Irish comedian and writer Maeve Higgins, a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, discusses her new book Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them, a collection of observations about life in America. Higgins lives in New York City and regularly writes for The New York Times and the Guardian US.

The title of the collection comes from 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche’s final words as he lay dying on a train in Portland, Oregon, in 2017 after helping to defend two teenage girls, one Muslim and one Black, from a racist attacker. Higgins draws hope and inspiration from his words and his brave actions.

Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them is Higgins’ fourth book, a mix of salty and sweet and, ultimately, a hopeful, loving look at her adopted country – a much younger and more experimental one than her native land. Her conversation with the Library's Kaite Stover is co-sponsored by the Kansas City Irish Center as part of its annual Outrageous Women event.

EXTRAS

Check out Maeve Higgins in the film Extra Ordinary, available to stream for free with your library card on Kanopy.