Library Talks

When famed fashion and society photographer Bill Cunningham died in 2016, he left behind not only an incredible archive of New York Times columns and photographs, but two identical copies of a secret memoir that he apparently hoped someone would find. His family discovered the book, which Cunningham himself titled Fashion Climbing.

The Library celebrated its release with the book’s editor, Christopher Richards, and New Yorker critic Hilton Als, who wrote its preface. They were joined by artist and co-founder of PaperKim Hastreiter, who was a close acquaintance of the late photographer. 

Direct download: 2018.09.30_Cunningham.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

The world’s leading philanthropists are constantly working to “make the world a better place,” leading passionate campaigns against everything from climate change to poverty that had once been the province of governments. Journalist Anand Giridharadas asks whether those rich and powerful people who have most benefitted from “our highly inequitable status quo” are in fact the best candidates to take on these challenges. When are their solutions democratic and universal, and when do they reflect and support the biases that introduced the inequity in the first place? In conversation with Joy-Ann Reid, political analyst for MSNBC and host of “AM Joy,” Giridharadas discussed his new book, “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World,” a call to action—for elite and everyday citizens alike—to build more egalitarian institutions.

Direct download: Reid_Giridharad.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Vladimin Nabokov's "Lolita" is one of the most widely-read classics of twentieth century; however, few are familiar with the true story of an eleven-year-old-girl named Sally Horner, whose story bears an eerie resemblance to that of Nabokov's Dolores Hayes. In "The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World," author Sarah Weinman traces the connections between these two girls and their stories. Weinman stopped by NYPL to revisit her research using the Nabokov Papers that question the role of facts within fiction.

Direct download: 2018.09.16_Real_Lolita.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Tim Gunn is the Emmy Award-winning former producer of "Project Runway," where for 16 seasons he mentored contestants with charm and care. But when he isn’t busy making it work, chances are he has his nose in a book.

In a live conversation series presented in collaboration with the National Book Foundation, Gunn spoke about some of the most powerful books in his life, the reads that have stayed with him since his early teens. His conversation partner: fellow avid reader—and best-selling novelist—Min Jin Lee, whose most recent book, Pachinko, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Direct download: 2018.09.09_gunn_lee.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Before the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016, there was The Up Stairs Lounge fire. Author Robert Fieseler sets the largely overlooked tragedy of the Up Stairs Lounge arson that killed 32 people in its rightful historical place with "Tinderbox:The Untold Story of The Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation." The 1973 mass murder dragged a closeted, blue-collar gay community into the national public eye, that shortly after was forgotten—until now.

Fieseler discussed how he discovered this story, his research in New Orleans, and other findings in his book with Eric Marcus, creator and host of the award-winning book and podcast "Making Gay History."

Direct download: 2018.09.02_Tinderbox.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

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