02-02-14 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 146: Jane Pauley, 'Your Life Calling: Reimagining the Rest of Your Life', Special Live Edition
Click image for audio link.
Here's the one-hundred forty-sixth episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the two-year mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning. This week, I seem to be on top opf the game, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to stay back up and stumbling.
My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.
Rather than mine the interview for material, I did this Time to Read Episode as its own interview with new material.
"Even inside the bubble, you find yourself fairly alone..."
—John Rizzo
When I spoke with John Rizzo on the phone about his book, 'Company Man: Thirty Years of Crisis and Controversy in the CIA,' I felt like I got a bead on the man, and I liked his approach to his writing. But to fully get his measure, it was important to speak in person, and I have to say that I hope listeners take their time with this interview. Rizzo has a great story and tells it well.
The events covered in 'Company Man' are politically and morally divisive. But as I sat down with Rizzo, I really felt comfortable that the man himself was perfectly willing to discuss everything as plainly as he was allowed to by the CIA. While that leaves a lot of wiggle room, I never felt that he was using that other than the times he pointed out that he had to, as in the case of an "Enhanced Interrogation Technique" (read: torture) that even he balked at, describing it as being like something out of an Edgar Allen Poe story.
I was most interested in the historical aspects of the story, and that's where I took much of our conversation. There's a very nice JFK connection in the book, and a scene that is impeccably described. We talked about Iran-Contra, and the part he would have willingly played had he been in the wrong place at the right time. All through the conversation, I have to say that John Rizzo was right there. I think that he was relieved to talk with someone who had read the book, and he was clearly happy to discuss events in the book that were not the focus of recent media attention.
I've done lots of interviews, and even so, this one felt a bit different; I felt a sort of odd camaraderie with Rizzo. It was not so much like an interview at all, but more like catching up with someone who I'd known long ago but had veered off on a different path. Readers and listeners who want to hear the whole story, much more than I can broadcast, can follow this link to the MP3 audio file of our conversation. I'd love to hear your comments on Facebook, if you have a moment.
New to the Agony Column
09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."
09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
