After Words is an American

Television in the United States

Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...

 television series on the C-SPAN2 network

Television network

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

’s weekend programming schedule known as Book TV

Book TV

Book TV is the name given to weekend programming on the American cable network C-SPAN2 airing from 8 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday morning to 8 a.m. Eastern Time Monday morning each week. The 48 hour block of programming is focused on non-fiction books and authors, featuring programs in the format of...

. The program is an hour-long talk show, each week featuring an interview with the author of a new nonfiction book. The program has no regular host. Instead, each author is paired with a guest host who is familiar with the author or the subject matter of their book.

The program airs on Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time

North American Eastern Time Zone

The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

, with encores on Sunday at 12 p.m. and at 9 p.m., and Monday at 12 a.m.

History

After Words debuted on January 2, 2005 with Norman J. Ornstein

Norman J. Ornstein

Norman J. Ornstein is a political scientist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute , a conservative-leaning Washington D.C. think tank. Ornstein was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 1948 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1974. He is married to Judith L...

 from the American Enterprise Institute

American Enterprise Institute

The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...

 interviewing Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich

Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....

 about his book Winning the Future. , After Words has produced more than 260 hours of programming.

Noteworthy authors and guest hosts who have appeared on the program include: Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

, interviewed by Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley is an American author, professor of history at Rice University and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair...

; Bob Dole

Bob Dole

Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...

, interviewed by Rick Atkinson

Rick Atkinson

Rick Atkinson is an American journalist and author whose contributions led to four Pulitzer Prizes.-Life:Atkinson was born in Munich. His father was an United States Army officer and he grew up at military posts. He earned his bachelor degree from East Carolina University in 1974 and a master of...

; Andrea Mitchell

Andrea Mitchell

Andrea Mitchell is an American television journalist, anchor, reporter, and commentator for NBC News based in Washington, D.C.. She is the NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and has recently reported on the 2008 Race for the White House for NBC News broadcasts, including NBC Nightly...

 interviewed by S. Robert Lichter and Simon Schama

Simon Schama

Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...

 interviewed by Edna Medford.

Show format

The program is an hour-long author interview-based talk show, focusing on non-fiction writers, with different participants each week. On each program an author is interviewed about their book by a guest host who is an expert on the topic of the book. The goal of this format, as stated by C-SPAN, is to put a "different spin" on the usual format of author interview programs. After Words is now a weekly part of Book TVs schedule, along with History on Book TV, Book Parties and Festivals, Public Lives and Encore Booknotes

Booknotes

Booknotes is an American television series on the C-SPAN network hosted by Brian Lamb, which originally aired from 1989 to 2004. The format of the show is a one-hour, one-on-one interview with a non-fiction author. The series was broadcast at 8 p.m. Eastern Time each Sunday night, and was the...

.