Robert W. Fieseler is a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association “Journalist of the Year” and the acclaimed author of Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation—winner of the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Louisiana Literary Award from the Louisiana Library Association, shortlisted for the Saroyan International Prize for Writing from Stanford Libraries. Queer literary icon Andrew Holleran reviewed Tinderbox as "far more than just a history of gay rights" and Michael Cunningham praised it as "essential reading at any time." A Tulane Mellon Fellow, Fieseler graduated co-valedictorian from the Columbia Journalism School and is a board member of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. His latest book is called American Scare: Florida’s Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives.

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https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665384/american-scare-by-robert-w-fieseler/

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Make America Great Gatsby Again!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t

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Check out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17

ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T

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On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of her hit debut novel THE MERCY OF THIN AIR, Ronlyn Domingue talks to Greg Olear about the story’s timeless themes of love and loss, the significance of New Orleans as a backdrop, her unusual creative process, the Trump Administration and SCOTUS’s retrograde position on reproductive rights, the importance of the novel in modern society, nature as an antidote to doomscrolling, the impact of technology on human connection, and more. Plus: a song from the war zone in DC.

Ronlyn Domingue’s critically acclaimed debut novel THE MERCY OF THIN AIR was published in ten languages. It was a fiction finalist for the 2005 Borders Original Voices Award and 2006 SIBA Book Award, a long list nominee for the 2005 James Tiptree, Jr. Award (now known as the Otherwise Award), and a 2010 Costco Pennie’s Pick. Her “Keeper of Tales” Trilogy, which can be read in any order, includes The Mapmaker’s War, The Chronicle of Secret Riven, and The Plague Diaries. Her essays and short stories have appeared in New England Review, Clackamas Literary Review, and Lion’s Roar (formerly Shambhala Sun) as well as on mindful.org, The Nervous Breakdown, and Salon.com. She holds a MFA degree in creative writing from Louisiana State University, has taught composition and fiction writing at the college level, and served as a fiction editor and co-editor in chief of New Delta Review. Born and raised in the Deep South, she lives in the woods somewhere in Louisiana.

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Buy THE MERCY OF THIN AIR:

https://www.ronlyndomingue.com/mota

Read CRONE ENERGY, her Substack:

https://ronlyndomingue.substack.com/

Read her essay on GATSBY in the Four Sticks Press edition:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t

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Make America Great Gatsby Again!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t

Subscribe to The Five 8:

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Check out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17

ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T

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Greg Olear talks to Candace Rondeaux about her book “Putin’s Sledgehammer,” which delves into the Wagner Group mercenary group and the complexities of Russia’s political landscape. Rondeaux shares her background in journalism and her journey into understanding Russian geopolitics, particularly through the lens of the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The discussion covers the origins of the Wagner Group, Prigozhin’s rise and fall, the influence of figures like Alexander Dugin, and the implications of the Internet Research Agency's actions during the 2016 election. Rondeaux also reflects on US policy failures regarding Russia and the future of democracy in Ukraine, the US, and beyond.

Candace Rondeaux directs Future Frontlines, a public intelligence service for next generation security and democratic resilience, and the Planetary Politics initiative at the New America Foundation. A writer and public-policy analyst, Rondeaux is a professor of practice and fellow at the Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies and the Center on the Future of War at Arizona State University. Before joining New America, Rondeaux served as a senior program officer at the U.S. Institute of Peace where she launched the RESOLVE Network, a global research consortium on conflict and violent extremism and as a strategic advisor to the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Rondeaux has documented and analyzed political violence in South Asia, and around the world for the Washington Post and the International Crisis Group. Before going abroad for the Post in 2009, Rondeaux covered criminal justice in Maryland and Virginia, where she covered capital punishment and was part of the Pulitzer Prize winning team of Post reporters who covered the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

Buy the book:

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/candace-rondeaux/putins-sledgehammer/9781541703063/?lens=publicaffairs

Follow Candace:

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Make America Great Gatsby Again!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t

Subscribe to the PREVAIL newsletter:
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Make America Great Gatsby Again!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t

Subscribe to The Five 8:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhA

Check out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17

ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T

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