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
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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REPLAY: Nick Flynn on Hard Writing, Compassion, and Confronting the Ghosts of the Past
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 667, my conversation with Nick Flynn, author of the acclaimed memoir This is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire (W. W. Norton & Co).
Air date: August 19, 2020.
Flynn is the author of four memoirs and six volumes of poetry. A professor on the creative writing faculty at the University of Houston, he lives in Brooklyn, New Yo
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
1035. Sonya Walger
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
REPLAY: Clancy Martin on How Not to Kill Yourself
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 825, my conversation with Clancy Martin, author of How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind (Pantheon).
Air date: March 29, 2023.
Martin is the acclaimed author of the novel How to Sell (FSG) as well as numerous books on philosophy. A Guggenheim Fellow, his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York, Th
1034. Daniel Kraus
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
REPLAY: Susan Choi on the Pandemic, Winning the National Book Award, and the Lasting Effects of Childhood
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 647, my first conversation with author Susan Choi. We were discussing her National Book Award-winning novel, Trust Excerise.
Air date: June 10, 2020.
Choi is the author of Trust Exercise, which received the National Book Award for fiction, as well as the novels The Foreign Student, American Woman, A Person of Interest, and My
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
What Does It Really Mean to ‘Make It’ As a Writer? On Leaving Corporate Publishing, Becoming a Hack, and Deciding to Self-Publish
Mira is out sick again this week, so instead of a new episode of Brad & Mira for the Culture, I am instead joined by Chris Stuck, who came to my attention recently when he published a very provocative and unusually candid essay on the online literary magazine Zona Motel. The essay is called ‘Chasing Wild Geese Through the Corporate Book World, or How I Became a Hack and Stated Self-Publishing My F
1032. Kim Samek
Kim Samek is the author of the debut story collection I Am the Ghost Here, available from 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 Threepenny Review, Story, Guernica, and elsewhere. She works as a TV writer and producer, with credits including WordG
Russell Brand Bible Study
Volume 88 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Samantha Irby, substitute podcaster...Mira is out this week with a herniated disc...the chaos reigns...Sam explains her love of Orc penises and monster smut...Brad obsesses over a children's hospital in Denmark...feels inferior to The Strokes...prepares for next week's colonoscopy...reluctantly processing the White House Correspondents Dinner...Klay Thomp
1031. Julian Zabalbeascoa
Julian Zabalbeascoa is the author of the debut novel called What We Tried to Bury Grows Here, available now in trade paperback from Two Dollar Radio. It was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
A dual citizen of Spain and the US, Julian Zabalbeascoa was born and raised in California’s Central Valley. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing in Madrid from the University of New Orleans an
Federal Bureau of Inebriation
Volume 87 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Mira on how her entire life is 4/20...and how her paraplegic dog had surgery....her new author photo is imminent...Brad continues true crime obsession, finishes watching The Jinx...the turkey croissant conundrum...Angry Adam's midlife crisis podcast recommendation...Kash Patel is not a sloppy drunk who wets the bed, his lawyer says...Katy Perry did not r
1030. Willy Vlautin
Willy Vlautin is the author of the novel The Left and the Lucky, available from Harper. It is the official April pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, Willy Vlautin is the author of seven novels and is the founder of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines. Vlautin started writing stories and songs at the age of eleven after receiving his first guitar. Inspired by s
REPLAY: Kate Durbin on Poetry, Hoarders, and American Loneliness
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 734, my conversation with Kate Durbin, author of the poetry collection Hoarders (Wave Books).
Air date: October 24, 2021.
Kate Durbin is a Los Angeles-based writer and artist. Her books of poetry include E! Entertainment, The Ravenous Audience, and ABRA, which won the 2017 international Turn On Literature Prize. Durbin was the
Gothchella
Volume 86 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Brad is visited by animals...a white pigeon...a coyote...Mira is swarmed by bugs...ants...mosquitoes...Coachella, Weekend 1 recap...Trent Reznor wins Mira's jet-black heart...pondering Lena Dunham's tell-all memoir...Lauren Sanchez believes the oligarchy needs to stop apologizing and start having fun...Nicole Kidman is becoming a death doula...Aubrey Plaz
1029. Ada Limón
Ada Limón is the author of Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry, available from Scribner. She served as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States.
Ada Limón is the author of seven books of poetry, including Startlement: New & Selected Poems; The Hurting Kind, which was a finalist for the Griffin Prize; The Carrying, which won the National Books Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for th
Fear and Loathing in the Cheese Castle
Volume 85 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Spring Break recap...the Listis do Las Vegas...Brad goes Mormon?...Mira in the Cheese Castle...Passover in John Hughes country...Angry Adam returns from London...Trump spirals deeper into senile homicidal insanity...teases nuclear war...LeAnn Rimes experiences orgasmic jaw release on camera...Tiger Woods needs to work on his driver...Kristi Noem's cross-d
How Literary Awards Work: A Conversation with PEN/Faulkner Executive Director Gwydion Suilebhan
Gwydion Suilebhan is the Executive Director of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, which announced the 2026 recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction on April 6th—Mahreen Sohail's debut story collection, Small Scale Sinners (A Public Space Books).
Suilebhan is also a writer, arts and technology innovator, and arts advocate. A founding member of The Welders—a Helen Hayes Award-winning playwrights
REPLAY: Lorrie Moore on Writing, the Afterlife, and Ghost Stories
Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 846, my conversation with author Lorrie Moore. (Note: Brad & Mira for the Culture is on Spring Break and will return next week.)
Air date: June 25, 2023.
Moore is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. She is the recipient of a Lannan Foundation Fellowship, as well as the PEN/Malamud Awa
1028. Jung Yun
Jung Yun is the author of the novel All the World Can Hold, available now from 37 Ink / Simon & Schuster.
Jung Yun was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Fargo, North Dakota. She received her MFA in English and creative writing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the author of O Beautiful, which was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a New York Times Group Read, and a San Fr
Excerpt from 'Black Bag,' by Luke Kennard
Vol. 8 of Story Time, a new series on the program featuring an author reading aloud from his work. In this episode, Luke Kennard reads aloud from his new novel, Black Bag, available from Zando. It was the official March 2026 pick of theOtherppl Book Club.
Kennard is an award-winning poet and novelist. In 2014 he was named one of the Next Generation Poets by the Poetry Book Society in their once
A Few Good Afromen
Volume 84 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Brad decries the tribal tendencies of Homo Sapiens...Is Hilaria Baldwin taping a new reality show?...Spring Breakers...Brad family road trip to Vegas...Mira to Chicago with her gay boyfriend Alex...Mira is traumatized by Neighbors...but charmed by Project Hail Mary...Romy Mars reflects on getting high with her many babysitters...Afroman, American Hero fo
1027. Luke Kennard
Luke Kennard is the author of the novel Black Bag, available from Zando. It is the official March 2026 pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
Kennard is an award-winning poet and novelist. In 2014 he was named one of the Next Generation Poets by the Poetry Book Society in their once-per-decade list. His collection, Cain, was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and described by Alan Holl
Excruciating Oscars Recap
Volume 83 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...trying to process this year's Oscars...Brad's Fashion Corner...the Marty Supreme shutout...Club Chalamet turns on its hero...Sean Penn no-shows...the chainsmoker-bodybuilder dichotomy...Penn has been tactically deployed to Ukraine...Javier Bardem stands alone...Babs takes the In Memoriam segment off the rails...Mira's grandma has her moment of triumph bef
1026. Naeem Murr
Naeem Murr is the author of the novel Every Exit Brings You Home, available from
Murr is the author of three novels, including The Boy (a New York Times Notable Book) and The Perfect Man (longlisted for the Man Booker Prize). A former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, he's been awarded a regional Commonwealth Writers Prize, a PEN Beyond Margins Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Chicago.
Excerpt from 'He's the Devil,' by Tobi Coventry
Vol. 7 of Story Time, a new series on the program featuring an author reading aloud from his work. In this episode, Tobi Coventry reads aloud from his debut novel, He's the Devil, available from Abrams Books. It was the official February 2026 pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
For the past ten years, Coventry has worked as a book scout for film and television production companies. In 2023, he produc
AWP, DUI, DOA, JFK, WW3, WTF, SMH
Volume 82 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Brad reviews his AWP 2026 experience in Baltimore...accidentally dropped his winter hat in a toilet...traveled with large amounts of avocados and tangerines...fasted daily...didn't pee...worked out at dawn in hotel gym...Mira goes to the Frieze LA, now hates art...gets a severe migraine in the aftermath...goes to Disneyland...Trump starts WWIII to distrac
1025. Namwali Serpell
Namwali Serpell is the author of On Morrison, available from Hogarth Press.
Serpell was born in Lusaka and lives in New York. Her debut novel, The Old Drift, won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction, and the Los Angeles Times’s Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Her second novel, The Furrows, was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award for
1024. Tobi Coventry
Tobi Coventry is the author of the debut novel He's the Devil, available from Abrams Books. It was the official February pick of the Otherppl Book Club.
For the past ten years, Coventry has worked as a book scout for film and television production companies. In 2023, he produced an award-winning short horror film, Blood Rites, based on a story by Daisy Johnson. He lives in East Sussex, UK.
***
Excerpt from 'Clutch,' by Emily Nemens
Vol. 6 of Story Time, a new series on the program featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Emily Nemens reads aloud from her sophomore novel, Clutch, available from Tin House / Zando.
Nemens’s debut novel, The Cactus League, was a New York Times Book ReviewEditors’ Choice and named one of NPR’s and Lit Hub’s favorite books of 2020. Her stories have appeared in BOMB, The G
The 400 Bros
Volume 81 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Brad plants a beautiful garden...continues tedious AWP preparations...binge-watching UFO docuseries...the aliens are probably in the ocean...Mira still hasn't set up her hummingbird cam...is now invested in a new conspiracy theory involving the late Queen Elizabeth...Marty Supreme loses huge at the BAFTAs...the Tourette Syndrome vs. Racism online circular
1023. Emily Nemens
Emily Nemens is the author of the novel Clutch, available from Tin House.
Nemens's debut novel, The Cactus League, was a New York Times Book ReviewEditors’ Choice and named one of NPR’s and Lit Hub’s favorite books of 2020. Her stories have appeared in BOMB, The Gettysburg Review, n+1, and elsewhere; her illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker and in collaboration with Harvey Pekar. Emily
Clavicular Manslaughter
Volume 80 of Brad & Mira For the Culture...Brad's AWP travel packing anxiety...his compassion for Chevy Chase....watching Eyes Wide Shut, looking for clues to our present reality...contemplating a possible trip to Guatemala....Mira reviews Wuthering Heights..."shockingly prude"...getting obsessed with the Nancy Guthrie case...shoddy police work...another edition of This Week in Dead Influencers...
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