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A Life in Biography

A Life in Biography

By Carl Rollyson

Talks and interviews about the life of biography as experienced by a biographer over forty years and fourteen biographies, dealing with subjects ranging from Sylvia Plath to William Faulkner, Marilyn Monroe to Susan Sontag, and much more.
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The History Wars! In Australia, but it happens here too. Biographers Beware

A Life in BiographyJan 22, 2023

00:00
46:56
A new Greta Garbo biography by Lois Banner, with new sources and insights

A new Greta Garbo biography by Lois Banner, with new sources and insights

Lois Banner, biographer of Marilyn Monroe, turns to Garbo, learns Swedish, and discovers all sorts of important sources not to be found in previous biographies.
Mar 23, 202442:43
Mary Dearborn discusses her new biography of Carson McCullers

Mary Dearborn discusses her new biography of Carson McCullers

Mary Dearborn does a valiant job of dealing with my interruptions in our discussion of her splendid biography of Carson McCullers.
Mar 17, 202452:07
Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror” and the Prison House Modernism

Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror” and the Prison House Modernism

You might want to read Plath’s poem “Mirror” as I explain my reactions to it as a biographer.
Mar 10, 202417:19
Authors vanish after they die and are revived. A talk with the biographer of Carolyn Wells.

Authors vanish after they die and are revived. A talk with the biographer of Carolyn Wells.

How Rebecca Rego Barry discovered Carolyn Wells, and why she wrote a biography of a forgotten literary figure, and how she did it.
Mar 03, 202417:19
A rollicking interview with Paul Alexander about his new biography of Billie Holiday.

A rollicking interview with Paul Alexander about his new biography of Billie Holiday.

Paul Alexander talks about his new state of the art biography of Billie Holiday. I listened and I learned.
Feb 25, 202434:26
My listeners respond

My listeners respond

My listeners respond and I comment on their comments
Feb 18, 202430:28
Why Biography Doesn’t Belong

Why Biography Doesn’t Belong

A rambling meditation on the biographer as exile.
Feb 11, 202416:28
A talk with Marian Janssen, biographer of Carolyn Kizer, one of the wild women of American poetry

A talk with Marian Janssen, biographer of Carolyn Kizer, one of the wild women of American poetry

A talk with the delightful Marian Janssen who describes her career as a biographer and why she chose to write about the American poet Carolyn Kizer.
Feb 04, 202430:58
How close is too close when it comes to the biography of your subject?

How close is too close when it comes to the biography of your subject?

I explain what happened when I became part of the lives of my two subjects while researching and writing To Be a Woman: The Life of Jill Craigie and A Private Life of Michael Foot
Jan 28, 202433:41
You’ve heard of Chaplin and Keaton, but Al Christie?—the subject of Mark Kearney’s new biography

You’ve heard of Chaplin and Keaton, but Al Christie?—the subject of Mark Kearney’s new biography

Al Christie: Hollywood’s Forgotten Film Pioneer by Mark Kearney. A wide ranging discussion of a pioneer Hollywood filmmaker, how to write his biography, and what implications there are for biographers of film figures.



Jan 21, 202436:37
Tim Christian discusses his audiobook version of Hemingway’s Widow

Tim Christian discusses his audiobook version of Hemingway’s Widow

How to do a biography as an audiobook
Jan 15, 202429:46
The author records his book: Tim Christian on Hemingway’s Widow

The author records his book: Tim Christian on Hemingway’s Widow

Tim Christian describes the process of doing an audiobook, with some very specific advice and technical specifications.
Jan 14, 202429:49
Biographer Ruth Laney discusses her decades of work on the life and world of Ernest J. Gaines

Biographer Ruth Laney discusses her decades of work on the life and world of Ernest J. Gaines

Cherie Quarters: The Place and People That Inspire Ernest J. Gaines: biography, memoir, history, and an evocation of the material world out of which a great American writer fashioned his fiction.
Jan 07, 202450:48
Whose biography is it, anyway? My answer to Joyce Carol Oates

Whose biography is it, anyway? My answer to Joyce Carol Oates

A brief podcast, what you might call a short snort, about those who malign biography.
Dec 24, 202309:48
Honey Traps! Why spies make good if spooky biographical subjects.

Honey Traps! Why spies make good if spooky biographical subjects.

A talk with Henry Schlesinger about his book on Honey Traps and the biographies of alluring spies.
Dec 17, 202326:58
A slightly trimmed version of my talk with Chris Wallace about biographers and political lives

A slightly trimmed version of my talk with Chris Wallace about biographers and political lives

What happens when the biographer becomes part of the story? Chris Wallace shows us in her unique book, Political Lives.
Dec 11, 202340:34
A conversation with Chris Wallace about her book Political Lives and how biographers get the story

A conversation with Chris Wallace about her book Political Lives and how biographers get the story

A discussion of a unique book by Chris Wallace, a journalist turned scholar, and how biographers interact with their subjects.
Dec 10, 202341:03
Come On! Get Happy! How Summer Stock with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly got made

Come On! Get Happy! How Summer Stock with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly got made

Join David Fantle and Tom Johnson for a lively discussion of the backstory and performances and production of the MGM musical, Summer Stock
Dec 03, 202341:03
Danny Fingeroth’s new biography of Jack Ruby

Danny Fingeroth’s new biography of Jack Ruby

How to deal with a figure so involved with conspiracy theories: What does a biography have to add to history?
Nov 22, 202340:52
Listening to Larry Lockridge, Part 2, biographer turned novelist

Listening to Larry Lockridge, Part 2, biographer turned novelist

What happens when a biographer turns from the themes of his biography to a series of novels that are biographical and then some.
Nov 13, 202336:11
What happened when T. S. Matthews decided to write the first biography of T. S. Eliot? Find out!

What happened when T. S. Matthews decided to write the first biography of T. S. Eliot? Find out!

A conversation with Karen Christensen about her edition of Writing The Great Tom as well as her own work on a biography of Valerie Eliot.
Nov 12, 202344:16
The role of place and the place of the biographer’s biography in biography

The role of place and the place of the biographer’s biography in biography

An example from my Lillian Hellman biography.
Nov 11, 202316:08
Larry Lockridge discusses his biography of his father Ross Lockridge and his novel Raintree County

Larry Lockridge discusses his biography of his father Ross Lockridge and his novel Raintree County

Listen to a fascinating discussion of how biographers deal with success and suicide and what happens when you discover details that fundamentally alter what is known about your subject.
Nov 06, 202341:52
Talking with Dan Van Neste about Warner Baxter, the “accidental star”

Talking with Dan Van Neste about Warner Baxter, the “accidental star”

Why is it that some important actors are remembered and not others? Find out by listening to this discussion about Dan Van Neste’s biography of Warner Baxter.
Nov 05, 202340:08
The Warner Brothers: How They Became That Way

The Warner Brothers: How They Became That Way

Movie making in Hollywood’s heyday, but also much that applies to today, to Netflix, Amazon, and the world of streaming
Oct 29, 202338:02
Paula Broussard and Lisa Royére discuss Eleanor Powell: Born to Dance

Paula Broussard and Lisa Royére discuss Eleanor Powell: Born to Dance

Two biographers who befriended their subject and lived to tell an inspiring tale of a life well lived and a biography well written.
Oct 22, 202340:18
Eric Laursen talks about his biography of Alex Comfort & The Joy of Sex

Eric Laursen talks about his biography of Alex Comfort & The Joy of Sex

Sexologist, gerontologist, novelist, poet, anarchist—just some of the work that Alex Comfort accomplished, the subject of a brilliant new biography.
Oct 15, 202343:27
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, volume 1: Why did I do it. What’s in it?

Sylvia Plath Day by Day, volume 1: Why did I do it. What’s in it?

A podcast that reflects on how I got started on studying Sylvia Plath and why I’ve written so many books about her.
Oct 12, 202316:08
A new biography of Betty Friedan and why it matters.

A new biography of Betty Friedan and why it matters.

Rachel Shteir takes us inside of making of her Jewish Lives biography of the author of The Feminine Mystique
Oct 01, 202338:29
An Emergency Podcast: What To Do When You Don’t Have Primary Sources

An Emergency Podcast: What To Do When You Don’t Have Primary Sources

My response to an email asking me for help
Sep 27, 202311:10
A preview of coming attractions and of my work in progress on presidential biography

A preview of coming attractions and of my work in progress on presidential biography

Forthcoming podcasts on new biographies of Betty Friedan, Warner Baxter, Alex Comfort, Eleanor Powell, Jack Ruby, T. S. Eliot and my working in progress on presidential biography
Sep 24, 202309:58
FDR Unmasked: What the Biographers Missed

FDR Unmasked: What the Biographers Missed

My conversation with neurologist Steven Lomazow about his revelatory book about FDR and the impact of his health on biographies of Roosevelt
Sep 17, 202345:25
Fair Use Biography

Fair Use Biography

Just remember: You are the one in charge of fair use. Don’t give your rights away.
Jul 27, 202316:54
Finding Ursula Parrott: One biographer’s quest.

Finding Ursula Parrott: One biographer’s quest.

My talk with Marsha Gordon about her sensational new biography of an important writer you probably have never heard of.
Jul 16, 202339:50
The Different Discourses of Biographers and Subjects

The Different Discourses of Biographers and Subjects

Knowing your subject may mean knowing his or her discourse, and the same can be said of reading biographies when considering the voices of biographer and subject.
Jul 09, 202324:09
The Way I Work

The Way I Work

How I go about each day as a biographer, the sources I use, as I assemble my own archive and write my biography—in this case the one I’m working on now: Ronald Colman: Hollywood’s Gentleman Hero
Jul 02, 202325:46
What It Takes To Do Biography

What It Takes To Do Biography

Find out
Jun 25, 202321:36
Gabriella Kelly-Davies on writing biographies of scientists and doctors and much more

Gabriella Kelly-Davies on writing biographies of scientists and doctors and much more

A wide ranging discussion of how to write about science and medicine in a biographical narrative, with some talk of other biographers including Kai Bird and Hermione Lee
Jun 10, 202343:18
What memory tells us about biography and doesn’t.

What memory tells us about biography and doesn’t.

A continuation of the previous podcast about the variables in understanding a writer and his world.
Jun 03, 202343:18
The nature of literary power, who holds it, and how the biographer should understand it.

The nature of literary power, who holds it, and how the biographer should understand it.

Samuel R. Delany presents the writer as biographical subject and what it is the biographer needs to know about literary world and how reputations are made. But first a discussion of a movie, The Wife
Jun 03, 202352:35
The Power of the Living Biographical Subject v The Power of the Biographer

The Power of the Living Biographical Subject v The Power of the Biographer

What does it mean to be powerful in the literary world, and in what sense should the biographer take it seriously?
May 23, 202331:23
Dylan Thomas and why biography matters, with a cameo performance by Marilyn Monroe

Dylan Thomas and why biography matters, with a cameo performance by Marilyn Monroe

The correspondence with Samuel R. Delany continues, with many digressions, but all of them pertaining to biography and the work it can accomplish
May 14, 202334:29
Why a biographer would go ahead when the subject is fiercely resistant

Why a biographer would go ahead when the subject is fiercely resistant

The Sontag saga continues
May 07, 202334:40
Samuel R. Delany refuses to give up on Susan Sontag’s biographers

Samuel R. Delany refuses to give up on Susan Sontag’s biographers

The seventh part of what is turning out to be a saga—listened to its entirety it amounts to a class on biography that you can take for free.
Apr 30, 202346:31
Seamus Heaney in America with biographer Ed O’Shea

Seamus Heaney in America with biographer Ed O’Shea

A talk about Ed O’Shea’s recent book and what matters about Seamus Heaney’s experience in America
Apr 30, 202334:40
What Does It Mean to Know a Biographical Subject

What Does It Mean to Know a Biographical Subject

An intervention by the New York Times and the story of a club of unauthorized biographers
Apr 23, 202335:00
Round 5 of The Biographer and His Critic

Round 5 of The Biographer and His Critic

I continue the debate with Samuel R. Delany, reading from our correspondence and talking about it. In this episode, Sontag has her say.
Apr 15, 202334:35
Round 4: The Biographer and His Critic

Round 4: The Biographer and His Critic

Samuel R. Delany continues to point out the error of my ways, and I respond with my own letters and commentary.
Apr 08, 202342:00
The Biographer and His Critic: Round 3

The Biographer and His Critic: Round 3

I continue to read and comment on my correspondence with Samuel R. Delany concerning the proper behavior of a biographer.
Apr 01, 202349:39
A Collector’s Item: A Dialogue About Biography

A Collector’s Item: A Dialogue About Biography

The correspondence of Carl Rollyson and Samuel R. Delany, a latter day version of Oscar’s Wilde’s The Critic as Artist, in the form reminiscent of a Platonic dialogue.
Mar 25, 202329:43