
Library Talks
Join The New York Public Library and your favorite writers, artists, and thinkers for smart talks and provocative conversations from the nation’s cultural capital.
Latest episodes

Jul 2, 2025 • 56min
Kate Marvel and Friends, ‘Human Nature’
In this episode of Library Talks, author and climate scientist Kate Marvel explores her latest book, Human Nature, with David Wallace-Wells, Monica Youn, and Lauren Kurtz through talks, performances, and more Each chapter of Kate Marvel’s new book, Human Nature, employs a different emotion to explore the science and stories behind climate change. Kate Marvel shares some of the hope, heartbreak, and humor that she uses to help readers confront the questions about what future lies ahead and how we can help shape it.

Jun 25, 2025 • 1h 1min
Stephanie Burt with Special Guests: Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry after Stonewall
In this episode of Library Talks, poets and critics read from and discuss the new anthology, Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry after Stonewall. In Super Gay Poems, Stephanie Burt curates a boundary-pushing anthology of 51 poems by LGBTQIA+ writers, tracing the evolution of queer poetry since the Stonewall Riots. From sonnets to shaped poems, elegies to joyful provocations, the collection features luminaries like Frank O’Hara and Audre Lorde alongside vital contemporary voices such as Chen Chen and The Cyborg Jillian Weise.

Jun 18, 2025 • 1h
Barbara Demick with Jessica Bruder: Daughters of the Bamboo Grove
In this episode of Library Talks, acclaimed journalist and National Book Award finalist Barbara Demick talks to Jessica Bruder about her latest book, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins Barbara Demick investigates the origins, shocking cruelty, and legacy of China’s one-child rule; the rise of international adoption and the religious currents that buoyed it; and the exceedingly rare phenomenon of twin separation.

Jun 11, 2025 • 56min
Madeleine Thien with Jiayang Fan: The Book of Records
In this episode of Library Talks, author Madeleine Thien talks to Jiayang Fan about her latest book, The Book of Records. The Book of Records is a novel that leaps across generations, ideas, and centuries, as if different eras were separated by only a door. Madeleine Thien worked on The Book of Records during her 2021-2022 Fellowship at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. She discusses her book with New Yorker staff writer Jiayang Fan.

Jun 4, 2025 • 1h 2min
Claire Hoffman with Jelani Cobb: Sister, Sinner
In this episode of Library Talks, Author and Journalist Claire Hoffman sits down with fellow journalist Jelani Cobb to talk about her latest book, Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson Sister, Sinner chronicles the dramatic rise, disappearance, and near-fall of Aimee Semple McPherson. A pioneer of Pentecostalism and founder of the Foursquare Church, McPherson used spectacle, storytelling, and her own radio station to bring God’s message to the masses. Her innovations brought Pentecostalism into the mainstream, paved the way for televangelists, and shaped the future of American Christianity.

May 28, 2025 • 59min
Russell Shorto with Aidan Flax-Clark: Taking Manhattan
Bestselling author and historian Russell Shorto talks to Aidan Flax-Clark about his latest book, Taking Manhattan.

May 21, 2025 • 59min
Haleh Liza Gafori with Maya C. Popa: Water Translating Rumi
Acclaimed poet Haleh Liza Gafori discusses her latest translations of Rumi's lyric poetry in Water with prize-winning poet Maya C. Popa

May 14, 2025 • 55min
Chris Hughes with Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway: Marketcrafters
Economist and writer Chris Hughes talks to Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Allowa about his latest book, Marketcrafters.

May 7, 2025 • 56min
Mike Hixenbaugh on his Award-Winning Book 'They Came for the Schools'
On this special episode of Library Talks, we speak with Mike Hixenbaugh, winner of the 38th annual Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, for his book They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms.

Apr 30, 2025 • 1h 1min
Vicky Nguyen with Tracey Nguyen Mang: Boat Baby
News anchor Vicky Nguyen talks to Tracey Nguyen Mang about her new memoir, Boat Baby.