Latest Episodes
Novelist Cynthia Sweeney on getting your big creative break at mid-life
“I thought that if things were hard it somehow meant that you shouldn’t be doing them. I think that was a youthful notion.” –Cynthia...
Bookslut Jessa Crispin on Keanu Reeves and the joys of celebrity fixation
“It’s helpful to have a thing that only exists in your imagination, as long as you are aware that that’s what it is. It’s...
The Sears Christmas Wish Book was (truly) great American literature
“The Sears Christmas Wish Book was, for me, a kind of foundational text — a secular counterpoint to the Bible stories I learned around...
Comedian Ari Shaffir on ‘shrooms, hugging, and quitting smartphones
“These travel podcasts are great because you just drive around talking, and people feel like they’re sitting in the back seat.” – Ari Shaffir...
Disaster Artist writer Tom Bissell on bogus authenticity and violence in art
“If you go through your life expecting moral purity from every artist you love, you’re going to have a very lonely life, aesthetically.” –...
Everest mountaineer Alison Levine on introversion and finding mentors
“The top of a mountain is just a pile of rock and ice, and it’s really not much different than being a couple hundred...