Biographers International Organization

Podcast #204 – Cheryl Janifer LaRoche

February 14th, 2025

This award-winning archaeologist, author and scholar talks about her latest book, Apostle of Liberation: AME Bishop Paul Quinn and the Underground Railroad. Published by Rowman and Littlefield this month, this biography explores the life of a larger-than-life leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church – a man who actively supported the education of enslaved Black Americans and their freedom struggles during and after slavery. LaRoche also authored Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: … Read More »

Podcast #174 – Larry Rohter

April 19th, 2024

This week we interview journalist Larry Rohter, author of the biography about a brilliant Brazilian explorer. Rohter’s Into the Amazon: The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and Conservationist, was published by W. W. Norton and Company in May 2023. Rohter served as the Rio de Janeiro bureau chief for the New York Times from 1998 to 2008, and he held the same role at Newsweek from 1977 to 1982. He divides… Read More »

Podcast #166 – Doug Melville

February 23rd, 2024

This week we interview author Doug Melville, whose first biography, Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy and a Quest to Honor America’s First Black Generals, was published by Atria/Black Privilege Press in November 2023. Invisible Generals explores the lives of Generals Benjamin O. Davis, Senior and Junior, a father and son who helped integrate the American military and created the Tuskegee Airmen. Melville is a global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the international… Read More »

Podcast #157 – Maryemma Graham

December 22nd, 2023

This week, we interview Maryemma Graham, author of the first comprehensive biography of famed poet, writer, and educator Margaret Walker. The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker was published by Oxford University Press in December 2022. A Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Kansas and Founding Director of the History of Black Writing at the University of Mississippi, Graham has published 12 books, including The Cambridge Companion to the … Read More »

Podcast #155 – Satvinder Juss

December 8th, 2023

This week we interview Satvinder Juss, author of Bhagat Singh: A Life in Revolution, a biography of a charismatic Indian revolutionary, published by India Viking in December 2022. Juss serves as Professor of Law at King’s College, London; is a practicing Barrister-at-Law in London; and is a Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal in London and Birmingham, UK. He was a former Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Law School. Juss was interviewed by fellow… Read More »

Podcast #146 – Jonathan Eig

October 6th, 2023

This week we feature Jonathan Eig, former senior writer for The Wall Street Journal and the author of a new biography of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—King: A Life (Farrar Straus and Giroux, May 2023). Eig is a New York Times bestselling author of five previous books including: Ali: A Life (Mariner Books, 2017); Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig (Simon & Schuster, 2005); and Opening Day: The Story of … Read More »

Podcast #131 – RJ Smith

April 28th, 2023

This week we interview RJ Smith, author of Chuck Berry: An American Life, published in November 2022 by Hachette Books. Smith is a senior editor at Los Angeles Magazine, a contributor to Details, a columnist for The Village Voice and a staff writer for Spin. He also has written for GQ, New York Times Magazine, Elle, and Men’s Vogue. His book The One: The Life and Music of … Read More »

Podcast Episode #122 – Lerita Coleman Brown

February 24th, 2023

This week we interview Lerita Coleman Brown, author of What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman, published this month by Broadleaf Books. A Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology at Agnes Scott College, Brown is a spiritual director/companion, writer, retreat leader, and speaker. She has appeared in the documentaries Back Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story and The Black Church, as well as on several podcasts. Her earlier book,… Read More »