Chapters:
Introduction – 00:00
How did you discover the archive? – 01:17
How did you sift through this enormous archive? – 03:00
Archive in 6-7 languages – 03:50
Closed-captioning? (no) – 05:30
What did your agent or editor say to cut or expand? – 06:15
Book writing more freedom – 06:40
Grim parts cut – 07:10
How was cinematic detail achieved? – 08:10
If writing is thin, get more info, S. Freedman – 10:49
Feedback from Jewish community on your book? – 12:08
Why was his story not covered? – 13:55
Talent and logic in your book – 15:30
Was he a survivor or a good man? – 17:20
Postwar years he was poor – 19:30
Need cunning to survive the camps – 20:00
Rosebery, a pure character – 23:00
How could the camps not know about the music? – 24:45
Can there be culture/art in times of immense distress? – 28:50
How much of Aleks’ music is in the archive? – 31:20
What was your historical research process? – 34:00
History relevant to characters – 35:40
Difficulty of trauma distorting history – 36:30
Aleks never got traction in Poland – 37:37
Controversial sections (being Jewish in Poland) – 38:10
Poland not a country of constant Pograms – 39:30
Writing about the violence of the camps, strategy? – 41:50
Everything was possible in the camps – 44:00
Approach was to be skeptical and verify – 45:00
Schindler’s List comparison, chip on shoulder – 46:00
Schindler profiting from saving souls – 47:10
Post-publication, did anyone reach out to you? – 48:20
Learn anything new about Aleks post-publication? – 46:15
Bad with his health – 50:15
Power of the music came through – 51:40
Must have light and air in narrative – 52:10
Impressions of sons – 53:35
Relationship with parents can be sensitive – 54:40
Did the sons believe in his mission? – 55:10
How did you organize your plan for this book? – 56:45
Explore 3 major sources – 57:42
Irony of other, competing book falling through – 59:10
Another book project? – 59:38
Hawaii! – 1:00:00
There is an interest in Hawaii – 1:01:30
Famous people from Hawaii – 1:01:50
Has music of archive been performed elsewhere? – 1:03:25
The music is unpolished, rough, gritty – 1:04:50
Books on oral tradition of displaced people? – 1:06:00
Reading anything now that you’d recommend? – 1:08:08