every weekend booktv, now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2, creed by the cable tv industry and brought to you as a public service by your local cable, tv or satellite provider. author and journalist gail sheehy discusses her forthcoming memoir, "daring: my passages" next on booktv. >> longtime journalist gail sheehy, what was your first job in journalism? >> it was at the chronicle in rochester, new york. i was thrown in to be fashion editor. what i knew about fashion was not a lot of. shorts and t-shirts and playing tennis. but i learned fast. i had to file at the end of the day every day. it was so exciting. i just totally fell into it. >> when did you get into the kind of journalism that you have become known for? >> early actually because of new york magazine. the "herald" tribune which was tom wolfe told me when i met him in the elevator when i got my first job. i was working in the women's department which i called the estrogen zone. is three hours away -- there were no women in journalism in the mid '60s. to speak of. and tom

so, it was like what you were saying, your question of fiction versus nonfiction of. if this had been fiction i would have made up the scene, this scene, to make it work. but because it was nonfiction, had to go there and find people to tell me those things. but i knew like -- let's say the question was, what's going to happen in the final scene at the western wall? if it's stephen spielberg directing the movie. i could come up with some bullshit but i knew that if i could talk to the real guys, that they would tell me something i would never have thought of in a million years, and i'll tell you just a couple of tiny things here. you guys still have patience for a little more of this? of the craziness of war and of this kind of stuff. they -- when the israeli paratroopers got up to the temple mount where the western wall is, they didn't really know where it was because no jew had been allowed there ever, in 2,000 years, burt they knew there was a poplar gove there. >> found the poplar grove, and suddenly out of nowhere, like they had just come out of a gun battle, an

>> guest: we have some interesting nonfiction. one thing we have is the co-founder of paypall, now a big investor has written a book called from zero to one. it is based on when he taught at stanford university, teaching students how to build start-ups and what he knew about building companies and with the companies of the future are going to look like. he worked with a co-author, who was actually one of his students at stanford who was transcribing his notes. when he was giving these lectures he did not realize it was the makings of a book. interestingly, also a founder of a company called oyster, which is displaying here because they are an e-book subscription service. he is practicing what he is preaching, engaging in trying to help other companies in our space while writing for everyone so that we can understand what he knows and hell he did. >> host: what do you think about that concept? >> guest: it is very interesting. i have known for a long time the power of subscription. you can find a customer and give them something th

we do pretty much it is a nonfiction list. if you go to the booth at 1406 you can get your picture taken with a storm trooper which is promoting the basic book coming out in the fall how star wars conquered the universe. and we have the two great authors assigned tomorrow for public affairs. we have a book coming up and he's a member of parliament usually, that he is coming here in his capacity as an altar of history and he's a fantastic guide and we have david just wrote the pacemakers why we are crazy for cupcakes that fed up with fondue. so we do the things that you expect of us and things that you don't. i think the most unexpected thing that i've learned from the students is that they are interested in exploring the niches as well as the obvious and the big ideas and mass-market ideas. i teach the class which is one of the final classes they take for graduation and they have to come up with a business plan for any publishing business. and i've been very impressed at how willing they are in what may look like a specialized

she's the author of two nonfiction books from national geographic and is currently working on a novel. now i'm going to ask the panelists to take a minute to sort of very briefly explain what it is they do, tell you what their job title is and sort of explain how they connect authors to readers quickly. and succinctly. >> succinctly. i'm always succinct. a publicist's job. when i was trying to find my way in publishing, when i was trying to find my way in publishing, i sort of didn't know what i wanted to do, and then i realized there was this role where i could be working with authors and journalists and talking about books all the time, and i was, like, oh, i want to do that. i want to talk about their books all the time, i want to get their books out there on the, you know, to readers. i want to connect their book withs to the real people who are buying the books. so publicity was the really perfect place for me. i get to do a all that, i get to work with the authors before their books come out, try and figure out how is the best way to roll out their book. talk to media and, of co

booktv streams live online for 48 hours every weekend with top nonfiction books and authors.booktv.org. each month the new york times compiles a list of the best selling books based on several categories. here's a look at their best selling political books for june of 2014. at the top of the list is capital in the 21st century, the french economist reports on wealth and income inequality in europe and the united states since the 18th-century. second is conform:a call for refocus priorities in american public education by television and radio host glenn beck. a fighting chance by massachusetts senator reid is the war and is no. 3 on the new york times political books list. we recently covered her and thomas picardy in conversation in boston. look for it to air on booktv or you can watch it any time online at booktv.org. retired neurosurgeon been carson is fourth with his take on several issues facing the country today in his book one nation. look for dr. carson as recent talks in the national press club in washington d.c. to air this weekend on booktv. laura helen brand is fif

. >> here's a look at the best-selling nonfiction books according to publishers weekly. ..

[applause] >> you're watching book tv nonfiction authors and books every weekend on c-span2. book tv sat down with professor heather williams to talk about her book help me define my people which looks set family separations during slavery and the efforts to reunite families after emancipation. this interview was conducted on the campus of the university of north carolina and is part of the book tv college series. it is about 40 minutes. said the one professor, in 1863 what was generally this late population in the u.s.? >> guest: probably about 5 million in the american south at that point. slavery had been abolished in the northern states. i think it is important to say that just because many people don't realize there had been slavery in the north. but by the 18 twenties it had been abolished and places like new york and massachusetts. and so slavery then continued in the south. >> host: of those 5 million, how many do you think were displaced from their family? >> guest: it is so difficult for me to speak in terms of numbers. it really is. i get bits and pieces of informa

. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2 with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. booktv, television for serious readers. >> a stand, created by america's cable companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. .. smartphone, of course, you already had the device, you had the network in place, you were already paying for it. you had the app stores where software could be automatically downloaded to you, and google realized they had the mapping data, the gps data, and they said there's no reason why we can't put that all together and offer our own navigation app. so they did. they created google maps navigation, downloaded it to millions of android quites in a couple -- devices in a couple op months' time, and suddenly nobody needed maps or gps navigators anymore. >> host: but that was helped by a decision by president clinton, correct? >> guest: yes. >> host: what was that decision? >> guest: the decision was to declassify the gps data. it was already out there, obviously, for military and intelligence purposes

extremes live on the weekend with top nonfiction books and authors. booktv.org. >> in the new york epicenter where the book publishing industry is meeting for its annual convention margie of red regnery joins us. >> it is delightful to be here and we have a lot of exciting titles coming this fall. in fact, this spring we have a few coming in the next few months. we have a big book the next one is a book by dinesh d'souza and it's about america, her history, her values and a kind of retort to the mythology as the nation would say that america has a history of oppression and bullying and that americans greatness and strength influenced is really based on overpowering people rather than drawing in people to attracting people with hope and opportunity. so, i k

this is nonfiction? so the ministry really threw me in -- zooming in and those of us time madame nhu emerged from her self imposed exclusion to say this is a family affair, leave my family alone. at the time she was living in rome but she was back and forth between rome and paris. >> did you start out possibly, the parents, did you start out thinking about writing about their lives perhaps and then she became such an interesting figure to you a long the way? >> i sort of thought there was something there. their faces looking, 90 -- i'm going to get the names wrong -- 90 and 86 or something when they were murdered and they were murdered i read in their pajamas. that seem so heartbreaking and sad. i start looking into it and what i found was that these lives, these very sympathetic, elderly couple had, in fact, lived quite a life before that. madame nhu's mother was known as the pearl of the orient by the french. and benefit archives was digging around all these references to she slept with and why and the

. >> is there a nonfiction author of book you'd like to see featured on booktv? send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org or tweet us at twitter.com/a booktv. >> here's a look at some books that are being published this week.

policy events and every weekend book tv now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2, created by the cable-tv industry and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> next on book tv dr. stanley prusiner talking about his discovery of infectious proteins that contain no genetic material and the connection between brain diseases like alzheimer's, als, and parkinson's. this is about 20 minutes. >> thank you for finishing up our conference. you have so leaves us with the profound message that we should take on today. a big responsibility. we were talking before, and i think we have not really talked a lot about this today, the issue of healthy aging and how that plays into our new health system, whenever it may be. we tend to focus on, you know, the more acute diseases. you and i were talking earlier how about alzheimer's. as a neurologist. >> one of the things we really need to think about is what is aging, the simple definition is getting older. bu

this is pure nonfiction red meat. would you consider, you know, letting me tell your story? the banker said, yes. the former armed robber says, you want to tell my story, you come up to -- he's, you know, south boston guy. >> you come up to bangor to my house, and we'll talk. so i drove up to bangor, and we had a face to face, and, you know, he kind of felt me out. we shook hands, we do this, and then i was just off and rolling with these two guys for the last, you know, year or so. and that was, that was the genesis of this story was, you know, basically me taking the screen writer around. >> host: well, your book is coming out in the fall of 2014. is there going to be an hbo series? >> guest: i don't know. you know, i've had a few things optioned. think they say you need ten miracles in order for it to happen, and i think we're about eight miracles shy of the red carpet. >> host: and a very quick preview of jake halpern's newest book, "bad paper: chasing debt from wall street to the underworld." you're watching booktv on c-span2, television for serious readers. [inaudible

[inaudible conversations] >> is there a nonfiction author a book you would like to see featured on booktv? send us a tweet e-mail at the booktv@c-span.org or tweet us at twitter.com/booktv. >> michael sims recounts henry david thoreau's formative education and the intellectual path that led to his writing career, which include his authorship of walden. the author reports that the harvard graduate who built a cabin on ralph waldo emerson's property where he lived and wrote for over two years was more than a recluse he is normally remembered as. this is about 50 minutes. >> the bottom line is i like to type. thank you very much for coming out today, and i was wondering if is going to rain on me and i was thinking i should be worried about that because it's henry david thoreau and your richard milk and. you worry about those things and my wife has tolerated henry thoreau around the house for two years while i was working on the book. is taken to tweeting famous quotations such as a where enterprises that require new clothes. and so now she makes me very self-conscious on thinking the things

often it is said you can write more truth in fiction and nonfiction., richard clarke, have written "sting of the drone." officers andia agents who write books have to be vetted by the cia. but did your book have to be vetted by any government agency? >> yes, unfortunately, all of my books for the rest of my life have to be reviewed by the government. >> and did they object to any parts of this book? >> they did not. >> there's a part of the book aere the drone bombs a h in major city. is that a warning of a scenario that you envision we might face? >> is meant to ask the question, what is too far? in that incident and the novel, the americans say to each other, we can do this precisely. we can do this very, very narrowly so the only people who are damaged in any way are terrorists were plotting an imminent attack on the metros, the subways in germany. we can prevent that attack and no one else will be harmed. oh, the austrian government won't let us do this if we ask them for permission, but we can nod withnk wink od the austrian security service and t

. >> you're watching book tv, nonfiction authors and books every weekend. >> people should care aboutrazil. a country larger than that continental united states. the most people of japanese descent of anywhere on are outside of japan, the most people of italian descent and the most people of african descent of anywhere on our earth and outside of nigeria. the fifth largest economy on the planet, by far the number one industrial power in all of latin america. sao paulo alone is a bigger industrial area and all of argentina. i mean come in a lot of waste this is the future and in many respects the people who led brazil said we are the future which is why we will host these mega of men's and show world that brazil is the future. this is where things got kind of messed up along the way. i think what people have to understand is if you know something about brazil, the culture, the history, you want to understand why the hosting of the world cup touches every sensitive spot and is a right now. foreign example, people in brazil, i do not want to shock anyone, but they are sensitive to the id

. >> is there a nonfiction author of book you'd like to see featured on booktv? send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org or tweet us at twitter.com/a booktv. >> here's a look at some books that are being published this week. >> look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch with authors in the near future on booktv, and on booktv.org. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> welcome to st. louis on booktv. located on the west bank of the mississippi river, it was the starting point for the lewis and clark expedition in 1804, and the city where the historic dred scott trial began. .. i spent five years researching the people of the cemetery but my research was based upon 60 years of research, they had ten statistics with primary sources. even though i worked on it 8, 10 hours a day i could never have completed this without their wonderful work, the gatekeeper and superintendent, so appreciative of them. the book contains sections which tell the history of the city of st. louis. each section contains biographies. altogether there are 80 biographies. i wrote biographies of people b

so to that extent, that's a very good example of the way the nonfiction media industry, the reporters community struggles to get the attention of the world at large surrounding issues about and development and ordinary africa. now back to my book, i am proud that there are no animals in this book. a book with africa without animals. until i looked at the manuscript when it was finished, i went through like i did it. no safaris, none of that. this book is a user's manual for the africa you have not heard about. the very ordinary things. given that my background is one of someone born in the u.s., right here in chicago, was in a lot of time and countries in sub-saharan africa. it's given me make perspective on where we are missing the mark, what we are not understanding and ordinary things like giving directions that here we would say we are coming to $700 pastry. if you were in nairobi where i was coming to be like okay, you will look for that petro station and then if you see a yellow building you've gone too far. so ask someone and then double back. so it's all contextual. if these o

there is still the question of why marshall did not turn to the makers of newsreels, nonfiction films, to document the entire war effort. i think it is because marshall really understood the power of narrative film. he had seen its effect during the great depression when movies were shown on the sides of trucks to people in the wpa. >> america formally entering world war ii, but what was frank capra doing prior to that? >> he was the most successful and best compensated director in hollywood. he was on the cover of time magazine. with the headline "columbia's gem." he was considered the director who turned columbia pictures into a major force. he had won three academy awards for directing. 1934, followed up those three 1936, 1938. oscars with "mr. smith goes to washington." he was at an extraordinary peak achievement and reputation before the war broke out. >> as an italian immigrant, the u.s. was fighting his home country with mussolini in alliance with hitler's germany, correct? >> his family was sicilian and they emigrated to america when he was a very small boy. he really had no p

i think the books coming out very strong fiction and nonfiction. the documentary's are out there. there is no shortage in the memoirs, poetry, painting is, it is there but the difficult thing is not the people trying to make sense of the past 12 years but getting them to pay attention. these have been unpopular wars and i know the difficulty to pay attention to these things whenever i talk some of the people i have written about will inevitably e-mail me to say so was anybody there or paying attention? as i said yesterday and today, yes some people were here in and paid attention. >> it would be interesting to see how many people in this audience dealing with this. >> as of veteran? >> family members. >> five loss day at son-in-law of one year ago yesterday to pt st. >> i am glad you are here. >> i read your book i have not better around to your ears. its seems the last treatment facilities was the most successful but privately funded as with a lot of problems in this country money seems to be a factor. of you have suggestions what we can do to try to generate money? to have our c

. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2, with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. booktv, television for serious readers. >> coming up this morning on c-span2 on "the communicators." .. and we'd like to welcome back to "te communicators" lawrence strickling who's the administrator of the national telecommunications and information administration. mr. strickling, if you start by telling us what it is you do and where you are in the organizational chart. >> guest: sure, peter. and thank you for having me back. i think it's our third or fourth visit to "the communicators," and we always enjoy our opportunity to sit down with you and your guests to talk about telecommunications policy. ntia is the principal adviser to the president on telecommunications and information policy issues. we're not a regulatory agency, that's the province of the federal communications commission. but we do work on internet policy, broadband spectrum, now public safety is a big part of our portfolio. so we cover a wide variety of telecommunications, internet information topics. >> host: well

booktv streams live online for 48 hours every weekend with top upon nonfiction books and authors. booktv.org. >> booktv continues now with angelo codevilla who says u.s. leaders have forgotten that the founding fathers placed the pursuit of peace as the highest objective of american states craft and that this goal was lost during the 20th century and must be regained for the u.s. to thrive in the future. this is about an hour. [applause] >> well, thank you, john, and welcome to the heritage foundation. peace has ever been mankind's desire, and yet throughout history war has been his common practice. well, consider the major conflicts of just the 20th century in which america has fought; world war i, world war ii, the korean war, the vietnam war, the iraqi war i and ii, the afghan war and, of course, the cold war. in the wake of each war came the question, how can we make -- and more importantly -- how can we keep peace with other nations, or are we doomed as in george orwell's apocalyptic novel "1984" to a state of perpetual war? one way is peace through strength, a basic principl

. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2 with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. tv, television for serious readers. >> here are a few of the programs to watch for on booktv this weekend. for more information, visit us online at booktv.org. >> now on booktv, dayo olopade talks about her book, "the bright continent" at the "chicago tribune" winters road lit fest. the book looks at the new and great ideas that people in sub-saharan africa are coming up with to do with the global challenges they face today. this is about 45 minutes. is a >> thank you, and thanks for coming. it's great to meet you and to the chance to talk about this wonderful book. i want to just start with thatel wonderful essay from the great kenyan satirist who wrote

>> you are watching booktv, nonfiction authors and books every weekend on c-span2. >> booktv sat down with hillary clinton in little rock to discuss her newest book, hard choices. >> i learned, well ever before but serving as secretary of state to expect the unexpected. nobody expected the so-called arab spring until it was upon us. and we have to learn to be agile and ready for the unexpected while we try to build the world that we want, especially for our children and now for my future grandchild, but we've got to be a where of the fact that all these other countries, all these billions of people, they are making our choices every single day. we have to be ready for that because i am absolutely convinced that we have to continue to lead the world into the kind of future that we want. we can't sit on the sidelines. we can't retreat. we're going to have setbacks, disappointments, but over time our story has become the dominant story. it represents the hopes and aspirations of people everywhere. that's what i want americans to understand, and the main reason i wrote this book, i know t

jill abram son will teach undergrads about nonfiction literature.omplaints about her management style. she graduated from harvard in 1976. >> a well-known motor company is driving down the fuel economy ratings for many of the vehicles which means cash back for you. lori rothman explains. >> we might get cash in our pockets? >> not clear how much. ford which has a reputation as being detroit's number one maker of fuel efficient cars now saying it will compensate some few00,000 ford owners for discrepancy. it cut the ratings on six vehicles including the auto maker's 2013 and 2014 hybrids as well as the 2014 ford fiesta. lowering the fuel economy rating by as much as 7 miles per gallon. they sliced the ratings on the nts to booif two gallons per. they went from 2-8 mpg's to infusion energy models by 5 miles per gallon. it sid it discovered them alone and alerted epa. >> lori thank you for joining us. have a great weekend. >> will time is 48 minutes after the hour. cell phone towers in disguise. >> no longer moving on the edge the move today to stop th

every weekend booktv, now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors c-span2, creed by the cable tv industry and brought to you as a public service by your local cable, tv or satellite provider. author and journalist gail sheehy discusses her forthcoming

his book was recently awarded the 2014 pulitzer prize of nonfiction. before rejoining the nyu faculty with the environmental writer for a newspaper david finkel is a writer and editor for the "washington post" and also many foreign subjects the author of the goods soldiers the critically acclaimed account of the u.s. surged during the iraq war. it won the bernstein award in 2010. the latest book was named a finalist for the 2013 national book critics circle award and a finalist here again for the bernstein award. fred kaplan is on his way with some traffic delays but will be here shortly. if you are from new york you know, what those delays are like. a columnist for slate the author of two books in moscow bureau chief for the globe the lead member of the team that won a pulitzer prize for the nuclear arms race his book was a pulitzer prize finalist in this year's edward r. murrow follow in tea to a freelance journalist and former correspondent an editor from the associated press and the only full-time correspondents with the 7. zero earthquake struck t

>> you are watching booktv on c-span2 with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. booktv, televisions -- television for serious readers. c-span, created by america's cable companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. .. you were with a group of your peersm various parts of telecommunications. you were asked about what you uájtk priority for this city in telecommunications. your response was spectrum, spectrum, spectrum. and talked about the three really institutions that have responsibility for that, the ntia, the fcc and congress. i'm going to ask you for our audience very briefly to give a report card on how you think those three institutions are doing and why it's so important. >> guest: so thanks for the question. let me answer those in the reverse way. the reason it's so important is that spectrum is just a fundamental input for all of this investment and innovation that's going on in the industry. as we all know from our personal lives, we're all carrying at this point probably multiple wireless devi

this is nonfiction? so the ministry really threw me in -- zooming in and those of us time madame nhu emerged from her self imposed exclusion to say this is a family affair, leave my family alone. at the time she was living in rome but she was back and forth between rome and paris. >> did you start out possibly, the parents, did you start out thinking about writing about their lives perhaps and then she became such an interesting figure to you a long the way? >> i sort of thought there was something there. their faces looking, 90 -- i'm going to get the names wrong -- 90 and 86 or something when they were murdered and they were murdered i read in their pajamas. that seem so heartbreaking and sad. i start looking into it and what i found was that these lives, these very sympathetic, elderly couple had, in fact, lived quite a life before that. madame nhu's mother was known as the pearl of the orient by the french. and benefit archives was digging around all these references to she slept with and why and the

but there is no -- honest, if you tried to describe a real person, it would be nonfiction.t would be journalism. it is the invention that makes it -- >> you are inspired by things you see. i would assume that you go through your life on an airplane going to foreign countries, to report and interview people, you are meeting people along the way. you are hearing stories and all of the stories are filed in your brain and in your computer, this may be part of something. >> for sure. there are bits of real life that stick in your consciousness and get you going. i will give you an example, when i was researching "the director" in 2012, this idea of hacking and intelligence was interesting. so i decided i needed to find out about this world. i went to the biggest hackers convention, they have a convention every year in las vegas. i went there, there were 10,000 or more people dressed in black t-shirts and jeans and spiky hair. i had somebody who guided me around and introduced me to people. as i met those oh, they began to stick to my consciousness. they come out in fiction. am i

nonfiction authors and books every weekend on c-span2. now on booktv, danielle allen, author of "our declaration" a reading of the declaration of independence in defense of equality, and joseph ellis, author of "revolutionary summer the birth of american independence" talking about their books. this is about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon. i'm jane daily, i teach american history at the university of chicago and i don't want to take up too much time introducing our panelists because each of them is so accomplished that it would take most of our time just to speak about all the things they've done. i will say that professor danielle allen is a member of the institute for advanced study at princeton remember formerly a member of the faculty at the university of chicago and we miss her very much. a classist and a political theirist who has written broadly on questions of justice and democracy and equality. the book we're discussing today is "in defense of equality." -- there it is -- sorry -- "our declaration, reading of the declaration of in

. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2 with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. booktv, television for serious readers. .. >> as well as a panel discussion on book selling and publishing from bookexpo be america, the publishing industry's annual trade show in new york city. for more information on this weekend's television schedule, visit us online at booktv.org. >> cal thomas appeared at the 2014 chicago tribune printers row lit fest to talk about his book, "what works." mr. thomas spoke with kristin mcqueary, and he also took questions from the audience. this is about 45 minutes, next on booktv. [applause] >> thank you all for coming. about six weeks ago i received an e-mail in my in box asking io i would like to interview cal thomas, and, of course, i immediately said yes.iate in my 20s i disagreed with him very, very much, and of course d did. but i kept reading 1w4 wren you read cal, you find yourself thinking about something that he wrote. that is the imprint of a gifted thinker and writer. thinking about some things that he wrote. that is the imprint of a

[applause] >> you are watching book tv, nonfiction authors and books every weekend on c-span2. >> it is book tv at book expo america, the annual trade show held in new york city. over the next few hours will talk to authors of some to be published tits,

i promise you this is a nonfiction book. all really happened. and i have slides. let's start. >> here we go. eleanor kraus glanced around the dining room of her 3 storybook home on cyprus street not far from philadelphia's fashionable rittenhouse where. the dinner hour was approaching and the lenore wanted to be sure the table had been properly set. husband, gilbert, had not arrived from his downtown law office but eleanor had dressed for the evening, choosing a stylish silk dress and a pair of her favorite key strapped pumps. strand of pearls set off against a new pair of matching earrings and a deep red coats of nail polish completed her classically elegant look. one of gilbert's nieces was bringing her fiance to dinner that evening and eleanor wanted everything to shine. moments after gilbert walked through the front door a few minutes after 6:00, eleanor gave him a quick kiss on the cheek but tartly reminded him that their dinner guests were due to arrive very soon. gilbert smiled knowingly at his wife away husbands often smile knowingly at their wives. he rem

space for the unoccupied area that digital hasn't been able to touch, which are areas related to nonfiction and anything that touches gifting for a physical object that moves from one person to the other. those are places that digital does not touch you. we built all kinds of crazy 15 functionality -- does not get used because people want to give a beautiful thing to someone. so, the -- really territorial about which one scale and which ones are interesting, how can engage someone with the new voice they haven't heard before a senate trying to keep every single series that's ever been written. >> okay, so this is interesting. what i wanted to hear about this sort of the discovery and the balance between those two things. i think when we were talking on the phone, you had some interesting examples of people who had made the work. you know, i am wondering if you could share a couple. >> yeah, we have -- we just came through a couple of pilots specifically related to kids. one of the things we are trying to do is see where there is uptake in children's reading, for example, especially teen ser

from fictional tv stations like home land and the proliferation of nonfiction cia memoirs. a new book from a 32 year vets ran of cia who served as a spy himself and the cia's top spy master, shows a unique perspective. involved in the agent's biggest successes and failures. the 1980s, the 1973 coup in chile, the iran contr contra scandal. the author of good hunting, an american spy master's story. jack, good to see you. conventional convention you are 6'5 identity " not a small guy. >> i notice you had a picture of me in 1970, long hair and mustache and american hustle pants. now, the only thing i can say in my defense of those pants, you couldn't see the color, they were yellow. it doesn't matter whether you're tall or short, it's that you're going to carry something out in a way that people are looking at you. it's about magic, where you find those points in time that nobody is watching you. >> that's not easy to find. >> lot of hard work, traij, trade--- training, it's call trade-craft. you're trained in it and practice it. >> flies in the facing of conventional wisdom,

applause >> you're watching booktv, nonfiction authors and books every weekend on c-span2. >> religion is a powerful identity-forming mechanism. it is part of human society is figuring out who is us and who is them. right? who is my group and who is the out group. religion answers that question easily. if you pray like me, if you eat like me, if you go to the same church as i do, then you're us. and if you don't, then you're them. and you can see very easily how that kind o

our next guest, they write with a new historical nonfiction "the explorers."hank you for joining us. you base the book on richard francis, these are two explorers who set out in 1856 to find the source of the nile. why these two? >> a little drama that unfolded became epic, it became global news, the few that enveloped, the two of them was just this great almost murder mystery for everything that could go wrong did go wrong making for a great spectacle. ashley: fascinating because they suffered a variety of tropical diseases, lost his hearing after an insect crawled in his ear, at one point was temporarily blinded which almost in ironic fashion get to a huge lake he cannot see it because he is blind. how do they get into a rivalry, why did they end up at odds with each other for so much? >> the interesting thing is you would think the only two english guys who can speak the same language with one another traveling in africa for almost three years would get along with each other. thinking lake victoria was the center of the nile, they would speak at the first,

he wrote 10 books of fiction and nonfiction including born fighting history of the scotch-irish culture in america and fields of file -- field of fire. tuesday's "wall street journal" robert scales right to many memoirs are exercises of self-regard if not self-aggrandisement. james webb "i heard my country calling" avoids this by giving his achievements later in life in the briefest brimming reference. mr. webb is intent on telling the story of his formative years as an air force brat and shipman and a marine in vietnam. the result is more than a personal reminiscence. mr. webb's narrative captures the experience of a generation of children raised during the cold war and embedded in another culture of america's expanded armed forces. the suite of this wonderful book makes it a alpha and omega of the cold war's truest children. he begins with pride and patriotism that comes from living with warrior fathers and ends with a ends with illusion dispelled by war in vietnam. it's a personal -- is a brilliant personal recollection that brings brings alive and forgotten period of american histor

comics -- which is frivolous, delightful but also the way i do it, which is to say a little niche of nonfiction within the comic art world, fairly serious. >> yeah. >> and "bohemians" as a book certainly follows in the trail of "the beats" which i edited. >> fantastic. yeah. allison bechtel's work is remarkable. her most recent book is called "are you my mother," and you read that book, and it's incredibly dense and interesting and intellectually satisfying. you learn a lot about the british psychoanalyst d.w. winochot. there's a lot of references to people like james joyce and people like that. let me quote from your introduction then and get into the topic of bohemianism. you say bohemians have occupied a status in society without being politically minded or even organized. the danger that they pose for the fretful of every generation is also the secret of their lasting appeal. and then in a chapter, an amazing dual biography of billy holliday and a gentleman named abe mirapol who wrote the great song "strange fruit," a writer named sharon rudolph writes: for a hundred years or so, bohemia wa

that was "after words" booktv signature program in which others of the latest nonfiction books are interviewed by journalists public policymakers legislators and others familiar with their materials. "after words" airs every week and am booktv at 10:00 p.m. on saturday, 12 and 9:00 p.m. on sunday in 12:00 a.m. on monday. you can also watch "after words" on line on line. notable tv.org and click on "after words" in the booktv series of topics was on the upper right side of the page. .. i want to thank red river theater for this terrific venue he, the want to thank gibson for turning out. you may have noticed when you walk in that he has books in the lobby. joe will stick around the sun some afterwards. i'll be will take advantage of that. also want to thank joe for coming a little bit off the main circuit but publishers but you want to come to concord. of course she also can this the old friends. that is one of the things that happens when you work as a reporter. you need a lot of people, and this difference for a long time. so, of want to say just in the introduction of think probably in you r

some were novels and some were nonfiction books. the common one is that she was a gorgeous sexual siren. she married when she was 18. she was corrupted by his views and it was he one month after he is married is communicating with a spy through the british in new york. you can find novels and some films on it and videos on it. the other view is that she is a poor, innocent thing. she is 18 and she does not know any better. she is basically and totally innocent after this betrayal to not only america but to her. the truth is beyond that and we will get to that in a minute. meanwhile, timeline because i'm looking in the book at one woman who -- they both married radical patriots. why does one woman remain patriotic and the other remain a traitor? we have lucy following henry through the army camps and one of the camps was near middle brook. henry had a dream about military college. he felt the students were not well trained and he create admit college. let me go back to that. in new jersey and this is the first military college. what

narrative nonfiction, creative nonfiction, particularly about plays.'ve named this program a sense of place rural and urban. i am powerfully drawn to books about land and culture and the south in the way we live here those are the types of books we will be talking about today. tulane bear to my right brags about her life on and off her families kansas farm. her first book was the award-winning essay collection one degree wise and her work has appeared in the "chicago tribune" terminator times in several anthologies. julene bair is out of the university of wyoming and iowa in her new book is the alcala wrote, and a mark of love and reckoning. [applause] and david jeff willes is here from akron ohio. it's his hometown his whole life and the subject of both of his books his first book was all the way home and a second book, which we'll talk about today is a hard way on purpose. essays and dispatches from the rust belt. it's appeared in places including their times in "the wall street journal." thank you for being here. [applause] i thought i would again w