Host Marcia Franklin talks with author Ocean Vuong about his work, which includes the bestselling novels, "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" and the recent "The Emperor of Gladness." Vuong, a professor at New York University, also discusses his love of photography and how it has influenced his writing. The conversation was taped at the 2025 Sun Valley Writers' Conference.

Marcia Franklin talks with Pulitzer Prize–winning author Stacy Schiff about her work, The Witches. The book examines the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, delving into what precipitated them, and the participants involved. Franklin talks with Schiff about why she wanted to write the book, the challenges involved and the legacy of the trials.

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Originally Aired: 10/29/2015

The interview is part of Dialogue's series "Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference" and was taped at the 2015 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world's most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

As Russia's dominance on the international stage increases, along with its presence in the American presidential election, Dialogue host Marcia Franklin talks with journalist Jill Dougherty about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Dougherty, who reported for CNN for 30 years, most recently as its Foreign Affairs
Correspondent, was also the network's Moscow Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent.
She left CNN in 2013 to get a Master's degree in International Relations from Georgetown
University and is now writing a book on Putin's 'soft power.' At the time she spoke with
Franklin, Dougherty was a Global Fellow at the Kennan Institute, a division of the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

The two discuss what Dougherty means by 'soft power,' and some of the factors that drive President Putin's persona and politics. Franklin also asks Dougherty about Putin's involvement in the United States' presidential election and what the next U.S. president should keep in mind when negotiating with Russia.

Dougherty was in Boise in September 2016 to address the Boise Committee on Foreign Relations.

Originally Aired: 09/30/2016

Host Marcia Franklin talks with political scientist Yascha Mounk about identity, political divides and his outlook on America. Mounk is the author of several books, including "The People vs. Democracy," "The Great Experiment," and "Stranger in My Own Country."

Don't forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 11/18/2022

The interview is part of Dialogue's series "Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference" and was taped at the 2022 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world's most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Marcia Franklin talks with Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR, a Jewish congregation in Los Angeles. The two discuss how the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel affected her and her congregants, Israel's bombing of Gaza, increasing antisemitism, and a path forward to peace.

Marcia Franklin talks with Idaho author Anthony Doerr about his bestselling novel, "All the Light We Cannot See," which took ten years to research and write. The book debuted at #10 on the New York Times' Best Sellers list and received glowing reviews around the country. It also won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015 shortly after this interview.

Franklin talks with Doerr, who lives in Boise, about his novel, which depicts the lives of two European children in World War II, children whose lives ultimately intersect in war-torn Saint Malo, France. The town was nearly destroyed by Allied forces at the end of the war.

Doerr discusses the book's themes, which include the power of radio during that time period, and the moral choices faced by civilians during wartime. Doerr also talks about what kept him motivated during the decade-long writing process.

Originally aired: 07/10/14

Marcia Franklin talks with David Epstein, an award-winning sports journalist and author of the bestselling book The Sports Gene. It delves into the controversial research on what role genetics plays in the development of athletic talent. The book also takes on the so-called "10,000 Hour Rule," which contends that 10,000 hours of practice can produce mastery in a field, including sports.

Don't forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 10/24/2014

The interview is part of Dialogue's series "Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference" and was taped at the 2014 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world's most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.

Amy Waldman, a former reporter for The New York Times, discusses her bestselling novel The Submission, which tells the fictional tale of Mohammad "Mo" Khan, a secular Muslim who wins a competition to design a memorial honoring the victims of a terrorist attack similar to 9/11. When the jury members discover who've they've selected, some try to change the result. But the decision is leaked to the press, resulting in outrage not over the selection of Khan, but over his entry, which includes a garden some think is an Islamic design to honor martyrs. The outcry is reminiscent of the 2010 controversy over Park51, a planned Islamic community center in New York City near the former Twin Towers. But Waldman had finished the first draft of her book before that story erupted.

Don't forget to subscribe, and visit the Dialogue website for more conversations that matter.

Originally Aired: 10/12/2012

The interview is part of Dialogue's series "Conversations from the Sun Valley Writers' Conference" and was taped at the 2012 conference. Since 1995, the conference has been bringing together some of the world's most well-known and illuminating authors to discuss literature and life.