S7 Ep. 16: Former Biden Speechwriter Nate Rawlings on Claudine Gay, Neil Gorsuch, and the Politics of Plagiarism
Journalist Nate Rawlings, who spent a stint as a speechwriter for then-Vice President Joe Biden, joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the politics (and nuances) of plag...
18 Jan 202445min
S7 Ep. 15: Bookstores Against Bans: Lauren Groff on Opening The Lynx in Florida
Novelist Lauren Groff joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss the new independent bookstore she and her husband are planning in Gainesville, Florida. The Lynx, which Groff ai...
11 Jan 202437min
S7 Ep. 14: Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the Model Minority Myth: Prachi Gupta on the Rise of Indian American Presidential Candidates
As Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy vie for the Republican presidential nomination, Indian American reporter and memoirist Prachi Gupta joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan put these ...
4 Jan 202443min
S7 Ep. 13: Holiday Archives: Danez Smith on Poetry, Blackness, and Friendship
In this holiday re-broadcast of an episode from April 23, 2020, acclaimed poet Danez Smith discusses the role friendship plays in their most recent collection of poetry, Homie. Smith talks to Fiction/...
28 Des 202347min
S7 Ep. 12: The Best Books Machine: Lydia Kiesling on Making the Lists—or Not
Novelist and critic Lydia Kiesling joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss the creation and the spirit of year-end book lists. She talks about list culture getting its start ...
21 Des 202344min
S7 Ep. 11: The Free and the Freed: Tracy K. Smith on Liberty
Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Tracy K. Smith joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss the difference between being “free” and being “freed.” She suggests that citizens of the ...
14 Des 202345min
S7 Ep. 10: Chicago in Verse: Taylor Byas on Writing About Her Hometown
Poet Taylor Byas joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss writing about Chicago, which she does in her Maya Angelou Book Award-winning collection of poetry, I Done Clicked My ...
7 Des 202342min
S7 Ep. 9: American Farce: Timothy Schaffert on the Literary Parallels for the House GOP Clusterf**k
Novelist Timothy Schaffert joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss how the concept of farce relates to today’s GOP-controlled House of Representatives. Schaffert describes th...
30 Nov 202343min
