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 Christian girl is found with her throat slashed in a Jewish shop on the eve of Passover. Ken is also the editor of the award winning anthology Jewish Noir and …

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 novel Beneath the Coyote Hills. Luvaas is attracted to the outsider, and his observations on the effects of wealth and culture on the human condition are at the core of much …

Fred Euphrat, Donna Richardson Robbins – October 30, 2016

California forests and the rich natural history of Sonoma County are brought to light with Fred Euphrat, forester and author of Sonoma Mandala, a collection of essays originally broadcast on KRCB radio’s “Native Sonoma.” Next, Donna Richardson Robbins, who has just published her father’s memoir Tractors, Trains, & Shipwrecks, Yesteryear recollections of Sonoma County, the …

Kimball Taylor, Emma Blad Smith – December 4, 2016

A Novel Idea, with Suzanne M. Lang, takes a look at California’s borders: the immigrants traveling over our Southern border rolling in on bicycles, and the furry, four footed immigrants, tagged and collared, reclaiming their territory on our Northern Border. Kimball Taylor is a journalist whose curiosity reveals a story that sometimes reads like a …

Elaine Khosrova, Barbara Doud Wright – January 1, 2017

This edition A Novel Idea with Suzanne Lang features two authors who go deep into our cultural histories and help us understand where we’ve come from and where we are through some darn good story telling. Elaine Khosrova has written a book about Butter, and not just on how to make a good hollandaise sauce. …

Jonah Raskin, Alison Owings, Elena Ferrante – January 29, 2017

This encore presentation features Rosemary Manchester in conversation with Jonah Raskin on his book James McGrath: The Life and Times of an Extraordinary American Teacher, Mentor, Cultural Ambassador, and Pedagogical Pilgrim: in a Class by Himself. Manchester also talks with Alison Owings on her oral-history Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans. Plus, Barbara Quick reviews …

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

Elite North Koreans struggle to protect themselves and their families in the face of a paraonoid, tyrannical regime in award winning journalist, Paul H.B. Shin’s espionage thriller, Half Life. Suzanne M. Lang talks with Shin about the novel, set in 1997, during the period when famine was devastating North Korea and there were a series …

Jessica Teich, Cathy Wild – March 5, 2017

A Novel Idea with Suzanne M. Lang features Jessica Teich with her memoir The Future Tense of Joy. A Rhodes Scholar, Teich happens upon an obituary of a fellow Rhodes Scholar who took her own life by jumping out a hotel window, which leads Jessica on a transformative journey. Also featured is Cathy Wild, whose …

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 in her chronicle of her life’s journey sailing around the Atlantic, Ocean of Insight, a Sailor’s Voyage from Despair to Hope. The book is gripping, funny, and rewards with Heather’s reflection on …