Bookish with Sonya Walger

Huma Abedin has spent her entire career in public service and national politics, beginning as an intern in First Lady Hillary Clinton’s office in 1996. After four years in the White House, she worked in the U.S. Senate as Senior Advisor to Senator Clinton and was Traveling Chief of Staff for Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. In 2009, she was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of State. Huma served as Vice Chair of Hillary for America in 2016, resulting in the first woman elected nominee of a major political party. She currently serves as Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff. Born in the United States and raised in Saudi Arabia, Huma moved back to the U.S. in 1993. She lives in New York City with her son, Jordan. She is the New York Times best-selling author of BOTH/AND: A Life in Many Worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Simm is an English actor, director, and musician, best known for playing Sam Tyler in Life on Mars, the master in Doctor Who, and DS Roy Grace in Grace. His other television credits include State of Play, The Lakes, Crime and Punishment, Exile, Prey, and Cracker. He has been nominated for a BAFTA for best actor and the Lawrence Olivier Award for best actor. John's Books Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, 1951 Salem's Lot by Stephen King, 1975 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, 1838 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1866 East of Eden by John Steinbeck, 1952 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest this week is one of my closest friends, Dan Houser. Dan created a cultural phenomenon. He is the former lead writer and creative director of Rockstar Games and he was the head writer and creative director of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. GTA5 is the most successful entertainment product in history. It has sold over 150 million copies. Red Dead Redemption 2 made a billion dollars in three days. Dan is my dearest friend from Oxford and Godfather to my daughter. Dan's Books Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome, 1933 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, 1847 Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1934 The Thin Red Line by James Jones, 1962 Middlemarch by George Eliot, 1872 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest this week is Aimee Mullins. Aimee is an American athlete, actress, model, and public speaker. She was born with a medical condition that resulted in the amputation of both of her lower legs when she was one year old. She was told that she would use a wheelchair for the rest of her life but by the age of two she was walking with prosthetics. She went on to be the first amputee to compete against able bodied athletes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association events. She competed in the Paralympics. She has modeled on the catwalk for Alexander McQueen. She has starred as an actress in many tv shows and movies. Aimee is a motivational speaker and has given multiple TED talks. Aimee's Books The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden by Mary Chase, 1968 Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory, 1485 The Second Circle by Patsy Rodenburg, 2008 CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders, 1996 Liar’s Club by Mary Karr, 1995 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week my guest is Krista Tippett, creator and host of the spiritual nourishment podcast, On Being. She has interviewed everyone of spiritual consequence from the Dalai Lama to Mary Oliver. She was the recipient of the National Humanities Medal at the White House, given by Barack Obama. She has won a Peabody award. She reported and wrote for The Times, Newsweek, the BBC, the International Herald Tribune, and Die Zeit. Krista has authored many books, and her book Einstein's God, was a New York Times bestseller. Krista's Books Let your Life Speak by Parker Palmer, 1999 My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem, 2017 When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron, 1996 Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, 1929 The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf, 2015 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices