Our guest is one of Russia’s top investigative journalists, working and living in exile. In his latest book, co-authored once again by his fellow investigative journalist, Irina Borogan, Our Dear Friends in Moscow follows a group of young Russians, part of an idealistic generation who came of age in Moscow at the end of the 20 th 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. The Russian economy crashed, civil war stalked Chechnya, and terrorism came to Moscow. By the time of Vladimir Putin’s second and seemingly endless term as president, the country had embraced a kind of ethno-nationalism and was heading for war at home and abroad.

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.

The diversity principle – the idea that people with different backgrounds, identities, and viewpoints produce better work – 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 upendsgovernment, corporate, and education policies, the history of the idea of diversity has never been more important. In his latest book, The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea, David B. Oppenheimer, a diversity skeptic turned believer, chronicles how diversity became a foundation of education over the last 200 years, how it evolved in commerce and science, and the inevitable implications of the current backlash.

A priceless mask, a beautiful woman, a deadly secret, and a curse if it doesn’t fit. Philip 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.

An Interview with renowned Taiwan expert and former intelligence officer J. Michael Cole. "The Taiwan Tinderbox: The Island-Nation at the Center of the New Cold War," is about how this Pacific nation has become a quagmire that risks igniting a full-scale global conflict.

An interview with Journalist Christine Kuehn Family of Spies, the secret history of her paternal grandparents, Otto and Friedel. A prominent Berlin family, the Kuehn’s saw the rise of the Nazis as a way out of the hard times that had befallen them. When the daughter of the family met Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels. He sent the entire Kuehn family to Hawaii, to work as spies half a world away.

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader’s Corner. The episode originally aired in June 2023.An interview with David Michaels, author of The Triumph of Doubt. In the book, Michaels details how corrupt science becomes public policy, through the aid of dark money, and where it's happening today.

An interview with Beth Macy, author of the new book, Paper Girl. The book examines the forces eroding America’s social fabric, through the lens of changes that rocked her own beloved small Ohio hometown.

An interview with Sasha Vasilyuk, author of the novel, Your Presence is Mandatory. Based on real events, the book follows a World War II veteran with a dangerous secret and his family, forced to confront the legacy of the man they thought they knew.

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader’s Corner. The episode originally aired in May 2023. An interview with Martha C. Nussbaum, author of Justice for Animals. The book offers a revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law.