Elizabeth Strout's new novel The Burgess Boys concerns two brothers who must return to their home town to deal with issues they thought they'd left behind.  The novel shows how extraordinary are the lives of ordinary people living ordinary lives when seen through the eyes of "a compassionate and wise story teller."  Our Book Mole Larry Bowlden compares it with Strout's earlier novel, the Pulitzer Prize winning best seller Olive Kitteridge, which Larry also reviewed on the Old Mole.  

Renowned Oregon Governor Tom McCall would have turned 100 years old this year.  To commemorate this larger-than-life figure, Know Your City (formerly the Dill Pickle Club) commissioned a comic book about McCall's controversial decision to fund the Vortex I rock festival in 1970, which drew anti-war activists away from an American Legion convention in Portland.  Author Sarah Mirk, who created the comic with artist Daniel Duford, joins Kick-Ass Oregon History founder Doug Kenck-Crispin to regale listeners with the history they didn't learn in school.  Sarah will also share details about how to participate in the newest Know Your City project, Comics for Change.