The BPL Podcast features concise, informative discussions with educators, writers, and community figures from Bexley and beyond. Tackling a range of topics from horror films to Ohio's opioid epidemic, we capture conversations that are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, but always human.
In this episode, WIR Cynthia Amoah sits down with Ghanaian-American poets Claudia Owusu and Tasha Lomo for a layered conversation about language, place, and what it means to write and create from the in-between. Together, they explore how heritage shapes creative voice, the role of poetry as both resistance and refuge, and the ways they each build community through art—from spoken word albums to…
Dr Jack Marchbanks and Gamal Brown sit down with us to talk about the legacies of Four Women: Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Abbey Lincoln, and Nina Simone. These icons of African American artistic achievement, activism, courage and vision will be highlighted at the Lincoln Theatre’s Community Conversation on March 6th at 6pm ! Special thanks to fo/mo/deep for lending us their song, "Bourbon…
Happy New Year! Explore the Y2K scare with technology librarian, Josh, as he interviews Marley Mcdonald and Brian Becker, directors of the HBO documentary Time Bomb Y2K. We'll revisit the global panic, technological fears, and lessons learned from the turn of the millennium. More about Time Bomb Y2K As the clock counted down to the 21st century, the world faced a potential technological disaster:…
We are excited to invite Hanif Abdurraqib back to the podcast to discuss writing, building community around art, and basketball! Hanif is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio whose new book "There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension" is both an Indie and New York Times bestseller. Hanif will return to the library on June 6th , in conversation with poet and essayist…
The first part of this episode is an interview with Dr. Wayne Schlingman and Dr. Stephan Frank from the OSU Astronomy Department to talk about the eclipse: the science, the history, and general coolness of having a eclipse past through our backyard! The second part is a discussion between BPL Director Ben Heckman and the first American woman to conduct a spacewalk, Astronaut Kathy Sullivan. She…
The best of 2023! Timestamps Adult Fiction (:24) The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldtree System Collapse by Martha Wells Even though I knew the End by C. L. Polk Adult Non-Fiction (7:38) Birth: Three Mothers, Nine Months and Pregnancy in America by Rebecca Grant Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara Youth (14:11) Just Because…
Banned Books Week is an annual celebration of the freedom to read. The theme for Banned Books Week 2023 is “Let Freedom Read” and it’s being celebrated from October 1-7. A PEN America report for the first half of the 2022-2023 school year tracked 1,477 instances of individual book bans that have affected 874 unique titles. Book bans disproportionately target authors of color, LGBTQ+ authors, and…
Ohio State Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor, Ness B. Shroff, and BPL Technology Librarian, Josh Bryant, discuss the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (AI), including its history, applications, ethics, and future implications. Whether you are a complete newcomer to the world of AI or a seasoned expert, there will be something for everyone in this enlightening and informative…
For Holocaust Remembrance Day we pulled an episode from one of our most recent author events with Elizabeth Petuchowski. Elizabeth Petuchowski shares her life story growing up as a young Jewish girl in Germany amidst the rise of Nazism and mandatory antisemitism. She reflects on the effects these universally known events had on her life and read from her memoir, Where From and Where To: One of the…
A celebration of Toni Morrison with two of Ohio’s most revered poets and authors as Hanif Abdurraqib and Dionne Custer Edwards discuss the influences of Toni Morrison’s work on their own and celebrate the importance of her legacy as writers and Ohioans. Toni Morrison Day is celebrated on February 18th in Ohio, commemorating the birth of the literary giant and possibly “the greatest Ohioan we’ve…