Library Podcasts
Each year the Library hosts readings, lectures, and discussions by authors and other public figures. You may watch video recordings of recent programs on our YouTube channel. Our archive of audio recordings goes back more than 10 years and includes thousands of memorable Library events.
Quick search for podcasts
-
Deborah Rodriguez: 'Kabul Beauty School'
Author Deborah Rodriguez discussed her new book, "Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil," Tuesday, April 17 at the Central Library. The book looks at the lives of women in Afghanistan through the lens of the Kabul Beauty School. Rodriguez is director of the Kabul salon.Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 43 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
Seattle Poet Populist Jourdan Imani Keith & Friends
In celebration of Jourdan Keith's term as 2006-07 Seattle Poet Populist, Keith read and performed from 'Umbilical Topography' a collection of poems, flash fiction, and essays on Sunday, April 15. Keith was joined friends by Felicia Gonzalez and Brian McGuigan, who both read from their latest works. Gonzalez read from her forthcoming chapbook, "Recollection Graffiti." McGuigan read from new works and selections from his chapbook, "More Than I Left Behind."Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 79 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
Poet and activist Luis J. Rodriguez
Award winning poet and activist Luis J. Rodriguez gave a talk entitled "Imagining Peace and Community in a Time of Violence and Chaos" recorded at Town Hall.Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 64 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
Thrilling Tales: April 2, 2007
Listen to a "Thrilling Tales" adult story time recorded at the Central Library. One morning a supercilious bureaucrat wakes up to find his nose has vanished, but that's almost normal compared to what happens next! Step into this great 19th century Russian author's version of The Twilight Zone. Gogol's strange tale was recorded in honor of the 2007 Seattle Reads selection, "The Namesake." Recorded on April 2, 2007.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 63 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 46 min]
-
An Afternoon with Jonathan Raban
Author Jonathan Raban read from his new novel, "Surveillance," Saturday, March 31 at the Central Library. In his latest work, a post-Sept. 11, 2001, novel set in Seattle a few years in the future, Raban explores the current political climate: national identity cards are mandatory and America has become obsessed with intelligence-gathering.Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 48 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
William Dietrich: 'Napoleon's Pyramids'
Author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist William Dietrich discussed his new novel, "Napoleon's Pyramids," Wednesday, March 28 at the Central Library. "Napoleon's Pyramids" is a historical thriller set in post-revolutionary France and Egypt.
Library Journal called Dietrich's new novel "rousing, swashbuckling fun and proof that a good writer can make history not only interesting but an exhilarating romp."Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 47 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
Tracy Chevalier: 'Burning Bright'
Author Tracy Chevalier read from her new novel, "Burning Bright," on Friday, March 23 at the Central Library. "Burning Bright" follows the Kellaway family as they move in next door to poet and painter William Blake in late 18th-century London.Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 38 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
A Tribute to Octavia Butler
Listen to "A Tribute to Octavia Butler with Nalo Hopkinson and Friends" that took place on Thursday, March 1 at the Central Library. This event featured readings from Butler's works by her admirers and friends: author Nalo Hopkinson, actor and director Timeca Briggs, columnist Jerry Large, author Vonda McIntyre, and author Nisi Shawl.Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 58 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
Sarah Dunant: 'In the Company of the Courtesan'
Bestselling author Sarah Dunant read from "In the Company of the Courtesan" on Friday, Feb. 23, at the Central Library. Dunant's historical novel, set in Renaissance Italy, recounts the escapades of the wily dwarf Bucino Teodoldo and his mistress, celebrated courtesan Fiammetta Bianchini.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 51 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]
-
Taylor Branch: "Myth and Miracles from the King Years"
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Taylor Branch presented the Library's 2007 A. Scott Bullitt Lecture in American History, a talk titled "Myth and Miracles from the King Years," Tuesday, Jan. 23 at the Central Library.Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 81 MB] [Play time: 0 hr 00 min]