One True Podcast

Ring in the season with One True Podcast! Hemingway Review editor Suzanne del Gizzo joins us on our holiday show for the second year in a row. For this episode, we discuss Hemingway’s charming 1923 article for the Toronto Daily Star, “Christmas on the Roof of the World,” his chronicle of a skiing idyll in the Swiss Alps with his wife Hadley and “Chink” Dorman-Smith.We discuss the article’s fascinating prose style, its uncharacteristic tone, and the placement of this obscure piece in Hemingway’s career. Our conversation also considers Hemingway’s biography in the winter of 1922-23, the setting of this skiing getaway. As a bonus, del Gizzo offers up her “one true sentence” from “"Big Two-Hearted River" to round out the episode. Also, enjoy a musical performance by University of Evansville students Kate Maue, Alyssa DeCorrevont, and Rachel Taylor. Happy Holidays from One True Podcast!

Sherman Alexie, the award-winning writer, poet, and filmmaker whose works include The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Reservation Blues, joins us to talk about his one true Hemingway sentence from "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."

Stop by Henry’s lunch-room as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the adaptation of The Killers with legendary film historian James Naremore. We discuss the legacy of the film, the difficulty of adapting Hemingway’s writing, what makes this movie a noir classic, the performances of megastars Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner, and so much more.Hemingway once said that he enjoyed watching the movie “when I want to see Miss Gardner and hear the shooting.” He also called it “the only good picture ever made of a story of mine.” So, pull up a chair and join us for the big dinner!This episode was recorded on April 2, 2021.

Debra Moddelmog shares her one true sentence from Hemingway's short story "The Sea Change."

Join us as we welcome Janet Somerville, author of Yours, for Probably Always, for a fascinating discussion about Martha Gellhorn. Gellhorn is most often remembered and depicted as Ernest Hemingway's third wife, but she was also a novelist, war correspondent, activist, and iconoclast. Somerville guides us through the life of this trailblazer: her childhood in St. Louis, a close relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt, that notorious first encounter with Hemingway in a Key West bar, her tumultuous life during and after her marriage to Hemingway, and her formidable writing career.  Listen for clips from the audio book of Yours, for Probably Always, with readings performed by Emmy and Tony-winning actress Ellen Barkin.  So pull up a chair at Sloppy Joe's and enjoy the show! 

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.