Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries, which have been published in Japanese, Korean and French, feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. Her first historical mystery, Clark and Division, which won a Mary Higgins Clark Award, follows a Japanese American family’s move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books and curated exhibitions. She has also written a middle-grade novel, 1001 Cranes. Her follow-up to Clark and Division, Evergreen, was released in August 2023 and was on the USA Today bestseller list for two weeks.
Today, we have Dr. Andrew Shanken. Dr. Shanken is an architectural and urban historian with an interest in how cultural constructions of memory shape...
In today's special interview episode, we explore central valley history with John DeSimone and talk about his new book.
In this brief intermission in our story, I make a small plea to support our podcast. Here's a link to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/historyofcalifornia