the first panelists is doctor thomas burton, professor emeritus at east tennessee university, he produced 3 documentaries on serpent handling and is the author of serpent handling believers, the serpent and the spirit, and beach mountain man, the memoirs of rhonda lee hicks. his most recent book, voices were soliciting, three women of appalachia is out for mercury university press. please join me in welcoming doctor thomas burton. the next person that i would like to introduce is sarah smarsh, a kansas-based journalist who has reported for the new york times, the guardian and many other publications. her first book heartland, a memoir of working hard and being broke in the richest country on earth which is a very relatable title, was a finalist for the national book award, 2018 research fellow at harvard university on media politics and public policy, sarah smarsh is a frequent commentator on economic inequality. the most recent book she come i it natural, dolly parton and th
letters and sites that universe of wisconsin madison and the former chair of the department of astronomy. thank you all so much for joining us tonight in taking part in the 2020 wisconsin book festival. it is delightful to me to be able to host free cultural events and because madison public library and public library foundation of the organizations that allow me to do so i want to take a moment to thank them. they have been absolutely unwavering in their support of free book events throughout the pandemic and over the last eight years that we ve been doing this. so major thanks to them and to all of our sponsors for making events like this possible. i want to just mention to viewers watching at home that the wisconsin book festival in wisconsin science festival are joining forces tonight to provide free copies of both these books to you. when i done speaking here i will put a link in the bottom of your screen, blue-green box and you will be able to sign up and have a book si
provide booktv to viewers. hello. i am conor moran, director of the wisconsin book festival. thank you for being here today with laila lalami for conditional citizens: on belonging in america, her memoir of coming to america, what it means to be american. we have a lot of great things we can talk about with this book and current events. we were just talking in the green room. we are also joined by kate archer kent, the host of the morning show. the conversation before we get started, i have always want to say thank you to madison public library and the public library foundation. their support for free cultural events, across wisconsin, across the nation and the globe. during the pandemic, never a question whether we would bring great cultural events and i want to thank them. i want to thank laila lalami for being here today. you get to see her in person, that didn t happen. for our donor thank you event. as such, giving away free copies of conditional citizens: on belong
insight and detail. his reporting of financial scandals. political and legal affairs. a new york firm for several years. helping launch the magazine. the wall street journal. coverage in 1987. of the stock market crash. the downfall of the investment banker martin siegel. he left the journal to help establish smart money magazine. start writing for the new yorker for the past eight years he has been a columnist. looking at the world of business a distinguished commentary in 2016. he is also a professor of business journalism at columbia university. he has written nine previous books. one grew out of his wall street journal coverage and delved into the insider trading scandal of the 1980s. bloodsport about the clinton white house and white house affair, blind eye about a doctor who was a serial killer, heart heart of a soldier in 2002 a single victim of the september 11 attack, disney ward 2005. his new book the handling of two investigations that were going on during the 20
we weree just talking in the back, her discussion of life in a religious community, doubt, how you decide to leave or stay and how you defend yourself in those contexts is one of those conversations that we need to be having so much more as a culture. i think the it opens up so many doors for people. megan is herself a writer and an activist. she leftp the westboro baptist church in november 2012 and is now an educator on topics relating to extremism and communication across ideological lines. at the age of 53, megan at the age of 5, peg began began protesting homosexuality. this church was founded by her grandfather and consisted almost entirely of her extended family. picketing at military funerals and celebrations of death and tragedy. as the church s twitter spokesman, megan was one of the few that interacted with the outside world, and twitter actually did something maybe we can applaud it for, it caused her to begin doubting the strict church members and its message.