C-SPAN Bookshelf

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. Netflix is offering a five-part documentary series titled "Turning Point: The Vietnam War," directed by Brian Knappenberger. The series includes never-before-seen footage of the war from the CBS archives. Also included in the documentary are interviews with participants in the war, both from the North and the South. One of the most frequent voices heard during the series is Columbia University professor Lien-Hang Nguyen, born in Vietnam in 1974. She is the youngest of nine children and was brought to the United States by her parents in 1975. Prof. Nguyen is the author of the 2012 book "Hanoi's War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley discusses the history of free speech in America and the people who advanced it. He argues that the right to free speech, enshrined in the First Amendment, is a basic human right that protects all the others. Prof. Turley also talks about current attempts by government, universities, and the private sector to limit free speech in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and his wife Dina McCormick discussed the importance of mentors and shared stories of successful politicians and business leaders who have had their lives changed by them. This event was hosted by the Ronald Regan Institute in Washington, D.C Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One October morning in 2018, journalist William Geroux says he was returning some books to his local Virginia Beach Library when he noticed a new state historical marker planted in the ground near the front entrance. It said the library was built on the site of a World War II prisoner of war camp. In Mr. Giroux's author's note in his latest book called "The Fifteen," he writes that he "was surprised and a little embarrassed" not to know that, during World War II, the U S had 700 POW camps spread throughout the United States in 46 different states, housing 371,683 German soldiers and 49,784 Italians. His book is subtitled "Murder, Retribution, and the Forgotten Story of Nazi POWs in America." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emory University professor Mark Bauerlein argues that the lack of general civics knowledge by Millennials poses a threat to America's political and social institutions. He was interviewed by the Federalist's culture editor Emily Jashinksy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a story from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. The book by Claire Hoffman is called "Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple MacPherson." FSG, the publisher, further emphasizes that the story is "the dramatic rise, disappearance, and near fall of a woman called Sister Amy who changed the world." Author Claire Hoffman, who has a master's in religion from the University of Chicago, says Aimee Semple MacPherson may not be known to many today, but she was a global star at the inception of global media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Newsweek editor and managing editor of CNN Worldwide, Mark Whitaker, discusses the life and legacy of the Black nationalist leader Malcolm X, who was assassinated in 1965. Mr. Whitaker, author of "The Afterlife of Malcolm X," talks about Malcolm X's split with the Nation of Islam, his relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali, and his posthumous impact on Barack Obama, Clarence Thomas, and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New School economic professor Teresa Ghilarducci offered her thoughts on how to make retirement in the U.S. attainable for more Americans. She was interviewed by Washington Post economics correspondent Abha Bhattarai. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In several recent episodes of the podcast, we have featured books about the World War II era. An important figure from that time has been mentioned but not discussed during any of those interviews. Her name is Elizabeth Bentley. She was the first person to reveal, to the FBI and the Congress, the names of people living in the United States and spying for the Soviets, both Americans and foreign-born operatives. To better understand this former communist spy turned informant, we asked Kathryn Olmsted, author of "Red Spy Queen," a biography of Elizabeth Bentley, to tell us the late spy's story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the pro-peace, feminist grassroots organization CODEPINK, talks about her life as an activist and CODEPINK's current campaigns focusing on Gaza, Ukraine, Iran, and Latin America. She also talks about the nonviolent, disruptive actions taken by CODEPINK at congressional hearings and elsewhere to bring attention to their causes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephanie Land discusses her path from working as a maid to earning a journalism degree and later writing about the working poor. She was interviewed by Rachel Schneider, co-author of "The Financial Diaries." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kenneth Rogoff is professor of economics at Harvard University and former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist. In his most recent book, "Our Dollar, Your Problem," he argues that America's currency might have reached today's lofty pinnacle without a certain amount of good luck. However, as Professor Rogoff nears the end of his 345-page book, he writes, quote: "If rapidly rising debt is left unchecked, and there seems to be little political appetite to rein in massive deficits, the United States and the entire world is in for a substantial period of global financial volatility marked by higher average real interest rates and inflation." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley, author of "The Affirmative Action Myth," argues that the racial preference policies of the 1960s and 70s have had an overall negative impact on the success of Black Americans. He says that Black incomes, homeownership, and educational attainment were all on an upward trajectory prior to these policies being implemented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rick Atkinson has just published the second volume of his American Revolution trilogy. The book is called "The Fate of the Day" and covers years 1777 to 1780. His initial 800-page volume, titled "The British Are Coming," was published in 2019 and focused on years 1775 to 1777. Mr. Atkinson won the George Washington prize for this beginning look at the revolution. His second book in the trilogy covers the middle years. Stationed in Paris, Benjamin Franklin was wooing the French. In Pennsylvania, George Washington was pleading with Congress to deliver the money, men, and material he needed to continue the fight. This volume is timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travel writer Rick Steves talks about his 1978 journey along the "Hippie Trail" and the 60,000-word journal he kept of the trip which he recently published as a book. During the 3,000-mile trek, the then 23-year-old Steves and a friend visited Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. He talks about the people he met along the way, the challenges of travelling in foreign countries in the 1970s, and the lifelong impact the trip had on him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On November 17th, 2002, 23 years ago, Rick Atkinson appeared on the Booknotes television program to discuss his book, "Army at Dawn." This was the first of three books Atkinson called the "Liberation Trilogy," a full history of the European theater of World War II, which is a total of 2,512 pages, including notes and indexes. Beginning in 2019, Rick Atkinson switched trilogies. This time, it's the history of the American Revolution. In this episode of Booknotes+, we are repeating the 2002 interview, which has substantial background on Rick Atkinson's life and writing experience. During next week's episode, we will talk with him about his second book on the Revolution, "The Fate of the Day." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former U.S. Congressman Christopher Cox (R-CA), author of "Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn," takes a critical look at the 28th President of the United States and his attitudes towards racial equality and women's suffrage. Mr. Cox also talks about Wilson's intellectual development and his tenure as president of Princeton University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman explains why she believes the Supreme Court isn't making rulings based on legal principles. She was interviewed by author and Nation Magazine justice correspondent Elie Mystal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Ernest Cuneo played Ivy League football at Columbia University and was in the old Brooklyn Dodgers NFL franchise before becoming a City Hall lawyer and 'Brain Trust' aide to President Franklin Roosevelt." While on the payroll of national radio columnist Walter Winchell, Cuneo "mingled with the famous and powerful. But his status as a spy remained a secret, hiding in plain sight." All of this is the way Hanover Square Press introduces readers to Thomas Maier's book, "The Invisible Spy." Maier, a graduate of Fordham and Columbia, is an author and a television producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices