Part of the 2008 One Book, One Philadelphia program, featured authors Dave Eggers and Mary Williams, with special guest Valentino Achak Deng, discuss the development of What Is the What. Williams played an important role in Deng's transition to life in the United States, introducing him to Eggers. Deng, who recently returned from a trip to Sudan, also shares an overview of his ongoing work to rebuild Marial Bai, the town he was forced to flee during the Second Sudanese Civil War.