Soundings From The New York Review

Mark Danner talks to Hugh Eakin about the confidential International Committee of the Red Cross report on the CIA's secret prisons and reads excerpts from detainee Abu Zubaydah's firsthand account of torture.

Novelist Anita Desai speaks with Eve Bowen about Things I've Been Silent About, Iranian expatriate Azar Nafisi's new memoir.

Lorrie Moore speaks with Andrew Palmer about Hiding Man, Tracy Daugherty's new biography of Donald Barthelme.

J. Michael Lennon, who is at work on an authorized biography of Norman Mailer, speaks with Sasha Weiss about Mailer's letters and what they reveal about his ambitions, his relationships with other writers, and his enduring obsessions.

Critic Hilton Als speaks with Michael Shae about Van Sant's film in light of Harvey Milk's experiences as a gay man in the 1950s and 1960s, and about Milk's personal and political legacy.

Tim Flannery speaks with Eve Bowen about E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler's The Superorganism, a new book on insect societies, and its implications for understanding humanity.

Alison Lurie speaks with Giles Harvey about John Updike's life, his work, and his place in American literary history.

Robert Malley speaks with Hugh Eakin about the war in Gaza, its political implications for the region, and the steps the Obama administration might take towards achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Frequent Review contributors Darryl Pinckney and Mark Danner speak with Sasha Weiss about Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony, his first few days in office, and the promise of his presidency.

William Dalrymple speaks with Sasha Weiss about the spread of radical Islam in Central and South Asia since September 11, 2001, and its implications for Pakistan's future.

Perry Link, professor of East Asian studies at Princeton University, speaks with Hugh Eakin about the Chinese state's reaction to Charter 08, a document calling for increased human rights and democracy signed by thousands of Chinese citizens since its release in early December.

Veteran Washington observer and regular Review contributor Elizabeth Drew talks to Hugh Eakin about Obama's transition strategy, his cabinet picks, and the new style of governance.

Frequent Review contributor Sue Halpern speaks with Eve Bowen about several recent films and books that reveal the realities of the war on terror, about which most Americans remain ignorant.

Economist William Easterly speaks with Hugh Eakin about the recent militarization of Western foreign aid policy, the dangers of this new "aid imperialism," and the role economists have played in its development.

Frequent Review contributor Daniel Mendelsohn speaks with Sasha Weiss about the "poet-historian" Constantine Cavafy. Mendelsohn's new translation of Cavafy's Collected Poems will be published in the spring of 2009, along with an accompanying volume of thirty unfinished poems that have never before been translated into English.

On November 10, in a conversation moderated by Robert Silvers, Andrew Delbanco, Joan Didion, Jeff Madrick, Darryl Pinckney, Michael Tomasky, and Garry Wills discussed the implications of Barack Obama's election and the likely direction of his administration. Hosted by the New York Public Library's Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers and copresented with LIVE from the NYPL, the event celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Review.

Longtime Review contributor Martin Filler talks to Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn about Frank Lloyd Wright's uniquely American architecture.

Poetry critic and frequent Review contributor Helen Vendler speaks with Sasha Weiss about the correspondence of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, and reads some of the poems that were inspired by the poets' lifelong friendship.

In a series of panels cosponsored by the Review and Guardian America, contributors and editors for both publications discuss the issues shaping the 2008 election campaigns and the challenges and opportunities that will face the new administration: Hosted by the Harvard Book Store, and held at the Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 15, 2008.

In a series of panels cosponsored by the Review and Guardian America, contributors and editors for both publications discuss the issues shaping the 2008 election campaigns and the challenges and opportunities that will face the new administration: Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, DC, on October 16, 2008