For the last few months, Ideastream Public Media's Gabriel Kramer and David C. Barnett have been producing a documentary that features this year's winners of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.

Kramer said that it has been a lot of fun and a big privilege to travel around the country to get to know these writers.

On the "Sound of Ideas," Kramer and Barnett discussed the production and their travels and most importantly, introduce who these award winning authors are, who are being honored Thursday night at the 87th Anisfield Wolf Book Awards Ceremony, at the Maltz Performing Arts Center.

Later this hour, we'll discuss the November 8th midterm elections, which are almost here. In fact, they begin just one week for tomorrow for military and overseas absentee voting.

The deadline to register to vote is less than a month away, October 11th, and early voting, in person and absentee, starts October 12th.

But democracies across the world, and here in the US, are in a state of crisis, caused in part by widespread misinformation shared online, and by many politicans, that has only amplified since the 2020 Election.

Today is the United Nations' annual International Day of Democracy - and here in the U.S., many media organizations have partnered to bring attention on this day to our elections process, as voting is one of most fundamental rights of being a citizen in our democracy.

To end the hour, we wanted to ask some questions about voting access this fall, and how you can learn more about the candidates and issues on the ballot. To help us out, we invited Jen Miller, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio to answer listeners questions about voting.

Ideastream is also taking part in a new initiative, along with other public media stations across the country for this midterm election, called "America Amplified" through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. America Amplified will help voters get the facts they need to participate in local, state and Congressional elections this fall.

Guests:
-David C. Barnett, Senior Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Natalie Pillsbury, Director of Strategic Content Initiatives, Ideastream Public Media
-Jen Miller, Executive Director, League of Women Voters of Ohio