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
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Education reformer, Michelle Rhee, talks about her new book 'Radical: Fighting to Put Students First'
In her recently-released memoir, 'Radical,' Michelle Rhee recounts her own experiences in the trenches as a teacher and administrator.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 31.23MB] [Play time: 01 hr 08 min]
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Carver Clark Gayton reads from a new "facsimile edition" of his great grandfather Lewis George Clarke’s slave narrative
Lewis George Clarke published the story of his life as a slave in 1845, after he had escaped from Kentucky and become a well-regarded abolitionist lecturer throughout the North. His book 'Narrative of the Sufferings of Lewis Clarke, During a Captivity of More Than Twenty-Five Years, among the Algerines of Kentucky, One of the So Called Christian States of North America' was the first work by a slave to be acquired by the Library of Congress and placed under copyright. -- Clarke lived in the Cambridge, Mass., home of Aaron and Mary Safford. There he encountered Mary's stepsister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, along with Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and other abolitionists. His experiences are evident in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' published in 1852, and Stowe identified him as the prototype for the character George Harris.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 29.65MB] [Play time: 01 hr 04 min]
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Celebrate Black History Month with Seattle Poet Colleen McElroy
Colleen McElroy, award-winning writer of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, reads from her newest poetry volume, 'Here I Throw Down My Heart.' -- McElroy's poems look at how borders between countries, or between genders and class, have deepened the lines between the haves and have-nots.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 21.82MB] [Play time: 0 hr 47 min]
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Bestselling author Cory Doctorow reads from his new young adult novel 'Homeland'
When Marcus, once called M1k3y, receives a USB flash drive containing evidence of corporate and governmental treachery, his job, fame, family and well-being, as well as his reform-minded employer's election campaign, are all endangered.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 30.99MB] [Play time: 01 hr 07 min]
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Celebrate Black History Month with author Aaron Dixon
Aaron Dixon, author of 'My People Are Rising: Memoir of a Black Panther Party Captain,' will read from his book and answer questions about his experiences and the history of the Black Panther Party in Seattle. -- Dixon has dedicated his life to the struggle for change, founding the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1968 at age 19. His memoir begins with the story of enslaved ancestors, taking us on a journey throughout American history to the life of a foot soldier in the Black Panther Party. Readers will learn about the courage of a generation and the unforgettable legacy of Black Power.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 32.32MB] [Play time: 01 hr 10 min]