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The New York Times Bestseller The brilliant intellect and candor of Anthony Bourdain is on full display in this collection of interviews from throughout his remarkable career, with an introduction from The New Yorker's Helen Rosner. Anthony Bourdain always downplayed his skills as a chef (many disagreed). But despite his modesty, one thing even he agreed with was that he was a born raconteur—as he makes clear in this collection of sparkling conversations. His wit, passion, and deep intelligence shine through all manner of discussion here, from heart-to-hearts with bloggers, to on-stage talks before massive crowds, to intense interviews with major television programs. Without fail, Bourdain is always blisteringly honest—such as when he talks about his battles with addiction, or when detailing his thoughts on restaurant critics. He regularly dispenses arresting insight about how what’s on your plate reveals much of history and politics. And perhaps best of all, the heartfelt empathy he developed travelling the world for his TV shows is always in the fore, as these talks make the “Hemingway of gastronomy,” as chef Marco Pierre White called him, live again.

"I'm so many people. They shock me sometimes. I wish I was just me!" --Marilyn MonroeNearly sixty years after her death, Marilyn Monroe remains an icon whom everyone loves but no one really knows. The conversations gathered here--spanning her emergence on the Hollywood scene to just days before her death at age 36--show Monroe at her sharpest and most insightful on the thorny topics of ambition, fame, femininity, desire, and more. Together with an introduction by Sady Doyle, these pieces reveal yet another Marilyn: not the tragic heroine she's become in the popular imagination, but a righteously and justifiably angry figure breaking free of the limitations the world forced on her.

A complete guide to the origins and everyday experience of gun violence in America—and a series of solutions to put a stop to its destruction once and for all.Gun violence is a problem with many faces, but seemingly no solution. From mass shootings to deadly domestic abuse to police officers opening fire, it permeates American life. And yet it feels impossible to address. The lines are firmly drawn and the federal government has not passed any legislation to reduce gun ownership in over twenty-five years.That's why it's time to look at the issue differently. In this revelatory collection, gun violence in America is addressed from three angles: how gun violence affects us today, how we have gotten to this juncture legally and socially, and finally, what we can do to reduce and end gun violence in America. Too many lives are lost by gun fire--around 15,000 a year--but we do have the tools to address this crisis. Top journalists, organizations, and anti-gun-violence advocacy groups are represented here--from Pamela Coloff to Ibram X. Kendi to Everytown for Gun Safety and the Giffords Organization--to collect the most comprehensive, thoughtful and practical guide on gun violence in America. There are no deadlocks and no excuses--we have the tools to stop gun violence now.

The newest entry in the increasingly popular series collects fascinating and in-depth interviews with Bill Moyers, Nina Totenberg, and more, and conversations (with Antonin Scalia and high school students) from throughout the long, ground-breaking career of one of the greatest, most influential, and most exciting legal minds in American history.From her start in Depression-era New York, to her final days at the pinnacle of the American legal system, Ruth Bader Ginsburg defied convention, blazing a trail that helped bring greater equality to women, and to all Americans. In this collection of in-depth interviews -- including her last, as well as one of her first -- Ginsburg details her rise from a Brooklyn public school to becoming the second woman on the United States Supreme Court, and her non-stop fight for gender equality along the way. Besides telling the story behind many of her famous court battles, she also talks openly about motherhood and her partnership with her beloved husband, her Jewishness, her surprising friendship with her legal polar opposite Justice Antonin Scalia, her passion for opera, and, in one of the collection's most charming interviews, offers advice to high school students wondering about the law. It is, in the end, both an engrossing look into a fascinating life, and an inspiring tribute to an American icon.

Featuring interviews of civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis at almost every stage of his career, this collection illustrates why Lewis has become a human rights icon and remains an inspiration to activists todayThroughout John Lewis’s long and storied career he maintained a seemingly unwavering hope for a better future. This hope can be traced throughout the inteviews collected here. From a young activist testifying in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday to recounting the violence he met as a Freedom Rider to an elder statesman inspired by today's civil rights activists, this collection forms a portrait of a man whose life was spent fighting for a better world and never lost hope.

A provocative collection of interviews with the sublimely talented author of The Journalist and the MurdererThe legendary journalist, Janet Malcolm, opened her most famous work The Journalist and the Murderer with the line: “Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible.”Ever since its publication in 1980, she only increased her reputation as a devastatingly sharp writer, whose eye for observation is matched only by her formal inventiveness and philosophical interrogations of the relationship between journalist and subject.Predictably, as an interview subject herself, she was an intimidating mark. In this collection, interviewers tangle with their own projections and identifications, while she often, gamely, plays along. Full of insights about her writing process, the craft of journalism, and her own analysis of her most famous works, this collection proves that Janet Malcolm is just as elusive and enlightening in conversation as she was on paper.

A series of provocative, moving and illuminating interviews with (arguably) the greatest soccer player ever...Diego Armando Maradona’s death on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60, was a death that had been foretold many times. Even when he was alive accounts of his  life had a tragic register, of the kid from the slums whose magical talent on the soccer field was squandered by drug addiction.  But his death allowed millions of people to ponder both the tragedy and triumph of his life, of a man who was arguably the world’s greatest soccer player, who was also a champion for the world’s poor. Adorned in the talismanic number 10 shirt that Maradona made his own while playing Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli and Argentina, hundreds of thousands flocked to the presidential palace in Buenos Aires to pay their last respects; millions around the world were similarly moved, creating makeshift altars and murals in his honor.  Vatican News called him “soccer’s poet.”The interviews collected in Diego Maradona: The Last Interview span the breadth of his life and career as a player, coach, and public figure, providing a panoramic and extremely candid accounting of his rollercoaster life, many translated into English for the first time.  Included in the book are encounters with Pele and Gary Lineker, who Maradona played against in the 1986 England-Argentina game that sent shockwaves around the world. The book also features his reflections on his  stuggles with drug addiction, the highs and low of his experience playing for Napoli, his strong views on Lionel Messi,  the governance of world soccer, and his worries about the impact of Covid on the world's poor. Maradona: The Last Interview is a fitting tribute to a complicated and brilliant soccer player who moved the world and changed the game of soccer forever.Introduction by Roger Bennett, the co-host of Peacock's Men in Blazers show

Kurt Cobain burst into American consciousness with a vengeance with the release of Nevermind, an instant classic that defined a sound and a generation. Three years later, he was dead of suicide, leaving a meteoric career and a cultural influence that would never wane.As the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain changed American music as few musicians ever have. His instantly identifiable raspy croon, his slash-and-burn guitar playing, and his corrosive and poetic lyrics made him a hero to a generation of lost souls. In interviews Cobain was funny, thoughtful, sarcastic, impassioned, and even kind. This collection of interviews provides a look at a man who was too often misunderstood.

The iconic writer whose prose was as influential and as it is unmistakably hers is joined in conversation with Sheila Heti, Hilton Als, Dave Eggers, Hari Kunzru and many more.Some writers define a generation. Some a genre. Joan Didion did both, and much more. Didion rose to prominence with her nonfiction collection, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and she quickly became the writer who captured the zeitgeist of the washed-out, acid hangover of the 60s. But as a bicoastal writer of fiction and nonfiction whose writing ranged from personal essays and raw, intimate memoirs to reportage on international affairs and social justice, Didion is much harder to pin down than her reputation might suggest.  This collection encompasses it all, in conversations that delve into her underappreciated mid-career works, her influences, the loss of her husband and daughter, and her most infamous essays. Far from the evasive, terse minimalist that has come to dominate the image of Joan Didion, what this collection reveals is a warm, thoughtful woman whose well earned legacy promises to live on for readers and writers for many generations to come.

A New York Times 6 New Paperbacks to Read This Week A Los Angeles Daily News 25 Must Read Best Books of 2023A Ms Magazine September 2023 Reads For The Rest of Us"The impression left by The Last Interview is of an indomitable woman who made her way through persistence and diligence." -- Dave Luhrssen of the The Shepherd Express“I write about people who do extraordinary things. It just turned out that it was called science fiction.” - Octavia E. ButlerOctavia E. Butler's work broke innumerable barriers and helped open the field of science fiction to writers and readers it had never had before. As the first Black writer to win the coveted Nebula and Hugo Awards, her courage and vision left a peerless legacy for fans not just of science fiction, but of American literature. In this collection of 10 interviews, 3 of them never published, Butler speaks with candor and openness about her work, her imaginative mission, and the barriers she faced as a Black woman working in a genre dominated by white men. The book features an original introduction by science fiction legend Samuel R. Delany, in which he discusses his personal relation with Butler, providing unparalleled insight into her work and life.

“We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes—and we must.” —Jimmy CarterJames Earl Carter Jr. came from a background of farming and military service to forge an unlikely political career, first as governor of Georgia, and then as the 39th president of the United States.The interviews collected here—four of them never published in book form before—span the arc of Carter’s long career as a politician, a public servant, and a citizen diplomat. They range from an early joust with conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. to his final interview, a moving joint conversation with his wife Rosalynn on the occasion of their 75th wedding anniversary … and, of course, it includes the notorious 1976 Playboy interview wherein Carter remarked that he had “committed adultery in my heart many times.”The result is a fascinating look into the mind and soul of one of our most admirable and principled presidents ever.

A significant collection of interviews with the defiant, controversial, and ground-breaking singer, songwriter, and activist throughout her turbulent career . . .“It’s not like I got up in the morning and said, ‘Okay, now let’s start a new controversy’.”  -- Sinéad O’ConnorSinéad O'Connor’s music — both in her songwriting and in her beautiful voice —addressed both emotional despair and incandescent joy with glorious ardor. But she may have been just as well known for her outspokenness. This collection of interviews covers the entire span of O'Connor's career, from the early days to her last interview. From giddy teenager to seasoned superstar, she speaks candidly about her meteoric rise to fame, and recounts what happened when she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live television in an act of protest. Unguarded and unpredictable, O'Connor was a woman who electrified the globe: imaginative, opinionated, and eloquent.

"My clothes are different, my face is different, my hair is different, but I am somebody. I am black, brown, white. I speak a different language. But I must be respected, protected, never rejected. I am God’s child. ⁣I am somebody.” —Jesse JacksonFew figures loom as large as Reverend Jesse Jackson in the history of American civil rights. From marching in the 1960s with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to forming the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, to his historic presidential campaigns, Jesse Jackson spent his life at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and NAACP Spingarn Medal, Jackson is undoubtedly one of the most consequential figures in the nation's history.Collected here are rare and previously uncollected interviews with magazines, newspapers, and television broadcasts. In them, Jackson talks of his work with Dr. King, and the tragic night when he was killed. He addresses the economic deregulation of the 1970s, how it translated to tax cuts for the wealthy but few benefits for the poor and underrepresented. He tells of his own presidential campaigns and, with the political rise of Barack Obama, anticipates the election of the country's first Black president. From these brief glimpses emerges a picture of a man of moral purpose, who taught us that the only justification to look down on someone is to stop and pick them up.

In this wide-ranging collection of thought-provoking interviews including her first and last Toni Morrison, whom Barrack Obama called a 'national treasure', talks with a wide variety of people, from Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Bill Moyers to obscure bloggers. She details not only her writing life and her influences, but also her other careers as a teacher and as a publisher, as well as the gripping story of her family. In fact, Morrison reveals here that her Nobel Prize-winning novels, such as Beloved and Song of Solomon, were born out of her family's stories such as those of her great-grandmother, born a slave, or her father, escaping the lynch mobs of the South. Morrison hereby weaves yet another fascinating and inspiring narrative that of herself.