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Join The New York Public Library and your favorite writers, artists, and thinkers for smart talks and provocative conversations from the nation's cultural capital.
368 Episodes
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In this episode of Library Talks, Irin Carmon speaks with Melissa Murray about her new book Unbearable. In Unbearable, Irin Carmon draws on the history and politics of reproduction, showing how the American story of pregnancy has long been incomplete, hidden, or taken for granted. Pregnant herself while reporting on the lived experiences of five women navigating pregnancy during the Supreme Court's rollback of abortion, Carmon blends personal narrative with rigorous journalism to reveal systemic injustices that span from New York City to rural Alabama, touching lives across both urban and rural communities, rich and poor alike. Carmon speaks with legal scholar Melissa Murray about how the healthcare system fails women at their most vulnerable—and why a more dignified future is urgently needed.
In this episode of Library Talks, Author Francesca Wade, joins Library Talks to discuss her new book Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife she is joined by fellow author Brenda Wineapple who's most recent book is national bestseller, Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation. Gertrude Stein's Paris salon is the stuff of literary legend. Many have tried to capture the spirit of the place that once entertained the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, but perhaps none as determinedly as Stein herself. Pushing beyond the conventions of literary biography to explore the nature of legacy and memory itself, Francesca Wade uncovers the origins of Stein's radical writing and reveals new depths to the storied relationship with Alice B. Toklas that made it possible.
In this episode of Library Talks, Ray D. Madoff, a professor at Boston College Law School, talks about her new book The Second Estate which lifts the veil on the 7,000-page tax code that has created two Americas. In one America, "millions of working Americans pay substantial portions of their resources to support the expenses of the country." In another, the wealthiest one percent have been "given the tools to abdicate their responsibilities and, in a sense, to relocate to a tax-free version of American life." Madoff talks to stand-up comedian Gary Gulman about how these mechanisms were enshrined in law and created a sovereign state of wealth and who bears the costs of a tax system that consolidates wealth at the top.
In this episode of Library Talks, Cheryl McKissack Daniel—fifth-generation leader of the nation's oldest Black-owned design and construction services firm, sits down with multimedia mogul Charlamagne Tha God to discuss her family's extraordinary 200-year history, as captured in her new book The Black Family Who Built America. From the National Civil Rights Museum in Tennessee, to the Atlantic Yards (Pacific Park) LIRR Yard relocation, the Barclays Center Arena construction in Brooklyn, the Oculus in Manhattan, the New Terminal One at JFK International Airport, and the cherished Lincoln Financial Field of the Philadelphia Eagles, Cheryl McKissack Daniel's family-run construction business, McKissack & McKissack, has contributed to the creation of some of the nation's most significant landmarks. Over the course of the 200-year history of the McKissack family The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers by Cheryl McKissack Daniel with Nick Chiles, showcases a compelling narrative of Black achievement, resilience, and a legacy that endures.
In this episode of Library Talks, acclaimed novelist Gish Jen joins Library Talks to discuss her latest book Bad Bad Girl. She is joined by fellow novelist Weike Wang. Bad Bad Girl began as a memoir of her late mother, Loo Shu-hsin, before evolving into a fictionalized portrait of their turbulent mother-daughter relationship. As a child Shu-hsin learns how little her life is valued as a woman in 1930s Shanghai and is constantly reprimanded, "Bad bad girl! You don't know how to talk!" Years later, struggling to keep her own family together as an expat in America, she finds herself incanting the same refrain to her own strong-willed, outspoken daughter. Spanning continents, generations, and cultures, Bad Bad Girl weaves fragments of memory with careful invention to create an intimate portrait of the complex bonds between mothers and daughters.
In this episode of Library Talks, join Dua Lipa for a live discussion of Flesh by David Szalay, a book club pick for Service95—the global lifestyle platform and weekly newsletter she founded. Longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, Flesh tells the rags-to-riches story of Istvan, a lonely young man raised on a Hungarian housing estate, whose rise from obscurity to success is ultimately derailed by events beyond his control.
In this episode of Library Talks, Educator NYPL staff member and author Brian Jones joins Library Talks to discuss his new book Black History Is for Everyone. He is joined by Dr. Bettina L. Love and Jesse Hagopian. In Black History Is for Everyone, Brian Jones offers a meditation on the power of Black history, using his own experiences as a lifelong learner and classroom teacher to question everything—from the radicalism of the American Revolution to the meaning of "race" and "nation."
In this episode of Library Talks , in honor of The New Yorker's 100th anniversary, editor David Remnick is joined by Henry Finder, Tyler Foggatt, Susan Morrison, and Daniel Zalewski for a rare editorial roundtable. They offer an insider's view into how articles are assigned, crafted, and brought to life—from first pitch to final publication—and how the magazine reflects and builds on its storied past. Presented in conjunction with The New York Public Library's major exhibition A Century of The New Yorker, on view through February 21, 2026, which draws on NYPL's collections, including the magazine's voluminous archives and the papers of many of its contributors, to bring to life the people, stories, and ideas that made The New Yorker.
In this episode of Library Talks, American historian Jill Lepore joins Library Talks to discuss her latest book We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution. She is joined by constitutional law expert Jamal Greene. On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding, Jill Lepore's We the People reexamines this foundational text not as a static artifact but as a living document shaped—and often stalled—by the will of the people. Drawing on research from the Amendments Project—a searchable archive of all the proposed amendments to the Constitution from 1789 to the present—Lepore traces more than two centuries of attempts, mostly by ordinary Americans, to amend a document designed both to resist change and to permit it through peaceful, democratic means.
In this episode of Library Talks, multidisciplinary artist and theologian, Tricia Hersey joins Library Talks to discuss her latest book We Will Rest!: The Art of Escape. She is joined by Glory Edim, author of Well Read Black Girl. Tricia Hersey is the founder of The Nap Ministry. She is the global pioneer and originator of the "rest as resistance" and "rest as reparations" frameworks, and collaborates with communities all over the world to create sacred spaces. This talk was recorded as part of the Schomburg Centennial Festival.
In this episode of Library Talks, Author and editor Lauren O'Neill-Butler joins Library Talks to discuss her latest book, The War of Art: A History of Artists' Protest in America. The War of Art tells the history of artist-led activism and the global political and aesthetic debates of the 1960s to the present. In contrast to the financialized art market and celebrity artists, the book explores the power of collective effort — from protesting to philanthropy, and from wheat pasting to planting a field of wheat.
In this episode of Library Talks, Miriam Toews, the internationally bestselling author of Women Talking and Fight Night discusses writing about her own life in nonfiction for the first time. Miriam Toews had written nine books, but when the organizer of a literary festival prompted her to answer the question "Why do you write?" Toews found that every attempted response only proved that the question might not be possible to answer. Her new book, A Truce That Is Not Peace, is a memoir of the will to write and a surfacing of new layers of guilt, grief, and futility connected to her sister's suicide. It explores the uneasy pact a writer makes with memory and the silences in her family she struggles to understand.
In this episode of Library Talks, Research scientist Joshua Miele joins Library Talks to discuss his memoir Connecting Dots: A Blind Life. He is joined by Andrew Leland, author of the memoir The Country of the Blind. Throughout his life, Miele has found increasingly inventive ways to succeed in a world built for the sighted, and to help others to do the same. At first reluctant to even think of himself as blind, he eventually embraced his blindness and became a committed advocate for disability and accessibility. Connecting Dots delivers a captivating first-person perspective on blindness and disability as incisive as it is entertaining. Joshua Miele's story is one of one ordinary blind life with an indelible impact.
In this episode of Library Talks, award-winning writer and multidisciplinary artist Eloghosa Osunde joins the podcast for a conversation about their new novel Necessary Fiction with the editor of Necessary Fiction Jake Morrissey. Necessary Fiction takes place across Lagos, one of Africa's largest urban areas and one of the world's most dynamic cities, Osunde's characters seek out love for self and their chosen partners, even as they risk ruining relationships with parents, spouses, family, and friends. As they work to establish themselves in the city's lively worlds of art, music, entertainment, and creative commerce, we meet their collective and individual attempts to reckon with the necessary fiction they carry for survival.
In this episode of Library Talks, writer, activist, and speaker Raquel Willis joins Library Talks to discuss her memoir The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation. She's joined by fellow writer Mecca Jamilah Sullivan. In The Risk It Takes to Bloom, Raquel Willis recounts with passion and candor her experiences straddling the Obama and Trump eras, the possibility of transformation after the tragedy, and how complex moments can push us all to take necessary risks and bloom toward collective liberation. This recording was part of the Schomburg Centennial Festival. Find more events celebrating the Schomburg Centennial
In this episode of Library Talks, Writer and director Malcolm D. Lee Joins Library Talks to discuss his debut novel The Best Man: Unfinished Business. He's joined by his coauthor Jayne Allen in a discussion moderated by radio and television host Bevy Smith. The beloved characters from Malcom D Lee's The Best Man movies and hit television series reunite in the first in the trilogy, The Best Man: Unfinished Business. The novel follows Harper, Jordan, and Robyn as they try to establish lives away from the hurts of the past and come to realize that some love is impossible to break.
In this episode of Library Talks, Novelist and features editor at The Verge Kevin Nguyen joins Library Talks to discuss his second novel Mỹ Documents Mỹ Documents follows four Vietnamese cousins whose lives are upended after a terrorist attack incites a government crackdown that targets their community through mass internment of Vietnamese-American citizens. Nguyen relies on the history of Japanese internment, the Vietnam War, and more recent immigrant detention to imagine a not-entirely-implausible near American future.
In this episode of Library Talks, Acclaimed translator and playwright Jeremy Tiang joins Library Talks to discuss his debut novel and winner of the Singapore Literature Prize State of Emergency. Jeremy Tiang is a novelist and playwright, and the translator of over thirty books from Chinese. His debut novel State of Emergency follows an extended family from the 1940s to the present day as they navigate the choppy political currents of the region.
In this episode of Library Talks, National book award finalist Jonas Hassen Khemiri talks to Tess Gunty about his latest book, The Sisters. Narrated in six parts, each spanning a period ranging from a year to a day to a single minute, Jonas Hassen Khemiri's The Sisters is a big, vivid family saga of the highest order Jonas Hassen Khemiri worked on The Sisters during his 2021-2022 Fellowship at the Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.
In this episode of Library Talks, New York's funniest LGBTQ performers take the stage for a one-night-only celebration of queer comedy, community, and joy. Hosted by Bobby Hankinson, Kweendom is an all-LGBTQ comedy show featuring some of the city's sharpest queer comedians and storytellers. Born from Hankinson's frustration with lineups lacking authentic queer representation, Kweendom centers a wide range of LGBTQ voices—spanning gender identities, cultures, and backgrounds—each sharing their distinct experiences through stand-up.
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Does anyine know if there are going to be any new episodes coming soon?
Really good and really interesting.
This is one of my favorite podcasts. All of the events and the panels are absolutely amazingly curated. The guests on the show (whether it be a recording of a in-person event or not) are excellent. My favorites are the episodes that are hosted by the Schomburg Center. Most recently I loved hearing Nikki Giovanni read her poetry, talk about the world, and answer questions from the audience. She is a phenomenal source of inspiration. My only wish is that all of the podcast episodes from the Schomburg Center were in a separate location from all of the New York Public Library podcasts. Oftentimes I'm only looking to listen to those podcast in particular. Thank you so much for making this accessible to everyone!
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