The New York Public Library Podcast

In this episode of Library Talks, Colm Tóibín sits down with Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes to discuss his latest book, Long Island, which takes place twenty years after the events of his bestselling and beloved novel Brooklyn.

The groundbreaking translator and professor of classics reads from and discusses her masterful new English version of the greatest literary landmark of antiquity. Actors Ben Shenkman and Morgan Spector will read selections from Wilson's translation.

Social and technology critic Ruha Benjamin examines the power of our imagination to challenge systems of oppression and to create a world in which everyone can thrive.

Legendary novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson discusses her new book, Reading Genesis, with author Ayana Mathis. Often overlooked as a piece of literature, Robinson reconsiders The Book of Genesis and its exploration of themes that resonate throughout the Old and New Testaments.

Hillary Rodham Clinton sits down with author Jennifer Weiner to discuss books, politics, and much more.

Journalist and the author Sasha Issenberg sits down with the New York Times’ senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman to discuss his latest book, The Lie Detectives.

The Accidental Icon Lyn Slater, a fashion and culture influencer, talks about her new book, How to Be Old, and reflects on life in her 60s. She speaks with Chloé Cooper Jones, author of the bestselling memoir Easy Beauty.

Author and journalist Benjamin Balint sits down with Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Joshua Cohen to discuss Balint’s latest book Bruno Schulz, a fresh portrait of the Polish-Jewish writer and artist that draws on extensive new reporting and archival research.

The author of Sudden Death returns with a new novel that reimagines the destinies of Tenochtitlan.

Historian and author Heather Cox Richardson sits down with Andrew Delbanco to discuss her most recent book, Democracy Awakening.

The iconic feminist poet Judy Grahn re-explores the traditions of lesbian poetry from Sappho to Pat Parker and beyond.

Prize-winning author Vauhini Vara sits down with Leslie Jamison to discuss her first collection of short stories, This Is Salvaged.

Authors Ayana Mathis, author of The Unsettled, and Justin Torres, author of Blackouts, speak about their award-winning novels.

In this episode of Library Talks, author Kliph Nesteroff sits down with comedian Marc Maron to discuss his new book, Outrageous, which chronicles the controversies of American show business and the ongoing attempts to change what we watch, read, and hear.

Politicians and activists discuss the continuing push to revive the much-contested Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Mary Beard returns to the Library to talk with Tim Gunn about her new book, Emperor of Rome, her long-awaited follow up to the international bestseller SPQR.

In this episode of Library Talks, C Pam Zhang sits down with Padma Lakshmi to discuss her latest novel Land of Milk and Honey, which tells the story of climate disaster and a young chef discovering pleasure at the end of the world. Zhang is the winner of the Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Award and the Asian/Pacific Award for Literature, a Booker Prize nominee, and a finalist for numerous other prizes, including the the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Zhang’s writing appears in Best American Short Stories, The Cut, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. She is a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree and a New York Public Library Cullman Fellow. Padma Lakshmi is an Emmy-nominated producer, television host, food expert, and a New York Times best-selling author and one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People (2023).

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond’s latest book, Poverty, by America, reimagines the American debate on poverty, making an original and ambitious argument about why it persists here: because too many of us benefit from it. In this episode of Library Talks, Desmond speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliot to discuss his new ways of thinking around this morally urgent, uniquely American problem—and imagines practical, achievable solutions for making poverty disappear.

Acclaimed scholar and writer Alondra Nelson leads a discussion on the transnational impacts of artificial intelligence and the need for global collaboration. Speakers include Karen Kornbluh, Maria Ressa, Olatunbosun Tijani, Tim Wu

The new novel by award-winning author Luis Alberto Urrea, Good Night, Irene, tells an overlooked story of women’s heroism in World War II, inspired by the experiences of his own mother. Urrea speaks about his “moving and graceful tribute to heroic women” that asks whether a friendship forged on the front lines of war defines a life forever.