Tye tells us about his new book, The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America. It’s a fresh look at three titans of the Jazz Age. Then, we re-air our 2020 interview with Larry Tye about his biography of Senator Joe McCarthy, Demagogue.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.







Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key words: Jazz Age, Larry Tye, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Satchmo, Duke Ellington, author interview, book podcast, podcast





















Titans of The Jazz Age







Among the greatest jazz musicians of all time were Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie. These titans of jazz, born within a few years of each other, rose from the depths of racial adversity to become global icons of music.







Today, we talk with biographer Larry Tye, bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy, about his new book, The Jazzmen. It paints a sweeping portrait of this triumvirate of the Jazz Age, men who not only entertained the world but also broke through the barriers of segregation and violence with their artistry.







Ellington, a grandson of slaves, rose above the confines of his time, crafting music that defied categorization. Armstrong, emerging from a rough New Orleans neighborhood known as The Battlefield, began his musical journey with a humble tin horn at the age of seven. Count Basie, born to a coachman and a laundress, saw his future in the sounds of a traveling carnival, eventually paving his way to fame with a little help from Fats Waller.







Their legacy of challenging and overcoming racial boundaries opened America’s eyes to the power of their art, and, in some ways, set the stage for the civil rights movement.







Listen to an excerpt from The Jazz Men.







About The Author







Larry Tye is the author of numerous books, including biographies of Bobby Kennedy and Senator Joe McCarthy. Listen to our interviews with him about those books.

A bestselling novelist took a job at a big box store, was shocked by what she found, and decided to write a novel about it.







We talk with Adelle Waldman about her new novel, Help Wanted. It’s about what happens when a group of workers at a big box store scheme to get their overbearing manager promoted out of their department. Along the way, it reveals what work life is really like for millions of low wage workers in today’s economy.







Then, we remember novelist Paul Auster, who died on April 30 at the age of 77. We air our 2008 conversation with Auster about his novel, Man In The Dark.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key Words: author interview, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon, fiction, Adelle Waldman, Paul Auster















A Novel About The Real Lives of Low-wage Workers













Adelle Waldman always thought she would dedicate her writing career to penning fiction about the love affairs of the upper middle class, like her literary hero, Jane Austen. Her bestselling first novel, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., published in 2014, fit that mold.







But her new novel, Help Wanted, breaks it. Instead of skewering the absurdities of the Brooklyn literati, it shines a light on the odds low-wage workers are up against in today’s economy.







And those odds are daunting, as Waldman discovered when she took a job at a Target store to find out how those workers really live.







Despite the success of the Fight For Fifteen movement, which moved many major retailers like Walmart and Target to raise their hourly wage to $15 dollars an hour or even a few dollars more, real yearly wages are worse than they were 20 years ago. That’s because most non-management retail jobs are now part time without benefits.







Not only that, work hours are erratic, as corporate management fiddles with schedules to “maximize efficiency.” One week, a “Team Member” could be working 40 hours; the next week, 5, and on a different shift. It’s hard to plan, keep food on the table, pay rent or even manage a second job under those conditions.







With a richly drawn cast of characters, Waldman’s novel Help Wanted is a funny, moving tale of ordinary people trying to make a living.















Remembering Paul Auster







by Writer’s Voice Host Francesca Rheannon













I opened the New York Times on May 1 to the headline: “Paul Auster, the Patron Saint of Literary Brooklyn, Dies at 77.”







I was immediately transported back to the dimly lit studio at WMUA 91.1 FM in Amherst, Massachusetts where, in 2008, I spoke with Auster via phone about his novel Man In The Dark. Writer’s Voice was only four years old then and I was thrilled to have scored an interview with an author the Times obit called “one of the signature New York writers of his generation.”







After 9/11, Paul Auster said that “writing is no longer a matter of free will for him–it’s a matter of survival.” Man In The Dark deals with issues of survival in a post 9/11 America — the survival of ...

We talk with Greg Wrenn about his book Mothership: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis. It’s about healing the maladaptive imprinting of childhood trauma with Nature — and psychedelics.







Then, a climate journalist tries a new tack to craft a narrative about the climate emergency. We talk with Elizabeth Kolbert about her illustrated alphabet book, H Is For Hope: Climate Change From A To Z.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.







Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key Words: author interview, memoir, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon, climate change, climate crisis, ayahuasca, Greg Wrenn, Elizabeth Kolbert















Greg Wrenn’s Journey of Healing













When Greg Wrenn was growing up, he loved to snorkel in the Florida coral reefs. They were still beautiful, but already threatened from pollution.







Threat was also something Wrenn experienced nearly every day of his life. As a child, he was the victim of emotional and physical abuse that deeply scarred him.







His love of Nature led Wrenn to become an environmental educator teaching writing about the environment to college students. But the complex PTSD resulting from his childhood trauma crippled his relationships and his sense of self.







Then, Nature provided him with a cure — in this case in the form of the psychedelic preparation, ayahuasca.







Bringing together the personal and transpersonal, Wrenn’s memoir Mothership charts his journey from trauma to healing. It’s an eloquent testament to how connecting to Nature can make us whole, not only as individuals but as members of our planetary community.















Elizabeth Kolbert Talks Climate From A to Z













There are 26 letters in the alphabet. That fact gives Elizabeth Kolbert 26 ways to talk about the climate emergency, possible solutions and obstacles to deploying them.







In her new book, H Is For Hope, Kolbert tells a nuanced story, one that holds the truth of fierce hope and daunting challenges in the same embrace.







Beautifully illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook, H Is For Hope is a complicated story told with elegant simplicity. This alphabet book for grownups is an innovative way to teach about the most existential threat we face with charm, humor and accessablity.







Kolbert has been a guest on Writer’s Voice stretching back to 2008, when we first interviewed her about her New Yorker article about the world’s first wind farm to provide 100% renewable energy to its community, “The Island In The Wind.” We spoke with her also about her books, The Sixth Extinction and Under A White Sky.







Read An Excerpt

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, we feature two stories about war and secrets. First, we talk with Howard Mansfield about his book, I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid About World War II. The book uncovers the truth about the terrible toll that war took on American airmen like Mansfield’s father—revealing the real story behind the much touted “glory.”







Then we talk with journalist Sasha Vasilyuk about her terrific debut novel, Your Presence Is Mandatory (publication date 4/23/24). It hews closely to her own family’s history, particularly her Jewish Ukrainian grandfather’s hidden past as a World War II prisoner of war.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key Words: author interview, memoir, fiction, book podcast, Writer’s Voice, WWII, Soviet Union, nonfiction







Read The Transcript















Howard Mansfield













It’s a phenomenon: why did so few American veterans of WWII ever talk about their experience of war?







That’s something Howard Mansfield set out to discover when, shortly before his father died, he came across a battered diary his dad had kept while flying bomber missions over Germany.







In his new book, I Will Tell No War Stories, Mansfield suggests that the sheer magnitude of the war, the harsh conditions of aerial combat and the emotional toll of witnessing destruction and loss, including of civilian populations made it hard for veterans to articulate their experiences.







Also playing a part? The cultural expectation of stoicism and a desire to shield future generations from the horrors of war.







Mansfield’s book serves as a reminder of the individual sacrifices and collective traumas endured by those who served in World War II. But it also holds lessons for us today about confronting the truth about the real human cost of war, wherever and whenever it happens.







In addition to I Will Tell No War Stories, Howard Mansfield is the author of The Habit of Turning The World Upside Down, Chasing Eden and Dwelling In Possibility, among others.







Listen to our previous interviews with Howard Mansfield















Sasha Vasilyuk













Sasha Vasilyuk’s journey from Soviet Crimea to the United States is a testament to the complexities of identity and history. Born in a region marked by geopolitical shifts and historical turmoil, Vasilyuk’s experiences shaped her perspective and inspired her novel, Your Presence Is Mandatory.







Through her family’s history, particularly her Jewish Ukrainian grandfather’s hidden past as a World War II prisoner of war, Vasilyuk explores themes of secrecy, shame, and the impact of totalitarian regimes on personal and collective narratives.







Beautifully written, with a vivid cast of characters, Your Presence is Mandatory is a deeply moving contemplation of how secrets breed shame and suffering, even when they are held in order to protect others...

We talk with Brad Gooch about his acclaimed new biography of Keith Haring, RADIANT: The Life and Line of Keith Haring. Then we listen back to a clip of Gooch talking with us in 2017 about his biography, Rumi’s Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love.







Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.







Find us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram and Threads @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on X/Twitter @WritersVoice.Love Writer’s Voice? Please rate us on your podcast app. It really helps to get the word out about our show.







Key words: biography, Keith Haring, Rumi, Brad Gooch, podcast, author interview, history, book show





Read more: Brad Gooch on The Radiant Life of Keith Haring & more





Keith Haring: Breaking Barriers







In the 1980s, the subways of New York City were covered with art. In the stations, black matte sheets were pasted over outdated ads, and unsigned chalk drawings often popped up on these blank spaces.







These temporary chalk drawings numbered in the thousands and became synonymous with a city as diverse as it was at war with itself, beset with poverty and crime but alive with art and creative energy. And every single one of those drawings was done by Keith Haring.













Haring was one of the most emblematic artists of the 1980s. Part of an iconic cultural crowd that included Andy Warhol, Madonna, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring broke down the barriers between high art and popular culture, creating work that was accessible for all and using it as a means to provoke and inspire radical social change.







Haring died of AIDS in 1990. To this day, his influence on our culture remains.







RADIANT: Brad Gooch’s Definitive Biography of Haring







Brad Gooch’s biography of Keith Haring, Radiant, brings Haring’s brilliant but tragically short life to light, painting a vivid picture of the life and times of his subject. Gooch was granted access to Haring’s extensive archive to write a biography that will become the authoritative work on the artist.







About the Author







Brad Gooch is a poet, novelist, and biographer. In addition to Radiant and Rumi’s Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love (we play an excerpt from our 2017 interview with Gooch about Rumi’s Secret) he’s the author of biographies of Flannery O’Connor and Frank O’Hara; as well as several other works, including memoir, poetry and fiction.

A grandmother’s traumatic history reverberates through three generations…







We talk with Tessa Hulls about her powerful graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts. It tells the story of three generations of women — her Chinese grandmother, Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and herself —and how, in the process of writing and drawing their stories, she was able to heal the trauma that haunted them.







Then, we remember the great primatologist Frans de Waal, who passed away March 14. We re-air our 2022 interview with him about his last book, Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist.







Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.







Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice Radio or find us on Threads and Instagram at writersvoicepodcast and at X/Twitter @WritersVoice.







Key words: memoir, podcast, author interview, Frans de Waal, Tessa Hulls, gender, history







Read The Transcript





















TESSA HULLS: TRANSGENERATIONAL TRAUMA







When Tessa Hulls was growing up in a tiny town in the Pacific Northwest, all she knew about her grandmother Sun Yi, who lived with her family, was that she was Chinese, she’d been a famous journalist before the Communist takeover, and that something had happened to make her lose her mind.







She also knew that her mother’s overwhelming obsession was to take care of Sun Yi — something she had been doing ever since she was a kid in Hong Kong, after the two escaped Communist China, and then later when they emigrated to the US.







What Tessa Hulls didn’t know is how that history of political trauma contaminated every aspect of her mother’s relationship to Tessa herself. And why she had spent much of her childhood and early adulthood trying to escape from the ghosts haunting her mother and grandmother — and, by extension, her.







Feeding Ghosts is a vivid journey into the beating heart of one family, set against the dark backdrop of Chinese history. By turns fascinating and heartbreaking, inventive and poignant, Hulls’ memoir exposes the fear and trauma that haunt generations, and the love that holds them together.







About The Author







Tessa Hulls is an artist, a writer, and an adventurer. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Atlas Obscura, and Adventure Journal, and her comics have been published in various venues.







See images from FEEDING GHOSTS















Remembering Frans de Waal







The world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal passed away on March 15.













During his long career, he studied all the great apes — including humans. His research showed that the capacity for cooperation and empathy is innate and continuous between the different ape species, from chimps and gorillas to bonobos and humans.







In 2022,