Media Moment: Beacon in the News

WHITE FRAGILITY HITS #5 ON THE NYT BESTSELLER LIST!

Beacon Press has a bestseller on their hands! After 10 weeks on the New York Times paperback bestseller list, White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo, has climbed all the way to #5. 

The campaign launched with a Q&A from USA Today, a lengthy review online at The New Yorker, and an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition. One topic from the book that received a lot of attention was the role of white women in systemic racism, and pieces from Elle and Harper’s Bazaar explored that issue in detail. An adapted excerpt that ran in Medium looked at issues of white fragility in the workplace, an op-ed with NBC.com's Think discussed racial illiteracy in white people, while a Q&A with Slate focused on why progressives find it so hard to confront their own contributions to racism in America. The book has also received extensive coverage in other outlets, including Weekend Edition, Pacific Standard, Sojourners, Washington Post, Vox, the Call Your Girlfriend podcast, MPR News , and The Record on KUOW Seattle.  PBS’s Amanpour & Company aired over the weekend and forthcoming interviews with Refinery29's online program Strong Opinions Loosely Held, The Big Think, and NBC.com are scheduled to air in the next few weeks, with even more to come.

A TIMELY LAUNCH FOR HOWARD BRYANT'S "THE HERITAGE"

Sometimes at Beacon we talk about prophetic publishing—when books come out at the exact time they are most needed. Over the last month we've been experiencing just that with ESPN reporter Howard Bryant’s The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism. Just a couple of weeks after the book's release, NFL owners approved a policy to prevent players from kneeling on the field during the national anthem, and President Trump disinvited the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles from a planned visit to the White House. 

The media response has been outstanding.TV appearances have included Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, Live with Alex Witt, Politics Nation with Al Sharpton, Greater Boston, and PBS NewsHour.  Bryant's many NPR interviews include Fresh Air, Weekend Edition Saturday and Sunday, and conversations with Radio Boston, The Exchange, WBUR News, Boston Public Radio, and THINK. An op-ed ran in the New York Times, and the book was also included in the Times Book Review’s Summer Reading edition. The Nation posted a Q&A, and additional coverage ran at the Boston Globe, Pacific Standard, Salon, The Undefeated, and the Toronto Star.  Excerpts from the book were featured at ESPN the Magazine, Mother Jones, and LitHub.

"REDEMPTION" CHRONICLES THE LAST 31 HOURS IN THE LIFE OF DR. KING

In Redemption, Joseph Rosenbloom explores the last thirty-one hours and twenty-eight minutes of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. An intimate portrait of Dr. King’s final hours, the book draws on dozens of interviews, archival documents, and photos to paint a riveting picture of the complex circumstances leading up to his death. With publication timed for the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination, the book has launched to tremendous accolades, including starred reviews in Booklist and Foreword and praise from New York Times columnist Charles Blow who called it ‘immersive, humanizing, and demystifying.” Excerpts have run in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Salon, The Guardian and in Parade.com. An original essay from the author is running at Time.com as a part of their MLK 50th anniversary special, a short review is in the current issue of Christian Century, and a Q&A in the Smithsonian’s subscription e-newsletter.  The author recently recorded an interview with NPR’s Morning  Edition for their coverage from Memphis. Some of the other radio coverage includes Make It Plain with Mark Thompson, In Black America, The Karen Hunter Show, and Radio Boston. In addition to numerous forthcoming broadcast interviews, the author has a robust speaking schedule, including at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

HONORING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND DR. KING IN “A MORE BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIBLE HISTORY”

 Jeanne Theoharis’s A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History has earned impressive media coverage and praise since its January 30th release. Now, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the book continues to be spotlighted, including in a recent New York Times  write-up about three new documentaries on Dr. King. The Times has been a fan of the book from the start, with a daily section review followed by a book recommendation listing.  Other coverage includes praise from O Magazine, Bitch, and Slate,  a Q&A in Pacific Standard , excerpts in LitHub, Ms., The Guardian, Religion Dispatches, and Salon, and articles by the author in Time.com, and in The Atlantic and Boston Review special King issues.  Radio interviews have included NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered, WNYC’s Midday,  and Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now!  Bill Goldstein gave the book a big thumbs up on his NBC New York segment and Trevor Noah gave it a shout out on The Daily Show.

LEARNING TO #RESIST WITH THE FEARLESS BENJAMIN LAY

Earlier this fall Beacon had the pleasure of publishing a little known history, The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist, by acclaimed historian Marcus Rediker. The book couldn't have come at a more opportune time. In a year when many traditional historic heroes have been literally and figuratively removed from their pedestals, Rediker introduced readers to a true hero; a man who fought fiercely for our democratic ideals and who deserves a prominent place in the larger drama of American history.

The media campaign kicked off with an opinion piece in the “Sunday Review” section of the  New York Times, followed by a review in Harper’s Magazine, excerpts in Smithsonian, Salon, and LitHub, a Q&A in The American Prospect, and a lengthy profile of the author in Pacific Standard. Reviews and feature interviews have also run in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Friends Journal, Atlas Obsura, and numerous other print, online, and broadcast outlets.

ANDREA RITCHIE'S TIMELY NEW BOOK EXAMINES POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK WOMEN AND WOMEN OF COLOR

This past August Beacon released police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie’s Invisible No More, a timely examination of the ways Black women, Indigenous women, and other women of color are uniquely affected by racial profiling, police brutality, and immigration enforcement.  BITCH magazine writes, “Invisible No More will change the world.”

The book’s launch kicked off with an op-ed in the New York Times Sunday Review, followed by featured excerpts in The Guardian, ColorLines, HuffPost Women, The Advocate, LitHub,  Long Reads, and Salon. Ritchie has been interviewed on national radio programs, including The Takeaway/PRI and the Tom Joyner Morning Show, and on The Leonard Lopate Show/WNYC and the Morning Shift/WBEZ.  Q&As with her have run in  The Atlantic.com, BITCH, YES! Magazine, VICE, VIBE, and Ravishly.com.  Keep an eye out for upcoming coverage in Teen Vogue, Mother Jones, The Nation, and Curve.

 

 

A NEW BIOGRAPHY MARKED THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF AUTHOR/POET GWENDOLYN BROOKS

On June 7th, which marked the 100^th anniversary of the birth of legendary literary figure Gwendolyn Brooks, Beacon Press published the biography, A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun: The Life & Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks by award-winning poet and novelist Angela Jackson. The book has received strong media coverage including featured excerpts and write-ups in Poetry, Poets & Writers, Essence, and LitHub. Jackson, along with Brooks’s daughter, Nora Brooks Blakely, were interviewed for NPR’s Morning Edition. Brooks's home town of Chicago supported the book with coverage in Chicago Magazine, on Windy City Live (Chicago-ABC 7), and on Midday News (Chicago-WGN).

In an interview with The Associated Press, Jackson said, “Gwendolyn Brooks was a truth teller. That is the most significant thing about her. The other thing is her accurate and honest depiction of black people and black lives. So much in America is marshaled against the realization that black people are human beings and Gwendolyn Brooks captured our humanity and lifted it up.” This piece was widely picked up by many outlets including the New York Times and the Washington Post.

SHERYLL CASHIN'S NEW BOOK "LOVING" REACHES READERS FOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF LOVING V. VIRGINIA

June 12^th was Loving Day, and this year it marked the 50^th anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision, Loving v. Virginia, which finally struck down the remaining anti-miscegenation laws in America. Front and center in the media attention around this important date was Sheryll Cashin’s new book, Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy.

Some of the highlights from the publicity campaign include an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, an adapted excerpt in the New York Times' Sunday Review section, and an appearance on the PBS NewsHour. Additional excerpts appeared at LitHub, AlterNet, and Salon.com. Cashin spoke on the Joe Madison Show, was interviewed for the program The Young Turks,  and appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio’s The Joy Cardin Show and Dallas Public Radio's  Think. 

More media is forthcoming, including new op-eds, reviews, and radio interviews.

STACY PATTON'S NEW BOOK HAS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE: “STOP BEATING BLACK CHILDREN"

With the recent publication of Dr. Stacey Patton’s Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Children Won't Save Black America, an important and controversial topic has captured the media’s attention.  

Some of the major coverage that the book and author have garnered includes a New York Times op-ed by the author that ran in their Sunday Review section, titled, "Stop Beating Black Children," while The Washington Post ran a piece by the author linked to the news about missing children in DC. The Root reviewed the book and ran a Q&A with the author, and other Q&As were featured in Slate and Ebony. Interviews were recorded with The Tom Joyner Show, The Baltimore Sun’s "Roughly Speaking" podcast, Wisconsin Public Radio’s Joy Cardin Show, the Tavis Smiley TV show, ESPN’s "The Undefeated," and The Wall Street Journal’s "Lunch Break." Salon.com ran an excerpt from the book.

Forthcoming, Dr. Patton will be interviewed on WABC TV's Here and Now, hosted by Sandra Bookman, and will speak with Lauretta Charlton, Senior Web Producer at The New Yorker.  

DANIELLE OFRI'S COMPELLING NEW BOOK ON DOCTOR-PATIENT COMMUNICATION

Beacon Press and Danielle Ofri have just published their 5th book together. What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear explores how improved patient – doctor communication can lead to better health outcomes. The New York Times published Ofri’s op-ed on the topic, while the Washington Post called the book “perceptive” and “compelling.” The Boston Globe’s health publication STAT  ran a piece by Ofri about learning to listen to her patients, while Slate published an adapted excerpt. 

You can hear the author discussing the book on the The Leonard Lopate Show, Tulsa Public Radio’s Medical Monday, and forthcoming she’ll be on Minnesota Public Radio’s Mid-Morning, Radio Times from WHYY in Philly, the national program The Takeaway, and C-Span’s Book TV.

A NEW HISTORY OF STAND YOUR GROUND LAWS IN AMERICA

February marked the 5 year anniversary of the death of Travon Martin. In Caroline Light’s new book on the history of Stand Your Ground laws, she adeptly explores the development of the American right to self-defense and reveals how the original “duty to retreat” from threat was transformed into a selective right to kill. This timely book has earned widespread coverage in the media.

The book was reviewed by The Boston Globe and Pacific Standard, Time.com ran a Q&A with the author, an excerpt was posted on Salon, and another is forthcoming in the March issue of Bitch Magazine. Interviews have included Weekend Edition Saturday (with expanded coverage on the NPR Code Switch blog), The Takeaway, Radio Boston, and Boston Public Radio.

PRAISE FOR A GROUNDBREAKING NEW BOOK ON THE DOMESTIC SLAVE TRADE

Daina Berry’s groundbreaking new book The Price for Their Pound of Flesh is an expertly researched, empathetic exploration of the domestic slave trade. The book launched with a pre-pub New York Times op-ed last fall, and since publication in January praise for Berry’s work has been widespread. The Washington Post featured it on their PostPartisan blog and the CapeUp podcast, while The Boston Globe gave it a glowing review. You can read an excerpt from the book on AlterNet, and still forthcoming are Q&As with Vibe Magazine and the Philadelphia Inquirer, a slideshow with Time.com, a review in the May issue of Essence Magazine, and more.

You can also hear Dr. Berry's interview on the national radio program The Takeaway, and watch her on C-Span’s BookTV.

BIG MEDIA ON BIG DATA: ADAM TANNER'S "OUR BODIES OUR DATA"

Beacon recently published Adam Tanner’s Our Bodies, Our Data: How Companies Make Billions Selling Our Medical Records. Exploring how selling patient medical data has become big business, the book has received major media pick up. The Associated Press hosted a Q&A with Tanner that was cross-posted by The Washington Post.  Original pieces ran in The Boston Globe, Time.com, and The Century Foundation, while Scientific American ran an excerpt, and additional coverage came out in the Guardian, Mic.com, and The Center for Investigative Reporting.  The author was also interviewed on regional NPR programs in New York, Tulsa, Dallas, Boston, and Fairbanks, as well as numerous other radio shows, with more still to come.

BEACON AUTHORS (AND EDITORS!) IN THE NEWS

On Tuesday the New York Times published an op-ed by Beacon Press author Daina Ramey Berry. The piece, “Nat Turner’s Skull and My Student’s Purse of Skin,”  explores the history of what Berry calls “postmortem consumption,” and the need to put an end to the practice once and for all. Berry’s forthcoming book, The Price for Their Pound of Flesh, also  received its first trade review this week from Kirkus Reviews. They wrote, “In this sharp, affecting study, Berry reminds us of the cold calculus at the intersection of slavery and capitalism...A well-researched, effectively presented piece of scholarship that forthrightly confronts slavery's brute essence.”

Back at the New York Times, Ann Neumann, author of The Good Death, wrote a piece for the Well blog, "When a Friend Dies, What Do I Say To the Family?" Elsewhere, Adrienne Berard talked to Time.com for a write-up on her new book, Water Tossing Boulders.

And Beacon authors weren’t the only ones in the news this week. Publishers Weekly ran a “Meet the Editor” feature on our own, Gayatri Patnaik. The article highlights her history in the publishing industry, as well as her new role as Editorial Director.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY COVERAGE FOR NEW NATIVE AMERICAN MYTHS BOOK

Earlier this month Beacon Press published All The Real Indians Died Off: And 20 Other Myths about Native Americans by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker. On Monday, in a counter-celebration to Columbus Day, we and many others observed Indigenous People’s Day, a day set aside to commemorate the history of Native American peoples. In recognition of the date, the book and authors were featured widely in the media including interviews with Time.com, NPR’s Code Switch, and Mic. Additionally, excerpts from the book were posted at Bitch, Quartz, Pacific Standard, Salon, and Colorlines.

The authors have also embarked on a 23-event tour, including stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Tempe, Tulsa, Baltimore, Portland, Seattle, Washington, D.C., St. Paul, Denver, Boston.

"DEFYING THE NAZIS" AND ITS ACCOMPANYING PBS DOCUMENTARY MAKE HEADLINES

On September 6th Beacon Press published Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War by Artemis Joukowsky, which tells the story of the author's grandparents, Waitstill and Martha Sharp, who in 1939 heeded the call to action from their Unitarian faith, and traveled from Massachusetts to Europe on the eve of World War II in the hopes of saving the lives of those threatened by the Nazi regime. On September 20th, PBS aired the accompanying documentary that was co-directed by Joukowsky and award-winning filmmaker, Ken Burns. The film and the book have received tremendous attention in the media. Most recently Joukowsky and Burns were interviewed on PBS/Bloomberg TV's Charlie Rose, Time.com featured an adapted excerpt from the book (which ran with a clip of the film and a Virtual Reality component), The Boston Globe featured a write-up in their Sunday books section, and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote about the story and compaired it to the current refugee crisis taking place around the globe.

Promotion for the book and film also included events and screenings held nationally, including one at the White House.

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH CHRISTOPHER EMDIN

It’s time to go back to school! In preparation, author and educator Christopher Emdin has been offering some advice to help teachers and students succeed together. The author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y’all Too recently had his op-ed “Why Black Men Quit Teaching” featured in the print and online editions of the New York Times. Online at Education Week Emdin took part in a Q&A where he offered advice to teachers about the best way to reach students of color. In the September issue of Educational Leadership his article “Seven Cs for Effective Teaching” explored effective ways to build strong relationships with students that can pave the way for academic success. And finally, over at NPR, the author spoke with Michel Martin, host of All Things Considered, to discuss goals for the new school year.

ANOTHER GREAT MEDIA ROUNDUP

Beacon Press started the summer with some great media coverage for our books and authors. Ann Neumann, author of The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America, spoke with PRI’s The World about the complexities around burying the body of mass murderer Omar Mateen. In These Times published a wonderful review of Atef Abu Saif’s forthcoming memoir The Drone Eats with Me: A Gaza Diary. Linda Wertheimer was featured in the CBS News special report “Religion & Democracy” which highlighted her book Faith Ed: Teaching about Religion in an Age of Intolerance. And Martin Moran was interviewed by The Denver Post about his new book All The Rage, and landed in the #2 spot of their bestselling non-fiction list.

Also, in celebration of this year's Pride Month, Daisy Hernandez’s memoir A Cup of Water Under My Bed was included in the National Book Foundation’s “Pride Month Reading List, 2016.”

BEACON IN THE NEW YORK TIMES AND IN THE TRADES

Another great couple of week's for Beacon Press in the media. The publishing trade magazines have their eyes on Beacon, and enthusiasm is building for some of our highly anticipated forthcoming titles. Booklist recently gave Joyce Wallace Scott's memoir, Entwined: Sisters and Secrets in the Silent World of Artist Judith Scott (on sale 6/28), a *starred* review, writing that "Scott’s haunting story shows the human race at both its worst and best." Kirkus Reviews gave a *star* to Jerald Walker's The World in Flames: A Black Boyhood in a White Supremacist Doomsday Cult (on sale 9/6), noting that "The key to the memoir's cumulative power is Walker's narrative command; the rite of passage is rockier than most, making the redemption well-earned." Additionally, looking back to a book that came out this past January, Library Journal has named My Confection: Odyssey of a Sugar Addict as one of the "Best Memoirs of 2016." 

A number of Beacon authors have been  featured in the New York Times recently as well.  Roni Caryn Rabin hosted an excellent Q&A with On Being Raped author Raymond Douglas in their "Well" section. Alondra Nelson, author of The Social Life of DNA , was quoted in Carl Zimmer's recent article, "Tales of African-American History found in DNA." Additionally, in the "Science Times" section of the paper, The Age of Genomes by Dr. Steven Lipkin and co-writer Jon Luoma was reviewed by Abigail Zuger who wrote that the book delivers, "vitally important messages about the interactions between the average human and the average genome."

PRAISE FOR THE POWERFUL NEW BOOK "ON BEING RAPED"

In April, which was “Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month,”  Beacon published Colgate University professor Raymond Douglas’s memoir, On Being Raped.

The topic of sexual violence is a challenging one for both readers and the media—and is particularly fraught when the story doesn’t fit into the prevailing narrative. Douglas’s book is about a crime that is often joked about or ignored: the rape of adult men. Yet, since its publication, this important book has received some wonderful accolades. Harper’s said, “This short and devastating memoir is at once intimate and analytical...On Being Raped is eloquent about the nonexistent resources available to male rape victims, a situation that mirrors what female victims faced a half century ago.” A review from Slate declared that the book “serves as a declaration of the rights of male rape victims within a culture that still believes such things don’t happen, not to real men.”  Douglas also published thought-provoking essays with The Chronicle Review and Quartz, while Salon and Vice ran excerpts, and Inside Higher Ed hosted a Q&A.  Most recently the author was interviewed by Michel Martin on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered where he offered support to other men who have been raped: “You're not alone. There are so many more of us out here than you think. Don't give up.”