Episodes

Join Michael in his conversation with Saket Soni about his inspiring new book The Great Escape, A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America which tells the story of twenty-first century forced labor/human trafficking conspiracy in the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Saket is a labor organizer and human rights strategist working at the intersection of racial justice, migrant rights, and climate change. He is the founder and director of Resilience Force, the voi...

Join Michael in his conversation with Rachel Slade about her new book Making it in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (and How It Got That Way) which offers a compelling history of American textile manufacturing as told through the story of American Roots, a vibrant Maine company founded by Ben and Whitney Waxman, which sells truly 100% American-made apparel. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Jeffrey Rosen about his compelling new book, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. Jeffrey is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia which serves as the country’s leading platform for constitutional education and discussion. He hosts the podcast We the People, a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. He is a professor of law at George Washington...

Join Michael in his conversation with Martha McPhee about her compelling new memoir, Omega Farm which chronicles her return to her childhood home during the pandemic to care for her cognitively impaired mother and her homestead and the memories this journey reveals to her. Martha is the author of five novels. Her work has been honored with fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. In 2002, she was nominated for a National Book Award. H...

Join Michael in his conversation with Janet Wallach about her new book, Flirting with Danger: The Mysterious Life of Marguerite Harrison, Socialite Spy which chronicles the life of Marguerite Harrison, America’s first female spy. Janet Wallach has written extensively about notable women in history, from the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. Her book, Desert Queen; The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell (1996), has been translated into twelve languages and was a New York Times notable book of ...

Join Michael in his conversation with Katie Couric about her most interesting memoir, Going There, which chronicles her groundbreaking professional career while also intimately telling the story of her life beyond our TV screens. Katie is an award-winning journalist, a New York Times bestselling author, co-founder of her non-profit, Stand Up To Cancer and the co-founder of Katie Couric Media which produces documentaries, a digital video series, a podcast (Next Question with Katie Couric), and a...

Join Michael in his conversation with Steven Ujifusa about his new book The Last Ships from Hamburg: Business, Rivalry, and The Race to Save Russia’s Jews on the Eve of World War I which chronicles the efforts to save Russian Jews from Czarist Russian pogroms. Steven is a historian who chronicles the confluence of American business, social, and maritime history. He is the recipient of the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence from the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, a ...

Join Michael in his conversation with Fergus Bordewich about his new book, Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction, which tells the story how President Grant, his attorney general, Amos Akerman, and Major Lewis Merrill led the successful, multi-year assault on the Ku Klux Klan. Fergus is one of the leading independent historians writing on 18th and 19th America. He is the author of eight previous award-winning non-fiction books including The First Congress: How James Ma...

Join Michael in his conversation with Dave Kindred as they discuss his new memoir My Home Team: A Sportswriter’s Life and the Redemptive Power of Small-Town Girls Basketball which details the arc of his award-winning career from one of sports most storied writers to his return home to cover a local girl's high school basketball team. Dave has covered sports for numerous newspapers and periodicals over a fifty-year career. He is one of only two sports writers who have earned sports writing’s thr...

Step into this insightful conversation between Michael Zeldin and Doug Melville on the latest episode of "That Said." Together, they explore the narrative of Doug's new book, Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America’s First Black Generals. This remarkable true story unveils the pivotal roles played by Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., and Jr., America’s first Black generals, in integrating the military and fostering the iconic Tuskegee Airmen. Advertising Inquiries: h...

Join Michael in his conversation with Professor Edward L. Ayers about his fascinating new book American Visions: The United States, 1800-1860 which explores the revealing history of this most formative period in US history when voices of dissent and innovation help create visions of America still resonant today. Professor Ayers is Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities at the University of Richmond, where he is President Emeritus. President Barack Obama awarded him the National Humanitie...

On today’s show, we will be speaking with Scott Eyman about his fascinating new book, Charlie Chaplin vs. America, When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided which explores the life and times of the movie genius leading to his banishment from the United States in 1952. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On today’s show we will be speaking Dr. Sanjay Gupta about his book Keep Sharp:Build a Better Brain at any Age which tackles the subject of brain health from the perspective of what we can do to build and maintain a better brain to prevent cognitive decline. Dr. Gupta is an Associate Professor of neurosurgery at Emery University School of Medicine, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and CNN’s Emmy Award-winning chief medical correspondent. He is also the host of the podcast Chasing ...

Join Michael in his conversation with Jane Fox about her new book The Hungry Mother: Recipes for Recovery and Life in the Kitchen which traces Jane’s past struggles with addiction, her recovery, and how cooking and faith provided a path to sustained sobriety . Jane is a NY State Certified Recovery Peer Advocate and co-founder of NERALI, a sobriety resources for the Long Island Jewish Community. She is a leading advocate for incorporating structured culinary workshops into drug and alcohol reco...

Join Michael in his conversation with Oliver Franklin-Wallis as they discuss him new book Wasteland: The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future which takes inside the secretive multi-billion-dollar waste management industry and shares a blueprint for building a healthier and more sustainable future before we are buried in our own trash.  Oliver is an award-winning magazine journalist and is the current feature editor for British GQ magazine. In 2017 he was named the ...

Join Michael in his conversation with Sally Jenkins about her new book, The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life, which explores seven fundamental principles behind great decision-making gleaned from her decades-long career as one of the great sports writers of our time. Sally Jenkins has been a Washington Post columnist and feature writer for more than twenty years. She has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of the Associated Press Red Smith Award for Outstanding Con...

Join Michael in his conversation with Professor Laurel Leff about her recent book, Well Worth Saving: American Universities’ Life-and-Death Decisions of Refugees from Nazi Europe which explores the how American Universities made decisions about which scholars fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe were worth saving and those who they left to die. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his discussion with historian Heather Hendershot in a discussion of her new book When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America, which revisits the TV coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and compellingly argues that this convention was a pivotal moment in American history when the notion of a liberal biased media became mainstreamed and nationalized. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcir...

Join Michael in his conversation with Michael Finkel to discuss his new book, The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession which chronicles the life of Stephane Breitwieser the most prolific art thief in history responsible for the theft of over 200 works of art in a ten-year period worth nearly two billion dollars. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Jim Abrahams and David Zucker, two of the three writers and directors of the film Airplane! About their new book, Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story Of Airplane! Airplane!, released in 1980, remains one the most revered film comedies clocking in at number 10 on the American Film Institute top 100 comedies of all time. Michael’s special guest host is Alex Zeldin, a writer and producer whose credits include ​Billy on the Street, Honest Trailers, ...

We begin season four with a very special guest: Professor Heather Cox Richardson. Professor Richardson will discuss her new book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America which chronicles the rise of authoritarianism in the United States and offers suggestions on how best to combat it. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Steve Drummond as they discuss his new book, The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two which chronicles the work of Truman’s Senate Investigative Committee that battled fraud, waste, and abuse in the military-industrial complex during the war years. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Rachel Louise Martin as they discuss her new book A Most Tolerant Little Town: The Explosive Beginning of School Desegregation which tells the forgotten story of the first high school to attempt court-mandated desegregation in the wake of Brown v. Board in Clinton, Tennessee in 1956. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Paul Kix as they discuss his new book You Have to be Prepared to Die Before you can Begin to Live: Ten weeks in Birmingham that Changed America which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the momentous 1963 Birmingham Campaign to end segregation in the most dangerous city in America; frighteningly known as “Bombingham”. These ten weeks shaped the course of the Civil Rights Movement and the future of America. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brand...