Comedian Tig Notaro is credited with performing the stand-out stand-up show in recent memory, LIVE, which is now being released in a special edition with proceeds benefiting cancer charities. Here, she tells us a story about what might seem like a less-dramatic medical operation - having her wisdom teeth removed - which lead her to some pretty unwise behavior.
Ashley Cardiff is managing editor of The Gloss - a culture website for women. Her new memoir "Night Terrors: Sex, Dating, Puberty and Other Alarming Things" deals with her sexual coming-of-age, in hilarious -- and sometimes cringe-worthy -- detail. Today we overhear her tell a tale about her not-so-fantasy Prince.
We all know about Fred Astaire. Less well-known is Adele Astaire, and Australian theater scholar Kathleen Riley is trying to change that. Her new non-fiction book is called “The Astaires: Fred and Adele.” Today we overhear her recounting a dinner-party worthy anecdote about the duo’s adventures.
Singer Natalie Cole has won nine Grammy awards and produced countless classic tunes in her four-decade career. Her newest recording, Natalie Cole en Español is her first Spanish-language record - but her dad, Nat “King” Cole released three of his own in the 50s and 60s. Natalie tells us the touching story of how her body has shaped her body of work.
Irish novelist Colum McCann turned more than a few heads with his 2009 work, Let the Great World Spin; it won major accolades, including the National Book Award. This week he flies back into the public eye with TransAtlantic, a novel that uses his signature entwined-narrative style to tell three stories: the first transatlantic airplane flight, Fredrick Douglas visiting Ireland in 1845, and the Irish peace process of the late 1990s - which is where he picks us up in this excerpt.
Canadian writer and WireTap radio host Jonathan Goldstein’s new book, I’ll Seize the Day Tomorrow takes wry stock of his life, on the cusp of his fortieth birthday. In honor of Father’s Day, he tells a tale from the collection about taking his dad out for a night late afternoon on the town.
Kenny Vance had his first musical success at 15 years old - and then went on to record 15 albums with his doo-wop vocal group Jay and the Americans. In their heyday the group opened for The Beatles’ first US performance, but Mr Vance tells us the story of a different concert they played: the NYC debut of some band that he didn’t think was very cool at the time, called…The Rolling Stones.
British singer Tracey Thorn has recorded hits with the duo Everything But The Girl and in collaboration with acts like Massive Attack. More recently she’s released a couple of solo albums, like 2012’s Tinsel and Lights.) Tracey’s new memoir “Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be a Pop Star” covers her decades-long career in punk and pop. Today we overhear a tale about the time she found her voice.
On the History Channel series American Pickers, Mike Wolfe travels the country digging up unbelievable (and undervalued) collectibles. He tells us about the first time he hit a goldmine.
Many people dream of traveling the world and reporting on it for newspapers and magazines - but Matt Gross actually lived it. Now an editor at Bon Appetit, he was for years the Frugal Traveler at The New York Times. His new book, The Turk Who Loved Apples and Other Tales of Losing My Way Around the World collects several previously-unpublished travel essays. Here, he shares one.