Understanding Ukraine: A Discussion with Author Yaroslav Trofimov
Yaroslav Trofimov, chief foreign affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, is a native of Kyiv. In this conversation, we discuss two books. Our Enemies Will Vanish (Penguin Press, 2024), is a nonfiction narrative chronicling Putin’s invasion of Ukraine through the reporter Trofimov’s eyes. No Country for Love (Abacus Books, 2024), is his novel tracing the path of a young woman, the character based on his grandmother, on an arduous journey starting in 1930s Soviet Ukraine. Both books, as different as they are, cast a revealing light on the oppressions visited on the diverse peoples of Ukraine. In our talk, Trofimov offers insights into the books and also a guide as to how the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war might be concluded.
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53:52
On Fiorello La Guardia and Why He Still Matters: A Discussion with Author Terry Golway
Has any American mayor ever made a greater stamp on the public consciousness than the Little Flower, Fiorello La Guardia, mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945? La Guardia is brought to life in historian Terry Golway’s “I Never Did Like Politics”: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America’s Mayor, and Why He Still Matters (St. Martin’s Press, 2024). The podcast tracks with Golway’s thematic approach to his book, which features chapters on “In Defense of Democracy,” “The Immigrant’s Friend,” and “The Anti-Politician Politician.” Golway recognizes and celebrates the Little Flower as a champion of enduring American political and cultural values that, once again today, as in his times, are under severe and seemingly unremitting stress.
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56:26
On Monsters, Goddesses and Myths: A Discussion with Author Katherine Marsh
“We’re not monsters, Mom. We’re goddesses—smart, fearless, and beautiful.” That’s the voice of Ava, the superpowered protagonist of Katherine Marsh’s captivating novel for children, Medusa (Clarion Books, 2024). Our discussion focuses on Marsh’s feminist retelling of the Medusa myth—and on the wider topic of the direction of children’s literature at a time when it has become a challenge to pull any child (or adult) away from the siren of social media. Marsh recognizes the challenges but remains optimistic that children’s literature, which has always drawn heavily on the eternal allure of myths, has a vibrant future.
Veteran journalist Paul Starobin is a former Moscow bureau chief for Business Week and a former contributing editor of The Atlantic. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. His most recent book is Putin’s Exiles: Their Fight for a Better Russia (Columbia Global Reports, 2024).
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44:54
Looking into the Heart of Arizona: A Discussion with Author Tom Zoellner
In Rim to River: Looking into the Heart of Arizona (University of Arizona Press, 2023), Tom Zoellner, a fifth-generation Arizonan, takes the reader on a walk across the length of the state, his narrative interspersed with essays on Arizona’s history, culture and politics. Our conversation focuses on such topics as how Arizona anticipated the Trump Era in America—how “the scent of oncoming Trumpism,” as he writes in Rim to River, became such a pronounced feature of his native state’s political and cultural landscape. Yet the story of Arizona remains in flux, as migrants pour in not just from across the border with Mexico but from fellow U.S. states. Zoellner’s Arizona may yet end up foreshadowing America’s post-Trump future.
Veteran journalist Paul Starobin is a former Moscow bureau chief for Business Week and a former contributing editor of The Atlantic. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. His most recent book is Putin’s Exiles: Their Fight for a Better Russia (Columbia Global Reports, 2024).
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52:46
On America’s Blind Spot Towards the Palestinians
In their handling of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the decades, U.S. officials have displayed a “systemic blind spot” by alleviating pressure on the stronger party, Israel, and increasing pressure on the weaker party, the Palestinians, Khaled Elgindy argues in Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, From Balfour to Trump (Brookings Institution Press, 2019). In my conversation with Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, we explore the particular forms that this blind spot took in successive presidential administrations from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump. And we conclude with his thoughts on how the blind spot is expressed in the Joe Biden presidency as the Israel-Hamas war rages in Gaza.
Veteran journalist Paul Starobin is a former Moscow bureau chief for Business Week and a former contributing editor of The Atlantic. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. His latest book, Putin’s Exiles: Their Fight for a Better Russia (Columbia Global Reports) will be published in January.
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Journalist and author Paul Starobin is a former contributing editor of The Atlantic and a former Moscow bureau chief of Business Week. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. His latest book, Putin’s Exiles: Their Fight for a Better Russia (Columbia Global Reports) will be published in January. His three previous books are A Most Wicked Conspiracy: The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age (PublicAffairs, 2020); Madness Rules the Hour: Charleston, 1860 and the Mania for War (PublicAffairs, 2017); and After America: Narratives for the Next Global Age (Viking, 2009). He posts on Facebook. Paul lives with his family in Orleans, Massachusetts on the elbow of Cape Cod.
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