C-SPAN Bookshelf

Author Meg Medina, the 8th and current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature at the Library of Congress, discussed her efforts to reach and connect with young readers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Saturday, June 8th, 2024, the headline in the Wall Street Journal Saturday review section read: "The Hidden Life of Google's Secret Weapon." The author was Brody Mullins, a veteran investigative reporter for the Journal. The series ran over 3 days. The focus was on a man named Joshua Wright, a lawyer and former law professor at George Mason University Law School. Under the Journal headline, the paper declares that: "Joshua Wright cleared a path to domination for the world’s biggest tech companies, keeping regulators at bay while juggling inappropriate relationships and skirting conflict-of-interest standards at every turn." Brody Mullins, with his brother Luke, also has a new book out called "The Wolves of K Street." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Times of London U.S. editor David Charter, author of "Royal Audience," discusses the special relationship that Queen Elizabeth II had with the United States and U.S. presidents over her 70-year reign as Britain's Head of State. Queen Elizabeth, who became queen in 1952 and passed away in 2022, had met and had varying degrees of personal relationships with 13 of the 14 U.S. presidents during her reign going back to Harry Truman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Schmuhl is the Walter Annenberg-Edmund Joyce Chair Emeritus in American Studies and Journalism at the University of Notre Dame. He has often written about the American presidency. His newest book is "Mr. Churchill in the White House: The Untold Story of a Prime Minister and Two Presidents." Prof. Schmuhl says both Roosevelt and Eisenhower eventually adjusted to the unconventional habits and hours of their White House guest, who not only proposed his visits but almost always, by accident or design, stayed longer than initially intended. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times opinion columnist Frank Bruni, author of "The Age of Grievance," argues that we are living in a cultural and political era defined by victimhood and perceived injustice. He discusses the causes of this development and offers ways to move past it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rockefeller International chairman Ruchir Sharma explains why he believes capitalism is broken and how it can be fixed. He was interviewed by the Cato Institute's Alex Nowrasteh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 16, 2024, after nearly 30 years, David Tatel retired as a judge on the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On the cover of his new memoir is a photo of Judge Tatel in his black robe with his dog Vixen standing on his left side. The book is titled "Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice." He says he wrote the book together with his wife Edie. "Day in and day out we sat at our long desk overlooking an immense oak tree and the hills beyond, Edie on the left with her laptop and me on the right with my brail computer. We wrote, we debated, we laughed, we deleted words, paragraphs, pages. Slowly but surely, a book emerged." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We sat down with Ben's Chili Bowl owner Virginia Ali and Ben's Chili Bowl official historian Bernard Demczuk to talk about the history of the Washington, DC, landmark. Opened in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali, Ben's Chili Bowl has been a hangout for civil rights activists, politicians, and celebrities for over 65 years. Recently, Bernard Demczuk published a book about Mrs. Ali and Ben's titled "Breaking Barriers with Chili." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former New York Times editor Lawrence Ingrassia spoke about cancer research and his own family's rare medical history with the disease. He was interviewed by Wall Street Journal health and science reporter Amy Dockser Marcus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein discussed his book on freedom of speech and how it applies to students, professors, and administrators on college campuses. 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