PODCAST · society
Book Public
by Yvette Benavides
Book Public is a Texas Public Radio podcast about books. At Book Public we believe books have the power to enlighten and entertain us. Listen in as we talk to authors about their books and why and how they wrote them. At Book Public we’re committed to connecting listeners to books that help us understand today’s world—and each other—a little bit better.
Episodes
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Book Public: 'Music Against the Night' by Yiyun Li
Acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning author Yiyun Li discusses Music Against the Night, a sweeping historical novel set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Through the lives of two musicians, Li explores artistic ambition, sacrifice and the elusive promise of being remembered.
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Book Public: 'My Heart Is Broken' by Mavis Gallant
A reflection on Mavis Gallant’s “My Heart Is Broken,” a powerful story about violence, silence and the limits of our ability to understand another person’s suffering.
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Book Public: 'Simple Recipes' by Madeleine Thien
A review of Madeleine Thien’s story collection, "Simple Recipes." It's a quietly powerful collection about family, displacement and the ways love, memory and history shape the lives we inherit.
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Mirror Books: The books that helped Sandra Cisneros see herself
Mirror Books is a new podcast series from Book Public at Texas Public Radio about seeing ourselves — and discovering and knowing others — through books. Our inaugural guest is acclaimed author Sandra Cisneros, whose writing has become a mirror for countless readers. Listen as she discusses not…
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Book Public: 'Unsayable' by Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours, discusses his new book, Unsayable: A Life in Writing, and the mysteries of memory, imagination and storytelling.
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Book Public: 'The Typing Lady' by Ruth Ozeki
In this interview, Ruth Ozeki talks about writing stories, publishing a story collection at age 70, the supremely skilled ways she can write about a range of characters in diverse places, the trunk full of ideas around stories and loss and, of course, typing.
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Book Public: 'Descanso for My Father' by Harrison Candelaria Fletcher
In this episode, Book Public host Yvette Benavides shares a reflection on an essay collection that explores grief and how we make meaning from loss.
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Book Public: 'The Things We Never Say' by Elizabeth Strout
What are the mysteries behind the quiet routines of one Artie Dam, a high school history teacher in Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel? The Things We Never Say explores isolation and the painful, fragile truths we keep hidden because we don't have the words to talk about them. And yet, this luminous...
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Book Public: 'A History of Heartache' by Patrick Strickland
Patrick Strickland discusses his story collection "A History of Heartache." These are stories set in North Texas that chart the small moments of grace, and the almost insurmountable mistakes boys inherit. These are gritty, sometimes violent stories, but there is a tenderness, too, and the knife’s...
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Book Public: 'Ghosts of Fourth Street' by Laurie Hertzel
Laurie Hertzel's memoir is an open, frank rumination on a brother's death and its reverberations throughout a family.
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Book Public: 'Ashland' by Dan Simon
Dan Simon discusses his debut novel, "Ashland." Six characters tell their story about living in this mill town in New Hampshire. They share resonant, unforgettable stories about the place they all have in common. They grapple with life’s mysteries and reveal to readers the sheer beauty in their...
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Book Public: 'One Sun Only' by Camille Bordas
Camille Bordas discusses her story collection, One Sun Only. She also shares her thoughts on writing about loss, reading nonfiction for inspiration for writing fiction and balancing humor with the more serious subject matter of her stories.
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Book Public: 'To Absent Friends: Eudora Welty’s Correspondence with Frank Lyell’
On this episode, Yvette Benavides shares a reflection on ‘To Absent Friends: Eudora Welty’s Correspondence with Frank Lyell’ selected and edited by Julia Eichelberger.
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Book Public: 'Time of the Child' by Niall Williams
The village of Faha in Ireland in 1962 is the setting of the latest novel by Niall Williams, Time of the Child. The protagonist, Dr. Jack Troy, is a quiet, serious man who lives alone with his eldest daughter — and a world of regret. One December day, a baby is left in his care — and will make…
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Book Public: Giving thanks through poetry
Prayers, grace, words of gratitude. Doesn’t it seem like Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday for poetry? Yvette Benavides, the host of 'Book Public,' shares some of her favorite poems about giving thanks.
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Book Public: 'The Art of Jacques Pépin'
The Art of Jacques Pépin celebrates the master chef and 99 of his all-time favorite recipes, paired with his signature artwork spanning the last 60 years.
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Book Public: 'Startlement' by Ada Limón
Ada Limón served as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. Her latest book, Startlement: New and Selected Poems, is a retrospective spanning two decades and also includes 21 new poems. The book is the poet's invitation to meet the world with an open mind — but also an open heart. She...
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Book Public: 'At Last' by Marisa Silver
Marisa Silver joins Yvette Benavides on Book Public to discuss her latest novel, At Last. Helene and Evelyn are two women who are bound together because they happen to be the mothers of two people who marry. We learn about the lives of these women and what it means for them to be in this season…
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Book Public: 'A Guardian and a Thief' by Megha Majumdar
Megha Majumdar's novel, A Guardian and a Thief, is set in the near future in Kolkata amid a climate crisis. There are two families from very different stations in life struggling to survive. But whose story of survival matters more? Who is the guardian and who is the thief?
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Book Public: 'Girl Warrior' by Joy Harjo
In Girl Warrior, Joy Harjo shares stories about her own coming of age to bring to light pivotal moments of becoming—among them, forgiveness, failure, falling, rising up, honoring those who came before and making space for those who will come after us.
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Book Public: 'Starting from Here' by Paula Saunders
Paula Saunders discusses her novel Starting from Here. It's a coming-of-age story about 15-year-old René. She leaves a home that is tense and difficult in order to pursue a career in ballet. But the challenges of this displacement are as fraught—and even dangerous.
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Book Public: 'Kaplan's Plot' by Jason Diamond
In Jason Diamond's novel, Kaplan's Plot, Elijah’s mother is dying, and she is sharing some family secrets he never knew before— including that the family owns a cemetery and his grandfather was a gangster in Chicago. In this family, the relationships across generations have always been fraught…
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Book Public: 'The Waterbearers' by Sasha Bonét
Sasha Bonét’s intergenerational memoir, The Waterbearers, offers us the idea that the journey of Black American motherhood is like a complex, powerful river. As you read, you travel through generations—from a Louisiana cotton plantation to modern-day New York. She explores triumphs and trials—and...
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Book Public: ‘Weepers’ and ‘Exhibitionist’ by Peter Mendelsund
Peter Mendelsund has two new books out. His latest novel is Weepers—about card-carrying members of a union of people who cry for a living. His memoir is Exhibitionist: 1 journal, 1 Depression and 100 Paintings. He had never painted—but the obsession with it may have saved his life.
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Book Public: ‘Tonight in Jungleland’ by Peter Ames Carlin
Peter Ames Carlin discusses his latest book— Tonight in Jungleland—about the making of the iconic album Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. The album was released in 1975. Carlin provides us close access to The Boss—and takes us inside the creative processes that rendered this classic collection of...
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Book Public: 'The Gossip Columnist's Daughter' by Peter Orner
This one is for all the lonely voices out there. We’ve got a podcast crossover on this episode. Peter Orner from The Lonely Voice podcast joins Yvette Benavides on Book Public to discuss his already critically acclaimed novel, The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter. A little noir, a little true crime,...
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Book Public: 'The End is the Beginning' by Jill Bialosky
In this tender, brave and heartrending memoir, Jill Bialosky shares the story of her mother—in reverse chronology. It is an elegy and a story of her resilience—and the legacy of love she left behind.
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Book Public: 'Friends with Words' by Martha Barnette
Marth Barnette is the host of the public radio show and podcast, A Way with Words. Her latest book, Friends with Words, is a linguistic memoir. We learn about her lifelong passion for languages and her fascination with words.
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Book Public: 'Love, Rita' by Bridgett M. Davis
Bridgett M. Davis shares a tribute to her sister, Rita. The memoir is a family history, social commentary, elegy, and celebration of life.
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Book Public: "Loneliness" from the collection 'Second Childhood' by Fanny Howe
Fanny Howe passed away on July 9 at the age of 85. Yvette Benavides pays tribute to the author and shares Howe's poem, "Loneliness."
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Book Public: 'The Slip' by Lucas Schaefer
The Slip by Lucas Schaefer is an epic novel, but it tells a very intimate story about the basic human need to belong. Spanning over a dozen years and weaving the intersecting tales of a varied cast of characters, it's a story for right now—about all of us.
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Book Public: “Birdsong from the Radio” from the story collection ‘The Souvenir Museum’ by Elizabeth McCracken
Yvette Benavides reflects on the power of short fiction to convey what we might not have the words for. "Birdsong from the Radio" is from the collection The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken.
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Book Public: 'The Scrapbook' by Heather Clark
The Scrapbook is a novel that is a modern-day love story in the shadow of German history—a Germany of artists, philosophers, virtuosos—and World War II. Heather Clark is the guest on this episode of Book Public to discuss her novel, The Scrapbook.
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Book Public: 'Homework' by Geoff Dyer
Readers of Geoff Dyer’s books have come to expect his trademark humor and incisive cultural commentary. His new book, Homework, shows us that the more success he had in school, the further he diverged from his parents. But his telling of this story brings us up close to share in his profound...
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Book Public: 'Endling' by Maria Reva
In the novel Endling, by Maria Reva, protagonist Yeva joins guided romance tours in Ukraine to help pay for her research as a snail conservationist. Somehow, she becomes part of a kidnapping caper. Then Russia invades Ukraine. And the book shifts to a work of nonfiction with the author herself...
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Book Public: 'The Fate of Others' by Richard Bausch
Richard Bausch discusses his latest story collection, The Fate of Others. This may be the author’s 24th book, but it is a fresh, powerful collection of stories for today’s world with all its resonances of loss and isolation—but also of hope.
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Book Public: 'Have Mercy on Us' by Lisa Cupolo
The flaws and follies of Cupolo’s characters teach us something about what it means to be human when we make mistakes or when we allow each other mercy. Lisa Cupolo discusses her award-winning story collection.
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Book Public: 'The Bright Years' by Sarah Damoff
The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff is a multigenerational family saga that underscores the ways that a family tries to navigate and survive addiction, grief, shame and the losses that loving deeply can bring to our lives. Secrets and regrets, forgiveness and grace—all figure in this tender story...
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Book Public: 'Four Red Sweaters' by Lucy Adlington
Jock Heidenstein. Anita Lasker. Chana Zumerkorn, Regina Feldman. These young women did not know each other. They never met—not before or after their respective experiences during the Holocaust. What connects their incredible stories? A red sweater. Lucy Adlington discusses her book Four Red...
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Book Public: 'The Imagined Life' by Andrew Porter
The Imagined Life is a novel about memory, music and longing—and about the bonds between a father and a son. Andrew Porter discusses his latest novel on the latest episode of Book Public.
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Book Public: ‘Book of Potions’ by Lauren K. Watel
For author Lauren K. Watel, “potions” are part poem and part fiction. There are 75 prose-like vignettes with the density and intensity of poems in her "Book of Potions."
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Book Public: 'Brother Brontë' by Fernando A. Flores
The novel is set in 2038 in Three Rivers, Texas. A corrupt industrialist is the mayor. Women are indentured laborers in a fish cannery. Reading books is against the law. Protagonist Neftalí is the last literate citizen of the town. What can she do to reclaim and help her city?
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Book Public: ‘Our Beautiful Boys’ by Sameer Pandya
The novel is about race and class and about parents trying to raise their sons in our fraught times.
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Book Public: 'The Horse' by Willy Vlautin
The protagonist is a supremely talented man who is also deeply troubled. He must emerge from his isolation to help a blind, wounded, helpless horse—but can he also save himself?
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Book Public: 'We're Alone' by Edwidge Danticat
Edwidge Danticat discusses her essay collection, We're Alone. The essays cover subjects like environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience.
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Book Public: 'Back After This' by Linda Holmes
In the novel, Back After This, a podcast producer in Washington D.C. becomes the host of a new podcast—about dating. It’s a break she’s been waiting for. But will this new opportunity destroy her chances at love instead? Linda Holmes discusses her latest novel on the next episode of Book Public.
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Book Public: ‘Nesting’ by Roisín O’Donnell
A young, pregnant mother tries to leave an abusive husband. Obstacles are everywhere for her and her children. Yvette Benavides reviews Nesting—a tense and emotional novel by Roisín O'Donnell.
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Book Public: 'The Umbrella Maker's Son' by Tod Lending
Tod Lending joins Yvette Benavides for a discussion about The Umbrella Maker’s Son. This World War II novel is a powerful and poignant story about survival and hope in the face of terror and violence. It's an important addition to modern works of Holocaust literature.
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Book Public: 'Selena: A Little Golden Book Biography'
A new Little Golden Book biography immortalizes the story of Selena Quintanilla for a new generation of young readers.
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Book Public: Writing and art from the farmworker community in 'The Common'
This special issue of the Book Public podcast includes conversations and readings from several contributors whose work appears in issue No. 26 of The Common.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Book Public is a Texas Public Radio podcast about books. At Book Public we believe books have the power to enlighten and entertain us. Listen in as we talk to authors about their books and why and how they wrote them. At Book Public we’re committed to connecting listeners to books that help us understand today’s world—and each other—a little bit better.
HOSTED BY
Yvette Benavides
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Book Public have?
Book Public currently has 209 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Book Public about?
Book Public is a Texas Public Radio podcast about books. At Book Public we believe books have the power to enlighten and entertain us. Listen in as we talk to authors about their books and why and how they wrote them. At Book Public we’re committed to connecting listeners to books that help us...
How often does Book Public release new episodes?
Book Public publishes regularly with 209 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Book Public?
You can listen to Book Public on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Book Public?
Book Public is created and hosted by Yvette Benavides.
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