Podcasts by LARB Radio Hour

Dorothea Lasky's "The Shining" and Anna Biller's "Bluebeard's Castle" from 2023-10-27T12:00

A LARB Radio Hour double-header Halloween horror special. In the first half, Kate Wolf is joined by the poet Dorothea Lasky to discuss her most recent poetry collection, The Shining. The book is...

Lydia Kiesling's "Mobility" from 2023-10-20T12:00

LARB Editor-in-Chief Michelle Chihara and Executive Director Irene Yoon speak with author Lydia Kiesling about her novel Mobility, this fall’s LARB Book Club selection. The inaugural book from C...

Lydia Davis's "Our Strangers" from 2023-10-13T12:00

Kate Wolf speaks to author and translator Lydia Davis about her latest collection of stories, Our Strangers. The book, which is notably not available for sale on Amazon, includes well over 100 s...

Mary Gabriel's "Madonna: A Rebel Life" from 2023-10-06T15:00

Journalist and author Mary Gabriel joins Eric and Medaya to talk about her latest book, Madonna: A Rebel Life. The massive, richly researched biography follows every detail of the superstar’s li...

Hilary Leichter's "Terrace Story" and Lisa Teasley's "Fluid" from 2023-09-29T12:00

In the first half of the show, Medaya Ocher speaks with Hilary Leichter about her novel Terrace Story. It follows a young family who live in cramped quarters in a big city, surviving but financi...

Ross Gay's "The Book of (More) Delights" from 2023-09-22T12:00

Ross Gay joins Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to talk about his latest, book, THE BOOK OF (MORE) DELIGHTS, a second installment of THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS, published before Ross, us, and the world we...

Thea Lenarduzzi's "Dandelions" from 2023-09-15T12:00

Writer and longtime TLS editor Thea Lenarduzzi joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to speak about her debut book Dandelions, a winner of the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize. Weaving toge...

Colin Dickey's "Under the Eye of Power" from 2023-09-08T12:34

Colin Dickey joins Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to discuss his latest book, Under the Eye of Power, in which he charts the history of America through its fear of secret societies, like the Illum...

Maya Binyam's "Hangman" from 2023-09-01T12:00

Writer Maya Binyam joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to speak about her debut novel Hangman. The book begins with a man who finds himself returning to his home country somewhere in Sub-Saharan Af...

Prudence Peiffer's "The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever" from 2023-08-25T12:00

Writer, editor, and art historian Prudence Peiffer joins Kate Wolf to speak about her first book, The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever. The book is a group biogra...

Andrew Leland's "The Country of the Blind" from 2023-08-18T12:00

Andrew Leland joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to talk about his first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. The book recounts Leland’s experience of gradually losing his...

Koritha Mitchell and Michelle Lanier on Harriet Jacobs’s “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” from 2023-08-11T12:00

In this special edition LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Editor-in-Chief Michelle Chihara talks with Koritha Mitchell, editor of Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, ...

D. Smith's "Kokomo City" and Claire Simon's "Our Body" from 2023-08-04T12:00

A LARB Radio Hour double feature. In the first half of the show Eric Newman speaks to D. Smith about her new documentary—and directorial debut—Kokomo City. The film turns an intimate le...

Heidi Julavits’s “Directions to Myself" from 2023-07-28T12:00

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by author Heidi Julavits, whose new book is called "Directions to Myself: A Memoir of Four Years." Heidi Julavits is also the author of The Folded Clock: A ...

Wes Anderson and Jake Perlin's "Do Not Detonate Without Presidential Approval" from 2023-07-21T12:00

Kate Wolf is joined by filmmaker Wes Anderson and film programmer and distributor Jake Perlin to discuss Do Not Detonate Without Presidential Approval, an anthology inspired by...

John Yau's "Please Wait By the Coatroom: Reconsidering Race and Identity in American Art" from 2023-07-14T12:00

The poet and longtime art critic John Yau joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to speak about his latest collection of criticism, Please Wait By the Coatroom: Reconsidering Race and Identity in Ameri...

Juana María Rodríguez's "Puta Life: Seeing Latinas, Working Sex" from 2023-07-07T12:00

Eric Newman is joined by scholar and critic Juana María Rodríguez to discuss her latest book, Puta Life: Seeing Latinas, Working Sex. Moving between stories gleaned from archives, inter...

Rachel Nuwer's "I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World" from 2023-06-30T12:00

Medaya Ocher and Eric Newman speak to Rachel Nuwer about her recent book, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World. They discuss the drug's emergence in the Bay Area d...

Kristin Ross' "The Politics and Poetics of Everyday Life" from 2023-06-23T12:00

Eric Newman and Kate Wolf speak to the author Kristin Ross about her recent book, The Politics and Poetics of Everyday Life, a collection of essays that examine how everyday life emerges as a va...

Martine Syms' "Loser Back Home" from 2023-06-16T12:00

Kate Wolf is joined by the acclaimed artist and filmmaker Martine Syms to discuss her new exhibition Loser Back Home, currently on view at Spruth Magers in Los Angeles. Sym's work in the show en...

Craig Seligman's "Who Does That Bitch Think She is? Doris Fish and The Rise of Drag" from 2023-06-09T12:30

Eric Newman and Kate Wolf speak with writer Craig Seligman about his recent book, Who Does That Bitch Think She is? Doris Fish and The Rise of Drag. The book follows the story of the groundbreak...

Joanna Biggs' "A Life of One’s Own" from 2023-06-02T11:49

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by editor and writer Joanna Biggs, whose new book is called A Life of One’s Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again. Joanna is an editor at Harper’s Magazine. H...

Gary Indiana's "Do Everything In The Dark" from 2023-05-26T12:16

Kate Wolf is joined by author, critic, and artist Gary Indiana to speak about the recent reissue of his 2003 novel, Do Everything in the Dark. Told on the heels of the aftershock of AID...

Publishing in Peril? Lisa Lucas and Christian Lorentzen from 2023-05-19T12:00

Writer and veteran book critic Christian Lorentzen and Pantheon publisher and editor Lisa Lucas join Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to talk about recent shake-ups in the publishing industry. The gue...

Hunter Hargraves' "Uncomfortable Television" and Phillip Maciak's "Avidly Reads: Screentime" from 2023-05-12T12:00

A look at our sometimes uncomfortable relationship to television.
In the first half of the show, Eric Newman is joined by Hunter Hargraves to talk about his new book, Uncomfortable Televis...

Claire Dederer's "Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma" from 2023-05-05T12:00

Today we’re speaking with writer and critic Claire Dederer, the author of Love and Trouble, as well as the memoir Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses. She is a long-time ...

Helen Cammock's "I Will Keep My Soul" from 2023-04-28T12:00

Kate Wolf is joined by the Turner prize-winning artist Helen Cammock to discuss her new book, and current exhibition at Art and Practice in Los Angeles, I Will Keep My Soul. Both are drawn from ...

Tom Comitta's "The Nature Book"&Suzaan Boettger's "Inside the Spiral" from 2023-04-21T12:00

A LARB Radio Hour doubleheader featuring two innovative approaches to addressing nature in, and with, art. In the first half of the show, Kate Wolf speaks with LARB-contributor Tom Comitta about...

Colm Tóibín's "A Guest at the Feast" from 2023-04-14T12:00

Colm Tóibín joins Eric Newman and Kate Wolf to speak about his latest book, a collection of essays, A Guest at the Feast. The book brings together an inspiring range of pieces that Tóibín has pu...

Jenny Liou's "Muscle Memory" from 2023-04-07T12:00

On this special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Editor-In-Chief Michelle Chihara talks to Poet Jenny Liou about her debut book Muscle Memory, Liou’s vulnerable intense series of autobi...

McKenzie Wark's "Raving" from 2023-03-31T12:00

Kate Wolf speaks with the writer and scholar McKenzie Wark about her latest book, Raving. Raving beckons readers onto the dance floors of underground parties in New York, combining Wark’s own vi...

Cristina Rivera Garza's "Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice" from 2023-03-24T12:00

Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf speak with the renowned Mexican writer Cristina Rivera Garza about her first book written in English, Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice. The b...

Malcolm Harris' "Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World" from 2023-03-17T17:00

Malcolm Harris joins Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to discuss Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World. A native of Northern California, Malcolm attended Palo Alto High Schoo...

2023 Oscars Preview from 2023-03-10T15:58

Eric Newman is joined by LARB Film Editor Annie Berke and film critic Kyle Turner for a special 2023 Oscars Preview episode. Ahead of this weekend's award show, the trio chats about general tren...

Emmanuel Iduma's "I Am Still With You" from 2023-03-03T13:00

Kate Wolf is joined by writer and critic Emmanuel Iduma to discuss his new memoir, I Am Still With You: A Reckoning With Silence, Inheritance, and History. The book follows Iduma’s return to his...

Laura Poitras "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" from 2023-02-24T13:00

Medaya Ocher and Eric Newman speak to Laura Poitras about her latest documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, recently nominated for an Academy Award. The film explores the efforts of cele...

Ann Goldstein on Alba de Cespedes' "Forbidden Notebook" from 2023-02-17T13:00

Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf speak with the celebrated translator Ann Goldstein, whose most recent translated work is a novel called Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes. Ann Goldstein ...

Maggie Millner's "Couplets" from 2023-02-10T13:00

Maggie Millner joins Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf to discuss her debut book, Couplets, a love story in verse, written in alternating chapters of couplets and prose poems. It’s about a woman whose ...

De'Shawn Charles Winslow's "Decent People" from 2023-02-03T13:00

Kate Wolf and Eric Newman are joined by author De'Shawn Charles Winslow to speak about his novel, Decent People. The book is set in the fictional small town of West Mills, North Carolina, and ta...

Kathryn Ma's "The Chinese Groove" from 2023-01-27T13:00

Kathryn Ma joins Eric Newman to discuss her most recent novel, The Chinese Groove, which follows protagonist Xi Liu Zheng, who goes by Shelley, as he leaves his home in China's Yunnan province t...

Curtis White's "Transcendent" from 2023-01-20T14:00

Curtis White joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to speak about his latest essay collection, Transcendent: Art and Dharma in a Time of Collapse. The book offers an incisive critique of the Westerniz...

Anand Giridharadas "The Persuaders" from 2023-01-13T13:00

Award-winning journalist Anand Giridharadas joins Eric Newman and LARB’s new Editor-in-Chief Michelle Chihara to talk about his latest book, The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for H...

Best of 2022: Adam Phillips's "On Wanting to Change" and "On Getting Better" from 2023-01-10T23:00

In an encore presentation, Adam Phillips joins Kate Wolf to discuss his two latest books, both published this year, On Wanting to Change and On Getting Better. The series looks at the very human...

Sabrina Imbler's "How Far the Light Reaches" from 2023-01-06T19:22

Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher speak with Sabrina Imbler, a Brooklyn-based writer and science journalist, about their debut essay collection, How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures...

Jordan Stein's "Rip Tales: Jay DeFeo’s Estocada and Other Pieces" from 2022-12-23T14:00

The Best of 2022 from 2022-12-16T15:00

We made it to the end of the year... and our favorite episode! Kate, Medaya, and Eric share their favorite books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, music, and more in this look back at the year that w...

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Joyce Chopra, Lady Director; and Chris Smith's "Sr." from 2022-12-09T15:00

A LARB Radio double header on two mavericks of independent cinema. In the first half of the show, Kate Wolf and Eric Newman are joined by Joyce Chopra to discuss her new memoir, Lady Director: A...

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Jamieson Webster's "Disorganisation and Sex" from 2022-12-02T13:00

Kate Wolf speaks with the writer and psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster about her most recent book Disorganisation and Sex, which collects a decade’s worth of Webster’s essays on themes such as desi...

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Hilton Als' "My Pinup" from 2022-11-25T13:00

Hilton Als, joins Eric Newman to discuss his new book, My Pinup, a hybrid memoir-essay that explores questions of race, desire, and autonomy through an intense and intimate focus on Hilton's rel...

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Dionne Irving's "The Islands" from 2022-11-18T13:00

Dionne Irving joins Eric Newman to talk about her debut story collection, The Islands. Moving across the United States, Canada, Jamaica, England, and France, the collection explores the...

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Peter Brooks' "Seduced by Story: The Use and Abuse of Narrative" from 2022-11-11T13:00

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by literary critic and scholar Peter Brooks. Brooks is the Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature Emeritus at Yale. He is the author of many books but...

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Jon Wiener on the Life and Work of Mike Davis, plus Constance Debré's "Love me Tender" from 2022-11-04T12:00

In the first half of the show, Kate Wolf and Eric Newman are joined by LARB contributing editor Jon Wiener to remember the historian Mike Davis, who died last week at 76 years old. Jon and Mike ...

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Darryl Pinckney's "Come Back in September" from 2022-10-28T12:00

Eric Newman and Kate Wolf speak with the novelist and critic Darryl Pinckney about his new memoir, Come Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-Seventh Street, Manhattan. The book ...

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Namwali Serpell's "The Furrows" from 2022-10-21T21:33

On this special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by Namwali Serpell, to speak about her new novel, The Furrows. One of the most daring and prot...

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Kathryn Scanlan's "Kick the Latch" from 2022-10-14T12:00

Kathryn Scanlan joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to discuss her new novel, Kick the Latch. A series of taut, electrifying vignettes based on real-life interviews, the book narrates the life of S...

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Hua Hsu's "Stay True" from 2022-10-07T12:00

Hua Hsu joins Eric Newman to discuss his latest book, STAY TRUE. The memoir recounts Hua's feeling of being caught between the Taiwanese culture of his immigrant parents and the burgeoning Silic...

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Andrew Sean Greer's "Less is Lost" from 2022-09-30T16:52

Andrew Sean Greer, author of six novels, including The Confessions, joins Eric Newman to talk about Less Is Lost, a sequel to his 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner, Less. Thi...

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Yiyun Li's "The Book of Goose" from 2022-09-23T12:00:14

Kate Wolf speaks with celebrated author Yiyun Li about her latest novel, The Book of Goose. A tale of a passionate friendship between two adolescent girls set in a rural village in post...

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Rachel Aviv's "Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us" from 2022-09-16T12:00:16

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by New Yorker staff writer Rachel Aviv to discuss her first book, Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us. The book collects th...

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For the Love of Print: Chloe Watlington, Michelle Chihara, Jeff Weiss and Schessa Garbutt from 2022-09-09T12:00:51

Editors of The LARB Quarterly, Chloe Watlington and Michelle Chihara, join Jeff Weiss of theLAnd and local designer and near-futurist writer, Schessa Garbutt, on a panel at this summer's LITLIT ...

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The Art of Translation: Andrew Way Leong, Bruna Dantas Lobato, Robin Myers, and Magdalena from 2022-09-02T12:00:55

Translators Andrew Way Leong, Bruna Dantas Lobato, Robin Myers, and Magdalena Edwards discuss the Art of Translation on a panel at this summer's LITLIT Festival.
On July 30th and 31st, LAR...

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Elizabeth Kolbert's "Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future" from 2022-08-26T12:00:24

An encore presentation from early 2021 that speaks to our current summer of floods, droughts, blazing temperatures and extreme weather across the northern hemisphere:
Hosts Kate and Medaya...

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K-Ming Chang's "Gods of Want" from 2022-08-19T12:00:50

On this special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Lindsay Wright are joined by K-Ming Chang to discuss her collection of stories, Gods of Want. Chang made her ...

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Alexandra Lange's "Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall" from 2022-08-12T12:00:04

Architectural critic Alexandra Lange joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to discuss her latest book, Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall. As its title suggests, the study...

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Elvia Wilk's "Death By Landscape" from 2022-08-05T12:00:56

Elvia Wilk joins Kate Wolf to discuss her latest book, Death by Landscape, a collection of essays, including one originally published by the Los Angeles Review of Books. The pieces in <...

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Raquel Gutiérrez's "Brown Neon" from 2022-07-29T12:00:02

The writer and critic Raquel Gutiérrez joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to speak about their debut collection of essays, Brown Neon. The book follows Gutiérrez’s peregrinations across ti...

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Joseph Osmundson's "Virology" from 2022-07-22T12:00:37

Joseph Osmundson joins Eric Newman to discuss VIROLOGY, his new collection of essays published in June by Norton. Joe is a professor of microbiology at NYU, critic, essayist, and co-host of the ...

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Claire Denis's "Both Sides of the Blade" from 2022-07-15T12:00:01

Kate Wolf speaks with the renowned French filmmaker Claire Denis about her latest feature, Both Sides of the Blade, out in theaters now. It stars Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon as ...

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Ruth Wilson Gilmore's "Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation" from 2022-07-08T12:00:32

Ruth Wilson Gilmore joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to talk about her new collection, Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation, which covers three decades of her thinking about abo...

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Natalia Molina's "A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished A Community" from 2022-07-01T12:00:55

Kate Wolf and Eric Newman are joined by historian Natalia Molina to discuss her most recent book, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community. The book follow...

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Ottessa Moshfegh's "Lapvona" from 2022-06-24T12:00:30

Author Ottessa Moshfegh returns to speak to Kate Wolf about her latest novel, Lapvona. The book is set in the eponymous medieval village, a place beset by violence and extreme cruelty. ...

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Nell Zink's "Avalon" from 2022-06-17T12:00:54

Author Nell Zink joins Eric Newman and Kate Wolf to talk about her latest novel, Avalon. The book is a coming of age novel centered on Bran, a young woman abandoned by her parents, left to fend ...

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Renee Gladman's "Plans for Sentences" from 2022-06-10T12:00:57

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by the revered writer and artist Renee Gladman to speak about her latest book, Plans for Sentences. Plans for Sentences is a collection of ink and watercolo...

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Elif Batuman's "Either/Or" from 2022-06-03T14:00:58

Novelist and New Yorker staff writer Elif Batuman joins Kate Wolf to discuss her latest book, Either/Or. A sequel to 2017's The Idiot, the novel follows Batuman’s protagonist Selin in her sophomore...

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Shelly Oria's "I Know What’s Best for You: Stories on Reproductive Freedom" from 2022-05-27T12:00:39

Author Shelly Oria returns to speak with Kate  Listen

Hernan Diaz's "Trust" from 2022-05-20T12:00:15

Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher speak with writer Hernan Diaz about his latest novel Trust, which tells a single story from multiple perspectives, or rather revisions. Trust brings into focus both ...

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Celia Paul's "Letters to Gwen John" from 2022-05-13T12:00:57

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by acclaimed artist and writer Celia Paul to speak about her latest book Letters to Gwen John, an epistolary memoir addressed to the Welsh painter Gwen John...

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Douglas Stuart's "Young Mungo" from 2022-05-06T12:33:23

Author Douglas Stuart joins Eric Newman to talk about his new novel Young Mungo. Stuart's previous work, Shuggie Bain, won the 2020 Booker Prize and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Acade...

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Margo Jefferson's "Constructing a Nervous System" from 2022-04-29T12:00:24

Writer and critic Margo Jefferson joins Kate Wolf to speak about her latest book, Constructing A Nervous System: A Memoir. A formally inventive and exacting assemblage of personal history and de...

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Andrey Kurkov's "Grey Bees" from 2022-04-22T12:00:54

On this special LARB Book Club edition of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Lindsay Wright...

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Patti Smith's "The Melting" from 2022-04-15T12:00:07

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher speak with musician, writer, poet, artist and all-around legend Patti Smith about her latest work, The Melting, an extended piece of prose she began releasing last spring...

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NoViolet Bulawayo's "Glory" from 2022-04-08T12:00:35

NoViolet Bulawayo joins Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to talk about her latest novel, Glory, which explores the waning days and political ouster of Robert Mugabe, the authoritarian leade...

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John Markoff's "Whole Earth" and Ulysses Jenkins's "Without Your Interpretation" from 2022-04-01T06:21:36

This week it’s a LARB Radio doubleheader. In the first half of the show, Kate Wolf talks with John Markoff about his latest book, Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand. Brand is ...

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Danielle Lindemann's "True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us" from 2022-03-25T13:50:50

Danielle Lindemann joins Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to talk about her latest book, True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us. Drawing on the ideas of major thinkers in modern sociolog...

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Adam Phillips's "On Wanting to Change" and "On Getting Better" from 2022-03-18T12:00:46

Adam Phillips joins Kate Wolf to discuss his two latest books, both published this year, On Wanting to Change and On Getting Better. The series looks at the very human impulse ...

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Pankaj Mishra's "Run and Hide" from 2022-03-11T13:00:07

Pankaj Mishra joins Medaya Ocher and Eric Newman to talk about his ne...

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Claire-Louise Bennett's "Checkout 19" from 2022-03-04T15:49:02

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by Claire-Louise Bennett, whose new novel is Checkout 19. It follows an unnamed young woman born into a working-class family, who is slowly discove...

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Isaac Butler's "The Method" from 2022-02-25T13:00:36

Writer Isaac Butler joins co-hosts Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to speak about his new book, The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act which was published this month by Bloomsbury. The M...

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Lewis R. Gordon's "Fear of Black Consciousness" from 2022-02-18T13:00:14

Lewis R. Gordon, head of the philosophy department at the University of Connecticut, joins Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to talk about his latest book, Fear of Black Consciousness. The b...

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Sheila Heti's "Pure Colour" from 2022-02-11T13:00:15

Sheila Heti joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to speak about her latest novel, Pure Colour. A mythical and tender telling of the life of a woman named Mira, Pure Colour imagines...

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Francesco Pacifico "The Women I Love" from 2022-02-04T13:00:28

Italian author Francesco Pacifico talks with hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher about his latest novel, The Women I Love, which follows an editor and poet named Marcello who is trying to write a n...

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Neel Patel's "Tell Me How To Be" from 2022-01-28T13:00:56

Eric and Medaya are joined by Neel Patel, an author and TV writer based in Los Angeles, to talk about his debut novel, Tell Me How To Be. The novel opens as Akash, a gay songwriter in his twenties ...

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Tochi Onyebuchi's "Goliath" from 2022-01-21T13:00:41

Eric and Kate are joined by Tochi Onyebuchi to discuss his debut adult science fiction novel Goliath. Told through a series of vignettes, Goliath meditates on a world destroyed by environmental ...

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Gary Shteyngart's "Our Country Friends" from 2022-01-14T13:00

Boris Dralyuk, LARB’s Editor-in-Chief, joins Medaya Ocher for a very special ex-Soviet edition of the LARB Book Club and Radio Hour. The guest of honor is the doyen of Russian-American letters, ...

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Arundhati Roy on Freedom, Fascism and Fiction from 2022-01-07T13:00

Author, activist, and novelist Arundhati Roy joins us from Delhi to discuss her new collection of essays, Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction. Roy is well known for her impassioned political writin...

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The Best of 2021 Show from 2021-12-31T13:00

It’s that time of year again — the end. In our annual “best of” show, Kate, Daya, and Eric select their favorite books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, scandals, and other items from the past 12 mon...

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Anna Della Subin's "Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine" from 2021-12-24T15:25

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher talk with Anna Della Subin about her new book, Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine. Accidental Gods traces the rarely told history of the deific...

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Sam Quinones' The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth from 2021-12-17T13:00

Award-winning author and investigative journalist Sam Quinones joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to discuss his latest book, The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fen...

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Online Together: A Roundtable Discussion with Christoph Bieber, Safiya Noble, and Anna Wiener from 2021-12-10T13:00

Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf moderate a panel on the use, abuse, and omnipresence of digital technology in our lives — with writers and scholars Christoph Bieber (University of Duisburg-Essen), Sa...

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Online Together: A Roundtable Discussion with Christoph Bieber, Safiya Noble, and Anna Wiener from 2021-12-10T13:00

Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf moderate a panel on the use, abuse, and omnipresence of digital technology in our lives — with writers and scholars Christoph Bieber (University of Duisburg-Essen), Sa...

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James Hannaham's "Pilot Impostor" from 2021-12-03T13:00

Writer and artist James Hannaham joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to discuss his most recent book, Pilot Impostor, a mix of prose, poetry, and visual collage. James is the author of the...

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Melissa Anderson's "Inland Empire" and Pippa Garner's "Immaculate Misconceptions" from 2021-11-26T13:00

In the first half of the show, Kate Wolf is joined by Melissa Anderson to discuss her first book, Inland Empire, a volume in Fireflies Press’s Decadent Editions series, which revisit se...

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José Vadi’s “Inter State: Essays from California” from 2021-11-19T13:00

Essayist, poet, playwright, and filmmaker José Vadi joins Eric Newman to discuss his debut essay collection, Inter State. José’s first play, a eulogy for three, was the winner ...

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Ruth Ozeki's "The Book of Form and Emptiness" from 2021-11-12T13:00

Ruth Ozeki is a writer, filmmaker, Zen Buddhist priest, and author of three novels, My Year of Meats, All Over Creation, and A Tale for the Time Being, which was a fin...

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Tom McCarthy's "The Making of Incarnation" from 2021-11-05T12:00

Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher are joined by Tom McCarthy, author of the contemporary classic, Remainder, as well as of the novels C and Satin Island, both of which were...

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Natalie Diaz: Postcolonial Love Poem from 2021-10-29T12:00

In a special LARB Book Club installment of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Callie Siskel speak with poet Natalie Diaz about her collection Postcolonial Love Poem, which was awarded th...

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Todd Haynes: The Velvet Underground from 2021-10-22T12:00

Kate, Daya, and Eric speak with director Todd Haynes about his latest movie, and first documentary, The Velvet Underground, which shows just how the legendary rock group became a cultural touchs...

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Dodie Bellamy's "Bee Reaved;" and Mia Hansen-Love's on Bergman Island from 2021-10-14T12:00

Writer Dodie Bellamy joins Kate Wolf to speak about her latest collection, Bee Reaved. The book gathers nearly 20 essays Bellamy has written over the last few years, with a focus on the state of...

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Kelefa Sanneh's "Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres" from 2021-10-07T12:00

Kate Wolf speaks with writer Kelefa Sanneh about his debut book, Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. An exhaustive, enthralling breakdown of the last 50 years in m...

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Cynthia Cruz’s “The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class” from 2021-10-02T00:18:55

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by author Cynthia Cruz to discuss The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class. A mix of memoir, cultural theory, and polemic, Cruz’...

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Betsy West and Julie Cohen: My Name is Pauli Murray from 2021-09-24T12:00

Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher are joined by documentary filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who are perhaps best known for RGB, their Academy Award-nominated documentary about late Supreme Cou...

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Amia Srinivasan: The Right to Sex from 2021-09-17T12:00

Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf are joined by writer, critic, and philosopher Amia Srinivasan, whose new book is The Right to Sex: Feminism in the 21st Century. Amia is a professor of Social and Poli...

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Maggie Nelson: "On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint" from 2021-09-10T12:00

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by Maggie Nelson to discuss her latest book, On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint. In 2015, Nelson’s bestselling, genre-defying The Ar...

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Kaveh Akbar's "Pilgrim Bell" from 2021-09-03T12:00

Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher are joined by poet Kaveh Akbar to talk about his latest collection, Pilgrim Bell. Whereas Akbar's previous collection, Calling a Wolf a Wolf, meditated on addiction ...

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Rachel Greenwald Smith On Compromise from 2021-08-27T12:00

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by Rachel Greenwald Smith to discuss her new book, On Compromise: Art, Politics, and the Fate of an American Ideal. On Compromise takes a ...

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Matthew Specktor's "Always Crashing in the Same Car: On Art, Crisis,&Los Angeles, California" from 2021-08-20T12:00

Matthew Specktor, one of the founding editors of the Los Angeles Review of Books, joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to discuss his newest book, Always Crashing in the Same Car...

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Nawaaz Ahmed's "Radiant Fugitives" from 2021-08-13T12:00

Eric Newman talks with Nawaaz Ahmed about his debut novel, Radiant Fugitives, which loosely centers on Seema, a woman who makes a life for herself as a San Francisco-based campaign work...

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Hogir Hirori, Director of Sabaya from 2021-08-06T12:00

Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher are joined by Hogir Hirori to talk about his latest film, Sabaya, which documents the heroic efforts to rescue women and girls from ISIS...

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Katie Kitamura's "Intimacies" from 2021-07-30T12:00

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by Katie Kitamura to discuss her latest novel, Intimacies, an existential thriller that follows an unnamed narrator who has recently moved to The H...

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Rivka Galchen: Everybody Knows Your Mother is a Witch from 2021-07-23T12:00

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by Rivka Galchen, whose new novel, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, is set in the Holy Roman Empire in 17th-century Germany, amid the plague and the T...

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Claire Fuller's Unsettled Ground from 2021-07-16T12:00

Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by author Claire Fuller to discuss her new novel, Unsettled Ground, this season’s selection for the LARB Book Club. Born in Oxfordshire, Claire...

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Zakiya Dalila Harris: The Other Black Girl from 2021-07-09T12:00

Eric and Medaya are joined by Zakiya Dalila Harris to discuss The Other Black Girl; her sharp and often funny debut novel that centers large contemporary questions about the politics of race as ...

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Davarian L. Baldwin: In The Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities from 2021-07-02T12:00

Kate and Eric speak with writer and historian Davarian L. Baldwin, the Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies and founding director of the Smart Cities Lab at Trinity Colleg...

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Kristen Arnett: With Teeth from 2021-06-25T12:00

Eric and Medaya talk with queer writer Kristen Arnett about her knew novel, With Teeth, which centers on the troubled relationships between Sammie, her wife Monica and their son, Samson.  As Sam...

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Kate Zambreno: To Write As If Already Dead;&Susan Bernofsky: Clairvoyant of the Small from 2021-06-18T12:00

On this week's show we're joined by two authors, Kate Zambreno and Susan Bernofsky, who have both written a magisterial work about a past literary master.

First, Medaya Ocher and Kate Wol...

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Joan Silber: Secrets of Happiness from 2021-06-11T12:00

Author Joan Silber, whose previous work Improvement won both the National Book Critic’s Circle Aware and the Pen Faulkner Award, joins Eric and Kate to discuss her new novel Secrets of Happiness...

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Carol Anderson's The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America from 2021-06-04T12:00

Professor Carol Anderson, whose previous work White Rage won the 2016 National Book Critics Circle Award, joins Eric and Kate to discuss her latest book, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally U...

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Matthew Heineman: The Boy from Medellin from 2021-05-28T12:00

Filmmaker Matthew Heineman joins Eric to talk about his latest documentary, THE BOY FROM MEDELLIN, which centers on reggeton superstar J Balvin (the voice and creative force behind such massive ...

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Sarah Schulman: Let the Record Show ACT UP NYC, 1987-93 from 2021-05-21T12:00

Writer Sarah Schulman joins Kate and Eric to discuss her new book Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York 1987-1993. A longtime activist, Sarah was a participant in the histo...

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Jacqueline Rose: On Violence and On Violence Against Women from 2021-05-14T12:00

Kate and Medaya are joined by feminist critic Jacqueline Rose to discuss her new book On Violence  and On Violence Against Women.  Jacqueline's addresses the prevalence and persistence of violen...

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Larissa Pham's Pop Song: Adventures in Art and Intimacy from 2021-05-07T12:00

Brooklyn-based artist and writer Larissa Pham joins Medaya and Eric to discuss her debut collection Pop Song: Adventures in Art and Intimacy. Larissa contributed to the collection KINK (previous...

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Helen Oyeyemi: Peaces from 2021-04-30T12:00

Eric and Daya speak with the acclaimed short story writer and novelist Helen Oyeyemi. Born in Nigeria, Oyeyemi grew up in England, and her first novel, the Icarus Girl was published...

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George Saunders: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain from 2021-04-23T12:00

On a special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by George Saunders, author of four collections of virtuosic short stories and of the novel Li...

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Nick Pinkerton Says Goodbye to Dragon Inn from 2021-04-16T12:00

Kate Wolf is joined by writer and film critic Nick Pinkerton to discuss his book-length essay on Tsai Ming-liang’s film Goodbye, Dragon Inn, which revolves around the final screening at...

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Rachel Kushner Amongst The Hard Crowd from 2021-04-09T12:00

Kate and Medaya are joined by Rachel Kushner, author previously of Telex from Cuba and the Flamethrowers, both nominated for the National Book Award, and The Mars Room, which was shortlisted for...

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Jackie Wang: The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us From the Void from 2021-04-02T12:00

Kate and Medaya talk with poet, essayist, and critic Jackie Wang about her new collection of poetry The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us From the Void.  As an Assistant Professor of Culture and...

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Jo Ann Beard's Festival Days from 2021-03-26T12:00

Medaya talks with renowned essayist and fiction writer Jo Ann Beard, whose latest collection is called Festival Days. Near the beginning of the book, Jo Ann writes that there’s an ele...

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's Disordered Cosmos from 2021-03-19T12:00

Eric Newman is joined by Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein to discuss her book The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred, which opens up with some very heavy s...

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Contrasting Interiors: Christine Smallwood's Life of the Mind and Sara Davis' Scapegoat from 2021-03-12T13:00

Kate and Medaya speak with two heralded debut novelists. First up is Christine Smallwood, author of The Life of the Mind, about Dorothy, a failing adjunct professor in New York City, who suffers...

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Brian Dillon Supposes a Sentence from 2021-03-05T13:00

Kate and Medaya welcome essayist Brian Dillon, author of Suppose a Sentence which offers sharp analysis (along with intriguing discursus) of 27 sentences, both celebrated and obscure, f...

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Claudio Lomnitz's Nuestra America: A Jewish Latin American Odyssey from 2021-02-26T13:00

Kate Wolf talks with Claudio Lomnitz, author of Nuestra America: My Family in the Vertigo of Translation, which traces his family's history in the Jewish diaspora from the Eastern European regio...

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Lauren Oyler's Fake Accounts from 2021-02-19T13:00

Kate and Daya talk with Lauren Oyler, one of the country's leading literary critics, about her first novel, Fake Accounts; which is about a central character who breaks up with her boyfriend aft...

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Valentine Special: Gay Bars and Boyfriends with Jeremy Atherton Lin and Brontez Purnell from 2021-02-12T13:00

A double dip, rife with romance, and right on time for a celebration of sex and love. First, Jeremy Atherton Lin joins Eric and Medaya to talk about his new book Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, which ...

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From The Break to Bridgerton with Taylor Renee Aldridge and Patricia A Matthew from 2021-02-05T13:00

This week it's a doubleheader. First, Eric and Medaya, speak with Taylor Renee Aldridge, the Visual Arts Curator and Program Manager at the California Afrcian-American Museum,  about a new exhib...

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Elizabeth Kolbert, Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future from 2021-01-29T17:30:40

Hosts Kate and Medaya are joined by New Yorker staff writer and...

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Kink Lit: A Conversation with R. O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell from 2021-01-22T13:00

In a special LARB Book Club edition of the Radio Hour, Eric Newman and Boris Dralyuk sit down with R. O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, co-editors of Kink, a new anthology that aims to push ...

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The Delightful Rage of Fran Lebowitz Revisited from 2021-01-15T13:00

In this encore presentation, on the occasion of Fran Lebowitz's new show Pretend It's a City, Eric Newman, Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf speak with legendary public speaker Fran Lebowitz. In a wide...

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National Book Award Winner Charles Yu Interior Chinatown: Satire, Metafiction,&Anti-Racist Critique from 2021-01-09T13:00

In an encore presentation, Kate and Medaya talk with award-winning screenwriter and novelist Charles Yu about his book, Interior Chinatown; an experimental, yet eminently enjoyable, novel-in-the...

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Karla Cornejo Villavicencio: The Undocumented Americans from 2021-01-02T13:00

Author Karla Cornejo Villavicencio joins co-hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to talk about The Undocumented Americans, which is both a memoir and a series of essays about immigrant laborers from...

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Big Freedia: God Save the Queen Diva from 2020-12-26T13:00

Big Freedia is a 21st Century musical trailblazer from the Dirty South, who emerged from the Bounce music scene in New Orleans and has helped popularize the genre across the country and the wo...

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Best of the Worst Year Ever Show from 2020-12-18T13:00

Kate, Medaya, and Eric look back at a year that many of us can't wait to put behind us. Against the background of the pandemic and the politics, the hosts review the books, movies, TV shows, pod...

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Kiese Laymon: How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America from 2020-12-11T13:00

Eric, Kate, and Medaya talk with Kiese about the struggle to buy his work back from the original publisher in order to revise and republish them, an experience that highlights the imbalance of p...

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Alex Ross in Wagner's Shadows from 2020-12-04T13:00

Medaya and Eric are joined by Alex Ross, the New Yorker's longtime music critic and author of Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadows of Music. Wagner's wide reaching influence across centuri...

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The Magic World of Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum from 2020-11-27T13:00

This week co-hosts Kate and Medaya are joined by author Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, whose latest book is the collection of short stories Likes. Sarah discusses the magic of childhoo...

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Alexander Nanau's Collective Nightmare for Our Time from 2020-11-20T13:00

Co-hosts Kate and Eric speak with filmmaker Alexander Nanau about his stunning new documentary Collective about corruption in the Romanian Hospital system, government, and the broader society.  ...

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The Election and a Changing America: Talking with Tom Zoellner, LARB Politics Editor&Author of The National Road from 2020-11-13T13:00

We’re joined by Tom Zoellner, award-winning author and the LA Review of Books Politics Editor. Tom and the co-hosts talk about the election, the tenor of the online political debate, and the fut...

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Bryan Washington's Memorial; and Election Reflections from 2020-11-06T13:00

This week's show opens with Kate, Eric, and Medaya sharing their thoughts on the morning after Election Day. At the time, Joe Biden seemed to have a pathway to victory; but the trauma of the pre...

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Women Against the Odds: Talking to Filmmaker Garrett Bradley&Art Legends, the Guerrilla Girls from 2020-10-30T12:00

This week, we have filmmaker Garrett Bradley discussing her new documentary Time, which follows a larger-than-life matriarch, fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. Bradl...

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Friending Thanatos: Richard Seymour's The Twittering Machine from 2020-10-23T18:47:11

Richard Seymour, author of The Twittering Machine,  joins Eric and Kate to discuss the “social industry" — online platforms that monetize and manipulate our need to share our lives online. Seymo...

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LARB Book Club: Talking to Alain Mabanckou, author of Black Moses from 2020-10-16T12:00

A special episode, featuring Alain Mabanckou, author of "Black Moses," our latest pick for LARB’s members-only Book Club. Mabanckou is an award-winning Francophone novelist who was born in Congo...

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Homeland Elegies: Ayad Akhtar on mourning America from 2020-10-09T12:00

Akhtar talks about his new book Homeland Elegies, a hybrid of memoir, cultural criticism, psychological study, and loosely plotted novel that uniquely responds to the chaos and confusion of cont...

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Arundhati Roy on Freedom, Fascism&Fiction from 2020-09-25T12:00

Author, activist, and novelist Arundhati Roy joins us from Delhi to discuss her new collection of essays, Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction. Roy is well known for her impassioned political writin...

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Friendship and Mortality in a Plague Year: Sigrid Nunez on What Are You Going Through from 2020-09-18T12:00

Author Sigrid Nunez, who won the National Book Award for 2018's The Friend, joins Kate and Eric to talk about her new novel, What Are You Going Through, which focuses on the narrator's close rel...

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A Different Addiction Story: Yaa Gyasi talks about Transcendent Kingdom from 2020-09-11T12:00

Yaa Gyasi’s latest novel, Transcendent Kingdom, takes on family and the gulfs of diaspora experience through an intimate narrative of a neuroscientist trying to come to grips with her brother’s ...

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Kelli Jo Ford, author of Crooked Hallelujah, on Love and the End Times from 2020-09-04T12:00

Hosts Kate and Medaya talk to Kelli Jo Ford, author of the new novel, Crooked Hallelujah, a multi-generational story about Justine — a mixed-blood Cherokee woman — and her daughter Reney. Kelli ...

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Yan Lianke, author of Three Brothers, on Chinese Life, Law, and Literature from 2020-08-28T12:00

Hosts Kate, Eric, and Medaya are joined by renowned Chinese writer Yan Lianke, whose lat...

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An Alpaca and a Llama Walk into a Bar: Talking to Joni Murphy, author of Talking Animals from 2020-08-21T12:00

Co-hosts Kate and Medaya are joined by writer Joni Murphy, whose new novel, Talking Animals, takes place in a fictional New York City, populated entirely by animals. Joni discusses why she chose...

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Life In Between: Awkaeke Emezi on their new novel The Death of Vivek Oji from 2020-08-16T15:18:29

Hosts Eric and Medaya are joined by the writer Awkaeke Emezi, whose new nove...

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Talking Tomboys with Melissa Faliveno from 2020-08-08T23:44:20

Eric and Melissa Faliveno, author of Tomboyland, parse the history of the to...

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Aminatou and Ann's Big Friendship from 2020-08-01T20:06:44

Authors Aminatou Sow and Ann Friendman join co-hosts Kate and Medaya to discuss their exploration of their friend, and close adult friendships in general, Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other ...

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Talking “Breasts and Eggs” with Japan’s Rising Literary Star, Mieko Kawakami from 2020-07-23T23:27:36

Mieko Kawakami, whose poignant and pointed debut novel Breasts and Eggs is this season’s LARB’s Book Club selection, joins Medaya Ocher and Boris Dralyuk to discuss her career as a musician, poe...

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When Reform Isn't Enough: Afropessimism's Argument for a New Society from 2020-07-18T01:33:46

This week, co-hosts Eric and Medaya talk to professor, writer, and revolutionary, Frank B. Wilderson III, whose latest book, Afropessimism, is a work of memoir and theory. Wilderson defines Afro...

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French Connections: Hirokazu Kore-eda on The Truth; Joyce Zonana on Henri Bosco’s Malicroix from 2020-07-11T00:31:29

This week, Medaya speaks with acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda about his new film, The Truth (La Vérité), starring French film screen legends Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche. Kore-ed...

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From Pride Month to Independence Day: the story of Frank Kameny, an LBGBTQ+ Trailblazer from 2020-07-04T04:20:44

Author Eric Cervini Cervini explains Frank Kameny's legacy as a complex figure in the history of the LGBTQ struggle, as he discusses his new book The Deviant's War with Daya, Kate , and Eric. Ka...

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Changing the Conversation: Laverne Cox and Sam Feder on Trans Representation from 2020-06-26T21:00:08

The new documentary Disclosure captures the history of trans representation in Hollywood and mainstream media, with particular attention to the ways in which racism and misogyny influence the po...

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On the Line with Percival Everett from 2020-06-22T05:01:59

Co-hosts Kate and Daya join acclaimed writer Percival Everett to discuss his new novel, Telephone, which was published in three different version simultaneously. Kate, Daya and Percival discuss ...

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Death in her Hands: Talking to Otessa Moshfegh from 2020-06-14T12:35:29

Ottessa Moshfegh, one of America's most celebrated young writers, joins Kate and Daya to discuss her third novel, Death in Her Hands. Ottessa completed the book before the beginning of the COVID...

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In Conversation with Patrisse Cullors, co-founder #BlackLivesMatter from 2020-06-07T19:20:46

In light of the nation-wide public uprising that followed the murder of George Floyd, we return to Patrisse Cullors, author of When They Call You a Terrorist: a Black Lives Matter Memoir. At the...

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Juli Delgado Lopera Comes Alive from 2020-05-31T02:57:04

Juli Delgado Lopero, author of Fiebre Tropical, joins Eric and Daya. Juli shares how their debut novel draws on their experiences growing up in a strong, matriarchal family, moving from Colombia...

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Art in an Emergency: Talking to Olivia Laing and Lucy Ives from 2020-05-24T00:58:22

Kate and Medaya talk to the critic and writer Olivia Laing about her new collection of essays Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency. The three discuss the role of art in dark times, Olivia’s enviro...

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Wayne Koestenbaum's Whirlwind of Wit&Wisdom from 2020-05-17T03:23:03

One surefire way to lift yourself out of the shelter-in-place doldrums is to engage with someone whose enthusiasm for life and literature is more infectious than any coronavirus. Wayne Koestenba...

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Cathy Park Hong Reckons with Minor Feelings from 2020-05-10T02:19:28

Writer, editor, and poet Cathy Park Hong joins Medaya Ocher for a dialogue about her new book Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, which is a blend of memoir, history, and cultural criti...

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A Time Capsule of Queer LA: Tom of Finland&Circus of Books from 2020-05-03T02:05:30

This week we bring you two tales of lore from the olden days of Queer LA. First, Kate, Daya, and Eric are joined by Sharp and Durk Dehner from the Tom of Finland Foundation to tell the story of ...

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Wow, it's Samantha Irby from 2020-04-26T01:48:15

Feeling nostalgic for social anxiety? Go public vicariously with Samantha Irby! You may not conquer your fears, but you'll laugh so much you'll be happy about them. Samantha joins Kate, Eric, an...

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Crime&Punishment&RuPaul’s Drag Race: Talking to Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen from 2020-04-19T04:30:28

This week, writer Rufi Thorpe joins Eric and Medaya to discuss her latest novel, The Knockout Queen. Rufi, Eric, and Medaya talk about love and violence in American culture, as well as our faile...

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It Was A Good Day: Talking the Rise of Gangsta Rap with Felicia Angeja Viator from 2020-04-11T20:37:39

This week, we're joined by Felicia Angeja Viator, author of To Live and Defy in LA: How Gangsta Rap Changed America. Eric, Kate and Medaya talk with Felicia about the rise of gangsta rap in Los ...

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Literary LA: Our Meteoric Quarantine with Harry Dodge from 2020-04-04T11:46:59

What better way to break out of the stay-in-place doldrums, and reflect on this transformational moment, than to consider the role of the random in the creation of the new with one of our most b...

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Coronavirus Quarantine Encore: A Podcast About Nothing with Jenny Odell from 2020-03-28T19:06:57

From their disclosed locations, Kate, Eric, and Daya report on the new normal: cooking, enclosure, and a changed perspective on doing nothing. One thing they all agree on, it's a good time to gi...

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The Roots of California's Modernist Utopia: Tuberculosis and Teutonic Nudism from 2020-03-21T01:05:38

"There's so much there, and it's so fascinating" observes co-host Kate Wolf after Lyra Kilston opens this week's podcast with a summary of her new book Sun Seekers: The Cure of California. Kate ...

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The Mystery of the Empty Nest: Journalist Joshua Hammer on Wildlife Crime from 2020-03-15T10:47:33

Kate and Medaya talk to longtime journalist Joshua Hammer about his ...

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Best of Difficult Women from 2020-03-08T07:03:06

...and now for something completely difficult. We are inaugurating a new project, the "Best of..." series. Inspired by our annual holiday season "Best of..." special, in which Eric, Kate, and Da...

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The Wild Tales of Walter Mosley from 2020-02-29T20:03:15

Tom Lutz sits down with legendary Los Angeles author Walter Mosley, recipient of LARB/UC Riverside Lifetime Achievement Award. Mosley, a master of contemporary noir, has written over 50 books, m...

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Literary LA: Janet Fitch on Kate Braverman; and Tom Lutz's Slippy Debut from 2020-02-22T05:53:09

Janet Fitch, author of the classic White Oleander, joins Kate and Medaya to discuss the life and work of Kate Braverman, a Los Angeles literary legend who passed in late 2019. Braverman was Jane...

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Isabella Rossellini & the Links Between Us from 2020-02-14T20:07:11

This week the legendary actress, model and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini joins co-hosts Kate and Medaya to discuss her new theatrical production, Link Link Circus, her studies into animal behavi...

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Garth Greenwell's Cleanness from 2020-02-08T18:01:52

Kate and Medaya talk with Garth Greenwell about his new book of fiction, Cleanness, the follow-up to his heralded debut What Belongs to You. Set in Bulgaria, where Greenwell taught in the wake o...

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Literary LA: Satire, Metafiction, Anti-Racist Critique in Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown from 2020-02-01T03:44:01

Kate and Medaya talk with award-winning screenwriter and novelist Charles Yu about his new book, Interior Chinatown; an experimental, yet eminently enjoyable, novel-in-the-form-of-a-screenplay. ...

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Viet Thanh Nguyen in Conversation with Tom Lutz from 2020-01-25T05:52:41

LARB Editor-in-Chief Tom Lutz is joined by author and USC Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Sympathizer, at a recent LARB Luminary Dinn...

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Portrait of a Feminist Filmmaker from 2020-01-19T05:58:02

Celine Sciamma joins hosts Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to discuss her film Portrait of a Woman on Fire, which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes and won this year's Queer ...

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Hilton Als on His Playwrighting Debut: Robert Wilson, Race, and the Avant Garde from 2020-01-10T22:01:36

Critic, photographer and artist, Hilton Als joins Kate and Medaya to discuss his debut play, Lives of the Performers, which tells the story of actress Sheryl Sutton, one of the lead actors in Ro...

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J Hoberman: Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump and the American Political Imaginary from 2020-01-03T20:41:15

Legendary film critic J Hoberman joins Kate and Daya to discuss Make My Day: Movie Culture in the Age of Reagan, which is the the final installment of his film history trilogy Found Illusions. H...

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The Best of 2019: Books, TV, Movies, and More from 2019-12-27T13:48:18

It's a LARB Holiday Season tradition! Kate, Daya, and Eric review all that they read, watched, attended, and gossiped about to select their favorites from the past year. The result is a broad, e...

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Literary LA: Witches, Wisdom, and an Oracle for Our Troubled Times from 2019-12-21T01:46:04

Few would argue with the assertion that we are in the throes of a political crisis in American society; and, no doubt, many would acknowledge that the Trump presidency is more symptom than cause...

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Darryl Pinckney: Reflections on the Present through the Prism of Our History from 2019-12-14T06:59:20

Author Darryl Pinckney joins Kate and Medaya to discuss his new collection, Busted in New York and Other Essays, which includes twenty-five pieces from the past two and a half decades, which ref...

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Archive Fever: Marion Stokes' 24-Hour News Cycle from 2019-12-06T22:02:33

Filmmaker Matt Wolf joins co-hosts Kate and Medaya to discuss his new documentary Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project. Marion Stokes was a former librarian, political activist, and early Apple i...

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Generosity: Frederic Tuten's Life of Art, Literature, and Solidarity from 2019-11-29T20:30:42

Author Fred Tuten joins co-hosts Medaya Ocher, Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to talk about his new book, My Young Life: A Memoir. The conversation begins with Fred explaining why after five celebrat...

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Literary LA: Yogita Goyal on the Slave Narrative, Past and Present from 2019-11-22T17:55

Yogita Goyal, author of Runaway Genres: The Global Afterlives of Slavery, joins Eric, Medaya, and Kate to discuss the shape of traditional slave narrative and the ways it has been transformed ov...

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Literary LA: Eve Babitz Back in Print from 2019-11-15T19:56:18

Eve Babitz, our LA Woman, was one of the heavyweights of the 1970s New Journalism. Now, thanks to the New York Review of Books Classics series, Babitz's vibrant prose is collected in I Used To B...

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Monique Truong's 19th Century Triptych Portraiture from 2019-11-09T19:00:34

Co-hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher speak with author Monique Truong about her new multi-voiced novel The Sweetest Fruits; aptly titled given its sensuality, and special attention to cuisine. Mo...

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Natasha Stagg's Fashionworld Phantasmagoria from 2019-11-02T19:05:41

Kate Wolf talks with "It Girl" Natasha Stagg about her new essay collection from Semiotexte: Sleeveless: Fashion, Image, Media 2011-19. Natasha explains overcoming her reluctance to move to NYC,...

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Leslie Jamison on Everything from 2019-10-25T04:27:20

Tom Lutz opens the show with a spirited introduction of co-hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher and author Leslie Jamison, who has a new collection of essays: Make It Scream, Make it Burn. Jamison d...

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Director Bong Joon Ho Talks Parasite from 2019-10-18T02:09:37

Co-hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by filmmaker, Bong Joon Ho, whose latest film is Parasite. Parasite has already gathered a wide range of acclaim, winning the Palme D’Or at the Can...

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Literary LA: Stephen Van Dyck Meets People from the Internet from 2019-10-11T18:09:33

Host Eric Newman is joined by Stephen Van Dyck, author of People I Met on the Internet, a series of narrative vignettes derived from the list Van Dyck kept for over a decade of all the men he fi...

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The Formation of the #MeToo Canon from 2019-10-04T17:30:37

Co-Hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by Shelly Oria to talk about her new anthology Indelible in the Hippocampus: Writings from the #MeToo Movement. The collection includes essays, poe...

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Sarah M Broom's Autobiography of a House from 2019-09-28T02:40:52

Co-hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher speak with Sarah M Broom about her latest work The Yellow House; a moving and beautiful book rooted in one place, which combines memoir, archival history of h...

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A Podcast About Nothing with Jenny Odell from 2019-09-20T04:13:17

Jenny Odell, author of How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, joins co-hosts Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf to asses the state of the human soul in the age of social media reproduction....

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Recasting American Mythology: Tea Obreht's Western for the 21st Century from 2019-09-12T23:16:45

What if that most celebrated of American genres, the Western, was stripped of its traditional tropes? Gone are the heroic lonesome gunslingers, the helpless women on the homesteads, the rampant ...

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Literary LA: Susan Straight In the Country of Women from 2019-09-06T20:25:41

The redemptive power of oral history is at the heart of Susan Straight's new memoir, In The Country Of Women; and also in this installment of the LARB Radio Hour, the first in a special series f...

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Race and Reparative Writing; plus, the Cutthroat World of Translation from 2019-08-29T20:39:38

We have two great interviews this week. First up, Magdalena Edwards joins co-hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to discuss her article for LARB "Benjamin Moser and the Smallest Woman in the World,...

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21st Century Globalized Capitalism in Microcosm: American Factory from 2019-08-23T07:01

LARB's Medaya Ocher talks with Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert about their new film which documents the recent history of an American factory in Dayton, OH that was closed last decade and re-op...

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Among the Believers: Ammon Bundy and America's Armed Libertarian Right-Wing from 2019-08-16T12:55:25

One of the most pressing issues facing American society is the rise of a radical anti-government right wing movement over the past few decades; and now, in particular, its relationship to Presid...

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James Ellroy and Tom Lutz: The Storm in 1942 Los Angeles from 2019-08-02T09:44:29

What could possibly be more of an LA literary event: James Ellroy reading from his new novel, This storm, then talking with Tom Lutz, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angles Review of Book...

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Brazil's Tragedy and the Global Crisis of Democracy from 2019-07-26T22:47:16

Filmmaker Petra Costa joins co-hosts Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to talk about Brazil's turbulent politics over the past few decades; and how she was able to capture their operatic intensity in...

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Ariana Reines' Quest for 21st Century Epic Verse from 2019-07-19T03:42:05

Poet Ariana Reines joins co-hosts Eric Newman and Kate Wolf to discuss A Sand Book, her most ambitious work to date. The show opens with a powerful extended passage from the poem A Partial Histo...

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Tragedy and Inspiration: Cherrie Moraga on Her Mother, the Chicanx Diaspora, and the Age of Trump from 2019-07-05T18:26:01

Legendary Chicanx Feminist Theorist Cherrie Moraga joins host Eric Newman to talk about her new memoir, Native Country of the Heart, which tells the story of Cherrie mother, Elvira, along with r...

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Historical Frictions: Jordy Rosenberg, Jack Sheppard and Imagining Transgender Lives in the Archive from 2019-06-28T05:45:44

In a wide-ranging conversation, Eric and Medaya talk with author Jordy Rosenberg about the life and times of Jack Sheppard, eighteenth century Britain’s most famous prisonbreak artist, who is at...

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Breaking Down the Binary with Jacob Tobia from 2019-06-21T00:33:25

Author Jacob Tobia joins co-hosts Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to discuss their first book, Sissy: A coming of Gender Story. In a wide-ranging conversation, Tobia talks about coming into their n...

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John Waters: Holding Court with the King of Filth from 2019-06-14T01:24:13

Co-hosts Eric Newman, Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf are granted an audience with his Holiness the King of Filth, John Waters. Speaking about his new memoir, Waters opens up about the importance of ...

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Commitment and Trust, Past and Present, with Erica Jong and Susan Choi from 2019-06-06T23:50:39

Authors Erica Jong and Susan Choi joins co-hosts Eric Newman, Medaya Ocher, and Kate Wolf in our third and final installment from the 2019 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on USC Campus. Firs...

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The LA Times Book Prize Winners: Nafissa Thompson-Spires and Carl Phillips from 2019-05-31T04:45:21

It's our second show from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC; and this installment features two of the Festival's award winners, as hosts Eric Newman, Medaya Ocher, and Kate Wolf spe...

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Hanif Abdurraqib's Love Letters to A Tribe Called Quest & Claire Vaye Watkins' Desert Futurism from 2019-05-24T19:11:17

In the first of a series of shows from the Los Angles Festival of Books, Eric, Medaya, and Kate, catch up with two friends of the show: Hanif Abdurraqib and Claire Vaye Watkins. First up, Hanif ...

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Homecoming: Laila Lalami on The Other Americans & a Mother's Day Tribute with Jo Giese from 2019-05-17T03:37:50

Co-hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher talk to writer Laila Lalami about her most recent novel, The Other Americans, a story about a Moroccan immigrant family in the Mojave Desert. In the second ha...

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Werner Herzog on Meeting Mikhail Gorbachev from 2019-05-10T07:23:37

Co-hosts Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf talk with filmmaker Werner Herzog about his new documentary Meeting Gorbachev, which he co-directed with Andre Singer. They discuss the legacy of the last Sov...

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Sally Rooney: Great Expectations from 2019-05-03T04:00:23

Co-hosts Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf speak with Sally Rooney about her two novels Conversations with Friends and Normal People. Dubbed the "Jane Austin of the Precariat" and called "the first gre...

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Talent Show: Juliet Lapidos and Tom Lutz from 2019-04-26T04:24:24

Juliet Lapidos is a writer and editor. She is currently a senior editor at The Atlantic, and previously worked for the LA Times, NYT and Slate. Host Tom Lutz joins Juliet to discuss Talent, her ...

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Opening Up with William E Jones from 2019-04-19T05:52:26

Author and Artist William E Jones joins co-hosts Eric Newman, Medaya Ocher, and Kate Jones to discuss his first novel I'm Open to Anything. In the midst of a successful career as both an artist ...

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A Tale of Two Karens from 2019-04-12T00:08:10

Author Karen Tongson talks with co-hosts Eric Newman and Kate Wolf about the tragic life and beautiful voice of Karen Carpenter, the singer who is Tongson's namesake and whose star has never los...

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Brooklyn's Loss is LA's Gain: Morgan Parker and Tommy Pico from 2019-04-04T23:06:21

Co-hosts Eric Newman and Kate Wolf talk with poets Morgan Parker and Tommy Pico about their respective new works, Magical Negro and Junk. Parker and Pico discuss how they use poetry to explore t...

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Bannon Agonistes: Alison Klayman's The Brink from 2019-03-29T04:56:12

Who is Steve Bannon? The evil mastermind of a far right global counter-revolution that's taking the world by storm; or a shallow, frumpy guy doing the bidding of his billionaire backers. Could h...

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