C-SPAN Bookshelf

Anson Frericks, former president of Anheuser-Busch Sales & Distribution Company, dives into the tumultuous Bud Light controversy. He discusses the devastating impact of a flawed advertising strategy and the shifting landscape of corporate America. Frericks contrasts shareholder and stakeholder capitalism while critiquing the rise of ESG investing. He emphasizes the need for brands to communicate clearly and authentically amid changing consumer perceptions. The conversation also highlights the importance of balancing business integrity with social responsibility in today’s marketplace.

David Levering Lewis is an American historian and retired professor from New York University. He's the author of 12 books and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for his two volumes on the life of W.E.B. DuBois. At 88 years old, Prof. Lewis has written a memoir that, as he says, focuses on "a past I barely knew." He a native of St. Louis, MO, with degrees from Fisk, Columbia, and the London School of Economics. The title of Prof. Lewis' latest book is "The Stained Glass Window: A Family History as the American Story, 1790-1958." In his prologue, he writes: "Africans in America had been both unique victims and unimpeachable critics of a nation corrupted at its inception by a political economy anchored to slavery."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reginald Dwayne Betts originally read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail" – King's defense of the use of nonviolent civil disobedience in the fight for civil rights – while in solitary confinement in prison. Mr. Betts, who served over 8 years for a carjacking he committed when he was 16, went on to become an award-winning poet and graduate of Yale Law School. He has written the Afterword for a new commemorative edition of Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Mr Betts talks about the book and the work done by Freedom Reads, an organization he founded that builds libraries in prisons.           Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Omo Moses, son of civil rights organizer Robert Moses, talks about being Black in America through the voices of three generations of the Moses family. He's interviewed by University of Maryland, Baltimore County emeritus president Freeman Hrabowski. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Dickinson is one of the most significant founders of the United States who is not well known by the American public. Author Jane Calvert is trying to change that with her new biography "Penman of the Founding." John Dickinson is known for his 9 essays under the title Fabius, published anonymously in newspapers during the time that the states were deciding on whether to approve the new Constitution. John Dickinson of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania was the only founding figure present and active in every phase of the American Revolution, from the Stamp Act Crisis to the ratification of the Constitution.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. District Court judge Frederic Block (Eastern District of New York) talks about the application of the 2018 First Step Act, under which federal prisoners who have served decades in prison can petition the court for reductions in their sentences. The bi-partisan act, signed into law by President Trump during his first term, was created to address the excesses in federal sentencing during the 1980s and 90s, reduce the size of the federal prison population, and promote rehabilitation. In his book, "A Second Chance," Judge Block discusses the outcomes for 6 defendants – including mafia hitmen, a child pornographer, and a rogue policeman – who petitioned him for their release.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Washington Post's Eva Dou explains how Huawei became China's most powerful company & what that means for its global competitors. She was interviewed by author and Council on Foreign Relations emerging technologies and national security chair Adam Segal.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For In his latest book titled "Waste Land," author Robert Kaplan focuses on the importance of technology in determining the world's future. Kaplan, author of 24 books, holds the chair in geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Institute. In Chapter 3 of his 177-page book, he claims: "…civilization is now in flux. The ongoing decay of the West is manifested not only in racial tensions coupled with new barriers to free speech, but in the deterioration of dress codes, the erosion of grammar, the decline in sales of serious books and classical music, and so on…all of which have traditionally been signs of civilization."   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Military historian and presidential biographer Nigel Hamilton talks about the military face-off between two American presidents – Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis – during the Civil War. He discusses the early months of the war, the decision to move the Confederate capitol to Virginia, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and more. This is part two of a two-part interview with Mr. Hamilton about his book "Lincoln vs. Davis."      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For 216 weeks, a record, John Berendt's book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" sat on the New York Times best sellers list. It was published in 1994. It sold more than 1.5 million copies. Mr. Berendt, a Syracuse native, is today 85 and lives in New York City. A musical based on the book opened in Chicago in 2024 and will open on Broadway in 2025. During this episode of the podcast, an interview with John Berendt from 1997, when he appeared on the original "Booknotes" television program to talk about the book and its success.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices