The Women Books & More’s Podcast

Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates Daniel Klein Thomas Cathcart

This is one of my favorites from the vault. It originally ran on my radio show more than 10 years ago. I just listened to it again and laughed until I got the hiccups. How can talking about death be funny? Listen in and you’ll find out.

Here’s the story: From angels to zombies and everything in between, Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates is a seriously funny take on the philosophy, theology, and psychology of death. Deep thinkers like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre and, yes, Heidegger have been wrestling with the meaning of death for as long as they have been wrestling with the meaning of life. Fortunately, humorists have been keeping pace by creating gags about dying. Heidegger and a Hippo is a must-read for anyone and everyone who ever expects to die (not soon, of course).

Disclaimer: This is a humorous dip into philosophy, not a deep plunge. Listening to this podcast will not help you understand Heidegger any better. Sorry :)

 

Sisters on the Fly: We Have More Fun Than Anyone

Here’s the story: Sisters on the Fly was started by two real-life sisters, Maurrie Sussman and Becky Clarke, who loved fly fishing, camping in their vintage trailers, a glass of good wine, campfire cooking, and playing poker for pennies. They invited their friends to join them and soon there were 20.  Pretty soon there were 100. “When we started, we wanted to bring women together as best friends and sisters of the heart,” says Maurrie.

And...just like that…it is 25 years later and there are more than 24,000 Sisters on the Fly—in nearly every city and town in the U.S., in Canada, and in far-flung places like Australia, England, France and Italy. “So, we’re never alone when we’re traveling solo,” says Maurrie. “There’s always a Sister we can call when we’re in need…or just to connect over a cup of coffee or a home-cooked meal.”

Maurrie (Sister #1) and I (Sister #1322) sat down at my kitchen table to have a conversation. You can listen in.

And here’s a great deal: Maurrie has signed the last remining SOTF 25^th Anniversary Mooks (a cross between a magazine and a book) and is offering them FREE—you only pay for postage which should be somewhere around $6.

Click on this link to order to get an autographed copy:

http://sotf2024.foxycart.com/cart?name=Sisters+On+The+Fly+25th+Anniversary+Magazine&price=$18.95&category=Magazine&coupon=PodCast

Yes, I know it says $18.95 (The original price) but I’ve clicked on the link and see that this price is subtracted at check-out—so only the postage remains.

For more about Sisters on the Fly: sistersonthefly.com

 

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More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova

Lisa Genova a best-selling author and Harvard-trained neuroscientist. I talked with her for her book about Still Alice—an emotional look at Alzheimer’s. I’ll look in “the vault” to find that interview for you. Still Alice was made into a major motion picture starring Julianne Moore. She won an Oscar for her role as Alice Howland, a renowned linguistics professor descending into Alzheimer’s. The film is available on Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV. Warning: keep a box of tissues handy.

Each of Genova’s books explores the mysteries of the human brain. Her newest book, More or Less Maddy, focuses on bi-polar disorder with her usual blend of science and heart. It is a deeply empathetic look at a young woman (she’s just starting her first year in college) who is struggling to understand and accept a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. We are right there with Maddy Banks as she goes on a roller coaster ride of extreme highs and devastating lows. We are right there as her life spins out of control. We also get the perspective of her family as they attempt to cope—frustration, denial, tough love…nothing works. Spoiler alert: there is no “happy ending” but there is understanding, acceptance and humor, including a stint in a comedy club. (NB: Genova enrolled in a comedy workshop to get those chapters right). The book is raw, emotional and informative. Warning: keep a box of tissues handy.

lisagenova.com

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)

dbsalliance.org

Love Child: Memoir of Family Lost and Found by Allegra Huston

One of my favorites from the archives.

Huston was born in London, the love child of a widely adored ballerina and the 2nd Viscount Norwich. When she was four, she lost her mother in an auto accident and was sent to Ireland to live with her mother’s estranged husband, the acclaimed, eccentric and intimidating film director John Huston. (The African Queen, Casino Royale, Prizzi’s Honor….)

“I was a motherless girl who never quite felt like I really belonged, a younger sister trying to find sense of self in the shadow of beauty and fame.” FYI: Her older half-sister is the actor and director Anjelica Huston.

Salmon Rushdie calls the book: “An exceptional telling of an extraordinary life. I loved it.” 

Allegra Huston now lives in Taos, New Mexico, and is the co-founder of Imaginative Storm Writing Workshops. www.allegrahuston.com

Photo credit: Jeff Rayner

 

Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America

Here is one of my favorites from the archives.

So…you’ve probably heard of Abigail Adams, Georgia O’Keeffe, Annie Oakley and Eleanor Roosevelt. But what about the female mathematician who laid the groundwork for abstract algebra. Or the women of NASA who helped send John Glenn, the first American astronaut, into orbit.

From artists and writers to doctors, scientists and activists—Jill S. Tietjen’s Her Story is a beautifully illustrated book that spans more than four centuries and celebrates the many accomplishments of more than 900 unsung heroines of American history.

Tietjen is a sought-after speaker and has co-authored Duty Calls (along with Dr. Antonia Novello, the first female and the first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General), and  Over, Under, Around and Through: How Hall of Famers Surmount Obstacles, co-authored with Elinor Miller Greenberg, EdD. 

https://jilltietjen.com

 

 

Rescued Recipes - U.S. Holocaust Museum

The Nazis were banging on the door. The Fenves family was about to be rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. Their  gentile cook had the presence of mind to save the family recipe book by hiding it under her apron.

Chef Alon Shaya found the recipe book in the archives of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)  in Washington, D.C. and was reunited with 93-year-old Steven Fenves, the lone survivor of the family. During the pandemic—hundreds of miles apart—they worked to recreate some of the recipes from the precious book. Steven translated from Hungarian; Alon cooked and sent them to Steven over dry ice. Two (tested and tasted) recipes available here:Walnut Cream Cake and Crispy Semolina Sticks 

USNMM has about 80 collections that include recipes and cookbooks. Many are available online, others can be searched in person. To schedule a research visit: www.ushmm.org

See a CBS Sunday Morning segment with Steven and Alon here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/re-creating-the-taste-of-a-childhood-lost-in-the-holocaust/

For more about Chef Alon Shaya: www.eatwithsafta.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midnight Black by Mark Greaney

With his lover imprisoned in a Russian gulag, the Gray Man will stop at nothing to free her—in Midnight Black, Mark Greaney’s latest thriller in the NYT #1 bestselling Gray Man series. 

A winter sunrise over the great plains of Russia is no cause for celebration. The temperature barely rises above zero and the guards at penal colony IK22 take their misery out on the prisoners—mainly on Zoya Zakharova. Once an master spy for Russian foreign intelligence, then partner and lover of the Gray Man, she has information the Kremlin wants and they don’t care what they have to do to get it. 

But if they think a thousand miles of frozen wasteland and the combined power of the Russian police state is enough to protect them, they don’t know the Gray Man. He’s coming and no one can stop him. 

Greaney was the last author to work directly with Tom Clancy, the celebrated military-and-espionage thriller pioneer. Greaney, like Clancy, keeps a close watch on the geopolitical stage—what’s going on and what’s brewing—and his stories are rooted in real world events. 

Greaney has written 15 books in the Gray Man series and a number of books in the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan series. With Lt. Col. Rip Rawlings, he wrote an unmissable war thriller—Red Metal—a New York Times best seller. By all accounts, they are working on a sequel.  

www.markgreaneybooks.com