Author James Lasdun chronicles his harrowing ordeal of being stalked by former student, who began trying, in her words, to “ruin him” with hate mail, online postings, and public accusations of plagiarism and sexual misconduct. He gives an account of his ordeal in Give Me Everything You Have.

Legendary music executive Tommy Mottola talks about how a college dropout from the Bronx became one of the music industry's most creative and controversial CEOs. He launched the careers of many superstars, including Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez and Gloria Estefan. In his memoir The Hitmaker: The Man and His Music, he discusses Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, and working with giants such as Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand, the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Tony Bennett, and Ozzy Osbourne.

Joy Division founding member and bass player Peter Hook tells the story of the band, which is credited with reinventing music in the post-punk era, and influencing U2, Morrissey, R.E.M., Radiohead, and numerous others. In 1980, just after the release of their groundbreaking debut, “Unknown Pleasures,” and on right before their first U.S. tour, the band’s lead singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide. Hook’s book Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division recounts how four young men from Manchester and Salisbury, with makeshift instruments and a broken-down van, created a new sound that would define a generation.

Eddie Huang, chef and co-owner of the East Village Taiwanese street food restaurant Baohaus, talks about his pre-chef misadventures as an unlikely lawyer, street fashion renegade, and stand-up comic.

Peter Georgescu tells of his journey from childhood captivity in a Romanian labor camp to his role as CEO of the world-renowned advertising agency Young & Rubicam. His traumatic youth led to a lifelong struggle to understand humanity's moral nature. His book The Constant Choice: An Everyday Journey From Evil Toward Good is a reflection on human behavior and an exploration of how we choose to do good or evil every day.

New Yorker writer Margaret Talbot uses the life and career of her father, Lyle Talbot, an early Hollywood star, to tell the story of the rise of popular culture. The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father’s Twentieth Century is a combination of Hollywood history, social history, and family memoir, conjures nostalgia for those earlier eras of 1910s and 1920s small-town America, and the 1930s and 1940s in Hollywood.

General Stanley McChrystal, former commanding officer of all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, explores the major episodes and controversies of his eventful career. His memoir My Share of the Task is a portrait of his life in the military, and shows how the traditional military establishment turned itself into the adaptive, resilient force that would soon be tested in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the wider War on Terror.

Ping Fu talks about growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution and how she made her way to the United States to become an entrepreneurial leader.

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Woodcarver David Esterly talks about the art and craft of carving wood. He is the foremost practitioner of Grinling Gibbons’s forgotten technique, which revolutionized ornamental sculpture in the late 1600s with its spectacular cascades of flowers, fruits, and foliage.  When fire at Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace destroyed a Gibbons masterpiece, Esterly was asked to replace it. He tells the story of that challenge in The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making, and explores the connection between creativity and physical work.

Penny Marshall, the director of "Big" and "A League of Their Own" and Laverne from "Laverne & Shirley," talks about her life and her career. Her memoir My Mother Was Nuts covers her life from her Bronx childhood to her breakout role on "The Odd Couple," her exploits in Hollywood, her friendships, and marriages. 

Wyclef Jean recounts his path from his impoverished childhood in Haiti to the projects of Brooklyn to Newark to the stage. In Purpose: An Immigrant’s Story, he writes of his upbringing and family, his time in the Fugees and his solo career, the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and his efforts to help rebuild his homeland, including the controversy surrounding Yéle, his aid organization, and his exploratory bid for president of Haiti.

Luis Rodríguez tells of his journey from drug-abusing gang member to writer and activist. His memoir It Calls You Back: An Odyssey through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and Healing tells the story of Rodríguez’s attempt to start over, at 18, after his final stint in jail and nearly a decade of gang life. He describes his challenges as a father, and his difficulty leaving violence, crime, and addiction behind.

Rodney King was found dead on June 16 in his home swimming pool. He and his fiancée, Cynthia Kelley, were on our show on  April 25th, when his memoir, The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption, was published. He spoke honestly and movingly about the high speed car chase that ended with a brutal police beating in 1991, the resulting trials, healing from his injuries, and dealing with addiction. We're replaying selections from that interview.

New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov discusses why, for many people, wine is an anxiety-inducing mystery. He sets out to dispel some of the mystery and makes wine more approachable in How to Love Wine: A Memoir and a Manifesto.

Kenny Rogers talks about making of his career in country music and his most memorable songs, including "Lucille," "The Gambler," "Lady," and "Islands in the Stream." His new memoir Luck of Something Like It details growing up in Depression-era Texas, surviving in poverty, and he recounts his early years as a jazz bassist and later as a member of the folk group the New Christy Minstrels.
(Originally aired October 2, 2012)

Buddy Guy has been called the greatest blues guitarist of all time, influencing Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, among others, and he’s the living embodiment of Chicago blues. In his new memoir, When I Left Home, Guy tells of moving from rural Louisiana to Chicago in the 1950s, the blues masters he played with, and the evolving culture of music that happened all around him.
(Originally aired June 7, 2012)

Susannah Cahalan tells the story of coming down with a mysterious illness that caused hallucinations, violence, and dangerous instability, and how it was diagnosed and finally treated. Her memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness is an account of her struggle to recapture her identity and to piece together the story of her “lost month” and how a celebrated neurologist saved her life.