Joe Donahue

As the 1960s ended, Herbie Hancock embarked on a grand creative experiment. Having just been dismissed from the celebrated Miles Davis Quintet, he set out on the road, playing with his first touring group as a leader until he eventually formed what would become a revolutionary band.

Adam Gopnik is an essayist and commentator. He is best known as a staff writer for The New Yorker—to which he has contributed non-fiction, fiction, memoir and criticism. He'll participate in this weekend's Berkshire Wordfest at The Mount in Lenox, MA.

Suzanna Hermans from Oblong Books and Music in Millerton and Rhinebeck joins us with this week's list.

List:
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
Butter by Erin Jade Lange
Amelia Anne is Dead & Gone by Kat Rosenfield
The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen
Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub
One Good Deed by Erin McHugh
Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg

Kurt Eichenwald—New York Times bestselling author of Conspiracy of Fools and The Informant— recounts the first 500 days after 9/11 in his new book, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars.

Today marks 11 years since terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. It was the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil. And so, this anniversary is set aside as a day of remembrance and service.

Joe speaks with Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan about their book, The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden.

Michael Adams teaches English language and literature at Indiana University. He is the author of Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon and editor of From Elvish to Klingon.

Two years ago, Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges and award-winning cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco set out to take a look at the sacrifice zones, those areas in America that have been offered up for exploitation in the name of profit, progress, and technological advancement. They wanted to show in words and drawings what life looks like in places where the marketplace rules without constraints, where human beings and the natural world are used and then discarded to maximize profit.

How important is the issue of health care to you in this year's Presidential Election?

In Road to Valor: A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation, journalist Aili McConnon and her brother, historical researcher Andres McConnon, unfold the inspiring and remarkable story of Gino Bartali, an Italian cycling legend, and of his untold secret role in a successful scheme to save Jews from the Holocaust during World War II.