Scientist and educator Dr. Barry Commoner discusses his book "The Politics of Energy." Main topics include nuclear energy, solar energy, renewable energy and the future of energy.

Richard Speck, the man who murdered eight student nurses in 1966, is the topic of Jack Altman's and Dr. Marvin Ziporyn's book, "Born to Raise Hell: The Untold Story of Richard Speck -- The Man, The Crime, The Trial". Altman saw Speck's public and private image as being quite different. When asked to smile for the cameras, Speck obeyed authority and was labeled a monster by the press when in reality, he blocked out the murders and was disgusted by his actions. Dr. Ziporyn sees this murderous violence as a disease and not as a monster as the press portrayed it.

Arnold A. Hutschnecker, a doctor with specialization in psychiatry, talks about his book, "The Drive For Power." He explores mental illness and its negative connotation. He explores how people who look for power tend to need mental help, but that the negative stigma around it tends to make them shy away, which leads to national aggravation and war. He also recalls his meetings with Richard Nixon from before he was president and how continued help may have changed the Vietnam War.

Discussing the book "Any Place But Here" and interviewing the authors Arna Bontemps and Jack Conroy.Content Warning: This conversation has the presence of outdated, biased, or offensive language. Rather than remove this content, we present it in the context of twentieth-century social history to acknowledge and learn from its impact and to inspire awareness and discussion.

Architect and wartime prisoner, Hermann Field, discusses his book "Angry Harvest," coauthored with Stanislaw Mierzenski, and also discusses architecture.

Andrea Medea and Kathleen Thompson discuss their book "Against Rape", rape culture in media, and attitudes towards rape in society.

A conversation with the drama critic about his book, Notes On a Cowardly Lion - a biography about his father, the actor Bert Lahr.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations

A conversation with the drama critic about his book, Notes On a Cowardly Lion - a biography about his father, the actor Bert Lahr.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

The author and photographer discusses companionship, intimacy, friendship, and love among the abled and disabled, as further described in his book, Incurably Romantic.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations   

Discussing the book "Leadership, love and aggression. As the twig is bent: the psychological factors in the making of four black leaders - Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. Du Bois, Richard Wright and Martin Luther King Jr." with the anthropologist-author Allison Davis.

Discussing the book "The legacy of Malthus" with the author Allen Chase.

Sasha, the main character in Alix Kates Shulman's book, "Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen" is obsessed and worried about her good looks. Sasha is all of 24 now, and she was told that by the time she's 30, her good looks will fade. Once a new queen is named, Sasha's mother tells her, you become a has been. The prom queen theme of the book, says Shulman, is to compete for the man and to be #1. Similar to the Miss America contest, women are parading before the men, parading before the judges for their attention.