Library Talks

Heather Cox Richardson with Andrew Delbanco: Democracy Awakening

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Lesbian Poetic Traditions: Judy Grahn and Friends

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Vauhini Vara with Leslie Jamison: This Is Salvaged

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

Ayana Mathis and Justin Torres

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Outrageous: Kliph Nesteroff with Marc Maron

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Library Talks, author Kliph Nesteroff sits down with comedian Marc Maron to discuss his new book, Outrageous, which chronicles the ...

Far from Over: The Fight for the Equal Rights Amendment

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Mary Beard with Tim Gunn: Emperor of Rome

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 bestselle...

C Pam Zhang with Padma Lakshmi: Land of Milk and Honey

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 o...

Matthew Desmond and Andrea Elliott: Poverty, by America

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond's latest book, Poverty, by America, reimagines the American debate on poverty, making an original and am...

Building the World We Want: Artificial Intelligence and Global Governance

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Acclaimed scholar and writer Alondra Nelson leads a discussion on the transnational impacts of artificial intelligence and the need for global collabo...

Luis Alberto Urrea: Good Night, Irene

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Sasha Velour and Joe E. Jeffreys: Drag Manifesto

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sasha Velour is an iconic queen. Turns out she's also a historian! In this episode of Library Talks, Velour sits down with drag historian Joe E. Jeffr...

Sherrilyn Ifill: How America Ends and Begins Again

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back! The Library presents conversations with an incredible array of authors, performers, activists, and thinkers, and our Library Talks podca...

Stonewall 50: The Sound of Memory

23 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Stonewall Riots were a flash point in LGBTQ history. After the riots that took place at the Stonewall Inn in June 1969, the LGBTQ civil rights mov...

Before Stonewall

16 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Aidan Flax-Clark welcomes co-host Jason Baumann, Assistant Director for Collection Development and Coordinator of Humanities and the Library's LGBTQ I...

Marlon James Gets Nerdy with Kevin Young

09 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Marlon James is a Jamaican novelist and winner of the Man Booker Prize. His recent book Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the first in a epic trilogy that ...

A History of the Queer Press

02 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Gay Liberation Front was an organization recognized for publishing the first gay liberation newspaper in the world,"Come Out!". It provided openly...

Erin Lee Carr and Ta-Nehisi Coates Remember David Carr

26 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Documentary filmmaker Erin Lee Carr remembers her father, legendary journalist David Carr, in a moving new memoir, "All That You Leave Behind." Erin L...

How Robert Caro Writes About Power and the Powerless

19 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

At age 83, Robert Caro pulls back the curtains on his process, in his new book "Working." He also answers the question he is asked most often: why doe...

Breaking New Ground with Dr. Carla Hayden and Tracy K. Smith

12 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Carla Hayden is the 14th Librarian of Congress, the first African American and the first woman to hold this position. Tracy K. Smith is the 22nd...

Jill Abramson and Jane Mayer's Insider Take on the News

05 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The former executive editor of "The New York Times" tells the story of the news industry in  her new book "Merchants of Truth."  Jill Abramson tr...

Eliza Griswold Uncovers the Human Cost of Fracking

28 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist, Eliza Griswold just won a Pulitzer Prize and a Bernstein Award for her recent book,"Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of...

Shane Bauer's Undercover Reporting from Inside a Private Prison

21 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Going undercover as a prison guard in Winnifield, Louisiana, journalist Shane Bauer exposes the brutality of for-profit private prison systems, and ...

Emily Bazelon and Stacey Abrams talk Criminal Justice Reform

14 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the search for meaningful criminal justice reform, are prosecutors one of the keys to change? In her new book, "Charged," journalist  Emily Bazelo...

Bending Reality with G. Willow Wilson

07 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

G. Willow Wilson is a critically acclaimed novelist and co-creator of the first Muslim superhero with their own Marvel comic book series. Wilson's new...

Janet Napolitano Explains Homeland Security with Joe Biden

31 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Few people understand the state of our national security as well as Janet Napolitano and Joe Biden. Napolitano, former Dept. of Homeland Security Secr...

Still Cringing After 'Cat Person'

24 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When "Cat Person" appeared in "The New Yorker" in December 2017, it quickly became a viral hit, striking a chord with readers at the height of the #Me...

Paperback Crushin'

17 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The 1970s are sometimes hailed as the true dawn of young-adult literature, the decade when authors like Judy Blume and Lois Lowry showed that teen re...

Frankenstein: Our Dark Mirror

10 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Over 200 years ago, a teenage girl started a literary legacy that continues to haunt us today. Why do we still keep telling this story and how does it...

Marilynne Robinson: Liberalism and American Tradition Pt. II

03 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're featuring part two of Marilynne Robinson's lecture on American society, government and economy titled "Liberalism and American Tradit...

Marilynne Robinson: Liberalism and American Tradition Pt. I

24 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Marilynne Robinson is one of the most celebrated American writers—she won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was awarded a National Humanities Medal f...

How to Make Black Lives Matter at School

17 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Despite the fact that New York City is one of the most diverse places in the country our school system is among the most segregated. As part of the na...

Envisioning 'A People's Future of the United States'

10 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Howard Zinn's seminal 1980 work "A People's History of the United States" challenged dominant narratives of our country's past by uncovering its dark...

Jason Rezaian's 544 Days in an Iranian Prison

03 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jason Rezaian is an American journalist and author of a new memoir. In 2014, while reporting in Tehran for the Washington Post , he was arrested and ...

The Banished Immortal

27 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Internationally bestselling author Ha Jin discussed his latest book—a new biography about legendary eighth-century Chinese poet, Li Bai. Ha Jin re...

Seeing and Being Seen in Sally Wen Mao's 'Oculus'

20 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sally Wen Mao is the author of "Oculus," a collection of poems that explores sight and being seen, futuristic worlds and historical figures. She co...

Maria Popova's A Velocity of Being

13 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Popova & Claudia Bedrick curated an anthology of letters and original illustrations by 121 of the most interesting and inspiring culture-makers ...

Satirizing America in 'Friday Black'

06 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah sheds light on a modern day America full of racial violence, greed, and heartbreak in his debut collection of short stories, ...

The Librarian Is In with Eric Klinenberg

30 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Our friends from NYPL's The Librarian Is In podcast recorded their first-ever live episode, featuring NYU sociologist and author Eric Klinenberg. His ...

Neil Gaiman Reads "A Christmas Carol" (Rebroadcast)

19 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Dickens' classic, we're rebroadcasting this very special reading by writer and comic book author, Neil Gaima...

A Reporting Life in Latin America

16 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning journalist Alma Guillermoprieto delivered this year's annual Robert B. Silvers lecture, a series named in honor of the co-founding ed...

Magical Realism with Wayétu Moore

09 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Wayétu Moore's debut novel explores African diasporic identity through historical fiction and magical realism. In a conversation with Buzzfeed write...

John McPhee's Album Quilt

02 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In his seventh collection of essays, The Patch, master non-fiction writer John McPhee shares a montage of stories and reflections that range from a...

How Congress Really Works...Or Doesn't

25 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Wyatt Cenac moderates a panel of Washington insiders and journalists  about the mechanics of Congress, the archetypes for today's lawmakers, and adv...

James Baldwin's Children's Book

18 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that when James Baldwin was writing "If Beale Street Could Talk" he was also writing a children's book? "Little Man, Little Man" was insp...

Susan Orlean's Ode to Libraries

11 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

More than 30 years after a fire destroyed 400,000 books at the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library,  journalist Susan Orlean re-examines ...

A History of Voter Suppression with Carol Anderson

04 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Carol Anderson is an historian, educator, and author of "White Rage." Her latest book, "One Person, No Vote," is a timely survey of how voting ri...

A Modern-day Gothic Horror Story

28 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The bestselling English novelist of "The Essex Serpent," Sarah Perry, stopped by the Library to talk about her newest novel,"Melmoth." The books orig...

Making Movements Intersectional

21 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Darnell L. Moore and Charlene Carruthers are two dynamic leaders and organizers committed to intersectional liberation in movements for Black lives. T...

Why Men Fight with Thomas Page McBee

14 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

While training for a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden, writer Thomas Page McBee gained insight into how masculinity operates in the rin...

Righteous Rage with Rebecca Traister

07 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In her new book, "Good and Mad" Rebecca Traister uncovers the history of women's anger in American politics—from the suffragettes to #MeToo. She ar...

The Secret Memoir of Bill Cunningham

30 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When famed fashion and society photographer Bill Cunningham died in 2016, he left behind not only an incredible archive of New York Times columns an...

The Elite Charade of Changing the World

23 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The world's leading philanthropists are constantly working to "make the world a better place," leading passionate campaigns against everything from cl...

Looking for the Real Lolita

16 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Vladimin Nabokov's "Lolita" is one of the most widely-read classics of twentieth century; however, few are familiar with the true story of an eleven-y...

Notes from the Reading Life: Tim Gunn and Min Jin Lee

09 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Gunn is the Emmy Award-winning former producer of "Project Runway," where for 16 seasons he mentored contestants with charm and care. But when he...

The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire

02 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Before the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016, there was The Up Stairs Lounge fire. Author Robert Fieseler sets the largely overlooked tragedy of the Up...

There's No Such Thing As Now

21 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist. In his new book, The Order of Time,  Rovelli asks "Why do we remember the past and not the futu...

Two Sisters' Path Toward Radical Islam

14 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad's most recent book, Two Daughters: A Father, his Daughters, and their Journey into the Syrian Jihad, is a heart-p...

Chronicling Illness with Porochista Khakpour and Eileen Myles

07 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For as far back as she can remember, writer Porochista Khakpour has been sick. She was recently diagnosed with late-stage Lyme disease and has written...

Love and Lanyards with Billy Collins

31 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins stopped by the Library earlier this Spring to read some of his work, share a few tips on the creative process,...

Literacy is a Human Right with The World in Words Podcast

24 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this spring, our friends from The World in Words Podcast recorded a live show at NYPL's very own Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Lib...

Roxane Gay and Aja Monet Tell Their Truth

17 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Roxane Gay's latest book, "Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture," is a collection of first-person essays that directly tackle rape, sexual assa...

Remembering to Listen with Arundhati Roy & Viet Thanh Nguyen

10 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Twenty years after Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things," she returned to writing fiction in 2017 with her novel "The M...

A Future for Democracy?

03 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

New York Public Library President Anthony Marx brings together political analysts from the right and left to ask what the future holds for American d...

Finding Hope on the Road in "Nomadland"

26 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bernstein Book Award finalist, "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-first Century" tells the stories of a growing population of "workampers"—...

Tarrell Alvin McCraney & Donja R. Love Lift Up Black Queer Narratives

19 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Playwrights Tarell Alvin McCraney and Donja R. Love stopped by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture earlier this spring. McCraney is the...

Sliding Off the Couch with George Saunders

12 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Until recently, George Saunders  was best known for his short stories and essays. Then his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, won the 2017 Man Bo...

The Harrowing History of Roosevelt Island

05 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Before there was Rikers Island, there was Blackwell's—today known as Roosevelt Island. Historian Stacy Horn's newest book Damnation Island: Poor, Si...

Kevin Young & Claudia Rankine Discuss "Brown"

29 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Young, Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and New Yorker poetry editor, recently published a new collection of poems...

Remembering Tom Wolfe and the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

24 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Literary icon and friend of The New York Public Library, Tom Wolfe passed away last week at the age of 88. Wolfe became a Library Lion in 1981, an...

Masha Gessen Explains Horror, Humor and Hope for the Future

22 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Masha Gessen's book The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia is the winner of the Library's 2018 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Ex...

Zora Neale Hurston's Story of the Last Slave Ship Survivor

15 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" is one of Zora Neale Hurston's most important works of non-fiction that has never been published until...

A Goddess Reimagined

08 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Madeline Miller's first novel, The Song of Achilles, transformed The Iliad from a vast impersonal epic into an intimate and poignant love story. No...

Trump's Doghouse has a Revolving Door

01 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Joshua Green's Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Nationalist Uprising, was one of the first books to shed light on the Trump campai...

Why Net Neutrality Matters

24 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Last December, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3–2 to repeal net neutrality—which left many people wondering "why should we be concern...

Sheelah Kolhatkar has Inside Information

17 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sheelah Kolhatkar is a staff writer at The New Yorker and is a former hedge fund analyst. Her book, Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and t...

Isabella Rossellini Shares Her Eggs

10 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Isabella Rossellini raises chickens; evolutionary biologist Menno Schilthuizen studies them. In My Chickens Rossellini unexpectedly breeds 38 ye...

Building Movements with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Shaun King

03 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How have social justice movements evolved in the fifty years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s death? Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is an author and professor ...

Reforming America's Prisons

27 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

New York Public Library President Anthony Marx brought together criminal-justice-reform advocates from the right and left to discuss the complex issue...

Dr. John Carlos Has No Regrets

20 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Civil Rights leader and legendary athlete, Dr. John Carlos, made history on the Olympic podium in 1968. After medaling in the 200 meter race in Mexico...

Debut Novelist Akwaeke Emezi Recenters Reality

13 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Akwaeke Emezi is an Igbo and Tamil writer and video artist.  "Freshwater" ​is Emezi's debut novel and one of the most anticipated books of 2018. T...

Michelle McNamara and Patton Oswalt's search for the Golden State Killer

06 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The comedian and actor Patton Oswalt shares the posthumous true-crime masterpiece written by his wife Michelle McNamara, who died suddenly at the ag...

Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner

27 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 1971 when Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers and revealed the true story of American involvement in Vietnam, he was holding on to a much la...

Neel Mukherjee Tells Ghost Stories

20 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Aidan Flax-Clark speaks with author Neel Mukherjee about his new novel, "A State of Freedom" and his evolving notions of home, autonomy, migration, an...

Tayari Jones Redefines American Marriage

13 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

You may have read about Tayari Jones's latest novel on quite a few "most anticipated books of 2018" lists, and for good reason. Inspired by her resear...

Black Lives Matter Co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors

06 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate the publication of When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, Patrisse Khan-Cullors and her co-author asha bandele stop...

Networking with Niall Ferguson and Gillian Tett

30 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What do Mark Zuckerburg and Martin Luther have in common? Historian and political commentator Niall Ferguson explains in his newest book The Square a...

The Hunt for Timothy Leary

22 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How did a former Harvard professor turned counterculture icon become an international fugitive? Authors Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis explain th...

Jessica B. Harris and Carla Hall

16 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The James Beard Award–winning food historian and cookbook writer was at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture this past fall to talk ab...

Naomi Klein & Martin Breum: Climate Change and the Arctic Imagination

09 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The best-selling journalist speaks with Danish reporter on the Arctic, Martin Breum, about melting ice and global solutions for our changing climate.

Masha Gessen—The Stories of a Life

02 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The journalist and 2017 National Book Award Winner delivered the Library's annual Robert B. Silvers Lecture. The talk is named in honor of the co-foun...

Neil Gaiman Reads "A Christmas Carol" (Rebroadcast)

19 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Neil Gaiman's reading from 2013 uses a rare prompt copy that belonged to Charles Dickens himself and now resides in The New York Public Library. Dicke...

Muhammad Yunus & Jeffrey Sachs

12 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is self-interest the only force motivating business? Or can altruism be an equally powerful driver? It's a question that Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Pri...

Nikki Giovani & Joy-Ann Reid

05 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The titan of American poetry was at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in November to talk about her latest collection, A Good Cry. Sh...

Stephen Greenblatt & Tony Kushner: Adam and Eve in the Teeth of Time

28 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Pulitzer Prize–winning literary historian and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright discuss Greenblatt's latest book, The Rise and Fall of Adam an...

Kevin Young & Bunk—Hoaxes, Hooey, Hocum; Cons, Plagiarists, and Forgers

21 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Poetry Editor of The New Yorker speaks with Garnette Cadogan about his most...

Anne Applebaum: Fighting Against the Great Forgetting

14 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Soviet famine of the early 1930s killed around 5 million people; almost 4 million of them were Ukrainians. As Pulitzer Prize–winning historian a...

Theaster Gates: "I'm Trying to Create an Intimate Moment with Our Most Treasured Assets."

07 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Envisioning the archives of the future with the Chicago-based artist, who was joined by Nettrice Gaskins, director of the STEAM Lab at the Boston Art...

Van Jones: "You have to keep open the possibility for redemption."

31 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Jones may be known as a liberal activist, but his new book, "Beyond the Messy Truth," is a call to action for all Americans seeking a way out of our i...

Ron Chernow: Grant

24 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ulysses S. Grant has for decades routinely listed as one of our worst presidents. Ron Chernow says the legacy of the Civil War hero and 18th president...