One True Podcast

In this episode, we celebrate the Fall Classic with a show devoted to Hemingway and baseball. First, we welcome scholar Sharon Hamilton to discuss the 1919 Black Sox scandal, how it affected Hemingway, and the legacy that World Series and the trial had on society and sports.We then have a conversation with David Martens and Joshua Robinson, who recall their experiences investigating Gigi’s All-Stars, the baseball team of Cuban youngsters that Hemingway formed to occupy his youngest son, Gregory. (We include a clip of the audio from one of the All-Stars, the legendary Cayuco "Jonronero"!)And finally, we consider the role of Joe DiMaggio in The Old Man and the Sea with his biographer, Jerome Charyn. Why was Santiago drawn to the Yankee centerfielder, and why did DiMaggio become the perfect literary symbol for Hemingway?Grab some peanuts and Cracker Jack and enjoy these four fascinating guests talkin’ baseball! 

Russell Banks, author of Cloudsplitter and Foregone, shares his one true sentence from Hemingway's A Moveable Feast.

Jump on Interstate 70 with us as we take a trip between two great American cities planted on the outer edges of Missouri -- St. Louis and Kansas City -- in order to explore their connections to Hemingway. In the first half of our discussion, we're joined by Andrew Theising, author of Hemingway's Saint Louis: How St. Louisans Shaped His Life and Legacy, to understand more about the city's history, its arts & culture, and a vast array of St. Louisans, including Hemingway's first three wives. 250 miles away, we pick up with the story of Kansas City. We welcome Steve Paul, whose book Hemingway at Eighteen: The Pivotal Year That Launched an American Legend becomes our road map to navigating the city, its history, and Hemingway's formative journalistic experience at The Kansas City Star. Grab a coffee, maybe some barbecue, and join us! 

In this episode, we welcome Nicholas Reynolds, author of Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961, to discuss Hemingway's politics and involvement in espionage and intelligence. Why was the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 Hemingway's political genesis point? How and why was he recruited by the Soviet NKVD? What was his involvement, beyond the role of war correspondent, during WWII? Reynolds, a former Marine colonel and intelligence officer who has served as the historian at the CIA Museum, explores these and other topics as we investigate Hemingway's preternatural intelligence-gathering ability, his growing paranoia during the later years, and the way his writing reflects his involvement in these "secret adventures."

Erik Nakjavani shares his one true sentence from Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa.

For this fascinating discussion, we welcome the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian A. Scott Berg, author of Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, to discuss Perkins’s role in Hemingway’s life and career.Berg talks about the research and writing of his biography, the difference between Perkins’s approach to editing and promoting Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and the editor's collaborations with other writers such as Thomas Wolfe, James Jones, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Berg also offers his “one true sentence” from all of Hemingway’s work. We hope you enjoy this episode with one of America’s leading biographers!

We welcome Valerie Hemingway to share her memories of her father-in-law and the thrilling Spanish summer of 1959. We draw from her wonderful memoir Running with the Bulls to hear stories about Hemingway’s later years, his writing process, and the stark difference between the dangerous summer of 1959 and the grim crises of 1960. Ms. Hemingway recollects her own Irish childhood and her development as a young journalist thrust into the exhilarating role as Hemingway’s secretary. She also looks back at her relationship with Papa, which was unlike any other in Hemingway’s life.Join us for our conversation with this brilliant and charming raconteur about her crucial role in Hemingway's life and legacy. 

Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog, Townie, and Gone So Long, talks about his one true Hemingway sentence from "Hills Like White Elephants."

One True Podcast takes a deep dive into Joan Miró’s masterpiece and Hemingway’s beloved possession, The Farm.  We welcome art historian Alex Fernandez de Castro and journalist Hugh Eakin to discuss the meaning, history, and legacy of this powerful and infinitely mysterious painting. In our two-part interview, we cover Miró’s evolution as an artist, his similarities and differences with Hemingway, and the crucial importance of this painting in his storied career. We also learn the mythology of how Hemingway bought The Farm, and ultimately, how it has now come to be housed in Washington, DC, at the National Gallery.  Join us in our travels to Miró’s Farm!

Amanda Vaill takes us to the French Riviera of the 1920s, drawing from her definitive book, Everybody Was So Young, to describe who Gerald and Sara Murphy were and what they meant to the artists they knew. Vaill discusses Fitzgerald’s poor behavior, Hemingway’s ambivalence to the rich, and Gerald’s own artistic efforts. Along the way, she suggests what gave the Murphys the enchanting quality that drew so many important figures into their circle. This episode was recorded on May 17, 2021.