One True Podcast

Kerri Maher, author of The Paris Bookseller, shares her one true sentence from Hemingway's A Moveable Feast.

Ernest Hemingway’s Red Cross experience in Italy during World War I was short, but it changed the course of his life and his writing. From being wounding in July 1918 to the abrupt end to his relationship with nurse Agnes Von Kurowsky, Hemingway would revisit those traumas for the rest of his life and write about them for his entire career.This pair of tumultuous experiences led to a fascinating book – Hemingway in Love and War – co-written by Hemingway’s hospital roommate Henry Serrano Villard and scholar James Nagel. This book collects Villard’s Red Cross memoir, Von Kurowsky’s wartime diary and letters to Hemingway, as well as Prof. Nagel’s insightful essay about Hemingway’s experiences. For this show devoted to Hemingway in Love and War, we are lucky to be joined by both Prof. Nagel and Henry Villard's son, who produced the cinematic adaptation of the book, Dimitri Villard.

Actor Mackenzie Astin joins us to discuss the 1996 movie In Love and War, the narrative of Hemingway’s wounding in World War I and subsequent romance with nurse Agnes Von Kurowsky. Directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Chris O’Donnell, Sandra Bullock, Emilio Bonucci, as well as Astin, this war epic depicts the upheaval that World War I created in the life of the teenaged Hemingway and others. Astin discusses Attenborough’s benevolent presence on the set, the performance of the stars, Venice at sunrise, and he comments on this eternal narrative of a young man going to war, falling in love, and reconciling with the violence of the modern world.  

One True Podcast continues our exploration of the always complicated world of Hemingway’s volatile “friendships” with an episode devoted to Gertrude Stein. We turn to scholar Barbara Will who discusses the things Miss Stein instructed Hemingway about, both personally and professionally. We cover Stein’s background and education, her depiction in A Moveable Feast, her role in Modernism, her politics during World War I and World War II, the way things ended between her and Hemingway, and some of her greatest writings. Prof. Will also explains how “There’s no there there” is a perfect illustration of Stein’s approach to art, in all its mysterious brilliance. Join us for this fascinating episode! 

Jay McInerney, (bestselling author of Bright Lights, Big City, Ransom, How It Ended, and most recently Bright, Precious Days) shares his one true sentence from Hemingway's story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place."

John Hemingway - grandson of Ernest and son of Gregory -- shares his remarkable story with us. We explore John's important book, Strange Tribe: A Family Memoir, his revealing and unsparing account of his life as a Hemingway.We cover Ernest's volatile relationship with John's father, a history that includes affection and intimate understanding, but also correspondence filled with recriminations. Our discussion of the Ernest-Gregory relationship leads to an illuminating examination of fathers and sons, gender fluidity, mental health, and much more. John also describes his travels and his own writing, and he recalls the close bond he developed with his great-uncle Leicester. Join us for this special discussion of the Hemingways with John Hemingway!

Is “Hills Like White Elephants” Hemingway’s greatest short story ever, or only his most famous?  Bolstering the case for “Hills Like White Elephants” as the G.O.A.T., esteemed scholar Russ Pottle joins us to explain the story’s composition, imagery, historical and biographical contexts, and unforgettable dialogue.Pottle helps us read between the lines in the ways Hemingway characterizes Jig and the American through their dialogue and their silence, and through their actions. We figure out exactly how one can wait “reasonably” for a train, and what Hemingway means by the ambiguous ending when Jig says she “feels fine.” And would you please please please please please please please listen for a special guest appearance from old friend Miriam Mandel?  

Ilan Stavans, publisher of Restless Books and author of numerous works including Quixote and What is American Literature?, shares his one true sentence from Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.

For an episode devoted to Hadley Richardson, we are proud to welcome Gioia Diliberto, esteemed writer and author of many books, including Paris Without End: The True Story of Hemingway’s First Wife. We explore Hadley’s difficult childhood, her time in Paris with Hemingway, the dissolution of their marriage, the loss of Hemingway’s manuscripts, the famous “100-day separation” pact, and the rest of their legendary relationship. Diliberto discusses the revelations of the Sokoloff tapes, Hadley’s recorded reminiscences of Hemingway many decades later. We learn how Hadley felt about A Moveable Feast, Pauline Pfeiffer, and also Hemingway’s suicide. Join us for an interview about Hadley with her definitive biographer.

The great Italian scholar Martina Mastandrea discusses “In Another Country,” one of Hemingway’s finest short stories. After Mastandrea treats us to an Italian rendition of the famous opening paragraph, we explore the many treasures of the story: Why did F. Scott Fitzgerald admire the first sentence of the story so much? Is this a Nick Adams story? What does it tell us about Hemingway's perspective on war? What's the difference between our protagonist and the hunting hawks? Why is the major so insistent on speaking Italian grammatically…. and never marrying?  Join us in our discussion and celebration of “In Another Country” and then go re-read it!