In Depth

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In Depth is a program that airs monthly on C-SPAN 2 as part of their Book TV programming, and features a different writer each month. Each interview covers the breadth of that author's writing career, and incorporates viewer calls and e-mails. The show is typically broadcast Live television live the first Sunday of each month. The first program was on February 6, 2000, and was a discussion with historian John Lukacs.^[1] For the first several years of the show, episodes were not produced during the summer months. From the first episode through March 2019, the standard interview length was three hours. Beginning in April 2019, with Nomi Prins, the standard interview was reduced to two hours.^[2]

There have been a few exceptions to the practice of featuring one single author, as with the programs featuring the Strand Bookstore, Frank J. Williams Frank Williams and Edna Greene Medford's discussion of Bibliography of Abraham Lincoln (writings on Lincoln), and John K. Wilson and Jonathan Karp's discussions of the writings of Barack Obama and John McCain.

Sometimes, the profile will include taped footage of the author's own home or office, so as to give further perspective on how they approach the task of writing. On occasion (as with the programs with Shelby Foote^[3] and Harold Bloom ^[4]) entire three-hour interviews have been conducted live at the home or office of the featured author.

In 2018, the series featured 12 authors best known for their works of fiction, as opposed to their standard practice of interviewing authors best known for nonfiction works.^[5]

Note: The dates of original broadcast of each episode are listed below, along with the name of the featured guest. The name of the host is indicated in parentheses. Each date links to a video of the full interview.

*Note: Richard Brookhiser's October 7 interview was cut short unexpectedly due to the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, which started during his interview. Brookhiser later appeared on In Depth for a full three hours on April 1, 2012, thus becoming one of the only guests to make two appearances.

From this point forward, all interviews were hosted by Peter Slen, unless otherwise indicated.

*Note: Steve Forbes was scheduled to be the guest for three hours on April 3, but on the way to Washington, D.C. that morning he was a passenger on Amtrak train #89, which derailed near Chester, Pennsylvania. Forbes was unhurt and returned to New York. Just after noon Eastern Time, he spoke via telephone with C-SPAN host Steve Scully for approximately 14 minutes about that experience. After the interview, C-SPAN 2 aired a program recorded June 18, 2014, in which Forbes discusses his book Money at a Washington, D.C. bookstore.^[6][7] Forbes eventually was an In Depth guest for a full three hours on June 5, 2016.

For 2018, the program broke its tradition of interviewing nonfiction authors to interview best-selling fiction writers, focusing on authors of historical fiction, science and national security thrillers, and social commentary. The phrase “2018 Fiction Edition” was added to the show’s logo.^[8]

*Author Ross Douthat was announced as the scheduled guest for this date several times during the previous week. Ronald Reagan biographer Craig Shirley appeared instead. No explanation was given for the change. The C-SPAN web page announcing Douthat's appearance (May 2, 2021) was still retrievable on May 3, 2021, the day following the broadcast with Shirley. Mr. Douthat appeared in a later episode on November 7, 2021.

#Former independent counsel, U.S. solicitor general, and federal judge Ken Starr was supposed to appear on the program on August 1, 2021, but the episode was preempted when the U.S. Senate held a rare Sunday session to debate a spending bill. He was never rescheduled to appear.

*Author Sam Quinones was scheduled to appear on March 5, 2022, but communication between C-SPAN'S Washington, DC studio and Mr. Quinones's studio in Nashville, Tennessee could not be established. He appeared on a later episode aired June 5, 2022.

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