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Rating
4.4from
This podcast has
524 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Bob KustraExplicit
No
Date created
2006/02/02
Latest episode
2026/11/07
Average duration
32 min.
Release period
8 days
Description
Welcome to Reader's Corner, a weekly radio show hosted by Boise State University president emeritus Bob Kustra that features lively conversations with some of the nation's leading authors about issues and ideas that matter today. Support for this podcast comes from Saint Alphonsus Sports Medicine
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Encore: Part 1 The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald (PART I) by John U. Bacon
2026/11/07
For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes overtook Europe as the epicenter of global economic strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century better than the 729-foot-long Edmund Fitzgerald―the biggest, best, and most profitable ship on the Lakes.But on November 10, 1975, as the “storm of the century” threw 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves on Lake Superior, the Mighty Fitz found itself at the worst possible place, at the worst possible time. When she sank, she took all 29 men onboard down with her, leaving the tragedy shrouded in mystery for a half century.In The Gales of November, award-winning journalist John U. Bacon presents the definitive account of the disaster, drawing on more than 100 interviews with the families, friends, and former crewmates of those lost. Focused on those directly affected by the tragedy, The Gales of November is both an emotional tribute to the lives lost and a propulsive, page-turning narrative history of America’s most-mourned maritime disaster.
"A Guide For the Perplexed" by Quinn Slobodian - Ben Tarnoff
2026/10/31
Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff cut through the hype and the hate to reveal what Musk really represents: a new political economy, where to be “free” means to serve a Technoking. Muskism isn’t about the man. It’s about the machine that made him—and the world he’s making next.
"Redemption - Part 2" By Lawrence Wright
2026/10/24
A powerful and startling account of the unsparing connection between a convent of cloistered nuns and the condemned women on Texas’s death row, exploring questions around crime and punishment, faith, and retribution in America as only Lawrence Wright can.“Redemption gripped me like the best crime novel and left me fundamentally changed. The relationship between two groups of isolated women teaches us the most elusive of values: true empathy.” —Belle Burden, author of Strangers
"Redemption: Faith, Justice, And Sisterhood On Death Row" by Laurence Wright
2026/10/17
We learn about an about an order of cloistered nuns who befriend a group of women on death row in a Texas prison from Lawrence Wright, the author of Redemption. Lawrence shares the details of one of the inmates, Melissa Lucio, whose appeal of her death penalty conviction is still awaiting a decision. We also learned more about the Sisters of Mary Morning Star and theirspiritual alliance with the 7 women on death row in a Texas prison.
"The Talking Bone" by Rene Denfeld
2026/10/10
From the revered bestselling author, a compulsive, page-turning thriller inspired by her real life work exonerating innocents, a novel that asks how far we'll go in our pursuit of the truth--an emotionally rich, luminously written book about evil and people trying to do good in the world.Ruby Spencer is known as "the exonerator." Her job as an investigator is to free innocent men from death row, and she's good at what she does. What many people don't know is that she spends her time finding missing women, too. The orphaned daughter of an orphaned mother, Ruby feels a natural affinity for those who have been mistreated by the world at large.Her newest case takes her to Georgia, and involves a man set to be executed in two weeks. What begins as a routine exoneration unexpectedly sends Ruby down a winding path. Pursuing the truth, she begins to uncover crimes that lead to startling revelations about her own life. With time running out, will Ruby's search for answers ultimately lead her to danger?
Private Power and the Decline Of Democracy: How to Maker Capitalism Support Democracy by Mordecai Kurz
2026/10/03
What is therelationship between the decline of democratic practices we took for granted over the years and the growth of Big Tech in what Mordecai Kurz calls the Second Gilded Age. That is what we will discuss this week on Readers Corner with some specific recommendations for how to help democracy and our market economy work in tandem for Americans.
Encore: A Conspiratorial Life: Robert Welch, the John Birch Society, and the Revolution of American Conservatism by Edward H. Miller
2026/09/26
The first full-scale biography of Robert Welch, who founded the John Birch Society and planted some of modern conservatism’s most insidious seeds. Though you may not know his name, Robert Welch (1899-1985)—founder of the John Birch Society—is easily one of the most significant architects of our current political moment. In A Conspiratorial Life, the first full-scale biography of Welch, Edward H. Miller delves deep into the life of an overlooked figure whose ideas nevertheless reshaped the American right.
"Escape from Kabul: The Afghan Women Judges Who Fled the Taliban and Those They Left Behind" by Karen Bartlett
2026/09/19
"Escape from Kabul: The Afghan Women Judges Who Fled the Taliban and Those They Left Behind" by Karen Bartlett
"The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet" by Scott Weidensau
2026/09/12
The Return of the Oystercatcher by Scott Weidensau explores the recovery efforts that are not only preventing declines in bird population, but helping birds to thrive.
Encore: The Man Who Broke Capitalism by David Gelles
2026/09/05
New York Times reporter and "Corner Office" columnist David Gelles reveals legendary GE CEO Jack Welch to be the root of all that's wrong with capitalism today and offers advice on how we might right those wrongs.In 1981, Jack Welch took over General Electric and quickly rose to fame as the first celebrity CEO. He golfed with presidents, mingled with movie stars, and was idolized for growing GE into the most valuable company in the world. But Welch's achievements didn't stem from some greater intelligence or business prowess. Rather, they were the result of a sustained effort to push GE's stock price ever higher, often at the expense of workers, consumers, and innovation. In this captivating, revelatory book, David Gelles argues that Welch single-handedly ushered in a new, cutthroat era of American capitalism that continues to this day.
"The Closing of the Russian Mind: How Putin's Ideology Took the Nation Hostage," by Andrey Kolesnikov
2026/08/29
Our Dear Friends in Moscow follows a group of young Russians, part of an idealisticgeneration who came of age in Moscow at the end of the 20th century – the communist era had just imploded and an exciting and uncertain future lay ahead of them. Initially, the group enjoyed the freedoms of the new era, but the notion that Russia was destined to join the West, and Europe, in a new partnership began to fade.
"Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult" by Jonathan Cheng
2026/08/22
For nearly eight decades, North Korea has marched defiantly to its own beat, shaking off its Soviet and Chinese sponsors to emerge as the world’s most enigmatic nation—a nuclear-armed state ruled by a dictatorial dynasty. Underpinning the state is a personality cult more soaked in religiosity than those constructed by Stalin or Mao—one that traces its roots back to the Christian fervor of post–Civil War America.
"Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom," by Ilyon Woo
2026/08/15
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom is a 2023 non-fiction book by Ilyon Woo that examines the history of the escape of Ellen and William Craft, two 19th-century American abolitionists, from slavery.
"The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea" by David B. Oppenheimer
2026/08/08
The diversity principle – the idea that people with different backgrounds, identities, and viewpoints produce betterwork – was a core tenet of the first modern research university and the inspiration for John Stuart Mill’s classic treatise, On Liberty. But as a war on diversity upends government, corporate, and education policies, the history of the idea of diversity has never been more important.
"The Cypriot Mask" by Scott McIntosh
2026/08/01
A priceless mask, a beautiful woman, a deadly secret, and a curse if it doesn’t fitPhilip Chandler, a small-town Idaho newspaper reporter and owner of the Fremont Herald, thought he landed a front-page scoop interviewing reclusive gun collector Ernest Hardy. Days later, Hardy is brutally murdered, and Chandler is pulled into a dangerous hunt.
Podcast reviews
Read Reader's Corner podcast reviews
momreader123 2021/01/24
One of my favs
Insightful interviews with a wide range of writers who have great perspectives on history and/or current events. I’ve received some of my best book re...
AIM-9M 2018/07/23
Worth Your While
Simply a great listen about an a wide array of interesting topics -- all explored with care and insight.
Hyderedsoxfan 2016/09/29
Not worth it
Kustra is an idiot. If I could buy him for what he's worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth then maybe I could afford to offer a scholarshi...
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