Reader's Corner

An interview with Steve Coll, author of the new book, The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq.The book offers the definitive story of the decades-long relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein, and an investigation into one of the costliest geopolitical conflicts of our time.

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in January 2023. In 1990, as the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm, if it falls into the wrong hands. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland - a longtime Cold War foe, famed for its excellent spies - for help. In his latest book, From Warsaw With Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance, John Pomfret offers a gripping account of the beginning of the intelligence cooperation between Poland and the United States. Pomfret uncovers new details about the CIA’s black site program that held suspected terrorists in Poland after 9/11, as well as the role of Polish spies in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. John Pomfret is a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, served as a correspondent for the Washington Post for two decades, covering wars, revolutions, and China. His previous book, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, won the Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations.

An interview with Mark L. Clifford, author of The Troublemaker. The book is a comprehensive biography of billionaire businessman Jimmy Lai, a leading Hong Kong democracy activist who became China’s most famous political prisoner.

An interview with Nils Barrett, joining Reader's Corner to talk about his late father’s memoir, Inside the President's Team. The book offers an up-close view of the Ford presidency by one of his closest and most-trusted advisors.

Bob Kustra interviews Tod Lending, author of the novel, The Umbrella Maker’s Son. The book is a coming-of-age tale following a 17-year-old Polish Jew as he fights for his life and experiences his first love, set during WWII.

An interview with Craig Foster, author of Amphibious Soul. The book is a lyrical memoir drawing from the author’s decades of daily ocean dives, wisdom from Indigenous teachers, and cutting-edge science.

An interview with Sandra Matz, author of the new book, Mindmasters. The book is an exploration of how algorithms penetrate and influence the most intimate aspects of our psychology.

An interview with Nathan J. Robinson, co-author of the new book, The Myth of American Idealism. The book is an indictment of both American foreign policy and the political influence that supports it.

An interview with Kevin Grange, author of Grizzly Confidential. Part science, part travelogue, the book is a both a gripping account of the famous North American species and a passionate plea for bear conservation.

An interview with Russell Muirhead, co-author of the new book, Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos. The book details how a concentrated attack on political institutions threatens to disable the essential workings of government.

An interview with Marsha E. Barrett, author of Nelson Rockefeller's Dilemma. The book is a compelling political history of the influential career of the four-time New York State governor and US vice president.

An interview with legendary travel writer Rick Steves about his new book, On the Hippie Trail. The book offers a glimpse into the memories and misadventures of his formative 1978 trek from Istanbul to Kathmandu.

An interview with Christian Cooper, author of the book, Better Living Through Birding. Part memoir, part travelogue, the book explores how birding helped Cooper during the most difficult parts of his life, and how we can all benefit from looking up more.

An interview with Sy Montgomery, author of What the Chicken Knows. Part science writing, part personal narrative, the book explores the surprising traits and unique personalities of the world’s most recognizable bird.

An interview with Greg Barnhisel, author of Code Name Puritan. The book is a fascinating biography of Norman Holmes Pearson, an unassuming literary scholar and part-time spy who transformed postwar American culture.

An interview with Maria Popova, co-author of the new book, Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States. The book examines how the fall of the Soviet Union started an identity and regime divergence between Russia and Ukraine, and set both countries on an inevitable collision course.

An interview with Mark Greaney, author of the new thriller, Midnight Black. The book is a taut new addition to Greaney’s bestselling Gray Man series.

An interview with David Rohde, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Where Tyranny Begins. In the book, Rohde details how Donald Trump used threats, co-option, and conspiracy theories to bend DOJ and FBI officials to his will.

An interview with Lindsey Cormack, author of the new book, How to Raise a Citizen. The book is a practical guide to nurturing the next generation of responsible, informed citizens.

An interview with Bryce Andrews, author of the new book, Holding Fire. The book is a memoir of inheritance, history, and one gun’s role in the violence that shaped the American West.