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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: James Harvey
Martin talks to playwright, essayist, and critic James Harvey about his new book Watching Them Be: Star Presence on the Screen from Garbo to Balthazar. With great perception and insight, Harvey explores how charisma is created in the movies, writing about Greta Garbo, Robert De Niro, Charles Laughton, John Wayne and many other stars, concluding with a strikingly moving passage about director Robert Bresson’s masterpiece Au Hasard Balthazar, whose star is a donkey! Hopwood Award winner James Harvey, who graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master’s Degree in English, has written a deeply personal and extraordinarily compelling account of the films that have changed his life and will also change yours. The interview was recorded on September 24, 2014.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Bill Morris
Martin talks to Bill Morris about his long-in-the-works new book Motor City Burning.
From the critically acclaimed author of Motor City, Detroit comes alive in a powerful and thrilling novel set amidst the chaos of the race riots and the serenity of Opening Day.
Bill Morris is currently a staff writer with the online literary magazine The Millions, and his writing has appeared in Granta, the New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, L.A. Weekly, Popular Mechanics and numerous other newspapers and magazines. Bill grew up in Detroit and now lives in New York City.
The interview was recorded on August 13, 2014.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: David Giffels
Martin talks to award-winning author and journalist David Giffels about his new book The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches From the Rust Belt. For David, whose writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Grantland, Ohio has always been home. He was born in Akron in the 1960s and has seen the once-thriving rubber and tire industry in his part of the country crumble. As a kid, he watched adults lose their jobs. As an adult, he's watched friends leave one by one. Yet a devoted tract of the population, David included, remains in the Rust Belt, committed to celebrating their singular Midwest culture and carrying it forward. David's insights ring true to us Michigan residents as well.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Interview with Murray Carpenter
In this episode, Martin talks to author Murray Carpenter about his new book Caffeinated: How Our daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us. Caffeinated leads us on a fascinating, sometimes disturbing tour of America's favorite drug, with stops at the coffee farms of central Guatemala, a synthetic caffeine factory in China, an energy shot bottler in New Jersey, and beyond. A well-researched look at the additivie that flows under the radar, Carpenter delivers a compelling compendium of facts and figures on this largely unregulated drug. Grab a venti latte, Red Bull and/or Mountain Dew and enjoy!
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Alex Chilton
Martin talks to award-winning music writer Holly George-Warren about her new biography of Alex Chilton, A Man Called Destruction. A thoroughly researched account of the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter's life and musical career, the book covers Chilton's time in the Box Tops, in Big Star, and eventually becoming an alternative and indie rock icon who influenced bands like Wilco, R. E. M., the Replacements and Yo La Tengo. George-Warren's book is also the story of the changes in Rock & Roll over the past forty years -- from the golden days of AM radio singles and Southern soul; to albums created as personal artistic statements; to the industry changes wrought by indie rock in the 80s, 90s and into the 21st century.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Interview with Lisa Robinson
In this episode, Martin talks to legendary music journalist Lisa Robinson about her new book There Goes Gravity: A Life in Music.
Robinson has interviewed the biggest names in music - including John Lennon, US, Patti Smith, the Rolling Stones, Eminenm & Michael Jackson - and is rightfully considered as rock journalism's ultimate insider. In There Goes Gravity she shares tons of informative and fascinating insights about her time spent on the road during her astounding career. She is currently a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, where she has produced music issues and written numerous artist profiles over the past fourteen years.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Interview with Dave Itzkoff
In this episode, Martin talks to New York Time culture reporter Dave Itzkoff about his new book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies. "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more!" Those words, spoken by the unhinged television anchorman named Howared Beale, the 'mad prophet of the airwaves,' took America by storm in 1976, when Network because a sensation. With a superb cast (William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall) directed by Sidney Lumet, the film won four Academy Awards and indelibly shaped how we think about corporate and media power.
Itzkoff's fascinating book recounts the incredible story of how Network made it to the screen, and gives us an in-depth view of the man responsible for the film, the uncompromising screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Interview with Robert Gordon
Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Martin talks to author Robert Gordon about his new book Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion. Not to be confused with the rockabilly singer-songwriter of the same name, Gordon has been writing about Memphis music and history for over three decades and is also the author of Can't Be Satisfied, King of the Road, and The Elvis Treasures. Respect Yourself tells the tale of the legendary Stax Records label in Memphis, where Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MG's, Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, the Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett and many others recorded their greatest songs. A history which unfolds like a Greek tragedy, Stax went from the highest highs in the music industry to a tragic demise. You may already know the story of Motown, but you also need to know the story of Stax!
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Interview with Joe Henry
In this episode, Martin talks to University of Michigan graduate Joe Henry, the accomplished singer-songwriter and music producer, about his new book Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him. Written by Joe and his brother David, the book is a highly personal exploration into the life and times of the legendary comedian, a man who set the stage for the likes of Eddie Murphy, Louis C.K. and Chris Rock. Joe Henry also talks about plans for his next solo album, due out later in 2014, and shares his thoughts about the current state of the music industry.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Interview with Vivek Tiwary
In this episode, Martin talks to Broadway theater producer Vivek Tiwary about his latest project, a graphic novel entitled The Fifth Beatle, which recently reached the #1 spot on the New York Times best-sellers list. The Fifth Beatle tells the story of Brian Epstein, the Liverpool record shop owner who discovered and then managed the Beatles from 1961 until his untimely death in 1967. Tiwary will also write and produce a feature film based on his book, due out in 2015.