Book Club with Michael Smerconish

Book Club with Michael Smerconish

Reading for Independent Minds. Unlike many author interviews, if Michael didn't actually read the book, you won't hear about it. If he read it, you'll hear it and you'll love it. Insights into a wide range of topics, including many titles you've probably never heard of. The perfect book is just one listen away.

Episodes

June 18, 2025 20 mins
There is one reason why planes crash. Michael asks the question to David Soucie in this conversation about his book "Why Planes Crash: An Accident Investigator's Fight for Safe Skies." This interview happened just a few months after the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which through today remains one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries. Soucie is a longtime aviation accident investigator and industry expert, a...
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Follow along a Navy SEAL's firsthand account of American heroism during a secret military operation in Afghanistan in this true story of survival and difficult choices.
On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small...

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June 9, 2025 12 mins
In 2007, Michael welcomed bestselling author Walter Isaacson to talk about "Einstein: His Life and Universe." Listen to the author of the acclaimed bestseller "Benjamin Franklin" discuss the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available. How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how the imagination that distinguished his science sprang from the rebellious natur...
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June 6, 2025 16 mins
An inspiring conversation between Michael and Dawn Staley about her book "Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three." A three-time Olympic gold medalist, six-time WNBA All-Star, and the first person to win the Naismith College Player of the Year award as both a player and coach, Staley has shattered expectations at every level of the game. While her name resonates with both l...
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The Lamoureux twins—Olympic gold medalists on the historic 2018 US women’s ice hockey team—tell their story of grit and determination, from youth hockey dominated by boys to the big business of elite international sports, fighting for gender equity in hockey, sports, and beyond. Michael welcomes Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, authors of "Dare to Make History: Chasing a Dream and Fighting for Equity." Ori...
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America has a powerful new president... And her husband's on trial for murder. Former President Bill Clinton and bestselling author James Patterson are back with another thriller: The First Gentlemen. Yes, it IS a work of fiction, but as you'll hear in Michael's conversation with them, there are very real-life, real-world points the book makes, particularly on the debt situation in the US. Listen to this fun conversation and pick u...
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Richard A. Clarke is one of the world's leading experts on security, cyberspace, and terrorism. He served in the U.S. government for thirty years, including as White House counterterrorism coordinator under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and became the first White House official placed in charge of U.S. cybersecurity policy. He is the author of eight books (four works of nonfiction and four novels), including the numbe...

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May 22, 2025 22 mins
Michael sits down with CNN anchor and author Jake Tapper to discuss "Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again" co-authored with Alex Thompson. Tapper opens up about what hasn't been fully covered in the media, including behind-the-scenes moments during the 2024 debate, concerns from top Democratic senators, and internal White House dynamics. The conversation delves into aging, le...
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May 16, 2025 17 mins
With the news of Pete Rose, Major League Baseball's career hits leader, being posthumously removed from the league's permanent ineligibility list, Michael speaks with Keith O'Brien, author of "Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball." Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies—the rise and fall of Pete Rose. Drawing on firsthand interviews with Rose himsel...
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May 12, 2025 38 mins
Michael sits down with Suzy Welch—NYU Stern professor, journalist, and best-selling author—to discuss her transformative new book :Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career." The conversation blends personal reflection with practical insight as Suzy introduces her evidence-based methodology for helping people align their values, aptitudes, and interests in pursuit of a meaningful life. From a hilar...
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May 7, 2025 21 mins

This conversation was recorded the morning of the start of the Conclave to replace Pope Francis. 

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In this episode of The Book Club with Michael Smerconish, Michael sits down with Graydon Carter, legendary former editor of Vanity Fair, to discuss his captivating new memoir, "When The Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines." The conversation is filled with sharp wit, rich anecdotes, and reflections on a media era defined by luxury, talent, and cultural influence—from eyebrow ladies at Condé...
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April 30, 2025 23 mins
Michael welcomes Admiral William McRaven with his book "Conquering Crisis: Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them." The retired Naval officer and bestselling author tells stories from his life and career that illustrate the principles of effective leadership during times of crisis. Throughout his 40-year career, Admiral McRaven has experienced every manner of calamity imaginable. From managing failed hostage rescues to respondin...
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From September 2007, Michael's conversation with John Mearsheimer, co-author of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy." "The Israel Lobby," by John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, was one of the most controversial articles in recent memory. Originally published in the London Review of Books in March 2006, it provoked both howls of outrage and che...
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April 23, 2025 15 mins
Michael speaks with Jeffrey Selingo, author of "Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions." The award-winning higher education journalist and New York Times bestselling author's book offers a revealing look from inside the admissions office—one that identifies surprising strategies that will aid in the college search. Getting into a top-ranked college has never seemed more impossible, with acceptance rates at some elite...
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April 18, 2025 20 mins
Michael welcomes former Ohio Governor John Kasich, author of "Heaven Help Us: How Faith Communities Inspire Hope, Strengthen Neighborhoods, and Build the Future". In a time of division and cynicism, Kasich shares uplifting stories of faith communities making real change—from churches supporting immigrants to mosques building interfaith bridges. It's a powerful reminder of the hope and strength found in local action and belief. Orig...
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April 14, 2025 18 mins
Ben Sherwood's "The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life" was so fascinating to Michael that he had him back on for this interview, 11 years after the book was written. Each second of the day, someone in America faces a crisis, whether it's a car accident, violent crime, serious illness, or financial trouble. Given the inevitability of adversity, we all wonder: Who beats the odds and who surrenders? Why...
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April 9, 2025 19 mins
Let’s begin an implausible story with a seemingly simple yet complex question: If you were single, never married with no children or dependents, would you, if you had the opportunity, have lived “on the down low” in a secret apartment in Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia? Tom Garvey did just that - yes he LIVED there - and tells the tale in this incredible story. Original air date 19 March 2021. The book was published on 3 December ...
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April 7, 2025 29 mins
Michael talks to Amie Parnes & Jonathan Allen about "Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House." The authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller 'Shattered' provide a revelatory, inside look at the Biden, Harris, and Trump camps during the 2024 battle for the White House, arguably the most consequential contest in American history. The ride was so wild that it forced a sitting president to drop his re-election bid, a on...
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Admiral James Stavridis appears on the Book Club Podcast four times. Listen to To Risk It All (Episode #116), 2054 (Episode #354), The Restless Wave (Episode #415), and The Admiral's Bookshelf (#446).

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