Daniel Menaker '63 Interviewed About Book on Conversation on NPR Weekend Edition
Daniel Menaker '63 Interviewed About Book on
Conversation on NPR Weekend Edition
by Michael Lott
1/7/2010
(photo: Titlepage.tv)
Author Daniel Menaker '63 was interviewed by NPR Weekend Edition guest host Ari Shapiro about his new book, A Good Talk: The Story and Skill of Conversation. Described by Shapiro as a "conversation connoiseur," Menaker says that he truly enjoys talking to new people. "I have an insatiable curiosity, I have had since I was a kid, and like to find out the uniqueness that is like fingerprints that each person has," he said.
In the interview, Menaker argues that conversation serves a vital social function in allowing us to understand how others see us. Moreover, research suggests there is a hormone-induced biological "high" from good conversation.
An Honors English Literature major at Swarthmore, Menaker worked at The New Yorker for 26 years and was later Editor-in-Chief at the Random House Publishing Group. He is also the author of the novel The Treatment and two books of short stories.
