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Nature, Non Fiction, Wildlife

SEP 02: How Animals Help Improve Spiritual, Mental, Physical Well-Being with Richard Louv

Bringing you an interview today that was recorded with Richard Louv shortly before COVID 19, but is timely because study after study shows how spending more time in nature, and with animals, can help us manage stressful times.

Richard shares how connecting with animals can improve our spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. Why a coyote riding public transportation could become the new norm. How dogs can teach children ethical behavior. And … what Richard means when he  compares raccoons to Silicone Valley and Seattle technophiles.

Richard Louv is the author of ten books, and the co-founder and Chair Emeritus of The Children & Nature Network. In good company with icons like Sir David Attenborough and Rachel Carson, Richard Louv earned the prestigious Audubon Medal in 2008. Today we look at his new book Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform our Lives — and Save Theirs.

 

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History, Non Fiction, Women's Issues

AUG 19: Olive the Lionheart with Brad Ricca

It’s 1910 when 30-year-old redhead and Scottish socialite Olive MacLeod defies all wisdom, packs her bags, and travels to Africa to find her missing fiance. Author Brad Ricca tells the true story of Olive the Lionheart based on her own journals and photographs, the lost journals of her fiance — naturalist Boyd Alexander — and the many letters that crossed continents between them.

Olive’s adventure of the heart sweeps her across deserts, cities, swamps, and jungles. We discuss what was at the heart of the journey, and what drove her. Because while some define her as a hero, Olive realizes in Africa that her journey’s not just about finding her fiance. It’s also about facing her demons and finding herself.

Brad Ricca is an award-winning writer and the Edgar-nominated author of the bestselling Mrs. Sherlock Holmes.  He has appeared in documentaries on the History Channel and AMC. And has been a guest on shows such as Criminal, All Things Considered, and BBC Radio. More about Brad Ricca’s work and Olive the Lionheart: Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and Woman’s Journey into the Heart of Africa.

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Creativity, Fiction, History, Writers on Writing

MAR 25: James Rollins & The Last Odyssey

Vicki welcomes back for the fourth time #1 New York Times Bestselling author James Rollins to discuss the 15th novel in his popular Sigma Force series.  Blending historical fact and science fiction with the suspense of a thriller, The Last Odyssey is described as the thinking readers fiction.

Today we’ll talk about how some of the history and James’ travels inspired the story.  We’ll also separate a little fact from fiction, and take a sneak peek at a new book of short fiction coming later in the year.

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers, translated into more than forty languages, with more than 25 million copies sold.  A practicing veterinarian, Rollins has pursued scuba, spelunking, and other adventures around the world, and currently lives and writes in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

 

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Business, Non Fiction, Personal Development, Spirituality

JAN 22: Finding Prosperity Through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga. Lessons from Google & a Zen Monastery Kitchen

Today’s guest says “When prosperity is equated with material wealth attained for its own sake, the word prosperity loses its deep meaning.” In The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity Through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga author Ellen Grace O’Brian‘s focuses on how to fulfill your soul and material desires, without hyper-materialism.

Ellen Grace O’Brian is the director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in San Jose, CA. She’s taught Kriya Yoga internationally for over three decades. As an award-winning poet, Ellen weaves poetry into her teachings.

Also, how would your life be different if you could achieve maximum focus without losing flexibility?  If you achieved more of the ‘right things’ while bringing more peace into the world? With his Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen, author Marc Lesser dishes up the tools you’ll need for optimum accomplishment without the stress that comes with it.

Marc was founder and CEO of three companies, and is the author of four books. He was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen monastery in the western world.

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

JAN 15: The Body Outside the Kremlin with James L. May

For our Writers On Writing Series, James L. May, author of The Body Outside The Kremlin joins us with what Publisher’s Weekly calls a “richly evocative first novel…gripping…thriller deserves high marks…for historical detail about a prison that served as a key link in the gulag chain.”

We discuss the history of the White Sea Solovetsky Islands and Russia’s renowned concentration camp. How and why this sparked the location and set the scene for his murder mystery. His favorite scenes to write. Most surprising research. What James knows now, that he wish he’d understood when he began writing his book. Does his work as a reviewer inform or hinder his own creativity? And is it worth doing an MFA in Creative Writing?

James L. May’s short fiction has appeared in Tigertail, and he reviews fiction for The Florida Book Review, Gulf Stream Literary Magazine, and New Orleans Review.

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Fiction, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

NOV 06: Manhattan Beach with Pulitzer Winner Jennifer Egan & Technically Wrong with Sara Wachter-Boettcher

Set on the Brooklyn docks during the World War II era, Manhattan Beach seamlessly intertwines the stories of a man working for both the union and the mob, his daughter, the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s only female diver, and a shady, but charismatic, nightclub owner.

Jennifer Egan is the author of several novels and a short story collection, including  A Visit From the Goon Squad, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times book prize.

Also, Sara Wachter-Boettcher presents an informed and compassionate critique of the technology industry in Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech.

Sara Wachter-Boettcher is a Philadelphia-based consultant where she helps organizations make sense of digital content. She speak at conferences worldwide and has authored two previous books for web pros.

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