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Up To Date

Two Women, One World & 80 Days

Jessica Hills

In 1889, it wasn't a woman's world, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of reporters Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland when they embarked on a journey to beat Phileas Fogg's fictional travels.

In the second part of Monday's Up to Date, we'll talk with author Matthew Goodman about his book, Eighty Days, which examines the two women's trips around the world, the challenges they faced and how it all worked out.

Matthew Goodman is the author of three books of non-fiction: Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World (Ballantine Books, 2013); The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York (Basic Books, 2008); and Jewish Food: The World at Table (HarperCollins, 2005).   His books have been translated into eight languages. His essays, articles, and short stories have appeared in The American Scholar, Harvard Review, the Village Voice, the Forward, Bon Appetit, and many other publications, and have been cited for Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize and Best American Short Story anthologies. He has given book talks at venues including the Museum of the City of New York, the Gotham Center for New York History, the National Yiddish Book Center, the Brooklyn Book Festival, and many bookstores and libraries; his radio appearances include NPR’s On the Media, Back Story with the History Guys, and The Splendid Table; The Bob Edwards Show on XM-Sirius Radio; and numerous others.   Goodman has taught creative writing and literature at Vermont College, Tufts University, Emerson College, and at writers’ conferences including the Antioch Writers Workshop and the Chautauqua Institute. He has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony (twice) and the Corporation of Yaddo.   He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two children.

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When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.