Library Talks

In his seventh collection of essays, The Patch, master non-fiction writer John McPhee shares a montage of stories and reflections that range from a visit to the Hershey chocolate factory to encounters with Oscar Hammerstein, Joan Baez, and Mount Denali. Calling on his signature devotion to structure, McPhee has winnowed this body of work to present a random assembly he calls an “album quilt,” a memoir as only he could write it. He spoke with Paul Holdengräber about the arc of his life and career. 

Wyatt Cenac moderates a panel of Washington insiders and journalists  about the mechanics of Congress, the archetypes for today's lawmakers, and advice on how constituents can ensure their representatives take action. Featuring Washington Post senior congressional correspondent Paul Kane and ProPublica's Derek Willis, Stevens Institute of Technology assistant professor of political science Lindsay Cormack, When We All Vote communications director and former Congressional Black Caucus staffer Stephanie L. Young,  and James Wallner, R Street senior fellow and former congressional staffer,

Did you know that when James Baldwin was writing "If Beale Street Could Talk" he was also writing a children's book? "Little Man, Little Man" was inspired by his young nephew and was first published in 1976. At the time, it got mixed reviews, went out of print and was largely forgotten. But 40 years later, that book has been republished. Baldwin's niece and nephew, Aisha Karefa-Smart and Tejan "TJ" Karefa-Smart stopped by the Schomburg for Research in Black Culture to talk about their childhood and memories of their uncle. Joining them were the co-editors of the new edition of the book, Jennifer DeVere Brody and Nicholas Boggs. Their conversation was moderated by author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jacqueline Woodson.

More than 30 years after a fire destroyed 400,000 books at the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library,  journalist Susan Orlean re-examines the tragedy in "The Library Book." Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992; her quest to piece together the events surrounding this little-known tale was fueled by her relentless curiosity, a love of reading, and a profound appreciation for the democratic institution of the library. "Libraries are remembering for a whole culture," she said. "That's what books do for all of us—preserve memory."

Carol Anderson is an historian, educator, and author of "White Rage." Her latest book, "One Person, No Vote," is a timely survey of how voting rights have been rolled back in this country following the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. Dr. Anderson's work exposes racially biased voter suppression methods happening today. Joining Dr. Anderson was Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

The bestselling English novelist of "The Essex Serpent," Sarah Perry, stopped by the Library to talk about her newest novel,"Melmoth." The books origins lie in an obscure 19th-century Gothic novel of the same name and an illness that upended her life. She discussed how the earlier novel and her personal experiences combined to birth the phantasmagoric nightmare at the heart of Melmoth's plot.

Darnell L. Moore and Charlene Carruthers are two dynamic leaders and organizers committed to intersectional liberation in movements for Black lives. They are also friends and writers. Moore and Carruthers recently spoke at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and read from each other's recent works: Moore's debut memoir "No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free", and Carruthers's "Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, & Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements."

While training for a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden, writer Thomas Page McBee gained insight into how masculinity operates in the ring and in society— McBee became the first known trans man to box in the historic venue. He stopped by the Library to talk about this experience, the subject of his new book Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man.  Amanda Hess, a critic-at-large for the New York Times joined McBee to discuss the meaning of toxic masculinity,violence, and what it means to be a "real man."

In her new book, "Good and Mad" Rebecca Traister uncovers the history of women's anger in American politics—from the suffragettes to #MeToo. She argues that this collective fury is often the hidden force that drives political change, but rarely has it ever been hailed as fundamentally transformative or patriotic. To discuss her book and what it says about our current political state, Traister was joined by Aminatou Sow, co-host of the podcast "Call Your Girlfriend." 

When famed fashion and society photographer Bill Cunningham died in 2016, he left behind not only an incredible archive of New York Times columns and photographs, but two identical copies of a secret memoir that he apparently hoped someone would find. His family discovered the book, which Cunningham himself titled Fashion Climbing. The Library celebrated its release with the book’s editor, Christopher Richards, and New Yorker critic Hilton Als, who wrote its preface. They were joined by artist and co-founder of Paper, Kim Hastreiter, who was a close acquaintance of the late photographer.