Kentucky Author Forum

2008-09 SEASON

Michael Kinsley – March 24, 2009

Creative Capitalism is a book that challenges the conventional wisdom about our economic system. It is a road map for the new global economy that is emerging as capitalism continues to adapt itself to a changing world.

Michael Kinsley is a columnist for Time magazine. For many years he was the editor of The New Republic. He was host of CNN’s Crossfire and founded Slate, the nation’s first online magazine. He also served as the editorial page editor for The Los Angeles Times, and American Survey editor of The Economist. He has written for many publications including The New Yorker and Conde Nast Traveler.

Michael Kinsley was interviewed by James Surowiecki, staff writer at The New Yorker, where he writes a regular column on business and finance called “The Financial Page”.

Listen to the interview:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Elizabeth Gilbert – February 26, 2009

Elizabeth Gilbert’s recent memoir Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia has been a #1 New York Times bestseller for over 48 weeks, and has been on the overall bestseller list for over 86 weeks. Her debut novel, Stern Men, will be reissued by Penguin Books in February 2009. Stern Men focuses on two remote islands off the coast of Maine, where the local lobstermen have fought savagely for generations over the fishing rights to the ocean waters between them.

Elizabeth Gilbert is also the author of a short story collection, Pilgrims, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. The Last American Man, her biography of mountain man Eustace Conway, was a National Book Award finalist. A Pushcart Prize winner and National Magazine Award-nominated journalist, she has also worked as a writer at GQ. Her journalism has been published in Harper’s Bazaar, Spin, and The New York Times Magazine. Her stories have appeared in Esquire, Story and The Paris Review. (courtesy: Kentucky Author Forum).

Elizabeth Gilbert was interviewed by ZZ Packer, a writer widely recognized for her short fiction, on February 26, 2009 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum.

Listen to the interview:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Malcolm Gladwell – January 22, 2009

Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers is a book about success. It starts with a simple question: what is the difference between those who do something special with their lives and everyone else? Gladwell takes us on a journey through the world of “outliers” – the best and the brightest, most famous and most successful. What makes high achievers different?

Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker Magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People”. He is the author of two New York Times #1 bestselling books: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005). (courtesy: Kentucky Author Forum).

Malcolm Gladwell was interviewed by Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, on January 22, 2009 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum.

Listen to the interview:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 (audience Q&A)

David Boren – October 6, 2008

Kentucky Author Forum opened its 13th season with an interview featuring Senator David Boren, who was the longest-serving chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee and is currently the President of the University of Oklahoma. Senator Boren’s book, A Letter to America, honestly examines the current and future roles of the United States in world politics, addressing the issue of how we can remain a global superpower. The answer, Boren says, lies in bipartisan cooperation, and major reforms to restore the ability of our political system to act responsibly. (courtesy: Kentucky Author Forum).

Senator Boren was interviewed by Neal Conan, host of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” on Oct. 6, 2008 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum.

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2007-08 SEASON

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer – May 6, 2008

Stephen G. Breyer, associate justice of the Supreme Court, took his seat in 1994. His book Active Liberty is based on the Tanner lectures on Human Values that Justice Breyer delivered at Harvard University in November 2004. In it, Justice Breyer argues that the Constitution’s lasting brilliance is that its principles may adapt to cope with current situations. (courtesy: Kentucky Author Forum).

Justice Breyer was interviewed by Pete Williams, Justice Correspondent for NBC News, on May 6, 2008 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum.

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Greg Mortenson – April 1, 2008

indefensefood_cover1.jpgIn 1993, Greg Mortenson climbed Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain in the Karakoram range. While recovering in a local village called Korphe, he met a group of children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks in the sand, and made a promise to help them build a school. From that rash promise, grew a remarkable humanitarian campaign, in which Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote, volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time. (courtesy: Kentucky Author Forum)

Jacki Lyden, Senior Correspondent and host at NPR, interviewed Mortenson on April 1, 2008 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum.

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Michael Pollan – January 11, 2008 indefensefood_cover1.jpg

Michael Pollan is a long-time contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and teaches journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. In his most recent best seller, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, he convincingly showed that we are indeed what we eat—and what we eat remakes the world—launching a new public dialogue about eating from an ecological perspective. In Defense of Food continues this critical discussion of what to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health. (courtesy: Kentucky Author Forum)

Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson interviewed Pollan January 11, 2008 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum.

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Tom Brokaw – November 27, 2007

tom_brokaw_book.jpgTom Brokaw, former anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw” is the author of the new book Boom! Aftershocks of the Sixties. With The Greatest Generation, Brokaw defined what it meant to come of age during the Great Depression and World War II. In Boom! the veteran newsman looks at the tumultuous decade of the 1960s to explore how famous people, ordinary citizens, and the national mindset were all affected by a time of unforgettable change. (courtesy: Kentucky Author Forum)

Washington Post assistant editor Rick Atkinson interviewed Brokaw November 27, 2007 at the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum.

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