#goodside studio

Through forty years of New York Times best-selling Shannara novels, Terry Brooks always had an ending in mind: a series that would bring it all to a grand conclusion. Now that time has arrived. The Skaar Invasion is the second book of his epic four-part conclusion to the series. The Four Lands are under siege. Wielding a magical ability virtually impossible to combat, mysterious invaders defeat the most fearsome Troll armies, then focus their savagery on the Druid order—and all hope seems lost. Dar Leah, once the High Druid's Blade, has crossed paths—and swords—with their ruthless leader before. So he knows that if any hope exists, it rests in the hands of the Druid Drisker Arc, now trapped inside vanished Paranor. Watch Terry Brooks, a longtime friend of the University Book, read from his newest novel.

New York Times bestseller, Georgetown University sociology professor, and one of America's premier public intellectuals, Michael Eric Dyson, joined us for a discussion of his new book, What Truth Sounds Like. In 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought out James Baldwin to explain the rage that threatened to engulf black America. Baldwin brought along some friends, including playwright Lorraine Hansberry, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and activist Jerome Smith. It was Smith's relentless, unfiltered fury that set Kennedy on his heels. Kennedy walked away from the nearly 3-hour meeting angry that the black folk assembled didn't understand politics and weren't as easy to talk to as Martin Luther King. But his anger quickly gave way to empathy, especially for Smith. He set about changing policy, the meeting having transformed his thinking in fundamental ways.

Venerated television journalist Dan Rather celebrates what matters most in our great country with his collection of original essays, What Unites Us. Writing about the institutions that sustain us, such as public libraries, public schools, and national parks; the values that have transformed us, such as the struggle for civil rights; and the drive toward science and innovation that has made the United States great, Rather brings to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world's biggest stories, and offers readers a way forward. With his famously plainspoken voice and a fundamental sense of hope, he has written the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how we are ultimately united.

Watch mystery fiction titan Louise Penny as she discusses her new book, Glass Houses. Penny's stunning 13th book about Chief Supt. Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec takes us to the courtroom, examining a case the he continues to struggle with. One cold November day, a still, black-robed figure appeared in the small Québec village of Three Pines. The villagers were at first curious. Then wary. Gamache knew something was seriously wrong. There must be a purpose behind this odd act. Yet he did nothing. What could he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears were not realized. But when the figure vanishes and a body is discovered, it falls to him to discover if a debt has been discharged, or levied.