The Greenlight Bookstore Podcast

Rising star Ibi Zoboi (author of the young adult novels American Street and Pride) presents her middle grade fiction debut My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, in a conversation with her mentor, iconic young people’s fiction author Rita Williams-Garcia, centered on the culture of 1980s Harlem, hip-hop, and sci-fi and black girl nerdiness. (Recorded in our Fort Greene store on September 12, 2019.)

Novelist Tash Aw talks with his close friend, literary superstar Chimamanda Adichie, about his newest novel We, the Survivors, touching on questions of representation (or the lack of it), the intersections of poverty and violence, and the evolving state of immigrant literature. (Recorded at the Fort Greene store on September 9, 2019.) 

Legendary journalist Dan Rather launches the paperback edition of his book What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism in conversation with fellow news correspondent Katy Tur, in an evening focused on American ideals, journalistic integrity, and great storytelling. (Recorded at St. Joseph’s College on September 3, 2019.)

In this in-depth and personal discussion of race and womanhood in America, authors and close friends Susan Straight (In the Country of Women) and Emily Bernard (Black Is the Body) discuss their new memoirs and their differing but overlapping experiences.  (Recorded at the Fort Greene store on August 20, 2019.)

Beloved Brooklyn novelist and essayist Rick Moody discusses his memoir The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Hope and Struggle in Matrimony in an emotional and moving conversation about writing and family with fellow fiction writer Amy Hempel. (Recorded at the Fort Greene store on August 15, 2019.)

Novelist Jess Row talks with poet and educator Yahdon Israel about Row’s book of literary criticism White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination, in a brilliant conversation and Q&A turning on privilege, space, and the hidden assumptions of the American literary canon.(Recorded at the Fort Greene store on August 14, 2019.) 

Renowned essayist Philip Lopate interviews native Brooklynite and urban studies professor Thomas Campanella about his magisterial new book Brooklyn: The Once and Future City, for a rollicking and wide-ranging conversation on our borough’s history and lore. (Recorded in our Prospect Lefferts Gardens store on September 19, 2019.)

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner discusses his newest book The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution with Chris Hayes of MSNBC and The Nation, in an erudite, energetic and surprisingly funny conversation about the Reconstruction period and its enormous relevance for contemporary American life and politics. (Recorded at St. Joseph’s College on September 29, 2019.)

Acclaimed food writer Mark Bittman celebrates the release of the 20th anniversary edition of his classic cookbook How To Cook Everything, in a lively conversation about America’s evolving foodways with fellow New York Times food writer Melissa Clark. (Recorded at St. Joseph’s College on October 2, 2019.)

Oyinkan Braithwaite discusses her smash hit debut My Sister the Serial Killer -- a short, darkly funny hand grenade of a novel that encompasses both sibling rivalry and anti-patriarchal catharsis -- onstage with previous podcast guest Bridgett M. Davis. (Recorded at the Fort Greene store on August 5, 2019.)