Joe Donahue

Téa Obreht has built a career on novels where history, myth and the uncanny have a way of colliding. Her debut,'The Tiger’s Wife,' won the Orange Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

The 43rd season of the NYS Writers Institute kicks off Wednesday with a conversation with singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant. The 9thannual Albany Book Festival is Sept. 26 and a great lineup with dozens of literary events, films, etc.We get a preview now with Paul Grondahl, the Opalka Endowed Director at the NYS Writers Institute.

The name Woody Guthrie conjures images of Dust Bowl families from the 1930s fleeing their wind-ravaged farms, along with those famous lyrics'This land is your land, this land is my land / From California to the New York Island.'

Chang-Rae Lee joins us to discuss 'A Tender Age,'a coming-of-age story set in the summer of 1976 that explores family, identity, memory, and the moments that shape a life. From the award-winning author of Native Speaker comes a deeply moving new novel.

This week's Book Picks comes from Jim Havener from Green Toad Bookstore in Great Barrington, MA James Conrad from The Golden Notebook in Woodstock, NY for

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are:

We've all heard of the placebo effect, the remarkable ability of positive expectations to make us feel better. But what about its darker twin? In her new book, ‘This Book May Cause Side Effects, The Curious and Dangerous Power of the Nocebo Effect, Placebo's Evil Twin.’ Dr. Helen Pilcher explores how negative expectations can produce very real symptoms, intensify pain, and even contribute to illness.

For millions of American families, the question is no longer simply which school their children should attend, but whether a traditional school is the right choice at all.

Gloria Steinem, a renowned American journalist, feminist, and activist, passed away yesterday at the age of 92 in her home in New York City. She co-founded 'Ms.'magazine, and helped establish the National Women's Political Caucus, the Women's Action Alliance, and the Women's Media Center. For more than six-decades, she fought for equality, reproductive rights, and social justice.

Booker Prize-winning novelist Marlon James returns to Jamaica with 'The Disappearers.' Set in Kingston in 1988, the novel follows eight gay men whose lives