The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. Listen to Ask a Bookseller to find your next favorite book.

Big Books and Bold Ideas

Big Books and Bold Ideas is a weekly series hosted by Kerri Miller every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is back for its 25th season. Join us at the Fitzgerald Theater for four special events with renowned authors, celebrating our anniversary with a special $25 ticket price for MPR members and Star Tribune subscribers. Buy tickets here.

March 27, 2006 12:00 AM

Coming back from the brink

A broadcast of the March 23 Talking Volumes event with Brent Runyon, author of "The Burn Journals." Runyon tried to commit suicide at 14 by lighting himself on fire. His book chronicles his recovery in body and spirit.

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March 23, 2006 1:00 AM

'The Burn Journals:' To the brink of suicide and back

When Brent Runyon was just 14, he soaked his bathrobe in gasoline, stepped into the tub and set himself on fire. The story of his suicide attempt, his painful recovery and self-discovery is told in his memoir "The Burn Journals," the latest selection in the Talking Volumes regional book club.

by Kerri Miller

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March 9, 2006 3:14 PM

Jim Derogatis and the long-lived "Lips"

Music critic Jim DeRogatis thinks that only a few people in the rock world qualify as geniuses, and that Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips is one of those people.

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February 17, 2006 11:00 AM

Living with President Lincoln

A decade ago, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin decided to "live" with Abraham Lincoln. Goodwin immersed herself in Lincoln's life and learned that the secret to his success was his ability to incorporate his political adversaries into his administration.

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February 17, 2006 5:00 AM

Columnist chronicles the battle of the sexes

A rebroadcast of Kerri Miller's interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, author of the book "Are Men Necessary: When Sexes Collide." Dowd says feminism has not worked the way it was supposed to for women and men.

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February 15, 2006 10:00 AM

Master poet

The art of poetry is alive as it's ever been thanks to spoken word and hip hop, says a former U.S. Poet Laureate.

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February 10, 2006 1:30 PM

A day in the life of the American woman

Do you remember what you were doing on April 5, 2005? The activities of quite a few American women were documented by photographers that day. Those photographs are now collected in a new book "A Day in the Life of the American Woman: How We see Ourselves."

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February 10, 2006 12:34 PM

The interviews of Studs Terkel

Legendary Chicago radio man Studs Terkel explored the world of ideas with many of the great minds of the 20th Century during his long career. In his 45 years at WFMT, Terkel shared his studio with everyone from Pete Seeger to Gore Vidal to Mel Brooks.

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February 9, 2006 9:00 AM

Why some societies thrive, and others fail

Bestselling author Jared Diamond looked at several communities that he said chose to destroy themselves rather than change how they used the environment.

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January 30, 2006 11:20 AM

Talking Volumes: Kaye Gibbons

In a conversation recorded at the Fitzgerald Theater on January 26th, Kerri Miller talks with novelist Kaye Gibbons. Her latest book, "The Life All Around Me" is a sequel to her acclaimed novel, "Ellen Foster".

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