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Posted by: Matt Raymond
Yep, now it’s even easier to hear your favorite authors (interspersed, of course, with my best attempts at probing questions). The 2008 National Book Festival author podcasts are now available via iTunes. (HUZZAH!) The direct subscription link is here (link opens in iTunes). The 2007 National Book Festival podcasts have also been posted, but for …
Posted in: National Book Festival, Podcasts
Posted by: Matt Raymond
There are still days in this job, even after two years, when I have to pinch myself. One such moment has come during the past few weeks with the opportunity to get to know Kay Ryan, appointed by the Librarian of Congress as the new Poet Laureate (official title: Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry). I …
Posted in: Books, Events, National Book Festival, Poetry
Posted by: Matt Raymond
You heard right. The very much landlocked Library of Congress has been celebrating summer with its “Summer Surf” film series in the Mary Pickford Theater (third floor of the James Madison Building). And it is proving to be quite the hot (pardon the pun), albeit FREE, ticket. This past Tuesday’s showing of “Endless Summer” was …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Events
Posted by: Matt Raymond
The eighth annual National Book Festival (Sept. 27, 2008) has an outstanding lineup of authors, and I’ve been having the privilege of interviewing several of them for podcasts. The subscription link is here. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I have to disclose that I have been doing my own audio engineering (with practically …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
This week, we announced that the Librarian of Congress will award the fourth John W. Kluge Prize for the study of humanity on Dec. 10. But we also announced that nominations will be accepted for a few more weeks, until July 15. The $1 million Kluge Prize recognizes lifetime achievement in fields not traditionally represented …
Posted in: Kluge Center, News
Posted by: Matt Raymond
One of my favorite new RSS feeds or email subscriptions from the Library is put out by the folks who bring us “Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.” (RSS here, email sign-up here.) The feed gives a daily look at what was going on in the news 100 years ago — something I tried a couple …
Posted in: Collections, History, LC Web site, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
A wonderfully innovative fan of the Library’s pilot project with Flickr photos decided to restage a World War II-era photo for the modern day, at the same exact location as the original. (The first thing you’ll notice, as the author points out, is that there are many more trees today.) It immediately reminded me of …
Posted in: Collections, Photos
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I was saddened today to learn of the death of Tony Schwartz. You might not immediately know the name, but many Americans — especially those who participate in or follow political campaigns — are undoubtedly aware of at least one piece of his work. Schwartz was the creator of a famous and controversial 1964 TV …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, News
Posted by: Matt Raymond
The DVD for “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” isn’t released until Tuesday, May 20, but we here at one of the chief locations in the film managed to get our hands on a copy. The two-disc collectors’ edition and the Blu-Ray edition include a bonus feature titled “Inside the Library of Congress,” and I have …
Posted in: Curators, News, Thomas Jefferson Building