Otherppl with Brad Listi
Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly podcast focused on books and culture. Each episode features in-depth conversations with contemporary authors, covering topics like literature, screenwriting, the creative process, and pop culture. The show is available on major podcast platforms and can be followed on Bluesky and Instagram.
Episodes
1058. Tananarive Due
Tananarive Due is the author of the novel Mazywood, available from Saga Press. It was the official September 2026 pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
Tananarive Due is an American Book Award and NAACP Image Award–winning author, who was an executive producer on Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror for Shudder and teaches Afrofuturism and Black Horror at UCLA. She and her husband, s
REPLAY: Anne Helen Petersen on How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 677, my conversation with Anne Helen Petersen. We were talking about her book Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
Air date: October 21, 2020.
Anne Helen Petersen received her PhD in media studies from the University of Texas, where she studied the history of the gossip indust
Bob De Niro Has 10 to 18 Dogs
Volume 107 of Brad & Mira For the Culture..Mira recaps her return to the motherland...she did not get diarrhea...the soothing sounds of Siri and Kaya...Brad tries to teach his son how to compliment women...Angry Adam's cortisol level recedes in the wilds of Idaho...Keep Tom Cruise Weird...Digger does a nosedive at the box office...Diddy gets sent to solitary again...Taylor Swift has another n
1057. Sam Tallent
Sam Tallent is the author of the novel Brut, a literary thriller available from Random House.
Tallent is a comedian, novelist, and host of the Chubby Behemoth podcast. For the last decade, he has performed more than forty-five weekends per year in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Sam has two comedy specials: Waiting For Death to Claim Us and The Toad’s Mor
REPLAY: Robin McLean on Feminist Westerns, Cosmic Time, and Unconventional Living
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 748, my conversation with Robin McLean. We were talking about her debut novel Pity the Beast, available from And Other Stories.
Air date: December 15, 2021.
Robin McLean worked as a lawyer and then a potter in the woods of Alaska before turning to writing. Her debut novel Pity the Beast was chosen in multiple Best Bo
Excerpt from 'Sunrise,' by Téa Obreht
Téa Obreht reads from her new novel Sunrise, available from Random House.
Obreht is the internationally bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife, Inland and The Morningside. Her novels have won the Orange Prize for Fiction, been a finalist for the National Book Award, won the Southwest Book Award, and won for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her work has appeared in T
How to Write a Biography
A new Craftwork conversation with Brendan O'Meara, author of the biography The Front Runner: The Life of Steve Prefontaine, available from Mariner Books. The paperback edition will be available on November 2.
O’Meara is the founder and host of the Creative Nonfiction podcast. As a sportswriter, he’s covered a wide swath of events including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes
1056. Roshan Sethi
Roshan Sethi is the author of the debut novel The Simp, available from Simon & Schuster.
Sethi is a writer, director, and practicing oncologist. He is the cocreator of The Resident, which ran for six seasons on Fox. His directorial debut, 7 Days, won the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. He subsequently directed World’s Best for Disney+ and cowrote the abo
REPLAY: Heidi Julavits on Book Reviews, Psychics, & The Believer
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 62, my conversation with Heidi Julavits. We were talking about her novel The Vanishers (Doubleday), winner of the PEN New England Fiction Award.
Air date: April 18, 2012.
Heidi Julavits is the author of The Folded Clock: A Diary and four novels. She is an associate professor at Columbia University and the recipient of a Guggen
Excerpt from 'The Simp,' by Roshan Sethi
Roshan Sethi reads from his debut novel The Simp, available from Simon & Schuster.
Sethi is a writer, director, and practicing oncologist. He is the cocreator of The Resident, which ran for six seasons on Fox. His directorial debut, 7 Days, won the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. He subsequently directed World’s Best for Disney+ and cowrote
Angry Adam's Kafkaesque Prison
Volume 106 of Brad & Mira For the Culture..Mira prepares for a return to the motherland...Mira's dad refuses to use soap...Brad's no good very bad terrible morning...Siri and Kaya weigh in on Spirit's penis...Ed Sheeran cries onstage...Orland Bloom and the Mara sisters have a threesome in the new Werner Herzog film...Is Channing Tatum running a burner account?...Detroit woman gets lost postmo
1055. Emily St. John Mandel
Emily St. John Mandel is the author of the novel Exit Party, available from Knopf.
Mandel is the author of six novels, most recently Sea of Tranquility, which has been translated into 25 languages and was selected by President Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2022. Her previous novels include The Glass Hotel, which was also on Obama’s list, was shortlisted for the
REPLAY: Margaret Malone on the Portland Writing Scene, Philosophy, Psychology, & Improv
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 396, my conversation with Margaret Malone. We were talking about her debut story collection, People Like You (Atelier 26 Books). It was a finalist for the PEN / Hemingway Award for First Fiction, and it won the 2016 Balcones Fiction Prize.
Air date: January 13, 2016.
A recent MacDowell Fellow, Margaret's writing has app
Ben Loory Reads 'The Poet' & 'The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun'
Vol. 19 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from his/her/their work. In this episode, Ben Loory reads two stories. The first story is called 'The Poet,' from his debut collection entitled Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day. And the second story is called 'The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun,' from his second collection, Tales of Falling and Flying. Both books are avai
The Least Alive a Non-Dead Person Has Ever Looked
Volume 105 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira's mother-in-law texts her about a bloody dog penis whose penis was bloody...the podcast celebrates 15 years of quality podcasting...Brad accuses Mira of not showing enough support...Siri and Kaya send word from Australia...Bob Mackie RIP...Mira envies Mitch McConnell's drug cocktail...recapping the Emmy Awards...Brad's Fashion Corner...Macklemo
1054. Salman Rushdie & Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Salman Rushdie and Rachel Eliza Griffiths join me to talk about Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, the new documentary directed by Academy Award–winning filmmaker Alex Gibney. Inspired by Rushdie’s 2024 memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, the film revisits the August 2022 attack that nearly killed him and follows his physical and emotional recovery. At its c
15 Years of Otherppl: What 1,000+ Conversations with Writers Have Taught Me
In this special anniversary episode, Brad reflects on 15 years of Otherppl, more than 1,000 conversations with writers, and what the experience has taught him about writing, publishing, ambition, failure, persistence, and the creative life. He also looks back at how the show began, what it has become, and why long-form conversation still matters.
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REPLAY: Chuck Klosterman on Journalism, Expertise, & the Complexities of Progress
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 423, my conversation with Chuck Klosterman. We were talking about his book But What If We’re Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (Blue Rider Press)
Air date: July 20, 2016
Klosterman is the bestselling author of nine nonfiction books (including Football; X; The Nineties; and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs),
Poems from 'Elegy for Pangaea,' by Mark Leidner
Vol. 18 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Mark Leidner reads from his new poetry collection, Elegy for Pangaea (Fonograf Editions).
Leidner's previous poetry collections are Returning the Sword to the Stone (Fonograf Editions, 2021), Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me (Factory Hollow Press, 2011), and The Angel in th
Thanks for Not Talking
Volume 104 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira weighs in on the death of Gloria Steinem...Florida weather in LA...Mira professes her love for M. Night Shyamalan...is Brad obsessed with Phish?....Mira telephones three different McDonald's restaurants...Brad prepares for the 15th anniversary of his podcasting career...gets huge on Instagram by not talking...Increasingly-Angry Craig from East
1053. Mark Leidner
Mark Leidner is the author of the poetry collection Elegy for Pangaea, available from Fonograf Editions.
Leidner's previous poetry collections are Returning the Sword to the Stone (Fonograf Editions, 2021), Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me (Factory Hollow Press, 2011), and The Angel in the Dream of Our Hangover (Sator/Two Dollar Radio, 2011). He also wrote the
REPLAY: Jonathan Franzen on Fame, Techno-Optimism, and David Foster Wallace
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 426, my conversation with Jonathan Franzen. We were talking about his novel Purity, available in trade paperback from Picador.
Air date: August 10, 2016
Jonathan Franzen is the author of five novels, including The Corrections, Freedom, and Crossroads, and five works of nonfiction, including Farther Away&nbs
Excerpt from 'All That Is Left of Life,' by Roberta Recchia
Vol. 17 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Roberta Recchia reads from her bestselling debut novel All That Is Left of Life (Scribner).
Born in Rome in 1972, Roberta Rossella Recchia lived for a time in Lille, France, where she earned a master’s degree in international relations and cultures. She worked for ten years for a big company an
Is It Illegal to Smell Someone in California?
Volume 103 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira issues a correction after spreading misinformation about Johnny Carson and Porter Wagoner...Mira gets a new tattoo...the Otherppl podcast is about to turn 15....Brad lands a huge interview...Angry Adam is AWOL...the Tom Cruise nostalgia tour continues...Days of Thunder 2 is in the works...Anne Hathaway to co-star...Randy Quaid weighs in...Hunte
1052. Marlon James
Marlon James is the author of the novel The Disappearers, now available from Riverhead Books. It has been longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize.
James is the Booker Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of A Brief History of Seven Killings; the bestselling and National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf; as well as the bestselling Moon Witch, S
REPLAY: Terry Tempest Williams on Grief, Art, Absence, and Presence
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 149, my conversation with Terry Tempest Williams. We were talking about her book When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice, available from Picador.
Air date: February 17, 2013.
Terry Tempest Williams is the award-winning author of over twenty books of creative nonfiction, including the environmental classic, Refuge
Excerpt from 'Earth 7,' by Deb Olin Unferth
Vol. 16 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Deb Olin Unferth reads from her new novel, Earth 7, now available from Graywolf Press.
Deb is the author of six books, including Barn 8 and Wait Till You See Me Dance. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and three Pushcart Prizes, and was a National Book Critics Circle Award fina
Dolly Parton 4Ever
Volume 102 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Dolly Parton, our Lord & Savior, has shuffled off her mortal coil...Mira laments not being able to cancel the podcast for mental health reasons...Mira ridicules Brad for not marketing his podcast until year 15...Brad's Instagram following explodes...Angry Adam is furious again...does James Blunt have micro-penis?...Harry & Meghan heading back to the
1051. Roberta Recchia
Roberta Recchia is the author of the debut novel All That is Left of Life, available from Scribner. Translated by Antonella Lettieri.
Born in Rome in 1972, Roberta Rossella Recchia lived for a time in Lille, France, where she earned a master’s degree in international relations and cultures. She worked for ten years for a big company and then quit office work to devote herself to teachi
REPLAY: Madelaine Lucas on Love, Longing, and the Art of the Sad, Horny Novel
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 822, my conversation with Madelaine Lucas, author of the debut novel Thirst for Salt (Tin House).
Air date: March 19, 2023.
Lucas is formerly a senior editor of NOON, and she is a graduate of Columbia University. She lives in Australia.
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1050. Beowulf Sheehan
Beowulf Sheehan is the author of The Father of the Man: The Last Author Portrait Sitting with Cormac McCarthy (Autofocus Books).
Sheehan is a photographer of figures in the arts and humanities. To date, he's photographed better than 1,000 writers from more than 60 countries. His work has been published in the likes of Elle, Esquire, L’Uomo Vogue, The New Yorke
Escape from Statin Island
Volume 101 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira is late again...was watching a murder trial on her phone...meets her hero Angie K of RHOSC while shopping for underwear...gets a selfie...Brad becomes obsessed with Instagram 'heart doctors'...discovers eleven strange tennis balls in his front yard...Angry Adam drops the hammer...darkness reigns in the world of celebrity...Hayden Panettiere die
1049. Deb Olin Unferth
Deb Olin Unferth is the author of the novel Earth 7, available from Graywolf Press.
Unferth is the author of six books, including Barn 8 and Wait Till You See Me Dance. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and three Pushcart Prizes, and was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. Her work has appeared in Granta, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, and The Paris Re
REPLAY: Cara Blue Adams on Writing, Privilege, and Connected Stories
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 761, my conversation with Cara Blue Adams, author of the debut story collection You Never Get It Back (University of Iowa Press).
Air date: March 2, 2022.
Adams's fiction appears in Granta, the Kenyon Review, American Short Fiction, EPOCH, and Narrative. She is an assistant professor of creative writi
100 Disgraceful Episodes
Volume 100 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira swims with otters, actually experiences joy...also meets her spirit animal, a sloth...Mira and Tyler confront their extremely loud Israeli neighbors...Brad vs. the frowning angry woman...Brad is now eating oatmeal for dinner...the Glen Hansard Instagram crisis...Angry Adam casually delivers his weekly dose of rage...Perez Hilton has a psychotic
1048. Julie Buntin
Julie Buntin is the author of the novel Famous Men, available from Random House.
Buntin's debut novel, Marlena, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, released in ten territories worldwide, and named a best book of the year by over a dozen outlets, including The Washington Post, NPR, and Kirkus Reviews. She is the co-editor of Note
REPLAY: Bill Clegg on Writing, Modern Publishing, and Being a Literary Agent
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 381, my conversation with Bill Clegg, esteemed literary agent and author of several books, including the debut novel Did You Ever Have a Family? (Scout Books).
Air date: September 23, 2015.
Bill Clegg is a literary agent in New York and the author of the bestselling memoirs Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man and&nb
Excerpt from 'A Marriage at Sea,' by Sophie Elmhirst
Vol. 15 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Sophie Elmhirst reads from her bestselling book, A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck, now available in trade paperback from Riverhead Books.
Sophie Elmhirst is an award-winning journalist who writes regularly for The Guardian Long Read and The Economist;
Mira vs. Jonah Hill
Volume 99 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Brad and Mira see The Odyssey in IMAX 4DX...Mira buys front row tickets, doesn't tell Brad...Brad has a birthday...goes to baseball game...meets an alcoholic gambling addict...the odd American phenomenon of obsessing over the possibility of Trump shitting his pants in the Oval Office...the Angry Adam Blues...healing vibes to Ariana Grande..Jonah Hill
1047. Sophie Elmhirst
Sophie Elmhirst is the author of the bestselling book A Marriage at Sea, now available in trade paperback from Riverhead Books.
Elmhirst is an award-winning journalist who writes regularly for The Guardian Long Read and The Economist; her work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and Harper’s Bazaar, among other places. She’s the winner o
REPLAY: Alexandra Kleeman on Hollywood, Climate Catastrophe, and the Ghosts of the Future
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 732, my conversation with Alexandra Kleeman, author of the novel Something New Under the Sun (Hogarth Press).
Air date: October 13, 2021.
Alexandra Kleeman's other books include the short story collection Intimations and the novel You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine, which was awarded the 2016 Bard Fiction Prize and was a New Yo
Private Equity Hoes
Volume 98 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira moves into her new apartment...the movers stole her underwear?...she's now in debt to Erehwon...invites Brad to 4DX screening of The Odyssey...Brad's wife and daughter have Covid...he takes a trip to a dystopian CVS...despite all his rage, Angry Adam is still just a rat in a cage...Suri Cruise drops the 'Cruise'...Hollywood's hottest new trend:
1046. Claire Vaye Watkins
Claire Vaye Watkins is the author of the novel Yellow Pine, available from Riverhead Books.
Her other books include the story collection Battleborn and the novels Gold Fame Citrus and I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. She has received the Story Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award, and the Rosenthal Family Foundation A
How Meditation Can Help You Write
A new Craftwork conversation with April Dávila, author of Sit Write Here: 6 Mindfulness Practices to Help You Write More and Suffer Less (St. Martin's Essentials).
April Dávila is an award-winning author, speaker, and writing coach. Publishers Weekly called her debut novel, 142 Ostriches, a "vivid, uplifting debut" and the book went on to win the WILLA Award for Women Writing
Excerpt from 'Freedom,' by Zinzi Clemmons
Vol. 14 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Zinzi Clemmons reads from her new essay collection entitled Freedom (Viking Books).
Zinzi is the author of What We Lose, which was a finalist for the NBCC John Leonard First Book Prize and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. A National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree, she was raised in Philad
Alpha Males in Kitten Heels
Volume 97 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira is moving again...has an emotional breakdown on the way to West Elm...her botox has officially kicked in...Mira sees The Odyssey...also watches the Ralph Fiennes version...lots of full frontal...Brad goes to Indiana...experiences small-town life...questions his entire existence...watches a documentary about a plane crash while on a plane...the D
1045. Hal Ebbott
Hal Ebbott is the author of the debut novel Among Friends, now available in trade paperback from Riverhead Books.
Ebbott is a writer living in New York.
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Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers.
Available
Carmen Maria Machado on Early Success, Haunted Residencies, and the Joy of Video Games
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 491, my conversation with Carmen Maria Machado, author of the award-winning debut story collection Her Body and Other Parties.
Air date: November 8, 2017.
Carmen is also the author of the bestselling memoir In the Dream House and the graphic novel The Low, Low Woods. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the
Explosive Diarrhea in Trump's America
Volume 96 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira sleeps through her alarm by 2 hours...Mira wants Brad to be a drag queen...Mira gets botox....Brad gets the shingles vaccine...insane evangelicals on airplanes...the explosive diarrhea outbreak of 2026...Lindsey Graham dies...no more NDAs...Mitch McConnell relaxes in blue jeans in the ICU...Hunter Biden's invincible podcast era...almost comes to
1044. Scott McClanahan
Scott McClanahan is the author of the novel Fights!, available from Rose Books.
His other books include Crapalachia, Hill William, and The Sarah Book. He lives in West Virginia.
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Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers
REPLAY: Candace Jane Opper on Suicide, Obsession, and Radical Unforgetting
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 693, my conversation with Candace Jane Opper, author of the debut memoir Certain and Impossible Events (Kore Press).
Air date: February 17, 2021.
Candace Jane Opper is a writer, a mother, and an occasional visual artist. She grew up in the woods of Southern Connecticut, in a house that alarmingly resembles the one from Th
Excerpt from 'The Radiant Dark,' by Alexandra Oliva
Vol. 13 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Alexandra Oliva reads from her new novel, The Radiant Dark (SJP Lit). It is the official July pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
Oliva's other novels include Forget Me Not and The Last One, which was selected as a Best Book of 2016 by The Seattle Times and translated into twen
More Mira Mayhem
Volume 95 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira returns...two weeks of pure chaos...an airborne toxic event...a week of tending to a friend...convalescing in Vegas...getting her first (!!) massage...Brad's chipped tooth...annoyed on the 4th of July...Taylor Swift gets married to Travis Kelce...Graham Platner is very probably a sex pest...Olivia Nuzzi's new boyfriend...Mitch McConnell is brain
1043. Alexandra Oliva
Alexandra Oliva is the author of the novel The Radiant Dark, available from SJP Lit. It is the official July pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
Oliva's other books include Forget Me Not and The Last One, which was selected as a Best Book of 2016 by The Seattle Times and translated into twenty-five languages. She grew up in a tiny town in New York's Adirondack Mountains and received her BA from Yale
REPLAY: Elizabeth Ellen on the Midwest, Indie Lit, and Being an Outsider
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 99, my conversation with Elizabeth Ellen, author of American Thighs, editor of Hobart, and publisher of SF/LD Books.
Air date: August 26, 2012.
Elizabeth Ellen’s stories have been published in American Short Fiction, HARPER'S Magazine, Muumuu House, Joyland, and numerous other magzines and journals. She is the recipient of a P
1042. Zinzi Clemmons
Zinzi Clemmons is the author of the essay collection Freedom, available from Viking.
Clemmons is the author of What We Lose, which was a finalist for the NBCC John Leonard First Book Prize and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. A National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree, she was raised in Philadelphia by a South African mother and an American father. A cofounder of the literary journal Apogee,
REPLAY: Mike DeCapite on Midlife Romance in New York City
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 740, my conversation with Mike DeCapite, author of the novel Jacket Weather (Soft Skull).
Air date: November 14, 2021.
DeCapite has published the novel Through the Windshield, the chapbook Creamsicle Blue, and the short-prose collection Radiant Fog under the banner of Sparkle Street Books. Cuz Editions published his story "Sit
1041. Erin Van Der Meer
Erin Van Der Meer is the author of the debut novel The Scoop, available from Grand Central Publishing.
Van Der Meer is a writer and former journalist whose work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and Elle. She was a Spruceton Inn Artist Resident in 2024. Born in Sydney, Australia, she now lives in Brooklyn.
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REPLAY: Chantal V. Johnson on Trauma, Adulthood, and Contemporary Survival
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 780, my conversation with Chantal V. Johnson, author of the debut novel Post-Traumatic (Little, Brown).
Air date: July 6, 2022.
Chantal V. Johnson is an attorney and writer whose fiction explores gender, personality, friendship, and all forms of art, but particularly music. Her debut novel, Post-Traumatic, was long-listed for
Excerpt from 'The Scoop,' by Erin Van Der Meer
Vol. 12 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Erin Van Der Meer reads aloud from her debut novel, The Scoop.
Erin Van Der Meer is a writer and former journalist whose work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and Elle. She was a Spruceton Inn Artist Resident in 2024. Born in Sydney, Australia, she now lives in Brook
The Golden Sacrifice
Volume 94 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira experiences multiple traumas in a single week...Disclosure Day nightmare...a rat in her kitchen...witnesses attempted human trafficking...talks to live human cops...buys Brad a Jerry Garcia tie-dye....Brad attends the World Cup...gets kinda drunk...Geoff from Tennessee weighs in...Angry Adam at his most authentically hostile and aggrieved...Spencer P
1040. Ben Fountain
Ben Fountain is the author of the novel Rasputin Swims the Potomac, available from Flatiron Books. It is the official June pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
Fountain’s work has received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Los Angeles Book Prize for Fiction, and a Whiting Writers Award, and has been a finalist for the National Book Award and runner-up fo
REPLAY: Lili Anolik on Eve Babitz and the Secret History of LA
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 763, my conversation with Lili Anolik, Vanity Fair contributing editor and the author of Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of LA (Scribner).
Air date: March 16, 2022.
Lili Anolik is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a writer at large for Air Mail. She is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller Ho
Brad vs. The Volcano
Volume 93 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...the podcast is huge in Vietnam...Mira's male antagonists go low, Mira goes lower...evaluating the Twitter fallout of her Twitter clash with musician Ariel Pink...Mira lobbies Brad to help her get into the Toy Story 5 premiere....Brad triumphs on Acatenango in Guatemala....completes a round-trip ascent and descent in less than 6 hours...serves as the guide
1039. Anne Enright
Anne Enright is the author of Attention: Writing on Life, Art, and the World, available from W. W. Norton & Co.
Enright is the author of eight novels, most recently The Wren, the Wren. She has been awarded the Man Booker Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and was named the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction. In 2022, Enright was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award f
REPLAY: Rex Pickett on 'Sideways,' Hollywood, and Adventures in Wine Country
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 33, my conversation with Rex Pickett, author of the novel Sideways, which was adapted for the screen to great acclaim by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. (Payne and Taylor won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.)
Air date: January 7, 2012.
Pickett is the critically acclaimed author of the novel Sideways, which was a
1038. Tracy Lynne Oliver
Tracy Lynne Oliver is the author of the debut novel Magician, available from Roxane Gay Books.
Oliver is a writer based in Los Angeles. She has been published online at a variety of places such as Medium, Fanzine, and Occulum. She co-authored the graphic novel, The Sacrifice of Darkness, with Roxane Gay. Her story, "This Weekend" included in Best Microfiction 2019.
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Today's episode is brough
Nobody Puts Mira in a Corner
Volume 92 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira is on muscle relaxers again...and 150mg of THC...watched Dirty Dancing for the first time...experiences a sexual awakening...Brad contemplates Guatemala on the eve of his departure...has learned that you can't flush toilet paper there...Mira wins the Travis and Taylor bet...a discussion of the Travis and Taylor wedding invite drama...Dua Lipa marries
1037. Luke Goebel
Luke Goebel is the author of the novel Kill Dick, available from Red Hen Press.
Goebel is also the author of the debut novel, Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours. And he co-wrote the screenplays for the films Eileen and Causeway. He is known as well for his role as co-editor at The New York Tyrant and work with Tyrant Books. He lives in Los Angeles.
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REPLAY: Timothy Willis Sanders on Anxiety, Stalin, and Male Vulnerability
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 788, my conversation with Timothy Willis Sanders, author of the story collection Modern Massacres (Publishing Genius).
Air date: August 31, 2022.
Modern Massacres is Timothy Willis Sanders’s third book and second collection of short stories. In the vein of Orange Juice (his first collection with PGP, from 2010), stories like “
Excerpt from 'Kill Dick,' by Luke Goebel
Vol. 11 of Story Time, a new series on the program featuring an author reading aloud from his work. In this episode, Luke Goebel reads from his new novel, Kill Dick (Red Hen Press).
Goebel is also the author of the debut novel Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours. And he co-wrote the screenplays for the movies Eileen and Causeway. He is known as well for his role as co-editor at The New York
Who's Got the Crack?
Volume 91 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira sees Obsession...theorizes that lots of film directors are dumb...Mira goes to see Bright Eyes in concert...relives her tortured youth...openly loathes The Moldy Peaches...Happy birthday Mira...Brad meets an Otherppl superfan in-person...gets a disgusting iced matcha latte...preparations for Guatemala continue...Should Brad hike a volcano?...Blake Sh
1036. Kyle McCarthy
Kyle McCarthy is the author of the novel Immersions, available from Tin House. It is the official May pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
McCarthy's debut novel is called Everyone Knows How Much I Love You, and her fiction and essays have appeared in Best American Short Stories, American Short Fiction, n+1, and elsewhere. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Excerpt from 'Immersions,' by Kyle McCarthy
Vol. 10 of Story Time, a new series on the program featuring an author reading aloud from his work. In this episode, Kyle McCarthy reads from her new novel, Immersions, the official May pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
McCarthy is also the author of the novel Everyone Knows How Much I Love You, and her fiction and essays have appeared in Best American Short Stories, American Short Fiction, n+1,
Vive la Travolta
Volume 90 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira triumphs at her grandmother's funeral...gives a stirring keynote...her health problems seem to be abating...stressing about Spencer Pratt...Mira's uncle went to high school with Pratt...egged his house "at least 15 times"...the constant operatic morality play of Brad's Starbucks experiences...getting ready for Guatemala...worried about diarrhea...Tra
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Sonya Walger is the author of the novel Wifehouse, available from Union Square Press.
Walger is an award-winning actress, best known for her role as Penny Widmore on Lost and Molly Cobb in the first three seasons of Apple TV+'s For All Mankind. She studied English Literature at Christ Church, Oxford and was the host of the literary podcast, Bookish. Her first book, Lion, a semiautobiographical no
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Daniel Kraus is the author of the novel Angel Down, available from Atria Books. It was awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Daniel Kraus is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. His novel Whalefall received a front-cover review in The New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, The New Yo
Mira Didn't Die
Volume 89 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...the return of Mira...still alive...describes her health ordeal...Brad's colonoscopy journey...his true crime spiral continues...gets reprimanded for helping the homeless...revisiting the hyper-capitalist hell of the Met Gala...making sense of the Baldoni-Lively saga...Channing Tatum's mournful Instagram poetry for Zöe Kravitz...the hantavirus cruise ship
1033. Patrick Radden Keefe
Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the New York Times bestselling author of London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth (Doubleday).
Patrick's other books include the New York Times bestsellers Rogues, Empire of Pain (winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction), and Say Nothing, which received a National Book Critics Cir
Excerpt from 'I Am the Ghost Here,' by Kim Samek
Vol. 9 of Story Time, a new series on the program featuring an author reading aloud from his work. In this episode, Kim Samek reads the title story from her acclaimed debut collection, I Am the Ghost Here (The Dial Press).
Samek's fiction has won the O.Henry Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and has been cited as a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories. Her stories appear in Zyzzyva, The
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