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

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 Italian author Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend.

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A Novel Idea

November 01, 2025

Christine Walker and Reyna Marder Gentin on A Novel Idea

Christine Walker joins Suzanne Lang in conversation on her century spanning novel, Tap Dancing at the Bluebird. Also featured is Reyna Marder Gentin on her book Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away, a mother/daughter story including literary prizes, road trips, and ultimately, independence. It’s A Novel…
October 18, 2025

Stan Lai and Souleymane Bachir Diagne on A Novel Idea

Taiwanese theater artist Stan Lai joins Suzanne Lang in conversation about his book CreativtRy: Asia’s Iconic Playwright Reveals the Art of Creativity, a best seller in Chinese which Lai completely rewrote in English and maps out the creative process which can contribute to any life endeavor.…
October 05, 2025

K.L. Murphy and Samuel W. Gailey on A Novel Idea

Suzanne Lang talks with mystery writer K.L. Murphy on her historical fiction, The Great Forgotten, centered around the 1918 train crash in Nashville Tennessee, while WWI rages, women struggle for the vote, train robbers plot, and Jim Crow affects the lives of African-Americans. Suzanne also talks…
September 21, 2025

James Janko and Diane Botnick on A Novel Idea

Suzanne Lang talks with James Janko, whose remarkable novel is the Wire Walker, the story of a Palestinian Circus Girl, her friendship with a Jewish Israeli Juggler, and the realities of their lives in the current climate. Also featured is Diane Botnick with her novel Becoming Sarah, a human story…
September 07, 2025

Shelley Blanton-Stroud and Marilyn J. Zimmerman on A Novel Idea

Suzanne Lang talks with author Shelley Blanton-Stroud on the craft of writing and her latest novel, An Unlikely Prospect, set in the San Francisco publishing world near the close of WWII. Also featured is Suzanne’s conversation with Marilyn J. Zimmerman on her legal thriller, In Defense of Good…
August 31, 2025

Laurel Munson Boyers and Stanley A. Rice on A Novel Idea

Suzanne Lang talks with Laurel Munson Boyers on her book Across Yosemite’s Wilderness, a Trailblazing Woman’s Career Protecting the Park’s Backcountry. Also featured is Stanley A. Rice about Forgotten Landscapes, How Native Americans Created Pre-Columbian North America and What we Can Learn From…
Mar 02, 2025

CJ Cook on A Novel Idea

CJ Cook is an art collector, historian, publisher, rescuer of lost artists, and lover of the South Pacific. Suzanne Lang talks with CJ Cook on Edithe…
Oct 20, 2024

Iris Jamal Dunkle on A Novel Idea

Voices of writers, voices of creative, accomplished women have gotten lost in the fog of other people’s fame, and mostly by the conventions and…
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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