C-SPAN Bookshelf

Historian Cassandra Good talks about the lives and complicated legacies of George Washington's heirs. George and Martha Washington never had children together, but they raised Martha's children, and later grandchildren, as their own. Together they made up America's first "first family."    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Rebecca Grant reported on maternal healthcare in the U.S. & discussed how social & political dynamics impact pregnancy & motherhood. She was interviewed by New York Times reporter Alisha Gupta.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Book Industry Study Group executive director Brian O’Leary discusses how his organization is working to improve the production and distribution of print and digital books in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simon Sebag Montefiore is a British historian. He's 57 and lives in London with his wife Santa and their two children. He's written 12 books - 9 nonfiction and 3 novels. His latest effort is titled "The World: A Family History of Humanity." Including the index, it's 1,304 pages. In his preface, Montefiore writes: "I have always wanted to write an intimate human history like 'The World' – in some ways a new approach, in some ways a traditional one – which is the fruit of a lifetime of study and travels."   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emmett Till's cousin Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., who accompanied Till on his trip to Mississippi in 1955, talked about the fateful events leading up to Till's murder by two white men and his efforts to get justice for his late cousin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Kaplan's 21st book, "The Tragic Mind," revolves around what he has learned over the years from Greek philosophers and William Shakespeare. Yale University Press says that Kaplan "employs the works of ancient Greek dramatists, Shakespeare, German philosophers, and the modern classics to explore the central subjects of international politics: order, disorder, rebellion, ambition, loyalty to family and state, violence, and the mistakes of power." Mr. Kaplan, 70, was born in New York City and graduated from the University of Connecticut.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate magazine staff writer Henry Grabar, author of "Paved Paradise," talks about the evolution of parking in the United States and the consequences of that development today. He argues that the decades-long importance given to parking has negatively impacted housing costs and development, city traffic, the environment, and more.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Trump Administration Interior Secretary David Bernhardt argued that the administrative state has amassed unaccountable power over the last twenty years. He was interviewed by American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Adam White. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former FBI Director James Comey discussed his legal thriller "Central Park West" and why he decided to start writing novels. About Books also reported on the latest publishing industry news and current non-fiction books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nonfiction book lovers, we are making it easy to find all of the C-SPAN podcast episodes with authors in one place. Each week we will post episodes from the different C-SPAN podcasts that feature non-fiction authors and books to make it easier for you to find the episodes and listen. Subscribe to this week so you'll never miss a C-SPAN podcast on books! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices