PBS Books

Culture Series / 11 Seasons

PBS Books celebrates your love of books and introduces you to best-selling authors. We connect you to the written word through book fairs and unique events around the country.

Watch Latest: S2025 E20

41m 23s

R.J. Palacio | 2019 National Book Festival

19m 37s

R.J. Palacio is an author and graphic designer whose 2012 debut, 'Wonder' reached #1 on the NY Times Best-Seller list; it was recently adapted into a major motion picture. That book served as inspiration for the Choose Kind movement and has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. A first-generation American (of Colombian ancestry).

Marie Arana | 2019 National Book Festival

16m 52s

Peruvian-American author Marie Arana is not only senior advisor to the U.S. Librarian of Congress, but also the director of the National Book Festival. Her latest, Silver, Sword & Stone tells the stories of three contemporary Latin Americans embodying the forces of exploration, violence, and religion across thousands of years of vivid history.

David Rubenstein | 2019 National Book Festival

9m 17s

David Rubenstein recently transferred his adept skill for assembling stories through interviews and conversations into a new book, "The American Story," where readers can find lively dialogues with esteemed authors and historians like David McCullough, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Bob Woodward, and more.

Victoria Schwab | 2019 National Book Festival

6m 13s

Victoria Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels for readers of all ages, including City of Ghosts, the Shades of Magic series (which has been translated into over 15 languages), This Savage Song, and Our Dark Duet.

Amitav Ghosh | 2019 National Book Festival

12m 9s

Born in Calcutta, and raised between India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Amitav Ghosh has published several works of fiction as well as non-fiction and was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Times of India festival in Mumba, in 2018. His newest, 'Gun Island,' comes out September 10, but he is also well-known for his 'Ibis Trilogy,' which began in 2008 with 'Sea of Poppies,'

Holly Black | 2019 National Book Festival

14m 7s

Author Holly Black is one of the premier voices in contemporary fairy tale stories for young readers and she's joining PBS Books in D.C. at the National Book Festival. Her writing collaborations include The Spiderwick Chronicles with Tony DiTerlizzi and The Magisterium Series with Cassandra Clare, but her latest releases are part of a new fantasy series, 'The Folk of the Air'.'

John Scalzi | 2019 National Book Festival

14m 17s

John Scalzi is the author of the Old Man's War series, the dystopian thriller "Lock In," and the Hugo Award winning novel "Redshirts." Among many other published works and credits, he also served as a consultant for the "Stargate" television franchise. His latest, "The Consuming Fire" is the 2nd in a new series.

Ngozi Ukazu | 2019 National Book Festival

13m 20s

Writer and illustrator Ngozi Ukazu, creator of the online graphic novel series, Check, Please! Ukazu became obsessed with hockey during her senior year at Yale, leading to the story of her protagonist, an ex-junior figure skating champion turned college hockey player adjusting to contact sports and grappling with developing feelings for the team's captain.

Charlie Jane Anders | 2019 National Book Festival

13m 41s

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of the Nebula Award Winning sci-fi/fantasy novel 'All The Birds In The Sky,' a realistically rendered story of an encroaching apocalypse featuring a witch, a mad scientist, and magicians. Anders is the publisher of ‘other’ magazine, and recently released a new novel, "The City in the Middle of the Night."

Dr. Carla Hayden | 2019 National Book Festival

10m 37s

Before being nominated to her current post as the 14th Librarian of Congress by President Obama in 2016, Dr. Carla Hayden served as president of the American Library Association and was deputy commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library, among many other prestigious posts.

Beth Macy | 2019 National Book Festival

14m 49s

Journalist/writer Beth Macy, author of Dopesick. Macy was a reporter for Virginia's Roanoke Times for 25 years. Dopesick won lots of praise for comprehensively outlining the story behind the opioid crisis.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. | 2019 National Book Festival

11m 37s

Author, teacher, historian and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s latest book, 'Stony The Road,' Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow, was released in April, aligned with the premiere of the PBS documentary series "Reconstruction," which he hosted. Gates has also written books for younger readers such as 'Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow.'

Mary Anne Carter | 2019 National Book Festival

9m 6s

On August 1 of this year, Mary Anne Carter was confirmed as the 12th Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (but has served as acting chair since June 2018). She has overseen expansion of an arts therapy program for U.S. service members and veterans called Creative Forces.

David Treuer | 2019 National Book Festival

11m 30s

PBS Books welcomes author David Treuer, talking about his latest work, 'The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee,' an illuminating look at the 130 years of overlooked history of Native American Civilization after the infamous 1890 massacre. Treuer grew up Ojibwe on a reservation in Minnesota, and with 'Heartbeat' he combines journalistic reporting with personal memoir. #NatBookFest2019

Sarah Vowell | Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series

1h 11m

Best-selling author, humorist and monologue artist, Sarah Vowell will bring her wisdom and brilliant social observations to bear on the “Future of Libraries,” in a special presentation of the University of Michigan’s Penny Stamps Distinguished Speakers Series.

The Inspiration | Emilio Estevez

1m 52s

Actor, writer and director Emilio Estevez talks about his inspiration for making 'The Public,' a film dramatizing as a peaceful sit-in by the homeless inside a public library that escalates into a standoff with the police and attracts attention from the media.

Film Development | Emilio Estevez

45s

Emilio Estevez initially wanted to get started on his new film, 'The Public,' back in 2008. In this interview, filmed at the Miami Dade Public Library, Estevez talks about how the 2008 Recession stalled production, and wound up allowing him to rework the story, improving it and augmenting its relevance.

Birth of Collaboration | Ryan O'Dowd

40s

Ryan O'Dowd is Executive Director of Hesed House, the second largest homeless shelter in Illinois, and the author of the Librarian's Guide to Homelessness, and when PBS Books interviewed him at the Miami Dade Public Library, he talked about how he wound up having a sustained collaborative role in discussing the issues addressed by Emilio Estevez' new film, 'The Public.'

Libraries offer a Respite | Ryan O'Dowd

36s

Ryan O'Dowd, speaking from his experience as the executive director of a large homeless shelter, describes libraries as a place offering more than shelter, but a respite for the homeless population of a community, which is at the crux of the events dramatized by writer, director, and actor Emilio Estevez in his new film, 'The Public.'

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