In this episode, fiction writer Aimee Bender discusses her life and career. The keynote speaker, Bender appeared October 18, 2014 at the Vegas Valley Book Festival, which was held at the historic Fifth Street School in Las Vegas, NV. 

Black Mountain Institute Podcast

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #125: Aimee Bender VVBF Keynote - 10/19/14

In this episode, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute hosts a tenth anniversary celebration. It features a number of prominent speakers including Cheryl Strayed, Charles Bock, Tom Bissell, Olivia Clare, and Vu Tran. The event was held November 21, 2016 in the Student Union Ballroom at UNLV. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #135: BMI 10th Anniversary - 11/21/16

In this episode, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute hosts an evening of readings and conversations with three acclaimed authors: Katherine Boo, Geoff Dyer, Adam Johnson, and Jen Kramer. The event was held October 15, 2016 at the Inspire Theater in Las Vegas, NV. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #134: Vegas Valley Book Festival After Dark - 10/15/16

Black Mountain Institute welcomes three extraordinary writers who explore the myths and untruths of society and culture through the stories of silenced women. The stories of female truthtellers is the key to understanding a society’s (often corrupt) power structure. Maggie Nelson is an American poet, critic, and author of five non-fiction books, including the recent bestselling The Argonauts. Eliza Griswold is a poet, journalist and non-fiction author who writes for The New Yorker. Sally Denton is a journalist and author of eight books of narrative history, including The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World that will be published in March. Moderator Carol C. Harter is UNLV president emerita and founder of BMI. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #131: Breaking Silence: Women Writing on Crime, Conspiracy, and Cruelty - 03/14/16

In this episode, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute hosts a panel discussion entitled "The Spectacle of Violence: Why We Need to Watch." It features William Vollmann, Kerry Howley, Jonathan Gottschall, and Brian Villmoare. Joshua Wolf Shenk moderates. The event was held September 29, 2016 in the Si Redd Room in the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #133: The Spectacle of Violence - 09/29/16

In this episode, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute hosts a panel discussion entitled "Echoes of Homer." It features George Packer, Brian Turner, Siobhan Fallon, and Phil Klay: four writers who've had first-hand experience with the intersection of war and literature. The event was held May 5, 2016 in the UNLV Student Union Theatre. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #132: Echoes of Homer - 05/05/16

In this episode, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute hosts a panel discussion entitled "Stroke of Genius: What Brain Injury Reveals about Creativity, Consciousness, and the Mind-Body Connection." Sience writers Sandra Blakeselee and George Johnson, neurologist Dr. Bruce Miller, and fiction writer and memoirist Floyd Skloot discuss the brain, specifically how the experience of brain injury or dysfunction allows a glimpse into the mysterious neurological components of creativity, empathy, personality, and the boundaries of the self. The event was held November 12, 2015 in the Salon Ballroom in the Stan Fulton Building at UNLV and was moderated by BMI Executive Director Joshua Wolf Shenk. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #130: Stroke of Genius: What Brain Injury Reveals about Creativity, Consciousness, and the Mind-Body Connection - 11/13/15

Who owns the land? This question has dominated the history of the American West, where the interests and ambitions of governments and agencies, of capitalists and environmentalists, of new arrivals and old stakeholders often collide. Can there be common ground on issues so contentious that they have led to armed standoff? To discuss this important issue, Black Mountain Institute is proud to welcome a panel of extraordinary writers of diverse backgrounds and views. One of America’s most revered poets, Gary Snyder is a committed environmentalist and has been dubbed the "poet laureate of deep ecology." Timothy Egan is a New York Times columnist and author of the National Book Award-winning The Worst Hard Time, a history of the Dust Bowl. Economist and writer Terry L. Anderson, who coined the term "enviro-capitalism," is one of the foremost advocates of free market environmentalism. Moderator Virginia Scharff is a distinguished Western historian, author, and director of the Center for the Southwest at the University of New Mexico. Presented with the support of the Eleanor Kagi Foundation: A Lynn M. Bennett Legacy. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #129: This Land Is Your Land ... Or Is It? - 09/24/15

In this episode, writer Walter Mosley delivers the inaugural Jim Rogers Contrarian Lecture. Presented every other year, this series invites a celebrated writer and intellectual to offer a “contrarian” view on an issue of contemporary importance. This year, Walter Mosley will address the subject of higher education. Mosley appeared May 7, 2015 at UNLV's Student Union Ballroom in Las Vegas, NV. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #128: Walter Mosley - 05/07/15

In this episode, writers and professors Jamaica Kincaid and Caryl Phillips discuss their lives and work at an event titled "Crossing the Black Atlantic." The event was held March 19, 2015 in the UNLV Student Union Theatre in Las Vegas, NV and was moderated by UNLV English professor Julia Lee. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #127: Crossing the Black Atlantic - 03/19/15

In this episode, Black Mountain Institute welcomes two of the most celebrated writers working at the crossroads of literature and history. Preeminent literary historian Stephen Greenblatt and best-selling historical novelist Geraldine Brooks will join us to discuss how our literature shapes and is shaped by our understanding of the past. The event was held November 13, 2014 in the UNLV Student Union Theatre in Las Vegas, NV and was moderated by BMI Executive Director, and UNLV President Emerita, Carol Harter. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #126: To Swerve or Not to Swerve: How Literature Navigates the Past - 11/13/14

In this episode, writers and political dissidents Wole Soyinka and Azar Nafisi discuss their lives and work at an event titled "Blood, Sweat & Tears: Life on the Front Lines of the Human Rights Struggle in Russia, Nigeria, and Iran." The event was held September 11, 2014 in the UNLV Student Union Theatre in Las Vegas, NV and was moderated by UNLV history professor Michelle Tusan. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #124: Blood, Sweat and Tears: Life on the Front Lines of the Human Rights Struggle in Russia, Nigeria, and Iran - 9/11/14

In this episode, Black Mountain Institute presents the debut performance of the verse drama O, Heart by celebrated poet and UNLV English professor Claudia Keelan. The dramatic reading by a cast of actors tells the story of a woman's quest to understand the human heart through her encounters with such diverse characters as Emily Dickinson, Jane Bowles, and the father of modern cardiology, William Harvey. The event was held April 24, 2014 in UNLV's Greenspun Hall Auditorium in Las Vegas, NV. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #123: O, Heart: A Verse Drama by Claudia Keelan - 4/24/14

In this episode, fiction writer Robert Coover discusses his life and career and reads from his new novel The Brunists' Day of Wrath. Coover appeared April 17, 2014 at UNLV's Greenspun Hall Auditorium in Las Vegas, NV and served as the 2014 Elias Ghanem Chair in Creative Writing at UNLV. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #122: Robert Coover - 4/17/14

In this episode, fiction writer Robert Coover discussers his new novel, The Brunists' Day of Wrath, on the April 17, 2014 edition of KNPR's "State of Nevada." Coover read from his work at a BMI event later that night and also served as the 2014 Elias Ghanem Chair in Creative Writing at UNLV. 

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #121: Robert Coover on KNPR's "State of Nevada" - 4/17/14

Black Mountain Institute Podcast featuring audio files from lectures, readings, and institute events.

Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Podcast #125: Aimee Bender VV...