
Book Club with Michael Smerconish
Reading for Independent Minds. Unlike many author interviews, if Michael didn't actually read the book, you won't hear about it. If he read it, you'll hear it and you'll love it. Insights into a wide range of topics, including many titles you've probably never heard of. The perfect book is just one listen away.
Latest episodes

Jul 19, 2024 • 30min
Nelson DeMille: "Wild Fire"
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille comes a suspenseful new novel featuring Detective John Corey and an all-too-plausible conspiracy to detonate a nuclear bomb in two major American cities. Michael talks to him about "Wild Fire (A John Corey Novel, 4)".
Welcome to the Custer Hill Club--an informal men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to gather with old friends, hunt, eat, drink, and talk off-the-record about war, life, death, sex and politics. But one Fall weekend, the Executive Board of the Custer Hill Club gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 and what America must do to retaliate. Their plan is finalized and set into motion. Original air date 27 November 2006. The book was published on 6 November 2006.

Jul 18, 2024 • 16min
Amy Chozik: "Chasing Hillary"
The dishy, rollicking, and deeply personal story of what really happened in the 2016 election, as seen through the eyes of the New York Times reporter who gave eight years of her life to covering the First Woman President who wasn't. For a decade, award-winning New York Times journalist Amy Chozick chronicled Hillary Clinton’s pursuit of the presidency. Chozick’s front-row seat, initially covering Clinton’s imploding 2008 campaign, and then her assignment to “The Hillary Beat” ahead of the 2016 election, took her to 48 states and set off a nearly ten-years-long journey in which the formative years of her twenties and thirties became – both personally and professionally – intrinsically intertwined to Clinton’s presidential ambitions. Listen to her conversation with Michael here on the book "Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling." Original air date 23 April 2018. The book was published on 24 April 2018.

Jul 12, 2024 • 17min
Joan Williams: "White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America"
Michael is joined by Joan Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law and Hastings Foundation Chair at University of California, in a chat about her book "White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America." Original air date 18 November 2019. The book was published on 16 May 2017.

Jul 10, 2024 • 12min
Amy Chua: "Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations"
Michael invites lawyer and writer Amy Chua to join him in a conversation about Chua's thought-provoking book "Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations." Original air date 23 February 2018. The book was published on 20 February 2018.

Jul 8, 2024 • 19min
Adam Buckman: "Jerk: How I Wasted My Life Watching Television"
Listen to Michael chat with author Adam Buckman in a conversation about his book "Jerk: How I Wasted My Life Watching Television." Original air date 22 July 2014. The book was published on 14 September 2014.

Jul 2, 2024 • 15min
Yair Zivan: "The Centre Must Hold"
Division in society. The spread of misinformation. The rise of extremism. Centrism holds the answers. Listen to Michael's conversation with Yair Zivan, editor of "The Centre Must Hold: Why Centrism is the Answer to Extremism and Polarisation." Original air date 2 July 2024. The book was published on 27 June 2024.

Jul 1, 2024 • 17min
Howard Blum: "When the Night Comes Falling"
The definitive, inside story of the Idaho murders from bestselling author Howard Blum, whose groundbreaking coverage of the story was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Timed for a trial that will capture national attention, "When the Night Comes Falling: A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders" examines the mysterious murders of the four University of Idaho students. Having covered this case from its start, Edgar award winning investigative reporter Howard Blum takes readers behind the scenes of the police manhunt that eventually led to suspected killer, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, and uncovered larger, lurid questions within this unthinkable tragedy. Listen to Blum's conversation with Michael now. Original air date 1 July 2024. The book was published on 25 June 2024.

Jun 26, 2024 • 18min
Lanny Davis: "The Unmaking of the President 2016"
A longtime Washington insider argues that former FBI Director James Comey’s letter to Congress, sent just before the presidential election in 2016 was a key determining factor in Trump’s win. Listen to Michael's conversation with attorney Lanny Davis, author of "The Unmaking of the President 2016: How FBI Director James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton the Presidency." Original air date 7 February 2018. The book was published on 6 February 2018.

Jun 21, 2024 • 25min
Dr. Anthony Fauci: "On Call"
Doctor Anthony Stephen Fauci is an American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, and the chief medical advisor to the president from 2021 to 2022. He joins Michael to discuss his new book "On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service." Original air date 21 June 2024. The book was published 18 June 2024.

Jun 19, 2024 • 16min
Bakari Sellers: "My Vanishing Country"
What J. D. Vance did for Appalachia with Hillbilly Elegy, CNN analyst and one of the youngest state representatives in South Carolina history Bakari Sellers does for the rural South, in this important book that illuminates the lives of America’s forgotten black working-class men and women. Part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis, "My Vanishing Country: A Memoir" is an eye-opening journey through the South's past, present, and future. Listen to Michael's conversation from 22 May 2020. The book was published on 19 May 2020.
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