The Freedom Tower (or Torre de la Libertad) in Miami has graced the city’s skyline for nearly a century, but it wasn’t until it played a crucial role in hosting Cuban refugees who fled their home country in the wake of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 that it became an important national landmark.
Description: PBS Books presents a conversation live from the Western Governors' Association annual meeting. Eight current and former governors will join in discussion with former PBS Newshour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff. The WGA is celebrating 40 years of bipartisan cooperation around issues important to the American West. Governors from nineteen states and three U.S. territories west of the Mississippi make up the membership of the Western Governors' Association. For 40 years, the WGA has been convening its members to find solutions to pressing issues facing the western United States. From decarbonizing the west to protecting threatened species to [...]
This episode explores the important role of the Negro Leagues Baseball and its players in our nation’s favorite pastime at NLBM. It also delves into the critical role of African Americans and their culture in jazz at the American Jazz Museum. Both museums are located in the famed 18th & Vine District in Kansas City.
Visions of America Home Episodes Program Description: The Heard Museum in Phoenix highlights Indigenous creativity from traditional artworks to contemporary creations. This episode celebrates Native American history, culture, and present-day policy, with a focus on amplifying under heard stories. It explores Indigenous stories of arts, culture, and sports, Native American citizenship and tribal sovereignty, and the changing (and important) place of Native Americans in history. IMLS Director Crosby Kemper tours the Heard Museum with its Director and CEO David Roche to discuss the museum’s role as a central asset in telling and preserving American Indian history and culture. [...]
Readers Club Home Episodes About the Book: Get the E-Book DONATE NOW and download your e-book copy. Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends' lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes. Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the [...]
Visions of America Home Episodes Program Description: Come celebrate Visions of America: All Stories, All People, All Places as we consider the significance of this nation's 250th anniversary and what it means for our nation. We will examine the founding documents and the intentions underlying the work our ancestors accomplished. We'll look at the struggles faced by the people who, as the epitome of the American spirit, never gave up on their quest for freedom in the face of hardship and visit the nation's most revered institutions, which preserve the distinctively American tales from [...]
LOC National Book Festival 2024 Episode Description: In partnership with WTTW and other local PBS stations, PBS Books Heather-Marie Montilla is joined by Sandra Cisneros to discuss the release of the 40th Anniversary Edition of The House on Mango Street as the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival author featured this week by PBS Books. “The House on Mango Street” is one of the most cherished novels of the last 50 years. Readers from all walks of life have fallen for the voice of Esperanza Cordero, growing up in Chicago and inventing for herself who and [...]
LOC National Book Festival 2024 Episode Description: In partnership with PBS SoCal and other local PBS stations, PBS Books presents a conversation hosted by PBS SoCal’s Maria Hall-Brown with author Max Greenfield to discuss his latest book “Good Night Thoughts” as the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival author featured this week by PBS Books. This lovely picture book is a simple but complex message about acknowledging anxiety without succumbing to it that will appeal to so many little ones (and adults) out there who find that nighttime is when their thoughts carry the most [...]
LOC National Book Festival 2024 Episode Description: In partnership with Kansas City PBS and other local PBS stations, PBS Books Heather-Marie Montilla is joined by Authors Susan & Lexi Haas to discuss their book the year of the buttered cat as the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival authors featured this week by PBS Books. the year of the buttered cat is based on the real-life story of Lexi Haas. In the spirit of “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio and “Out of My Mind” by Sharon M. Draper, the year of the buttered cat offers powerful messages of [...]
Readers Club Home Episodes Episode Description: Literary Icon Percival Everett Joins the PBS Books Readers Club to Discuss James—Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Time, NPR, The Seattle Times, Elle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Oprah Daily “To call James a retelling would be an injustice. Everett sends Mark Twain’s classic through the looking glass. What emerges is no longer a children’s book, but a blood-soaked historical novel stripped of all ornament. . . Genius.” —The Atlantic This month’s PBS Books Readers Club pick is James—the instant New York Times bestseller and highly acclaimed [...]
LOC National Book Festival 2024 Episode Description: In partnership with WHYY and other local PBS stations, PBS Books Heather-Marie Montilla is joined by author James McBride to discuss his latest book The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store as the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival author featured this week by PBS Books. Bringing his masterly storytelling skills and his deep faith in humanity to The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us. The 24th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will [...]
LOC National Book Festival 2024 Episode Description: In partnership with VPM and other local PBS stations, PBS Books presents a conversation hosted by VPM’s Keyris Manzanares with author Abby Jimenez to discuss her latest book Just for the Summer as the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival author featured this week by PBS Books. Are things too good to be true when a Reddit thread post leads to an intentional quick fling? It’s not long before this couple is suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected — including catching real feelings for each other. What [...]
