Talking with Authors

This is the thirty-sixth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.

Today, our author is award winning writer, Bonnie Tsui. We spoke with her via Zoom in June of 2020 about her recent book “Why We Swim” by publisher Algonquin Books. Bonnie Tsui is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and California Sunday Magazine and has previously written a book about some of the “Chinatowns” that are around the US. In her newest offering, however, she’s focusing on humans and their relationship to the water. She’s the daughter of two swimmers and grew up being a competitive swimmer herself.

“Why We Swim” takes a look at the stories of a wide range of people from swimmers of all types around the world and goes into the reasons why they…and other humans…seem to have an innate attachment to the water.  We’ll go deeper into the subject of people and their draw to H20 in our conversation with award winning writer Bonnie Tsui on this edition Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.

Here’s our host and interviewer this time, Angie Weidinger.

HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.

Host and producer of this episode - Angie Weidinger
Video Editing - Peter Foggy
Graphics - Gregg Kopp
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Ben Smith
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam

Special thanks to Surf Simply, St. Louis County Library, and Left Bank Books

You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors

This is the thirty-sixth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.

Today, our author is award winning writer, Bonnie Tsui. We spoke with her via Zoom in June of 2020 about her recent book “Why We Swim” by publisher Algonquin Books. Bonnie Tsui is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and California Sunday Magazine and has previously written a book about some of the “Chinatowns” that are around the US. In her newest offering, however, she’s focusing on humans and their relationship to the water. She’s the daughter of two swimmers and grew up being a competitive swimmer herself.

“Why We Swim” takes a look at the stories of a wide range of people from swimmers of all types around the world and goes into the reasons why they…and other humans…seem to have an innate attachment to the water.  We’ll go deeper into the subject of people and their draw to H20 in our conversation with award winning writer Bonnie Tsui on this edition Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.

Here’s our host and interviewer this time, Angie Weidinger.

HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.

Host and producer of this episode - Angie Weidinger
Video Editing - Peter Foggy
Graphics - Gregg Kopp
Supervising Producer - Julie Winkle
Production Support - Christina Chastain
HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
Talking with Authors Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
Podcast Audio Editing - Ben Smith
Podcast Producer - Rod Milam
Podcast Host - Rod Milam

Special thanks to Surf Simply, St. Louis County Library, and Left Bank Books

You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors

This is the thirty-fifth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
  
  We’re excited to be back after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is Political Journalist Jennifer Steinhauer. We spoke with her via Zoom in June of 2020 about her latest book “The Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress” by publisher Algonquin Books.

She has been a journalist with the New York Times for over 30 years. Throughout her career she’s written about everything from the West Coast, to politics, business, food, and health care. Since 2010 her main beat has been the US congress and her new book explores the experiences of the women in the 116th congressional freshman class and how the sudden increase in female members has impacted the house and senate. We’ll explore the hurdles many women have to overcome when running for public office, hear how the current social climate and the pandemic have affected the freshmen class, and learn about the history of women in the congress, as Jennifer Steinhauer joins us now on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
 
 HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
  
  Host and Video Producer – Victoria Babu

 Supervising Producer – Julie Winkle 
  Video Editor – Greg Kopp
  Audio Editor – Paul Langdon
  Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
  HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
  Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
  Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
  Podcast Host - Rod Milam
  
  You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
  Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors

This is the thirty-fifth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
  
  We’re excited to be back after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is Political Journalist Jennifer Steinhauer. We spoke with her via Zoom in June of 2020 about her latest book “The Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress” by publisher Algonquin Books.

She has been a journalist with the New York Times for over 30 years. Throughout her career she’s written about everything from the West Coast, to politics, business, food, and health care. Since 2010 her main beat has been the US congress and her new book explores the experiences of the women in the 116th congressional freshman class and how the sudden increase in female members has impacted the house and senate. We’ll explore the hurdles many women have to overcome when running for public office, hear how the current social climate and the pandemic have affected the freshmen class, and learn about the history of women in the congress, as Jennifer Steinhauer joins us now on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
 
 HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
  
  Host and Video Producer – Victoria Babu

 Supervising Producer – Julie Winkle 
  Video Editor – Greg Kopp
  Audio Editor – Paul Langdon
  Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
  HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
  Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
  Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
  Podcast Host - Rod Milam
  
  You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
  Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors

This is the thirty-fourth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
 
 We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is Sweden’s “Queen of Crime” Camilla Lackberg. We spoke with her via Zoom in July of 2020 about her latest book “The Golden Cage” by publisher Penguin Random House.

Her books have been translated into 40 languages and have sold over 20 million copies around the world. In addition to being one of Europe’s most recognizable crime novelists, she is an entrepreneur, part owner of a jewelry company, co-founder of an investment firm dedicated to helping women start their own businesses, and creator of a popular Swedish soap opera. We’ll hear about her formative years, learn about her inspiration for the characters in her crime novels, and get some insights into how her career and celebrity status has changed her home town as Camilla Lackberg joins us now on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.

HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
 
 Host and Video Producer – Angie Weidinger
 Supervising Producer– Julie Winkle 
 Video Editor – Greg Kopp
 Audio Editor- Paul Langdon
 Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
 HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
 Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
 Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
 Podcast Host - Rod Milam
 
 You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors

This is the thirty-fourth episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
 
 We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is Sweden’s “Queen of Crime” Camilla Lackberg. We spoke with her via Zoom in July of 2020 about her latest book “The Golden Cage” by publisher Penguin Random House.

Her books have been translated into 40 languages and have sold over 20 million copies around the world. In addition to being one of Europe’s most recognizable crime novelists, she is an entrepreneur, part owner of a jewelry company, co-founder of an investment firm dedicated to helping women start their own businesses, and creator of a popular Swedish soap opera. We’ll hear about her formative years, learn about her inspiration for the characters in her crime novels, and get some insights into how her career and celebrity status has changed her home town as Camilla Lackberg joins us now on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.

HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
 
 Host and Video Producer – Angie Weidinger
 Supervising Producer– Julie Winkle 
 Video Editor – Greg Kopp
 Audio Editor- Paul Langdon
 Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
 HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
 Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
 Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
 Podcast Host - Rod Milam
 
 You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors

This is the thirty-third episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.

We’re excited to be back after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is New York Times Best-Selling author Linda Castillo. We spoke with her via Zoom in July of 2020 about her book “Outsider: A Novel of Suspense” available through Macmillan Publishers.

She is the author of over 30 novels, including the immensely popular Kate Burkholder Series.  We’ll learn more about Kate Burkholder’s past, as it’s explored in Linda Castillo’s latest novel. We’ll also hear how she got interested in Amish society, why she chose to make that the setting of her most popular series, and how a new character introduced in her latest book has been in development since the first Kate Burkholder novel was released over a decade ago, as Linda Castillo joins us now on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
 
 HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
  
  Host and Video Producer – Kathy Bratkowski
  Supervising Producer– Julie Winkle 
  Video Editor – Peter Foggy
  Audio Editor – Ben Smith
  Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
  HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
  Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
  Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
  Podcast Host - Rod Milam
  
  You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
  Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors 

This is the thirty-third episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.

We’re excited to be back after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is New York Times Best-Selling author Linda Castillo. We spoke with her via Zoom in July of 2020 about her book “Outsider: A Novel of Suspense” available through Macmillan Publishers.

She is the author of over 30 novels, including the immensely popular Kate Burkholder Series.  We’ll learn more about Kate Burkholder’s past, as it’s explored in Linda Castillo’s latest novel. We’ll also hear how she got interested in Amish society, why she chose to make that the setting of her most popular series, and how a new character introduced in her latest book has been in development since the first Kate Burkholder novel was released over a decade ago, as Linda Castillo joins us now on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
 
 HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
  
  Host and Video Producer – Kathy Bratkowski
  Supervising Producer– Julie Winkle 
  Video Editor – Peter Foggy
  Audio Editor – Ben Smith
  Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
  HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
  Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
  Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
  Podcast Host - Rod Milam
  
  You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
  Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors 

This is the thirty-second episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
 
 We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is Pulitzer-prize winning historian Anne Applebaum. We spoke with her via Zoom in July of 2020 about her latest book “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism” by publisher Penguin Random House.

She is a writer for the Atlantic, as well as a Senior Fellow of International Affairs and an Agora Fellow in Residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where she co-directs LSE Arena, a program about disinformation and 21st century propaganda. In her new book she uses her expertise in these areas and personal experiences to explore the rise of fascist authoritarianism across the globe and explain how the political landscape’s changes over time have allowed it to happen. In this conversation we’ll learn about the negative effects cultural tribalism has on democracy, explore the ways some world leaders have exploited “cultural despair” for their own gain, and hear how parts of Europe have handled the Covid-19 pandemic as compared to the United states as Anne Applebaum joins us on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
 
 HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
 
 Producer – Julie Winkle
 Host – Brenda Madden 
 Video Editor – Greg Kopp
 Audio Editor- Paul Langdon
 Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
 HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
 Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
 Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
 Podcast Host - Rod Milam
 
 You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors

This is the thirty-second episode of "Talking with Authors" by HEC Media and HEC Books. We're a program dedicated to speaking with some of the best selling authors around, covering many different genres.
 
 We’re excited to be able to come back to you after an unplanned hiatus due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Since no authors were able to travel, and our partners at the St. Louis County Library and Left Bank Books were physically closed in the early days of social distancing, we were unable to conduct many of the scheduled interviews that we had planned.  But, after the initial weeks of the global shutdown, we were able to set up remote video interviews with many authors. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with the audio of these interviews. The sound quality may be slightly different than our previous podcasts, but they all still contain the great content that you’ve come to expect.

Our guest this time is Pulitzer-prize winning historian Anne Applebaum. We spoke with her via Zoom in July of 2020 about her latest book “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism” by publisher Penguin Random House.

She is a writer for the Atlantic, as well as a Senior Fellow of International Affairs and an Agora Fellow in Residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where she co-directs LSE Arena, a program about disinformation and 21st century propaganda. In her new book she uses her expertise in these areas and personal experiences to explore the rise of fascist authoritarianism across the globe and explain how the political landscape’s changes over time have allowed it to happen. In this conversation we’ll learn about the negative effects cultural tribalism has on democracy, explore the ways some world leaders have exploited “cultural despair” for their own gain, and hear how parts of Europe have handled the Covid-19 pandemic as compared to the United states as Anne Applebaum joins us on this edition of Talking With Authors from HEC Media and HEC Books.
 
 HEC Media is a production company out of St. Louis, Missouri.  With the help of independent bookstore Left Bank Books and St. Louis County Library, we are able to sit down with these amazing writers and thought leaders to discuss their work, their inspiration, and what makes them special. You can watch video versions of most of our interviews at hecmedia.org.
 
 Producer – Julie Winkle
 Host – Brenda Madden 
 Video Editor – Greg Kopp
 Audio Editor- Paul Langdon
 Production Support – Jayne Ballew and Christina Chastain
 HEC Media Executive Director - Dennis Riggs
 Podcast Executive Producer - Christina Chastain
 Podcast Producer – Paul Langdon
 Podcast Host - Rod Milam
 
 You can follow us on all social media platforms. Just search for "Talking with Authors":
 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talkingwithauthors
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingwithauthors
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkingwAuthors