PA Books, a weekly PCN program, features hour-long conversations with authors about Pennsylvania’s history and culture. For over 20 years, it has explored key events, notable figures, and significant topics.
Watch PA Books Sundays at 7 PM and weekdays at 8 AM on PCN or stream anytime with PCN Select. Listen on the go with the PA Books podcast, available on major platforms.
Upcoming Episodes:
October 26: “Charles E. Hires and the Drink that Wowed a Nation” with Bill Double - Introduced at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and powered by an historic advertising campaign, Hires Root Beer—launched 10 years before Coca-Cola—blazed the trail for development of the American soft drink industry. Its inventor, Charles Elmer Hires, has been described as “a tycoon with the soul of a chemist.” In addition to creating root beer, Hires, a […]
Charles E. Hires and the Drink that Wowed a Nation, PA Books
A History of Philadelphia Sandwiches, PA Books
City of Brotherly Blood, PA Books
The Weather Gods Curse the Gettysburg Campaign, PA Books
"Street Diplomacy," PA Books
Kaufmann's: The Family That Built Pittsburgh's Famed Department Store, PA Books
American Workman: The Life and Art of John Kane, PA Books
Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America, PA Books
Lafayette at Brandywine: The Making of an American Hero, PA Books
Occupied America, PA Books
1776, PA Books
Abolition & the Underground Railroad in Chester County, PA - PA Books
All Roads Led to Gettysburg, PA Books
"American Ramble", PA Books
“American Sirens” with Kevin Hazzard, PA BooksAmerican Workman: The Life and Art of John Kane, PA Books
Amish, The, PA Books
Arlen Specter: Scandals, Conspiracies, and Crisis in Focus, PA Books
Battle Tested! Gettysburg Leadership Lessons for 21st Century Leaders, PA Books
Beethoven in Beijing: Stories From the Philadelphia Orchestra's Historic Journey to China, PA Books
Biddle, Jackson, and a Nation in Turmoil: The Infamous Bank War, PA Books
Blue-Collar Conservatism: Frank Rizzo's Philadelphia and Populist Politics, PA Books
Boxed out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League, PA Books
Buchanan Dying, A Play by John Updike - PA Books
Calder: The Conquest of Space: The Later Years, 1940-1976 - PA BooksCharles E. Hires and the Drink that Wowed a Nation, PA Books
Chiefs Now in This City: Indians and The Urban Frontier in Early America, The - PA BooksCity of Brotherly Blood, PA Books
Cradle of Conservation, PA Books
Death of the Daily News: How Citizen Gatekeepers Can Save Local Journalism, PA Books
Deviant Prison: Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary and the Origins of America's Modern Penal System 1829-1913, The - PA Books
Digging in the City of Brotherly Love, 2nd Edition, PA Books 
The Disaffected: Britain's Occupation of Philadelphia During the American Revolution, PA Books
Dogs of War in Our Midst: Civil War Perspectives from York County, PA, The - PA Books
"Donora Death Fog," PA Books
Early History of the Wyoming Valley: The Yankee-Pennamite Wars and Timothy Pickering, An - PA Books
Emotional Brandywine, PA Books
Feeding Washington’s Army, PA Books
Frank Rizzo: The Last Big Man in Big City America - PA Books
Frederick Watts and the Founding of Penn State, PA Books
From Puerto Rico to Philadelphia, PA Books
The Game That Saved the NHL, PA Books 
Gen X Pittsburgh, PA Books
Geography, Geology, and Genius: How Coal and Canals Ignited the American Industrial Revolution - PA Books
George Marshall: Defender of the Republic, PA Books
George Marshall's Memoirs of My Services in the World War, 1917-1918, PA Books
George Nakashima Woodworkers Process Book, PA Books
George Washington in the French & Indian War, PA Books
George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father - PA Books
George Washington's Nemesis, PA Books
Gettysburg's Lost Love Story: The Ill-Fated Romance of General John Reynolds and Kate Hewitt, PA Books
Harrisburg in WWI and the 1918 Pandemic, PA Books
Harrisburg in World War II, PA Books
Hell with the Lid Off: Inside the Fierce Rivalry Between the 1970s Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers - PA Books
Hidden History of Bucks County, PA BooksA History of Philadelphia Sandwiches, PA Books
History of Pittsburgh Jazz: Swinging in the Steel City, A - PA Books
The Horse at Gettysburg: Prepared for the Day of Battle, The - PA Books
I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath - PA Books
I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High, PA Books
“If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania:” The Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac March to Gettysburg - Volume 1: June 3–21, 1863 - PA Books
If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania, Volume 2, PA Books
Into the Cold Blue, PA Books
Italian Legacy in Philadelphia: History, Culture, People, and Ideas; The - PA Books
Jane Jacobs's First City: Learning from Scranton, Pennsylvania - PA Books
Jazz in the Hill, PA Books
John Marshall: The Final Founder, PA Books
"Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn," PA BooksKaufmann's: The Family That Built Pittsburgh's Famed Department Store, PA Books
A Killer at the Door, PA BooksLafayette at Brandywine: The Making of an American Hero, PA Books
The LaPorte Inheritance, PA Books
"Lee is Trapped and Must be Taken" - Eleven Fateful Days after Gettysburg: July 4 - 14, 1863 - PA Books
Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania, PA Books Founders Series
Never To Be Forgotten, PA Books
The Liberty Bell Era: The African American Story, PA Books
Liberty's First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech, PA Books
The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen - PA Books Founder's Series
Life, Liberty, and Death on the Appalachian Frontier, PA Books
The Lion of Round Top: The Life and Military Service of Brigadier General Strong Vincent in the American Civil War, PA Books
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog - PA Books
Martin Guitar Masterpieces: A Showcase of Artist's Editions Limited Editions and Custom Guitars, PA Books
Mobfiles: Mobsters, Molls and Murder - PA Books
"A Most Gallant Resistance", PA Books
Murder and Mayhem in Erie, Pennsylvania - PA Books
Never I Shall Forget These Human People, PA Books
The New Face of Small-Town America, PA Books
No Longer Subjects of the British King, PA Books
No Place for Glory: Major General Robert E. Rodes and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg, PA BooksOccupied America, PA Books
On a Great Battlefield, PA Books
Out of the Woods: From Deerfield to the Grand Circuit, PA Books
Pennsylvania Scrapple: A Delectable History, PA Books
PA Government & Politics, PA Books
Philadelphia: A Narrative History, PA Books
Philadelphia Battlefields: Disruptive Campaigns and Upset Elections in a Changing City, PA Books
"The Philadelphia Campaign", 1777, PA Books
Physician Soldier: The South Pacific Letters of Captain Fred Gabriel from the 39th Station Hospital, PA Books
Pirates and Privateers: From Long Island Sound to Delaware Bay, PA Books
Pittsburgh and the Urban League Movement: A Century of Social Service and Activism, PA Books
Pittsburgh and the Great Steel Strike of 1919, PA Books
Playing Politics with Natural Disaster: Hurricane Agnes, The 1972 Election, and the Origins of FEMA - PA Books
Prisoners of Congress, PA Books
River Boots, PA Books
Salut! France Meets Philadelphia, PA Books
Sewn in Coal Country: An Oral History of the Ladies’ Garment Industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania, 1945–1995 - PA Books
She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman, PA Books
Slavery and Abolition in Pennsylvania, PA Books
"Small-Town Cops In The Crosshairs", PA Books
Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob - PA Books*Books featured in these episodes are not available from PCN*