Mason Out Loud

Praveen Herat joins Fall for the Book to talk about his debut novel, Between This World and the Next, a gripping exploration of power, identity, and how far one must go to uncover the truth. Herat was born in London to Sri Lankan parents and educated at Oxford and the University of East Anglia. He lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for several years, a period that marked him profoundly and prompted his research for what would become Between This World and the Next.

Shirley M. Marshall talks about the suffragist movement and the 19th Amendment in this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast. Her book, A Radical Suffragist in Washington, D.C.: An Inside Story of the National Woman’s Party is local, national, and international look at the strategy and politics of the suffragist movement.

Mythology, identity, motherhood, and more discussed in this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast with poet K. Avvirin Berlin, author of the collection Leda's Daughters. the collection is full of salt-of-the-earth poems that traverse and transgress the temporal, re-envisioning African American and Native American women’s history as a history of poetics.

Eliza Knight talks fantastic flappers, star studded dancers, and incredible female stars in this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast. From the underappreciated legacy of Adele Astaire, sister to Fred Astaire, to Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe's unlikely friendship. She is the author of Starring Adele Astaire, Why Can't We Be Friends, and many other titles.

Edward Cahill discusses his novel Disorderly Men, which follows three gay men in pre-Stonewall NYC, who find their fates thrown together during the police raid of a Village bar. Cahill talks identity, shame, 'disorderly conduct, and James Baldwin, in this episode of the Fall for the Book podcast.

Vandana Khanna sits down to talk about her poetry collection Burning Like Her Own Planet, the ancient Hindu text The Ramayana, women's rage and power, and of course, Beyonce.

Nicole Glover discusses her genre bending Murder and Magic series - The Conductors, and The Undertakers. Set in post-Civil War society, they feature Hetty and Benji - two former Conductors on the Underground Railroad, as they solve murders using celestial magic.

Annie Rains stops by in this bonus holiday episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast to talk about her novel "Through The Snowglobe," a mashup of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Groundhog's Day." Romance, Christmas, and second (and third and fourth) chances shape this heartwarming novel.

M.P. Woodward talks about his own experience in the Intelligence community, and how it helped him write his new espionage thriller, Dead Drop, where international nuclear negotiations turn allies into enemies.

Caty Borum talks satire, humor, and the power of uplifting voices through comedy in this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast. Borum is Executive Director of the Center for Media & Social Impact, and the author of The Revolution Will be Hilarious: Comedy for Social Change and Civic Power.

Mojgan Ghazirad discusses her autobiographic novel, The House on Sun Street, about a young girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution. She talks about the power of storytelling, changing identities, and the dangers of book banning.

Vanessa Riley talks about her novel Queen of Exiles, about the first black queen of Haiti after the Haitian Revolution. Marie-Louise Christophe then lived in exile where she became the first 'media-stalked' royal in an impressive tale.

Kathryn Savage, author of the debut lyric essay Groundglass, breaks down Superfund sites, the “body burden” of pollution, and the importance of hearing those whose voices often are silenced.

Salar Abdoh discusses martyrdom, (in)humanity in war, and dichotomies of art, peace, and violence in the Middle East, in his powerful novel Out of Mesopotamia. Abdoh was born in Iran and splits his time between Tehran and New York City. He is the author of the novels Tehran at Twilight, The Poet Game, and Opium; and he is the editor of Tehran Noir. His latest novel is Out of Mesopotamia.

Dr. Debra Lane, a 30 year veteran of the education systems in the US and abroad, sits down to talk about resilience in school for students and instructors, the changing role of women in education, and what needs to change to help make students more successful in school.

Bruce Holsinger, author of The Displacements, and Matt Bondurant, author of Oleander City, sit down with Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon for the first episode of 2023. They talk superstorms, climate change, disaster response in their tales of a near future Category 6 hurricane and the true devastation in Galveston, TX in the early 1900s.

On the final episode of the year, Sisters Frances & Ginger Park talk about family history and memory, collaborating on a long list of children's books and a memoir, and the best chocolate pairings for their newest books, That Lonely Spell, and The Hundred Choices Department Store.

Combat veteran and former paratrooper Bill Glose discusses his story collection, All the Ruined Men, as well as the toll of war on soldiers, and the power of poetry and writing, on this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast.

A Calm and Normal Heart author Chelsea T. Hicks talks about revitalizing the Wazhazhe ie language, creating art, fashion, and poetry, and her story collection in this episode of The Fall for the Book Podcast. Hicks is an enrolled citizen of the Osage Nation and she belongs to the Pawhuska District.

In the first episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast's season, Alma Katsu curls horror and the supernatural through her historical fiction - from the Donner Party to the Titanic, to Japanese internment campus during WWII in her newest book The Fervor. She talks research, Japanese folklore, and more. She even talks about how she helped predict the future of Intelligence in social media during her time in the CIA.