© 2025
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ron Chernow - Mark Twain

Book cover for "Mark Twain" by Ron Chernow
Penguin Press
/
provided

In his latest biography, “Mark Twain,” Ron Chernow brings to life the man known as the father of American literature, Mark Twain. Chernow peels back the layers of this complex figure, showing us the man behind classics like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Innocents Abroad.”

Joe talks to people on the radio for a living. In addition to countless impressive human "gets" - he has talked to a lot of Muppets. Joe grew up in Philadelphia, has been on the area airwaves for more than 25 years and currently lives in Washington County, NY with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Brady. And yes, he reads every single book.
Related Content
  • In his latest novel, “The River Is Waiting,” Wally Lamb gives us a story about one man’s fall and uncertain redemption. Corby Ledbetter, a married, father of twins, makes a tragic mistake that sends him to prison and shatters his family. Behind bars, he faces the consequences of addiction, grief, and guilt—while searching for a path to forgiveness.
  • Rick Atkinson has just published the second volume of his American Revolution trilogy, "The Fate of the Day," covering the middle years of the war. Benjamin Franklin was wooing the French while George Washington was pleading with Congress to deliver the money, men, and material he needed to continue the fight.
  • Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo is known for books like “Empire Falls,” “Nobody’s Fool,” and “Straight Man,” having long chronicled working-class America with wit, empathy, and a sharp eye for character. His latest, “Life & Art,” is a thoughtful and very funny collection of essays that explore the deeply personal side of a writer’s life.
  • Isabel Allende’s new novel “Violeta” is a sweeping epic that tells the story of a woman whose life spans one hundred years from 1920–2020 as she bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century. Allende won worldwide acclaim in 1982 with the publication of her first novel, “The House of the Spirits.”
  • “All Fours,” a new novel by Miranda July, tells the story of a semi-famous artist who announces her plan to drive cross-country on a one woman quest for a new kind of freedom. The book is part absurd entertainment and part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist.
  • Born and raised in Florida, Carl Hiaasen is the author of a slew of bestsellers like "Squeeze Me," "Sick Puppy," and "Lucky You." His new novel, "Fever Beach," shows off his trademark humor and critique as he examines American politics and culture filled with right-wing conspiracists, corrupt politicians, and shady philanthropists.
  • In 2004, Historian Russell Shorto published “The Island at the Center of the World,” a book about Manhattan and the role of the Dutch in making New York (and America) what it is today. His new book, “Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America,” continues the story.
  • Adrian McKinty’s latest novel, “Hang on St. Christopher,” brings readers to July 1992 when The Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five years. McKinty’s character, Sean Duffy, is assigned to his most violent and dangerous case yet, and the future of the burgeoning “peace process” may depend on it.
  • Poet Joy Harjo’s poems are described as musical, intimate, political and wise, intertwining ancestral memory and tribal histories with resilience and love. Her latest book, “Washing My Mother’s Body: A Ceremony for Grief,” explores the complexity of a daughter’s grief as she reflects on the joys and sorrows of her mother’s life.