Reader's Corner

Reader's Corner

Welcome to Reader's Corner, a weekly radio show hosted by Boise State University president emeritus Bob Kustra that features lively conversations with some of the nation's leading authors about issues and ideas that matter today. Support for this podcast comes from Saint Alphonsus Orthopedic and Sports Medicine

Episodes

"From Warsaw With Love" By John Pomfret

July 4, 2025 • 34 mins

Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in January 2023.

In 1990, as the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm, if it falls into the wrong hands. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland - a longtime Cold War foe, famed for its excellent spies - for hel...

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"The Troublemaker" by Mark L. Clifford

June 27, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Mark L. Clifford, author of The Troublemaker. The book is a comprehensive biography of billionaire businessman Jimmy Lai, a leading Hong Kong democracy activist who became China’s most famous political prisoner.
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"Inside the President's Team" by Bob Barrett

June 20, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Nils Barrett, joining Reader's Corner to talk about his late father’s memoir, Inside the President's Team. The book offers an up-close view of the Ford presidency by one of his closest and most-trusted advisors.
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"The Umbrella Maker's Son" by Tod Lending

June 13, 2025 • 34 mins
Bob Kustra interviews Tod Lending, author of the novel, The Umbrella Maker’s Son. The book is a coming-of-age tale following a 17-year-old Polish Jew as he fights for his life and experiences his first love, set during WWII.
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"Amphibious Soul" by Craig Foster

June 6, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Craig Foster, author of Amphibious Soul. The book is a lyrical memoir drawing from the author’s decades of daily ocean dives, wisdom from Indigenous teachers, and cutting-edge science.
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"Mindmasters" by Sandra Matz

May 30, 2025 • 31 mins
An interview with Sandra Matz, author of the new book, Mindmasters. The book is an exploration of how algorithms penetrate and influence the most intimate aspects of our psychology.
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"The Myth of American Idealism" by Nathan J. Robinson and Noam Chomsky

May 23, 2025 • 32 mins
An interview with Nathan J. Robinson, co-author of the new book, The Myth of American Idealism. The book is an indictment of both American foreign policy and the political influence that supports it.
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"Prisoners Of The Castle" By Ben Macintyre

May 16, 2025 • 33 mins
Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in November 2022. An interview with Ben Macintyre, author of the new book, Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison. In the book, Macintyre looks at one of history’s most notorious prisons, and the remarkable cast of POWs who tried relentlessly to escape their captors.
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"Grizzly Confidential" by Kevin Grange

May 9, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Kevin Grange, author of Grizzly Confidential. Part science, part travelogue, the book is a both a gripping account of the famous North American species and a passionate plea for bear conservation.
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"Ungoverning" by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead

May 2, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Russell Muirhead, co-author of the new book, Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos. The book details how a concentrated attack on political institutions threatens to disable the essential workings of government.
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"Nelson Rockefeller's Dilemma" by Marsha E. Barrett

April 25, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Marsha E. Barrett, author of Nelson Rockefeller's Dilemma. The book is a compelling political history of the influential career of the four-time New York State governor and US vice president.
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"On the Hippie Trail" by Rick Steves

April 18, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with legendary travel writer Rick Steves about his new book, On the Hippie Trail. The book offers a glimpse into the memories and misadventures of his formative 1978 trek from Istanbul to Kathmandu.
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"Better Living Through Birding" by Christian Cooper

April 11, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Christian Cooper, author of the book, Better Living Through Birding. Part memoir, part travelogue, the book explores how birding helped Cooper during the most difficult parts of his life, and how we can all benefit from looking up more.
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"What the Chicken Knows" by Sy Montgomery

April 4, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Sy Montgomery, author of What the Chicken Knows. Part science writing, part personal narrative, the book explores the surprising traits and unique personalities of the world’s most recognizable bird.
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"Code Name Puritan" by Greg Barnhisel

March 28, 2025 • 31 mins
An interview with Greg Barnhisel, author of Code Name Puritan. The book is a fascinating biography of Norman Holmes Pearson, an unassuming literary scholar and part-time spy who transformed postwar American culture.
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"Russia and Ukraine" by Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel

March 21, 2025 • 32 mins
An interview with Maria Popova, co-author of the new book, Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States. The book examines how the fall of the Soviet Union started an identity and regime divergence between Russia and Ukraine, and set both countries on an inevitable collision course.
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"This America Of Ours" By Nate Schweber

March 14, 2025 • 33 mins
Note: This is an encore edition of Reader's Corner. The episode originally aired in November 2022.An interview with Nate Schweber, author of the new book, This America of Ours: Bernard & Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild. In the book, Schweber tells the story of the extraordinary couple who rescued national parks from McCarthyism, and inspired a future of conservation.
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"Midnight Black" by Mark Greaney

March 7, 2025 • 32 mins
An interview with Mark Greaney, author of the new thriller, Midnight Black. The book is a taut new addition to Greaney’s bestselling Gray Man series.
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"Where Tyranny Begins" by David Rohde

February 28, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with David Rohde, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Where Tyranny Begins. In the book, Rohde details how Donald Trump used threats, co-option, and conspiracy theories to bend DOJ and FBI officials to his will.
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"How to Raise a Citizen" by Lindsey Cormack

February 21, 2025 • 30 mins
An interview with Lindsey Cormack, author of the new book, How to Raise a Citizen. The book is a practical guide to nurturing the next generation of responsible, informed citizens.
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