Paul H.B. Shin, Wendy E. Simmons – February 5, 2017

Lang talks with Shin about the novel, set in 1997, during the period when famine was devastating North Korea and there were a series of high profile defections.

Suzanne talks with Wendy E. Simmons, whose travel memoir, My Holiday in North Korea: the Funniest/Worst Place on Earth chronicles her recent visit to this strange country: a trip that blew her mind in ways she did not anticipate.

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A Novel Idea

August 31, 2023

Maddalena Bearzi and Greg Sarris on A Novel Idea (Aired: September 3, 2023)

Marine mammal researcher and co-founder of the Ocean Conservation Society, Maddalena Bearzi, like many of us, had her work curtailed during the initial shutdown period of the pandemic. But her habit is to observe, and her world did not get smaller, as she found a universe of life right in her own…
August 17, 2023

Daniel Stashower on A Novel Idea (Aired: August 20, 2023)

True crime and bestselling author Daniel Stashower’s American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper probes the depression era search for the “torso murderer” who left a wake of dismembered bodies in Cleveland Ohio, while also revealing the post-Untouchables life and career of…
August 03, 2023

Andy Dolich and Dale Tafoya on A Novel Idea (Aired: August 6, 2023)

A tale of two cities. Suzanne Lang talks with sports executive and author Andy Dolich, who along with journalist Dave Newhouse, authored the book Goodbye Oakland: Winning, Wanderlust, and a Sports Town’s Fight for Survival about the history of professional teams in Oakland California and their…
July 28, 2023

Chuck Collins and Katrin Ciaffa on A Novel Idea (Aired: July 30, 2023)

Long time activist for economic and environmental justice, Chuck Collins, brings us his provocative novel of the near future, Altar to an Erupting Sun, which opens with a woman strapping a bomb to herself to blow up an oil executive. Also featured is Hannelore Krollpfeiffer’s book, We Lived in…
July 13, 2023

Ginny Kubitz Moyer and Robert McKean on A Novel Idea (Aired: July 16, 2023)

Suzanne Lang talks with novelists Ginny Kubitz Moyer on her historical novel, The Seeing Garden, set in 1910 on the San Francisco Peninsula. Also on the program, Robert McKean, whose novel Mending What is Broken is mad-capped, funny, and heartfelt. It’s A Novel Idea, Sunday, July 16th at 10 am PT.
Mar 03, 2019

Michael Morey – March 3, 2019

Author and independent historian Michael Morey’s book, Fagen: An African American Renegade in the Philippine-American War, unpacks American…
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Dec 02, 2018

Thomas E. Cochrane – December 2, 2018

Oil makes the world go round and geologist Thomas E. Cochrane delivers candid and lively remembrances of his life and experience in the American…
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Oct 24, 2018

Susan Hand Shetterly – October 7, 2018

Seaweed. It plays a vital role in ocean ecology, and also in our health and diet, and in our local and global economies. Seaweed Chronicles: A World…
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Sep 30, 2018

Gregory Couch – October 1, 2018

Gregory Crouch joins Suzanne M. Lang in conversation on his epic western history of California wealth and the Comstock Lode, bringing focus to one of…
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Aug 05, 2018

Jonah Raskin – August 5, 2018

Jonah Raskin has a large and ranging body of non-fiction books and articles and now has come out with a detective fiction of a different order, Dark…
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Jul 29, 2018

Bruce Holbert – July 30, 2018

San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore, the landmark independent bookstore founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, recently…
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Jul 01, 2018

Brad Herzog – July 1, 2018

A timely encore presentation of Rosemary Manchester in conversation with Brad Herzog, collaborator on Carolyn Goodman’s memoir, My Mantelpiece: a…
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Apr 01, 2018

Bruce Holbert – April 1, 2018

To celebrate the release of Bruce Holbert’s third novel, Whiskey, here is a reprise of two previous conversations between Bruce and Suzanne M Lang on…
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Nov 13, 2017

Jeffrey Miller – January 31, 2016

This episode of KRCB’s A Novel Idea is an “encore” presentation of a favorite broadcast, originally broadcast in 2010, featuring Andre Codrescu and…
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Nov 13, 2017

Eva Rutland – March 6, 2016

To honor Black History Month and International Women’s Day (March 8th) we present Rosemary Manchester with an encore presentation of a show featuring…
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Nov 13, 2017

Abby Geni, Lewis deSoto – April 3, 2016

Big Nature, Big California The Farallon Islands, remote and mysterious, is the setting of Abby Geni’s novel of nature and mystery, The Lightkeepers.…
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Nov 13, 2017

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas – May 1, 2016

Suzanne Lang speaks with Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, who has spent a lifetime observing other creatures and other cultures, from her own backyard to…
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Nov 13, 2017

Wendy E. Simmons – July 4, 2016

Wendy E. Simmons is a world traveler. Not a novice. Not a pushover. Her trip to North Korea challenged every bit of her perceptions of herself and…
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Nov 13, 2017

Kenneth Wishnia – August 7, 2016

Mystery writer Kenneth Wishnia joins Suzanne Lang in conversation on his latest novel, The Fifth Servant, which is set in 1592 Prague, where a young…
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Nov 13, 2017

William Luvaas – September 4, 2016

William Luvaas, NEA grant recipient who has been recognized for his short stories and novels alike, joins Suzanne Lang in conversation on his third…
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Nov 13, 2017

Meg Waite Clayton – October 2, 2016

New York Time’s bestselling author Meg Waite Clayton joins Suzanne M. Lang in conversation about The Race for Paris, Clayton’s compelling novel of…
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Nov 13, 2017

Heather Lyn Mann – April 3, 2017

15,000 nautical miles, six years, and a world of insight ….Heather Lyn Mann joins Suzanne Lang in conversation about Heather’s journey as expressed…
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Nov 13, 2017

Gary Soto, Gerald Haslam – May 7, 2017

Encore presentation of a 2013 broadcast features Suzanne Lang in conversation with author and poet Gary Soto and Rosemary Manchester talking with…
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Nov 13, 2017

Peter Afrasiabi – October 1, 2017

Top intellectual property and entertainment lawyer Peter Afrasiabi joins Suzanne Lang in conversation on his recent book Burning Bridges, America’s…
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Nov 13, 2017

J. Jaye Gold – October 29, 2017

J. Jaye Gold has been a hustler and gambler in his life, but sought a new way of being in his that lead him on a journey around the globe, and
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