Category: 3-BookTalkSometimeCommentary

A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada–United States Border across Indigenous Lands (Oxford UP, 2021), is the recipient of the AHA’s Albert Corey Prize in the history of Canadian–American relations. In A Line of Blood and Dirt, Benjamin Hoy shows how the US-Canadian border was built across Indigenous lands. He explores the experiences of various indigenous groups, European settlers, African Americans, and Chinese immigrants. 

Benjamin Hoy is an assistant professor of history at the University of Saskatchewan, where he directs the Historical GIS Lab.

Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network.

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For many Americans, the “Green Book” is an Oscar-winning film. But for generations of Black Americans, it served as a literal map for traveling through an often hostile and hateful country, finding safety and businesses that would serve us. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by writer and financial educator Alvin Hall. He’s the author of Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance. Hall explains how the original Green Book began, discusses its evolution, and why he’s dedicated years to studying and sharing stories of its impact.

Guest: Alvin Hall, author of Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance 

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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Make an impact this Black History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund UNCF scholarships for HBCU students. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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This week, host Isaac Butler talks to V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of the book Brotherless Night, which takes place during the Sri Lankan Civil War and was recently featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review. In the interview, Ganeshananthan discusses her experience in journalism school and explains how it laid the foundation for her fiction writing. Then she talks about the unique POV of Brotherless Night, the book’s multi-decade writing process, and the careful research that allowed her to depict the Sri Lankan Civil War. 

After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas talk about lessons learned in graduate school. Then they explain why you should dare yourself to take creative risks. 

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. 

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Driving too fast through Israel’s Negev desert in his SUV after a long day in the hospital, Dr Eitan Green accidentally hits a lone Eritrean man on the empty moonlit road, killing him instantly.

Panic stricken he drives off instead of calling for help and confessing what he’s done. A decision that will change the course of his life irrevocably because the dead man’s wife, the elegant, enigmatic Sikrit, knows what happened. In atonement for his crime Sikrit insists the doctor start treating Eritrean refugees after his hospital dayshifts at clandestine makeshift hospitals in the desert.

A nail-biting and morally devastating drama of guilt, racism, shame and desire which stares unflinchingly at the darkness inside us all, and asks the reader: what would you have done?

(Picture: Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. Photo credit: Alon Siga.)

This week, Chris Miller joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers to discuss his new book, Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology. They discuss the crucial role of microchips, the global dynamics of microchip design and manufacturing, and how chips factor into US-China relations.

 

In the Plus segment: Moore’s Law.

 

Podcast production by Anna Phillips.

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Feeling down about museums? We have so many reasons to, but Chris Newell, Tribal Community Member-in-Residence at UConn and Director of Education at the Akomawt Educational Initiative, gives a dose of optimism about the future of museums.

Learn more about the Seeing Truth exhibition at our website.

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Alexis L. Boylan is the director of academic affairs of the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute (UCHI) and an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Art and Art History Department and the Africana Studies Institute

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth is joined by author and Slate editor Dan Kois to talk about men writing women. Dan’s new book, Vintage Contemporaries, is the coming of age story of Em and the two women who had a meaningful impact on her life. Dan and Cheyna talk about how Dan wrote true to life female characters without falling into the #menwritewomen trap, why he told a story with female characters, and how to navigate the tricky world of writing characters of the opposite sex.

In Slate Plus, how the HarperCollins strike is impacting women.

You can find the HarperCollins Bookshop link here.

 

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.

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This week, host June Thomas talks to poet Chip Livingston, who recently compiled a collection of letters titled, Love, Loosha: The Letters of Lucia Berlin and Kenward Elmslie. It documents the friendship between the writer Lucia Berlin, who is now well-regarded for her short stories but was underappreciated during her lifetime, and the poet and librettist Kenward Elmslie. In the interview, Chip shares how he put the collection together and talks about his personal relationships with both Berlin and Elmslie. He also explains how the book can serve as a useful depiction of what it’s like to live as an artist.  

After the interview, June and co-host Isaac Butler talk more about what we can learn from the letters of great writers. They also discuss overly confessional writing and how to determine the audience for your work. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Chip talks about how his love of poetry blossomed in part thanks to his friendship with Kenward Elmslie. 

Do you have a question about creative work? Call us and leave a message at (304) 933-9675 or email us at working@slate.com.

 

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. 

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work.

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This week, Felix Gillette joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers to talk about his new book It's Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO and discuss the state of streaming, the relationship between sports and advertisers, and the decline of the movie theater industry.

 

In the Plus segment: YouTube.

 

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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David Plotz talks with author Shahan Mufti about his new book, American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC. They discuss an Islamic group’s multi-location attack in D.C., the terror that hostages experienced while held captive for the two days, and the movie that started the whole thing. 

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

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