Advertise on podcast: Book Club with Michael Smerconish

Peter Singer is often described as the world's most influential philosopher. He is also one of its most controversial. Listen to Michael's conversation with the Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, on the book, "Ethics In The Real World: 82 Brief Essays On Things That Matter." Original air date: 13 September 2016. The book was published 13 September 2016.

A remarkably poignant writer for our troubled times, Patti Davis writes about love, loss, and the power of redemption in this poetic letter to her long-gone parents. The daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan talks to Michael about her book "Dear Mom and Dad: A Letter About Family, Memory, and the America We Once Knew." Original air date 22 February 2024. The book was published on 6 February 2024.

A fascinating examination of what “the pursuit of happiness” meant to our nation’s Founders and how that famous phrase defined their lives and became the foundation of our democracy. Listen to Michael's conversation with National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen about "The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America." Original air date 21 February 2024. The book was published on 13 February 2024.

What determines your race? Is it your DNA? The community in which you were raised? The way others see you or the way you see yourself? With "In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World", Rachel Doležal describes the path that led her from being a child of white evangelical parents to an NAACP chapter president and respected educator and activist who identifies as Black. Original air date 31 March 2017. The book was published on 28 March 2017.

Michael speaks with Peter Wehner about his book "The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump." The New York Times opinion writer, media commentator, outspoken Republican and Christian critic of the Trump presidency offers a spirited defense of politics and its virtuous and critical role in maintaining our democracy and what he believes we must do to save it before it is too late. Original air date 6 June 2019. The book was published on 4 June 2019.

New York Times Bestselling author Lisa Scottoline joins Michael with her 2008 hit novel "Lady Killer." Mary DiNunzio is a trademark Lisa Scottoline heroine—she's strong, she's smart, and she's got plenty of attitude. She's become a big-time business-getter, and the last person she expects to walk into her office one morning—in mile-high stilettos—is super sexy Trish Gambone, her high school rival. Mary is forced to confront some very uncomfortable truths about her own past, and the profound effects of lifelong love—and hate. Original air date 20 March 2008. The book was published on 19 February 2019.

Free Range Kids has become a national movement, sparked by the incredible response to Lenore Skenazy's piece about allowing her 9-year-old ride the subway alone in NYC. Parent groups argued about it, bloggers, blogged, spouses became uncivil with each other, and the media jumped all over it. Michael and Lenore revisit her book "Free-Range Kids, Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry." Original air date 3 May 2023. The book was published on 20 April 2009.

On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, a sophomore in college and heiress to the Hearst Family fortune, was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self-styled revolutionaries calling itself the Symbonese Liberation Army. The weird turns that followed in this already sensational take are truly astonishing--listen to bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin talking to Michael about "American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst." The book portrays the electrifying lunacy of the time and the toxic mic of sex, politics, and violence that swept up Patty Hearst and captivated the nation. Original air date: 18 August 2016. The book was published: 2 August 2016.

From one of the world's foremost experts on the subject, a powerful argument that the greatest damage from drugs flows from their being illegal, and a hopeful reckoning with the possibility of their use as part of a responsible and happy life. Michael talks with Dr. Carl Hart, Professor at Columbia University, about his book "Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear."

Our kids are being raised disconnected from natural outdoor environments, for a variety of reasons like technology addictions, fears and dangers of being alone outside and many more. Michael welcomes Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder." As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, Mr. Louv highlights that new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Original air date June 2007. The book was originally published on 15 April 2005.

Kate Andersen Brower, New York Times bestselling author, gives us an an intimate, news-making look at the true modern power brokers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: the First Ladies, from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama and Melania Trump. Listen to Michael's conversation with her on "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies." Original air date 21 April 2016. The book was published on 12 April 2016.

From the archives, Michael's conversation with journalist Bob Woodward on his #1 New York Times Bestselling book "State of Denial: Bush At War", which examines how the George W. Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to Congress, and often to themselves. This conversation is from 2006, around when the book was published.