On Non-Fiction Yale Authors

Dr. and author Sherwin Nuland talks about a lecture he delivered at the American Philosophical Society in 2011 on the subject of "Books and Men": how great books dispelled ancient dogma and set back the frontiers of medical knowledge.

How can an industry as easily corruptible as finance be good for society? Shiller addresses the question in this interview, concluding that a reputation for "integrity" is to some extent a self-regulating principle of the trade.

In "Venceremos," Jafari S. Allen shows how black Cubans engage in acts of "erotic self-making," reinterpreting, transgressing and transforming radicalized and sexualized interpretations of their identities in their struggles for autonomy and dignity.

"A Home Elsewhere: Reading African American Classics in the Age of Obama" explores the ways in which Barack Obama's autobiographical "Dreams from My Father" is in "conversation" with the African American authors of other literary classics.

"The Performance of Politics" is an exploration of the democratic struggle for power in America in the context of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Yale lecturer Binnie Klein will read from her book "Blows to the Head: How Boxing Changed My Mind." In this book, Binnie Klein describes how she took up the sport in her mid-fifties and how her fascination with boxing led her back to her roots and to a chapter of the Jewish immigrant experience.