The Music Hall and New Hampshire Public Radio bring winter and spring 2021 series of Writers on a New England Stage events on-air. Five separate literary conversations with esteemed authors will focus on a personal reckoning with race in New Hampshire; thoughtful questions around end-of-life care and what that means for living and dying; economic misunderstandings and how that impacts our society; environmental challenges and the importance of water conservation; and themes of race and class structure.
Author talks include New Hampshire-raised cultural critic Rebecca Carroll, renowned NPR host Diane Rehm, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, environmental activist, consumer advocate and renowned crusader, Erin Brockovich, and #1 New York Times bestselling author, Kevin Kwan.
These five distinct conversations are part of the beloved series’ mission of bringing renowned authors and thinkers to New Hampshire audiences and connecting with literary fans.
The conversation lineup:
Monday, June 28 at 9 a.m., award-winning author, podcast host and Black culture critic Rebecca Carroll presents her new book Surviving the White Gaze. Carroll grew up in rural New Hampshire, experiencing a painful struggle as a minority in an overwhelmingly white culture. Surviving The White Gaze is her stirring and powerful memoir recounting her path from that childhood to forging her own identity as a Black woman in America. Carroll has been the host of the podcast Come Through with Rebecca Carroll, a cultural critic at WNYC, and a critic at large for the Los Angeles Times. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, and she is the author of several books about race in America, including the award-winning Sugar in the Raw.
Tuesday, June 29 at 9 a.m., renowned NPR radio host and bestselling author Diane Rehm presents her new book When My Time Comes. The book is a candid, compassionate consideration of the Right-to-Die movement, seen through the lens of the death of Ms. Rehm’s husband. Diane Rehm is a native Washingtonian who began her radio career in 1973 as a volunteer for WAMU 88.5, the NPR member station in Washington, D.C. She was hired as an assistant producer and later became the host and producer of two health-oriented programs. Diane became a broadcasting legend through her hosting of The Diane Rehm Show, distributed by NPR from 1979 to 2016, when it had a listening audience of two-and-a-half million. She now hosts a podcast for WAMU-NPR, On My Mind.
Wednesday, June 30 at 9 a.m., Nobel Prize winner and The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman with his new book Arguing With Zombies: Economics, Politics and the Fight for a Better Future. Krugman explores the concept of zombie economics – misunderstandings about economic principles that linger and persist – and how those misunderstandings inform debates around health care, housing bubbles, tax reform, and Social Security, among other topics. Paul Krugman joined The New York Times in 1999 as an Op-Ed columnist. He is a distinguished professor in the Graduate Center Economics Ph.D. program and a scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study Center at the City University of New York. In 2008, Paul was the sole recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on international trade theory. Paul currently lives in New York City.
Thursday, July 1 at 9 a.m., environmental activist, consumer advocate and renowned crusader, Erin Brockovich presents her new book Superman’s Not Coming. Just one week after Earth Day, a timely conversation from Erin Brockovich shows us what’s at stake with the condition of water on our planet. Superman’s Not Coming is a stirring call to protect our precious resources, to make our voices heard, to ensure our water is safe, and to finally bring about change. Brockovich is the president of Brockovich Research & Consulting and the founder of the Erin Brockovich Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to educate and empower communities in their fight for clean water. She hosts her own show on PodcastOne, and lives in Southern California.
Friday, July 2 at 9 a.m., #1 New York Times bestselling author, Kevin Kwan presents his new book Sex and Vanity. The iconic author of the bestselling phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians returns with a glittering tale of a young woman who finds herself torn between two men and two very different cultures: the WASPY fiancé of her family’s dreams, and George Zao, the man she is desperately trying to avoid falling in love with. Beyond memorable characters and popular appeal, Kwan’s books touch on serious themes of race, identity and class structure. Recent attacks on Asian Americans in our country have brought attention to these issues and fostered national self-reflection. In addition to Crazy Rich Asians, Kwan is also the author of the international bestsellers China Rich Girlfriend, and Rich People Problems. Crazy Rich Asians was a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture; the novel has been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, Kevin Kwan was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
NOTE: These conversations were recorded over the course of February through May of 2021.
NHPR's All Things Considered host Peter Biello engages in virtual conversations with the authors on the outlined dates. The literary conversations are part of Writers on a New England Stage, a partnership of The Music Hall and New Hampshire Public Radio.
