About this episode

David Baldacci discusses his novel 'Nash Falls' and the themes of the American Dream and wealth disparity.

International superstar author, David Baldacci, joins Simon and Matt for a chat about his novel 'Nash Falls'. They chat about the 'American Dream', the US economy, feeling jaded with the super wealthy, being angry at the status quo - and how he's put these feelings into a page-turning book. Could this book have been written 10 years ago? David's not sure...but he know's its a book for now. They also discuss the follow up novel, 'Hope Rises' - and what David put himself through in the name of research (including training with the Ranger Regiment in Georgia - where he parachuted out of a plane, ran obstacle courses and got dumped in water in a Hummer) He also talks about his fight with AI companies to protect his (and other authors) work, a lawsuit which has been ongoing for three years. David, and fellow former Lawyer turned bestselling author John Grisham, continue to battle Microsoft and Open AI to save

People in this episode

Hosts: Simon Mayo, Matt

Guest: David Baldacci

Topics covered

• American Dream
• US economy
• wealth disparity
• AI and authorship
• research methods
• novel writing

Keywords

• David Baldacci
• Nash Falls
• Hope Rises
• American Dream
• AI lawsuit
• research
• wealth
• US economy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Microsoft, Open AI

Books & works: Nash Falls, Hope Rises

More episodes of Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

• Robert Harris Q&A · September 8, 2026 · 17 min
• Robert Harris · September 2, 2026 · 33 min
• David Baldacci Q&A · August 12, 2026 · 14 min
• Chris Chibnall Q&A · July 29, 2026 · 21 min
• Chris Chibnall · July 21, 2026 · 36 min
• Elizabeth Strout Q&A · July 15, 2026 · 18 min

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