Better World Books Podcast: Juliet Gael

Posted by admin on 06.21.2010 at 4:06 pm

Juliet Gael is living a life that most of us can only dream about.  She lives in Florence, Italy where she researches her favorite topics and writes novels about them.  Pretty great, right?  I know I’m all sorts of jealous.  That said, Juliet works hard.  Her debut novel ROMANCING MISS BRONTË is incredibly well researched and as close to the real thing as humanly possible.

The book is the story of the lives of the Brontë sisters, whose novels have made them famous characters in history.  The novel brings to life early nineteenth century England where life for women was far different than it is today and the kind of success Charlotte and her sisters achieved was quite rare.  In fact, their books were originally published under male pseudonyms.

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Interview with Juliet Gael [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1268)

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Better World Books Podcast: Norris Church Mailer

Posted by admin on 05.05.2010 at 3:20 pm

Norris Church Mailer is a real person.  That may seem like an odd way to start a blog post but her memoir and her life could be the stuff of great fiction.  A beautiful girl, a much older famous man, his former wives, his large brood of children, a modeling career, famous friends, attendance at historical events, and the list goes on.  But what makes A TICKET TO THE CIRCUS so readable is that it’s real and Norris doesn’t hold back.

She shares the good, the bad and the ugly.  There were affairs, there were arguments, there was sickness and death – but there was also love and family and art and humor.  After reading  A TICKET TO THE CIRCUS, meeting Norris was like meeting someone I’ve always known.  She was unapologetic about her life choices (as she should be) not in the least bit braggy and totally brave.  She admits her health is not good (she’s living with a cancer that should’ve killed her years ago) and yet she is still living her life to the fullest.  Read more…

Better World Books Author Podcast [ 19:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1007)

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Better World Books Podcast: Byron Pitts

Posted by Dana on 11.03.2009 at 4:01 pm

Byron Pitts is a gifted broadcast journalist, an engaging and talented speaker, a published author and force for good. But that wasn’t always the case.  As his book STEP OUT ON NOTHING details, Byron started out a skinny kid with the nickname “Pickle” who didn’t talk much and was often bullied.  But worse than that, Byron was hiding and working hard to keep his secrets.  He couldn’t read and had a debilitating stutter.

If it wasn’t for his faith and the people who “stepped out on nothing” for him, Byron doesn’t believe he would have made it to the place he is today.  When his mother was told he was “stupid” she wouldn’t accept it.  When his best friend in college noticed his limited vocabulary he stepped in to help.  And a when a professor he had never met before found him dejected an about to drop out, she believed in him. Read more…

Interview with Byron Pitts [ 17:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2373)

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Better World Books Podcast: Greg Palast

Posted by Dana on 08.03.2009 at 1:53 pm

Greg Palast is a character.  And I mean that in the best possible way.  This is a guy you want at your dinner parties.  Sadly, I don’t actually have dinner parties – but if I did, Greg Palast would always get an invite.  From his signature hat to his biting wit and his unforgiving commentary, Greg will keep you laughing until he’s made a difference.

The way the schedule worked out at the recent Chicago Green Festival, I was able to sit in on Greg’s lecture before I interviewed him.  It’s always great when I can do that as it gives me whole new level of understanding about an author that I don’t always get by just reading their Read more…

Interview with Greg Palast [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2245)

1 Comment » | Tagged Author Podcast, Armed Madhouse, dana barrett, Elections, Greg Palast, Oil, Palast Investigates, podcast, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

Better World Books Podcast: Michael Malone

Posted by admin on 07.24.2009 at 1:24 pm

Michael Malone is the best award winning, New York Times bestselling author you’ve never heard of. His latest novel, THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE SKY, is a rare combination of page turning adventure and deeply complex writing. And it should be — he spent 10 years writing it. You get the feeling when you talk to Michael that he doesn’t write for the money or the fame but because he genuinely loves to write.

This is a guy who has won an Edgar, an O. Henry, and even an Emmy for his television writing and he is as unassuming and easy to talk to as you could ever imagine. In addition to his writing, Michael is also a professor at Duke University and as I interviewed him I found myself jealous of his students. This is a guy you could really learn from.

Read more…

Interview with Michael Malone [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (859)

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Better World Books Podcast: Ann Brashares

Posted by Dana on 07.16.2009 at 12:30 pm

When you meet Ann Brashares you can see immediately that she is the perfect person to write for young adults.  Though she has three kids of her own she seems to have held onto a sweetness and openness that you sense when you meet her and feel when you read her books.

Ann came to our office on the last stop of her book tour for her latest book 3 WILLOWS, which is the beginning of a new series for her.  For fans of The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants series, have no fear, you’ll see a couple of your favs making an appearance in the Willow series and rumor has it she may come back to the Pants girls again before it’s all said and done. Read more…

Interview with Ann Brashares [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4514)

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, 3 Willows, Ann Brashares, dana barrett, podcast, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Young Adult Books

Paging Authors Podcast: Barbara Ehrenreich

Posted by Dana on 11.26.2008 at 9:30 am

Paging Authors with Dana Barrett is a weekly podcast in which our lovely and talented Ms. Barrett sits down with your favorite bestselling authors as well as up and coming literary stars.

Dana recently had a chance to sit down with Barbara Ehrenreich after her talk at the Green Festival in Washington DC. Ms. Ehrenreich is a political activist and satirist and the author of over 20 books including the New York Times Bestsellers Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch. \Her latest book This Land is Their Land is a collection of essays on the current state of the country.  No stone goes unturned as Ms. Ehrenreich tackles gay marriage, the disparity of the classes and even the Disney princesses.

Barbara Ehrenreich [ 11:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (372)

1 Comment » | Tagged Author Podcast, barbara ehrenreich, dana barrett, nickel and dimed, podcast, this land is their land

The 2008 National Book Award

Posted by admin on 11.17.2008 at 1:49 pm

“The City Council of New York officially declares the week of November 17, 2008 ‘National Book Awards Week in the City of New York’”

If you happen to be in the city that never sleeps this week, you can catch some incredible events, including a dinner with the various winners from the National Book Foundation (the rest of us can see updates as they happen at the website linked above).  The crown jewel of prizes, the National Book Award, will be announced on Wednesday, and tomorrow there is a (sold out, sorry) reading by the finalists.  They are as follows:

Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged Book & Author News, aleksandar Hemon, annette gordon-reed, Drew Gilpin Faust, E Lockhart, Frank Bidart, Jane Mayer, Jim Sheeler, Joan Wickersham, Judy Blundell, Kathi Appelt, Laurie Halse Anderson, Marilynne Robinson, Mark Doty, national book award, national book foundation, Patricia Smith, Peter Matthiessen, podcast, Rachel Kushner, Reginald Gibbons, Richard Howard, Salvatore Scibona, Tim Tharp

Summit Speech – Sharon Darling of NCFL

Posted by admin on 10.22.2007 at 8:05 am

Below is the transcript of a speech by Sharon Darling, the President of the National Center for Family Literacy, at the Verizon Literacy Summit at Georgetown University.

This resulting podcast was originally broadcast on October 11, 2007 from 1:50pm – 2:15pm on the Verizon Foundation website.

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Family – it provides the foundation for who we are and the inspiration for who we can be.

Parents pass along more than just eye color and other genetic traits to their children. They instill values and attitudes toward learning and education. Stronger literacy skills – across multiple generations – will benefit families, communities and the economy.

Family is the most fundamental unit in the world. Not only is it a reliable organizer in neighborhoods, communities, countries and cultures—it’s simply the most powerful force in the world. A family will make changes and tackle even the most daunting challenges because of the instinctual commitment family members have for the unit to survive and thrive.

We’re here today to talk about the drivers of literacy in our community. Using that analogy, the family is the pace car. It determines how fast and how far we go – and it has the power to unleash the possibilities that education provides.

Education begins with literacy. So to improve, refine and transform education, we must first begin with literacy – and the challenges low literacy presents. I believe that [the] barriers to literacy are a multigenerational problem that need a multigenerational solution.

Today, I will focus on three principles:

First, family is a fundamental driver of education. Consider these statistics:

•    Students spend five times as much time in communities and with their families as they do at school;
•    The greatest predictors of a child’s future success in school are the parents’ income and education – two factors that are inextricably linked;
•    Children from professional families will hear 32 million more words by age four than children in welfare families; and
•    Studies have found that during the school year, advantaged and disadvantaged children learn at about the same rate. But during the summer months when schools are closed, home and peer influences reassert themselves. At the end of the summer, advantaged children actually score higher on a standardized test than they did when the summer started, while disadvantaged children fall further behind.

Those statistics show it is clear that parents are not only a child’s first teacher, but also his or her most effective one.  Yet that teaching relationship is threatened by the fact that 34 million U.S. adults struggle with reading and have such low literacy levels that reading a newspaper or filling out a job application is nearly impossible.

The cycle is then repeated in the next generation because parents who are not literate tend to have children who struggle academically and don’t achieve literacy proficiency in adulthood.  Those adults aren’t prepared for a 20th century economy, much less ready to keep pace with the global competition of the 21st century or provide important guidance to their children.

Secondly, global forces are causing the composition of the American family and that of our world competitors to change.  Many global populations are expanding while the American population is contracting — except for the immigrant population. We must educate all immigrant families to ensure the U.S. continues to be a player on a global basis.

In addition to the changing composition of the American family, we are impacted by our relationship with families across the world.  For every 120 babies born in the U.S., almost 500 will be born in China and more than 700 will be born in India.

And it isn’t just the contrast in quantity that’s startling. In terms of brain power, the top 25 percent of China’s population in terms of I.Q. is greater than the total population of North America.  In terms of output, the number of American 18- to 24-year-olds who receive science degrees has fallen to 17th in the world. The U.S. ranked 3rd three decades ago.

We must find a way not just to compete by today’s standards but to envision tomorrow’s possibilities so we can anticipate and prepare for them. That means equipping our new American family to compete with large and smart global families.

Third, we must recognize that addressing literacy cannot be a stagnant process.  To effectively increase literacy levels in this country, our approach must reflect new innovations, the changing demographics of families and the priorities of a globally competitive nation.  Albert Einstein said: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

By the year 2010, the top 10 jobs that will be in demand didn’t even exist just three years ago.  Tomorrow’s worker will have had 10 to 14 jobs by age 38.  To prepare tomorrow’s workforce, we truly must institute lifelong learning.  Success simply can’t be measured by what we know, but how quickly and easily we are able to learn.

To reverse the stubborn challenge of underachievement and low literacy in our families and communities, we must utilize the tenets and tactics of the new economy — research, innovation and technology.

Today, there is a second layer of skills that our daily routines depend on — whether we’re stopping at the ATM, using the U-Scan at the grocery store, pausing a program with our TiVo or leaving a voicemail.  Just as we all need to be able to find information in the newspaper, we also need to be able to locate it online.  Just as we need to be able to compose a letter, we need to be able to set up an e-mail account.  Just as we need to be able to communicate, we need to be able to process enormous amounts of information.

Once again, the family will be our pace car.  The nation cannot speed down the information highway if it is leaving families behind.  We simply won’t get where we want to be -if we don’t place families out in the lead.
It’s easy to think that technology literacy starts with the generations of tomorrow.  But today’s so-called digital natives are being prepared for the future by their parents, their teachers and their community leaders — many of whom are digital immigrants.

This is why [the] NCFL and Verizon have created the first national award to recognize programs that demystify technology for parents and bridge multigenerational learning through technology. The Tech Savvy Award is showcasing how technology applications can span both socio-economic gaps and age gaps.  Because of this award, I can personally attest to the fact that there are many exciting examples of how families, schools and literacy programs are employing technology in our pace car.

But these pioneering approaches are not enough.

Today, we must all commit ourselves to approaching literacy not only in the context of — but also with a commitment to — seizing the power of new opportunities brought forth as a result of globalization and technology.  Later in this Summit, we will be unveiling a new tool that leverages the power of technology to help programs institutionalize practices that are proven to bring about literacy achievement for students.

Households have power to drive literacy and education more than ever due to technology.  The challenge before us is harnessing and tapping into the learning opportunities and styles within families and households, so they truly can compete and thrive in the global marketplace.

The American writer and futurist Alvin Toffler said: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

That has never been more true for the literacy field, as well as for those we serve.

-Sharon Darling-

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