Our guest on ST is the celebrated British writer Hilary Mantel, who is the newest recipient of the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, which is given annually by the Tulsa Library Trust. Mantel is the author of several books, including the historical novels "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies," which both recount the life of Thomas Cromwell, the "political fixer" best known for his tenure in the court of Henry VIII. Mantel speaks with us about these and other of her very popular works.

Our guest is Anna Leahy, director of the Creative Writing Program at Chapman University. She joins us to discuss her new book, "Tumor." A brief yet thoughtful volume that is part memoir, part study, and part history, the book was thus praised by Prof. Kristen Iversen at the University of Cincinnati: "In clear, compelling language, Leahy writes with insight and empathy about cancer and the social and cultural dimensions of one of our greatest fears.

Our guest is State Senator Kevin Matthews, who recently held a press conference to announce that the name of the 1921 Race Riot Commission has been officially changed to the 1921 Race Massacre Commission. As Matthews, who chairs this Commission, noted at the conference: "The fact that it was called a riot was one of the reasons given for turning down insurance claims, and it has been offensive to many in the affected area for 97 years.

(Note: This interview originally aired back in August.) Our guest is the award-winning British author and journalist William Atkins, whose latest book -- a dense and engrossing blend of history, memoir, geography, and travel writing -- is called "The Immeasurable World: Journeys in Desert Places." It's a work that, per The Wall Street Journal, "courts comparisons with the capaciously learned nature writing of John McPhee. But there's also an open-ended spiritual quest to Mr.

Our guest is the noted playwright, Sarah Ruhl, a Tony Award nominee and the author of "100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write," which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She tells us about her newest book, a collection of moving and insightful letters between herself and Max Ritvo (1990-2016). Ruhl teaches at the Yale School of drama, and Ritvo -- a noted poet who died young of cancer -- had been one of her favorite students.