Advertise on podcast: C-SPAN Bookshelf

In the December 1, 2025, print edition of the Wall Street Journal, there was this headline on page R25: "These 10 books changed the way Americans thought about work." Carol Hymowitz, the author, wrote: "It began with Benjamin Franklin, who couldn't stop working or writing about work throughout his 84-year long life." Carol Hymowitz has been associated with the Wall Street Journal since she got her master's degree in journalism at Columbia University. Other books she featured in this article about work include Tocqueville, Frederick Douglass, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, Dale Carnegie, and C. Wright Mills, plus others. We wanted to know how she chose these 10 books about work, so we had a chat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicholas Boggs discusses the personal life and activism of American writer James Baldwin (1924-1987). Mr. Boggs, who spent over 20 years working on "James Baldwin: A Love Story," also talks about Baldwin's many books, his life outside the United States, and his involvement in the civil rights movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham joined David M. Rubenstein to discuss his biographies of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and George H.W. Bush, and his upcoming book on Dwight Eisenhower. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stefan Fatsis describes his experience as a lexicographer in training at Merriam-Webster to learn how words are added to the dictionary. Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA, hosted this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Horn's latest book is titled "The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines." The publisher Scribner explains the premise of Horn's book: "For the doomed stand American forces made in the Philippines at the start of World War II, two generals received the country's highest military award, the Medal of Honor. One was the charismatic Douglas MacArthur whose orders forced him to leave his troops and go to Australia. The other was the gritty Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright who became a hero to the troops whose fate he insisted on sharing." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl discusses his book, "Retribution," a behind-the-scenes look at Donald Trump's winning 2024 presidential campaign. Mr. Karl, who started covering Trump in the mid-1990s for the New York Post, also talks about his longtime relationship with the 47th president and the contrast between President Trump's public and private sides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Buckley is a novelist, essayist, humorist, critic, magazine editor and memoirist. The only child of publishing icon William F. Buckley, Christopher's books have been translated into sixteen foreign languages. He has worked as a merchant seaman and White House speechwriter. He has written for many newspapers and magazines and has lectured in over 70 cities around the world. He was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor and the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? That’s the question posed by humor columnist Dave Barry’s 2025 memoir titled, Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up.   This week on C-SPAN's Afterwords podcast, a discussion on satire and humor with Dave Barry and novelist Carl Hiaasen. Hiaasen also has a new book titled Fever Beach. It’s a satirical crime novel, which he says was inspired by real events in Florida and the January 6th riot at the Capitol.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anne Marshall is associate professor of history and executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University. Her book is "Cassius Marcellus Clay: The Life of an Antislavery Slaveholder and the Paradox of American Reform." Clay lived to be 92, had two wives and 11 children. Kentucky was his home state. As an antislavery reformer, Cassius Marcellus Clay is often remembered as a knife-wielding rabble rouser who both inspired and enraged his contemporaries. Abraham Lincoln made him minister to Russia. And yes, the boxer Muhammad Ali was originally named after him, but decided he wanted his own original name. Ann Marshall will discuss all this with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Austin history professor Peniel Joseph, author of "Freedom Season," talks about the pivotal events of 1963 that impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America. That year, which marked the centenary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, also saw the assassinations of President Kennedy and Mississippi civil rights activist Medgar Evers, the publication of James Baldwin's bestseller "The Fire Next Time," and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 little girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times Magazine staff writer Jonathan Mahler talked about the 1980s forces, events, and characters that defined and shaped New York City. His book features Donald Trump, Spike Lee, Rudy Giuliani , Ed Koch, and Al Sharpton - and highlights New York's experiences with homelessness, AIDS, racial tensions, and the crack epidemic. The Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City hosted this event Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Trillion Dollar War Machine" is the name of the book. The co-authors are William Hartung and Ben Freeman. They both do work for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think tank in Washington, D.C. It's a nonprofit research organization whose stated purpose is to oppose the military-industrial complex described by President Eisenhower in his 1961 farewell address. We will talk with co-author Ben Freeman, the Quincy Institute Director of Democratizing Foreign Policy. The subtitle of the book is: "How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gary Walters has served seven U.S. presidents and their families at the White House from 1970-2007, first as a member of the Secret Service and later as an usher. He served as White House Chief Usher from 1986-2007, the longest in U.S. history. Mr. Walters shares stories from his time in the Executive Residence and discusses the role that he played in managing the day-to-day operations, presidential transitions, and major events at the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baseball hall of famer Cal Ripken Jr. joins David M. Rubenstein to discussed his legendary career and his work as a bestselling author, and gave viewers a tour of memorabilia from his decades in baseball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro argued that the world is divided between those who want to defend Western civilization and those who want to undermine it. This event was hosted by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices