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Arts
Bob Kustra
Welcome to Reader's Corner, a weekly radio show hosted by Boise State University president emeritus Bob Kustra that features lively conversations with some of the nation's leading authors about issues and ideas that matter today.
"Passport Stamps" By Sean D. Carberry
An interview with Sean D. Carberry, author of the new book, Passport Stamps: Searching the World for a War to Call Home. The book is a darkly comic and emotionally-fraught tale of a former NPR journalist who seeks solace in the world’s most dangerous places.
39:0525/11/2023
"The Secret Gate" By Mitchell Zuckoff
An interview with Mitchell Zuckoff, author of The Secret Gate: A True Story of Courage and Sacrifice During the Collapse of Afghanistan. The book covers the true story of an incredible rescue in the frenzied final hours of the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan.
33:5411/11/2023
"How Antitrust Failed Workers" By Eric A. Posner
An interview with Eric A. Posner, author of How Antitrust Law Failed Workers. The book is a powerful examination of the causes of inequality and wage stagnation in America.
35:0404/11/2023
"Pushed Out" By Ryanne Pilgeram (Part I)
Note: This is part I of a two-part interview, which originally aired in March 2022. An interview with Ryanne Pilgeram, author of Pushed Out: Contested Development and Rural Gentrification in the US West. In the book, a small town weighs the economic compromises of growth in the Rocky Mountain West.
30:1021/10/2023
"A Forest Journey" By John Perlin
An interview with John Perlin, author of A Forest Journey. Now with a brand new edition, Perlin's book offers a contemporary view of the effects of wood, as used for building and fuel, and of deforestation on the development of civilization.
34:5214/10/2023
"Remarkably Bright Creatures" By Shelby Van Pelt
An interview with Shelby Van Pelt, author of the novel Remarkably Bright Creatures. The book is an exploration of friendship and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.
30:2207/10/2023
"Futureproof" By Kevin Roose
An interview with Kevin Roose, author of Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation. The book shares the secrets of people and organizations that have survived technological change, and explains how we can protect our own futures.
30:3830/09/2023
"The Last Honest Man" By James Risen
An interview with James Risen, author of The Last Honest Man. The book examines the fight for democracy by Senator Frank Church, a man at the epicenter of numerous investigations into the abuses of power within American government.
34:4823/09/2023
"The Elephant Of Belfast" By S. Kirk Walsh
An interview with S. Kirk Walsh author of the bestselling novel, The Elephant of Belfast. Inspire by true events, the book is a moving account of a young zookeeper and the elephant she's compelled to protect during the German blitz of Belfast during WWII.
33:1216/09/2023
"America Second" By Isaac Stone Fish
An interview with Isaac Stone Fish, author of America Second. The book is an exposé of America’s political and business ties to China, often with profound and hidden costs to U.S. interests.with Isaac Stone Fish, author of America Second. The book is an exposé of America’s political and business ties to China, often with profound and hidden costs to U.S. interests.
33:0502/09/2023
"The Digital Republic" By Jamie Susskind
An interview with Jamie Susskind, author of The Digital Republic. The book is a definitive guide to the great political question of our time: how can freedom and democracy survive in a world of powerful digital technologies?
33:4526/08/2023
"Red London" By Alma Katsu
An interview with Alma Katsu, author of the new thriller, Red London. The book is a race-against-the-clock story, told by a writer with 35 years of expertise in national security.
30:5105/08/2023
"The Lincoln Miracle" By Edward Achorn
An interview with Edward Achorn, author of The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention That Changed History. In the book, Achorn offers a behind-the-scenes look at Abraham Lincoln’s history-changing nomination to lead the Republican Party in the 1860 presidential election.
31:0022/07/2023
"The Rise Of Digital Repression" By Steven Feldstein
An interview with Steven Feldstein, author of The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance. The book offers a compelling record of how anti-democratic leaders harness powerful technology to advance their political objectives.
31:2515/07/2023
"Master Slave Husband Wife" By Ilyon Woo
An interview with Ilyon Woo, author of Master Slave Husband Wife. The book tells the remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.
30:1508/07/2023
"How Beautiful We Were" By Imbolo Mbue
Imbolo Mbue's novel, How Beautiful We Were, follows a fearless young woman from a small African village as she starts a revolution against an American oil company.
30:1101/07/2023
"Dust Child" By Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
An interview with Nguyen Phan Que Mai, author of the new novel, Dust Child. The book is a saga about two Vietnamese sisters and two American men, whose lives intersect in surprising ways, set during and after the war in Vietnam.
30:0024/06/2023
"The Triumph Of Doubt" By David Michaels
An interview with David Michaels, author of The Triumph of Doubt. In the book, Michaels details how corrupt science becomes public policy, through the aid of dark money, and where it's happening today.
31:0010/06/2023
"Call Me Elizabeth Lark" By Melissa Colasanti
An interview with Melissa Colasanti, author of the new novel, Call Me Elizabeth Lark. A psychological thriller, the book follows the mysterious reappearance of a woman’s daughter after 20 years.
32:1503/06/2023
"Justice For Animals" By Martha C. Nussbaum
An interview with Martha C. Nussbaum, author of Justice for Animals. The book offers a revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law.
35:0027/05/2023
"Mother Daughter Traitor Spy" By Susan Elia MacNeal
An interview with Susan Elia MacNeal, author of the novel, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy. The book is inspired by a real-life mother and daughter, who go undercover after stumbling upon a Nazi cell in Los Angeles during the early days of World War II.
28:3020/05/2023
"Uncounted" By Gilda R. Daniels
An interview with Gilda R. Daniels, author of Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America. The book warns about a premeditated strategy of restrictive laws and deceptive practices that is eroding the very basis of American democracy.
33:1013/05/2023
"Evolution Gone Wrong" By Alex Bezzerides
An interview with Alex Bezzerides, author of Evolution Gone Wrong. The book is a fresh and funny examination of the curious ways human beings have beaten the odds as a species.
33:3006/05/2023
"When McKinsey Comes To Town" By Walt Bogdanich
An interview with Walt Bogdanich, co-author of the new book, When McKinsey Comes to Town. The book offers a portrait of a company whose work has often made the world more unequal, more corrupt, and more dangerous.
33:0029/04/2023
"The Petroleum Papers" By Geoff Dembicki
An interview with Geoff Dembicki, author of The Petroleum Papers. The book provides a step-by-step account of how we reached this precipice of climate disaster, and the politicians and companies who helped get us here.
34:5915/04/2023
"American Schism" By Seth David Radwell
An interview with Seth David Radwell, author of American Schism. The book is an enlightened exploration of our history to unite a deeply-divided America.
30:3008/04/2023
"Kill Switch" By Adam Jentleson
Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in July 2021.In his book, Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy, Senate insider Adam Jentleson contends that far from reflecting the Framers’ vision, the Senate has been transformed over the decades by a tenacious minority of white conservatives.
33:1601/04/2023
"Preparing For War" By Bradley Onishi (Part II)
Note: This is the second half of a two-part interview. An interview with Bradley Onishi, author of Preparing for War. The book is an engrossing account of the years-long campaign of White Christian nationalism that led to the insurrection of January 6.
32:0025/03/2023
"Preparing For War" By Bradley Onishi (Part I)
Note: This is the first of a two-part interview. An interview with Bradley Onishi, author of Preparing for War. The book is an engrossing account of the years-long campaign of White Christian nationalism that led to the insurrection of January 6.
29:3119/03/2023
"The Globalization Myth" By Shannon K. O'Neil
An interview with Shannon K. O’Neil, author of The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter. The book offers a case for why regionalization, not globalization, has been the biggest economic trend of the past forty years.
31:2011/03/2023
"The World Turned Upside Down" By Clyde Prestowitz
The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership, by Clyde Prestowitz, identifies the challenges China’s growing power poses and how it must be confronted.
31:4304/03/2023
"Afterlives" By Abdulrazak Gurnah
Bob Kustra interviews Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nobel Prize winner and author of the novel, Afterlives. The book is a multi-generational saga of displacement, love and loss, set against the brutal colonization of east Africa.
37:4425/02/2023
"Sleeping Bear" By Connor Sullivan
An interview with Connor Sullivan, author of the new novel, Sleeping Bear. In the book, a former Army veteran seeking solitude in the Alaskan wilderness finds herself a pawn in a deadly game with Russia.
30:0018/02/2023
"The Ransomware Hunting Team" By Daniel Golden
An interview with Daniel Golden, author of The Ransomware Hunting Team. The book is a real-life technological thriller about a band of eccentric misfits taking on the biggest cybersecurity threats of our time.
32:5004/02/2023
"Spymaster's Prism" By Jack Devine
Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The show originally aired in June 2021. In Jack Devine's newest book, Spymaster’s Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression, the legendary CIA spymaster illustrates how Russia’s intelligence activities have continued uninterrupted throughout modern history.
34:5328/01/2023
"Africa Is Not A Country" By Dipo Faloyin (Part II)
An interview with Dipo Faloyin, debut author of Africa is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent. In the book, Faloyin explores the youth-led cultural and political movements that are defining and reimagining Africa on their own terms.Program note: This is the second half of a two-part interview.
34:4521/01/2023
"Africa Is Not A Country" By Dipo Faloyin
An interview with Dipo Faloyin, debut author of Africa is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent. In the book, Faloyin explores the youth-led cultural and political movements that are defining and reimagining Africa on their own terms.
29:4514/01/2023
"From Warsaw With Love" By John Pomfret
An interview with John Pomfret, author of From Warsaw With Love. The book tells the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War.
34:0007/01/2023
"Proof Of Life" By Daniel Levin
In his latest book, Proof of Life, Daniel Levin dives deep into a shadowy world where few have access—an underground industry of war where everything is for sale, including arms, drugs, and even people.
36:3030/12/2022
"Mr. Dickens And His Carol" By Samantha Silva
This is an encore program which originally aired in December of 2017.
30:0024/12/2022
"Nomad Century" By Gaia Vince
An interview with Gaia Vince, author of Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World. The book investigates a coming environmental migration, the seismic consequence of our climate crisis that will force us to change where, and how, we live.
31:4117/12/2022
"The New Map" By Daniel Yergin
An interview with Daniel Yergin, author of The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations. The book offers a fresh look at how energy revolutions, climate battles, and geopolitics are mapping our future.
31:3010/12/2022
"Made In China" By Amelia Pang
An interview with Amelia Pang, author of Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods. The book explores ethical consumption and how a cheap price tag typically hides a higher human cost.
30:4503/12/2022
"Why The New Deal Matters" By Eric Rauchway
An interview with Eric Rauchway, author of Why the New Deal Matters. The book offers a look at how the New Deal fundamentally changed American life, and why it remains relevant today.
31:2026/11/2022
"Prisoners Of The Castle" By Ben Macintyre
An interview with Ben Macintyre, author of the new book, Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison. In the book, Macintyre looks at one of history’s most notorious prisons, and the remarkable cast of POWs who tried relentlessly to escape their captors.
33:0020/11/2022
"This America Of Ours" By Nate Schweber
An interview with Nate Schweber, author of the new book, This America of Ours: Bernard & Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild. In the book, Schweber tells the story of the extraordinary couple who rescued national parks from McCarthyism, and inspired a future of conservation.
33:0905/11/2022
"Two Nights In Lisbon" By Chris Pavone
An interview with Chris Pavone, author of the thrilling novel, Two Nights in Lisbon. The book is story of a woman under pressure, and what she will resort to when everything is on the line.
34:1031/10/2022
"Last Summer On State Street" By Toya Wolfe
An interview with Toya Wolfe, debut author of the novel, Last Summer on State Street. The book is a striking coming-of-age debut about friendship, community, and resilience, set in the housing projects of Chicago.
30:0015/10/2022
"Trigger Points" By Mark Follman
An interview with Mark Follman, author of Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America. The book casts new light on the behind-the-scenes work being done to predict and prevent mass shootings.
32:3001/10/2022
"When Time Stopped" By Ariana Neumann
In her bestselling memoir, When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father’s War and What Remains, Ariana Neumann offers a moving story of personal discovery and a portrait of living, dying, and surviving in war-torn Berlin. (Program note: This is part one of a two-part interview.)
30:0124/09/2022