Podcast - Geraldine Brooks "Caleb's Crossing"

Stephen Usery interviews Pulitzer Prize-winner Geraldine Brooks about her novel Caleb's Crossing which is now available in paperback. Drawing inspiration from the life of the first Native American graduate of Harvard, Caleb's Crossing tells the tale of young Bethia Mayfield, daughter of a Calvinist minister trying to bring Christianity to the Wampanoag people on Martha's Vineyard in the mid-17th century.

Podcast - Adam Johnson "The Orphan Master's Son"

Stephen Usery interviews Adam Johnson about his critically-acclaimed second novel, The Orphan Master's Son. It's the story of Pak Jun Do, a young man thought to be an orphan, and the incredible path his life takes inside the repressive and mysterious political system of North Korea. It's a harrowing tale that also allows room for love and humanity to bloom in the cracks of this totalitarian regime.

Podcast - John Jeremiah Sullivan "Pulphead"

Stephen Usery interviews John Jeremiah Sullivan about his collection of essays entitled Pulphead. Sullivan has won two National Magazine Awards and has written for publications like The Oxford American, GQ, and The Paris Review. Time Magazine recently called him the new Tom Wolfe and his book was Just named to the 100 notable books of the year list by the New York Times.

Podcast - Donna Johnson "Holy Ghost Girl"

Stephen Usery interviews Donna Johnson about her memoir, Holy Ghost Girl. It recounts her childhood as the daughter of the organ player and mistress of the successful tent revival preacher and end-time prophet Brother David Terrell. It's a fascinating look at the people behind the pulpit and how adulation and power corrupt even the most devout.

Podcast - Ace Atkins "The Ranger"

Stephen Usery welcomes back Alabama native and current Mississipian Ace Atkins to discuss his new series about Army Ranger Quinn Colson. The Ranger is the first book, and in it, Sergeant Colson comes back to Jericho in Northern Mississippi for his uncle's funeral, and it seems there are more than a few questions lingering about this county sheriff's death.

Podcast - Kyran Pittman "Planting Dandelions"

Stephen Usery interviews Kyran Pittman about her memoir Planting Dandelions: Field Notes from a Semi-Domesticated Life. It's the story of a young woman from the Canadian Province of Newfoundland whose marriage blows apart as she runs off with a man from Arkansas and finds herself soon raising a family of three boys in Little Rock as she begins her writing career.

Podcast - Jim Shepard "You Think That's Bad"

Stephen Usery interviews National Book Award Finalist Jim Shepard about his newest collection of short stories, You Think That's Bad. Not one to limit himself historically or geographically, Shepard's stories range from Joan of Arc's compatriot Gilles de Rais, to the man responsible for the first Godzilla suit, and black ops scientists who work at Area 51.

Podcast - Rita Mae Brown "Hiss of Death"

Stephen Usery interviews Rita Mae Brown about her newest Mrs. Murphy mystery, Hiss of Death. Strange things are afoot at the new medical center in Crozet, Virginia and our feline detective Mrs. Murphy, corgi Tucker, and the somewhat rotund cat Pewter, all try to help their human Harry track down who is behind a string of suspicious deaths.

Podcast - Daniel J. Sharfstein "The Invisible Line"

Stephen Usery interviews Vanderbilt Law School professor Daniel J. Sharfstein about his book The Invisible Line: Three American Families and The Secret Journey From Black to White. It's a fascinating look at the evolution of America's legal views of people who have both Caucasian and sub-Saharan African ancestors and the implications it had on them when dealing with slavery, reconstruction and Jim Crow.

Podcast - Les Standiford and Joe Matthews "Bringing Adam Home"

Stephen Usery interviews Les Standiford and Joe Matthews about their book Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction that Changed America. It's the story of the kidnapping and murder of six year-old Adam Walsh in Hollywood, Florida in 1981, the bungled investigation and the movement to bring the plight of missing children to national attention.

Podcast - Mark Richard "House of Prayer No. 2"

Stephen Usery interviews PEN/Hemingway winner Mark Richard about his new memoir House of Prayer No. 2: A Writer's Journey Home. It's an unusual book, in that it's told in the second person, so Stephen asked that Mark answer his questions in the second person, too.

Podcast - Michael Oher "I Beat the Odds"

Stephen Usery interviews professional football player and Memphis native Michael Oher about his memoir, I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blindside and Beyond.