Author, historian, and Geist contributor Daniel Francis recently spoke to Joseph Planta about his book, Red Light Neon: A History of Vancouver’s Sex Trade (Subway, 2007).

Cold-Cocked On Hockey (Biblioasis, 2007) is a new memoir from writer Lorna Jackson, who discussed her book-length appreciation of hockey with Joseph Planta.

Author and military historian Mark Zuehlke recently talked to Joseph Planta about his book, For Honour’s Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace (Knopf, 2006). He tells the story of Canada’s most famous war vividly recreating the war as never before, providing context to some of countless legends that have come from the conflict which pitted the British and the Americans, that saw Canadians and Indians fight with the British, seeing Canadians burn down the White House.

The historian, Margaret MacMillan talked to Joseph Planta about her bestselling book Nixon in China: The Week that Changed the World (Viking, 2006). The bestselling author of Paris 1919, provost of Trinity College and professor of history at the University of Toronto writes about Richard Nixon’s groundbreaking trip to China, the players involved and the history made. MacMillan is due to become warden of St. Antony’s College at Oxford in 2007.

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal recently spoke with Joseph Planta about current political affairs and his new book, The Long Road Back: The Conservative Journey, 1993-2006 (HarperCollins, 2006), an informed book on conservatism in Canada, and the renewed party and its players.

Columnist Don Martin talked with Joseph Planta about his new book Belinda: The Political and Private Life of Belinda Stronach (Key Porter, 2006), a biography of the Conservative turned Liberal MP and cabinet minister, who is arguably one of Canada’s most fascinating political personalities.

Tony Aspler is arguably Canada’s wine expert. The former Toronto Star columnist has written a robust new book, The Wine Atlas of Canada: The Indispensable Guide (Random House, 2006), which he recently talked to Joseph Planta about. It literally puts Canada’s wine industry on the map with great photographs and profiles of the wines and wineries throughout Canada.

The Globe and Mail’s Stephen Brunt, one of the nation’s premier sports writers talked with Joseph Planta about his new book, Searching for Bobby Orr (Knopf, 2006).

From a busy street in Toronto, stumping for candidates in yesterday’s municipal elections, federal NDP leader, The Hon. Jack Layton, called in to talk with Joseph Planta about his newly revised book, Speaking Out Louder: Ideas That Work for Canadians (Key Porter, 2006). Layton also talked about working with prime ministers Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, his ideas for Canada’s future, our role in Afghanistan, the challenges posed by Bob Rae and the Liberals, and the Green Party, as well as electoral reform.

Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow’s new book, The Story of French (Knopf, 2006), is a study of the life of the French language, its development, spread, history, and future, and just how the French language has survived despite English’s prevalence, as well as other languages. Nadeau joined Joseph Planta to talk about the book, how he learned English, how Barlow learned French, and their plans to adopt twins from Haiti.