A Life in Biography
Carl Rollyson
Talks and interviews about the life of biography as experienced by a biographer over forty years and fourteen biographies, dealing with subjects ranging from Sylvia Plath to William Faulkner, Marilyn Monroe to Susan Sontag, and much more.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 17, 2022 • 13min
A Biography of the Day for Black History Month
A biography of the first Black archeologist that tells us a good deal not only about Black history but about the enticements of biography.
Feb 12, 2022 • 49min
An unusual group biography: The Psychologies of Political Exile: From Ovid to the Dalai Lama
A talk with prolific biographer and psychoanalyst, Jay Martin, about exile, displaced peoples, and why it should matter to you.
Feb 5, 2022 • 41min
A conversation with Ralph Eubanks, author of A Place Like Mississippi
We range from speaking about the importance of place in memoir and biography to the real and imaginary landscapes of writers, and much more.
Feb 3, 2022 • 44min
Don’t Be Afraid! We’re talking theory here.
A discussion with David Veltman and Kerstin Maria Pahl about their contributions to a new book about biography, Fear of Theory.
Jan 29, 2022 • 58min
A lively talk with Steve Paul about Literary Alchemist: The Writing Life of Evan S Connell
From Kansas City to medieval alchemy and a lot in between, the life of Evan S. Connell and what it took for a biographer to cover the interstices of this important writer.
Jan 26, 2022 • 7min
Biography of the Day, Part 3
Tune in to a special announcement at the beginning of this podcast.
Jan 22, 2022 • 34min
Who is Assia Wevill? Why Does She Matter?
How one life can illuminate the lives of others.
Jan 19, 2022 • 10min
The Biography of the Day, Part 2
What happens when Frederick Douglass and Andrew Johnson track one another in a Plutarchian biography of parallel lives in the throes of Reconstruction?
Jan 15, 2022 • 44min
Who is Assia Wevill? Why She Matters. Part 1
A conversation with Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick and Peter K. Steinberg about their edition of The Collected Writings of Assia Wevill
Jan 14, 2022 • 8min
The Biography of The Day, Part 1
Just browse in the bookstore with me. This won’t take long.
