Historian Tiya Miles: All That She Carried
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
Marcia Franklin talks with historian Tiya Miles about her book, “All That She Carried,” which won the National Book Award. It tells the story of “Ashley’s sack,” a bag given to an enslaved girl by her mother in the 1850s. The two discuss how a material object can bring untold history alive, and also talk about Miles’ book, “Night Flyer,” which looks at the effect of the outdoors on Harriet Tubman.
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Journalist Clarissa Ward: On All Fronts
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
Marcia Franklin talks with Clarissa Ward, the chief international correspondent for CNN, about her start in the business, her assignments in some of the most dangerous parts of the world and the continuing need for journalistic ethics. The two also discuss her memoir, “On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist.” The conversation was taped at the 2024 Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.
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Rabbi Sharon Brous: The Amen Effect
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
Marcia Franklin talks with Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR, a Jewish congregation in Los Angeles. The two discuss how the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel affected her and her congregants, Israel’s bombing of Gaza, increasing antisemitism, and a path forward to peace.
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Author Margaret Atwood: The Testaments
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
Host Marcia Franklin talks with author Margaret Atwood about her work, which includes the bestselling novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale” and its sequel, “The Testaments.” Atwood also shares her thoughts on whether the United States could head towards totalitarianism. The conversation was recorded at the 2024 Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.
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Abraham Verghese: The Covenant of Water
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
In this episode, host Marcia Franklin talks with Dr. Abraham Verghese about his latest blockbuster novel, The Covenant of Water. The epic, which includes a mystery at its core, covers more than 70 years in the intertwined lives of families in the Indian state of Kerala. Verghese discusses the ties the story has to his own family history and shares his joy of writing. Originally Aired: 12/01/2023 The interview is part of the series Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature...
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Hernan Diaz: Trust
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
In this episode, Hernan Diaz joins Marcia Franklin to discuss his latest novel, Trust, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The intricately braided tale about characters in the world of high finance gives readers four different takes on the same story, playing with the idea of “truth.” Diaz explains why he constructed the novel using multiple voices, and what it was like to win the Pulitzer Prize. Originally Aired: 12/08/2023 The interview is part of the series . Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world’s most well-known and...
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David Grann: The Wager
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
In this episode, David Grann regales viewers with some of the amazing true stories surrounding the wreck of The Wager, a British ship that sank off the tip of South America in 1741. In his book The Wager, Grann uses rare primary source documents to reconstruct the harrowing experiences of the ship’s castaways and shows how the aftermath of the saga is still relevant today. The book will be adapted into a film directed by Martin Scorsese, as was another of Grann’s bestsellers, Killers of the Flower Moon. Originally Aired: 12/15/2023 The interview is part of the...
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Andrea Elliott: Invisible Child
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
Conversations From the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference is back for a 16th season! In this episode, journalist Andrea Elliott joins host Marcia Franklin to talk about her book, Invisible Child, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. The book chronicles eight years in the life of Dasani Coates, a child in Brooklyn. Elliott shares what compelled her to spend that much time covering the story, and how Dasani’s life exemplifies the challenges of being poor in America. Elliott also discusses some of the ethical considerations involved in reporting this complex and...
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Mohsin Hamid: The Last White Man
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
In this episode, host Marcia Franklin speaks with writer Mohsin Hamid about his latest novel, The Last White Man. The story follows the transformation of a man who wakes up one day to find that his skin color has changed. Hamid, who often incorporates his own multicultural background into his work, talks with Franklin about how his life changed after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and how he aims with his writing to “imagine the world into a better place.” Originally Aired: 12/29/2023 The interview is part of the series . Since 1995, the conference has been...
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Barry Lopez: The Horizon of Life, Part Two
Dialogue with Marcia Franklin
More of Marcia Franklin’s 2019 conversation with National Book Award-winning author and world traveler Barry Lopez about his life, his philosophy of writing and his new memoir, Horizon. In December 2020, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference awarded Barry Lopez with the inaugural Writer in the World Prize in recognition of his singular voice in the landscape of English Literature. Lopez died December 25, 2020. Don’t forget to subscribe, and visit the for more conversations that matter. Originally Aired: 11/29/2019 The interview is part...
info_outlineMarcia Franklin talks with historian Tiya Miles about her book, “All That She Carried,” which won the National Book Award. It tells the story of “Ashley’s sack,” a bag given to an enslaved girl by her mother in the 1850s. The two discuss how a material object can bring untold history alive, and also talk about Miles’ book, “Night Flyer,” which looks at the effect of the outdoors on Harriet Tubman.
