Book Talk
60 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratingsWe find great books, talk to their authors, have interesting conversations about them.
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Episodes
Episode 60: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
June 27, 2018 18:00 - 55 minutes - 63.7 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Rebecca Makkai about what constitutes cultural appropriation and how to "write across difference," the dangers of "leading with meaning" and why writers should trust their subconscious, and why she had to kill off Cyd's favorite character; guest readers Jessica Sager and Annie Thoms join Oppenheimer to discuss mistakes, responsibility, and guilt; striving for safety while living in danger; and what happens -- to us and to others -- when our stories unra...
Episode 59: Mother of Invention by Caeli Wolfson Widger
May 30, 2018 18:00 - 61.7 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Caeli Wolfson Widger about "morning" sickness and parenting, leaning in and pushing through, and what it means to write a feminist novel; guest readers Tui Sutherland and Brian Slattery join Oppenheimer to discuss false choices and the patriarchy , strong women and toxic masculinity, and the ways Brian does and doesn't resemble Tessa's husband Peter.
Episode 58: The Optimistic Decade by Heather Abel
May 02, 2018 18:00 - 62.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Heather Abel about idealism and disillusionment, booms and busts, and why stories matter; guest readers Kristopher Jansma and Brad Ridky join Oppenheimer to discuss power and privilege, masculinity and mythmaking, and the invention of identity.
Episode 57: Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
April 18, 2018 18:00 - 69.9 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Chelsey Johnson about being a rock'n'roll flutist, learning to love plot, and how to write an ending; guest readers Emily Moore and Jennifer Eng join Oppenheimer to discuss records and oceans, mothers and daughters, and strays and strayings.
Episode 56: What You Don't Know About Charlie Outlaw by Leah Stewart
April 04, 2018 18:00 - 63.1 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Leah Stewart about her "thematic preoccupation" with identity and gender, writing at the border of genre and literary fiction, and the influences of the 17th-century novel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer on this novel; guest readers Tui Sutherland, Brian Slattery, and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to discuss love, fame, and the hero's quest.
Episode 55: The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman
March 21, 2018 18:00 - 72.1 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Rebecca Kauffman about change and the passage of time, the infinite complexity of the human heart, and the importance of allowing ourselves to be seen and to be known; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss wood frogs and grackles, quicksand and bridges, blindness and seeing.
Episode 54: The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu
February 21, 2018 19:00 - 59.2 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Kim Fu about Lord of the Flies, girls and their friendships, and unhappy endings; guest readers Yael Shinar and Alice Baumgartner join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers, daughters, and chickens, and what it means to be lost and then found.
Episode 53: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
February 07, 2018 17:15 - 64.7 MBauthor Melissa Albert about the draw of YA literature ("it's the power of the new, the power of the now"), about what makes her want to write ("it's the same thing that makes me want to read: the draw to know what happens next"), and about Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and (of all things) Little House on the Prairie; guest readers Brian Slattery and Tui Sutherland join Oppenheimer to discuss the draw of the Hinterland, doomed princesses, and girls who make decisions. Plus, they offer Meliss...
Episode 52: Halsey Street by Naima Coster
January 24, 2018 19:00 - 61.6 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Naima Coster about "the kinds of distance and intimacy that can exist between people across lines of class and race," "figuring out how to find freedom without running away," and "not wanting to write a book in which nobody raised their voices;" guest readers Emily Moore and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss object studies, returning home, and what it means to be the woman in the attic.
Episode 51: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
January 10, 2018 19:00 - 58.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Chloe Benjamin about unreliable narrators ("To me, every narrator is unreliable"), about allowing herself to write characters whose lived experience differs from her own ("research and empathy are the best way I've found to give myself that permission"), and choosing to end not with death but with healing; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss the journeys of oppressed peoples, the stories that we tell ourselves, and wh...
Episode 50: Improvement by Joan Silber
November 15, 2017 19:00 - 56 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Joan Silber about writing against the "narcissism of the novel," about being "against narrowness," and the dangers of being too careful ("then you lie in other ways"); guest readers Brad Ridky and Alice Baumgartner join Oppenheimer to discuss impermanence and contingency, the public and the private, and the desire to be seen.
Episode 49: Unforgivable Love by Sophfronia Scott
October 18, 2017 18:00 - 54 minutes - 62.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Sophfronia Scott about the constraints and possibilities inherent in telling a story that's already been told, about villains and heroes, and about the influence of "Dallas" and "The Godfather" on her writing; guest readers Deborah Cantrell and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss race, gender, and the political and cultural relevance of this novel today.
Episode 48: Hollow by Owen Egerton
September 20, 2017 18:00 - 58 minutes - 66.7 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Owen Egerton about the difference between the novel and film ("a movie knows exactly what it wants you to feel when you step out of the theater; a book you can walk away from in a bunch of different ways"); about why he fell in love with writing ("here was a place where my questions could live"); and about how writing Hollow changed him ("it expanded the mystery"). Guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss loss and grief, pa...
Episode 47: The Burning Girl by Claire Messud
September 06, 2017 18:00 - 57 minutes - 65.9 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Claire Messud about coming of age ("I was reminded of how central bafflement is to that experience"); her purposeful choice to leave so many questions unanswered ("the writers I love and admire the most write into the openness"); and how we tell stories to make sense of our world -- and yet in doing so, leave so many things out. Guest readers Kristopher Jansma and Emily Moore join Oppenheimer to discuss shelter and asylum; babysitters and caretakers; poi...
Episode 46: The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman
August 23, 2017 18:00 - 50 minutes - 57.5 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Allegra Goodman about about the challenges of articulating the visual, about what fiction and video games have in common (and how they differ), and about why she believes art continues to be important ("people are interested, these days, in which lives matter... a novel validates individual lives"); guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Brad Ridky join Oppenheimer to discuss mythology, metaphor, and metamorphosis.
Episode 45: The Locals by Jonathan Dee
August 09, 2017 18:00 - 54 minutes - 62.2 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Jonathan Dee about writing a prologue that doesn't seem like a prologue, about the rise and fall of the "social novel," and about why fiction continues to matter in today's America; guest readers Sam Purdy and Mark Oppenheimer join Cyd to discuss masculinity, morality, and authenticity.
Episode 44: The Leavers by Lisa Ko
July 26, 2017 18:00 - 50 minutes - 58.2 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Lisa Ko about becoming the person you want to be to write the book you want to write; about trying and failing and trying again; and about how you know, after you've been working on a book for 8 years, when it's finally done (winning a prestigious literary award before the book is even under contract is a helpful sign!); guest readers Kristopher Jansma and Emily Moore join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers and sons, coming of age, and language and its loss.
Episode 43: Who Is Rich? by Matthew Klam
July 12, 2017 18:00 - 58 minutes - 67.1 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Matthew Klam about his process ("I write this sentence and then the next sentence and then the one after that and if I can't pull off the sentence that comes after that I know I can't keep going"); about writing the un-sayable ("I am trying to upset people"); and about whether it's possible to draw a line between fiction and autobiography. Also, they bond over their intense obsession with the writer Tim O'Brien. Guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sage...
Episode 42: Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
June 28, 2017 18:00 - 55 minutes - 63.9 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Daryl Gregory about quarreling with his editor about structure, about the advantages of writing science fiction, and about the ways science fiction is like every other genre; guest readers Tui Sutherland and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to discuss fraud, fakery, fire-starters, friendship, and family.
Episode 41: The Reminders by Val Emmich
May 31, 2017 18:00 - 54 minutes - 62.9 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Val Emmich about why he writes (“Because I’m insane? Why do any of us do this?”), capturing the perspective of a 10-year-old girl (“the actual discovery of her voice was an accident”), and what Sydney’s secret was in earlier drafts (you have to listen to find out!). Also, he sings! Guest readers Brian Slattery and Tui Sutherland join Oppenheimer to discuss old friends and nosy children, trusted sidekicks and flawed partners; and TV talk shows, shopping c...
Episode 40: All I Love and Know by Judith Frank
May 17, 2017 18:00 - 55 minutes - 63.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Judith Frank about where this book started for her ("it was going to begin with a terrorist attack and end with the day that gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts. I had a hunch that they might have something to say to each other"); writing from a child's point of view ("I knew I was going to be using my full vocabulary to be describing her thoughts"); and why she thought a book about gay men was more likely to sell than a book about lesbians ("It's...
Episode 39: The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo
May 03, 2017 18:00 - 55 minutes - 31.8 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Susan Perabo about the ways this novel is and isn't about an abduction ("it's about this family, it's about coming of age, it's about motherhood); about her choice to leave us with an ending full of questions; and about "the things we allow ourselves to do that put distance between us and the people that we love;" guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss futility and hope, profound acts of courage and kindness, and what it ...
Episode 38: All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg
April 19, 2017 18:00 - 51 minutes - 59.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Jami Attenberg about writing in the second person, playing with non-linear narratives, and what to make of readers who yell at you; guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Deborah Cantrell join Oppenheimer to discuss the Eiffel Tower, change and sameness, and upending the marriage plot.
Episode 37: Marlena by Julie Buntin
April 05, 2017 18:00 - 57 minutes - 66.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Julie Buntin about books that are about what it means to write a book, about the space between what happened and what you remember and how you tell it, and about the way remembering can be an act of love; guest readers Jessica Sager and Sam Purdy join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers and brothers, witnesses and bystanders, and strong girls, wielding knives.
Episode 36: The Gargoyle Hunters by John Freeman Gill
March 22, 2017 18:00 - 59 minutes - 67.6 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author John Freeman Gill about the Bogardus Heist (a true-life architectural mystery), how his non-fiction writing mirrors his fiction, and what it was like to carry around the first 15 pages of his novel for 20 years before sitting down to write it; guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to discuss collections and connections, restoration and re-creation, and stealing, salvage, and salvation.
Episode 35: This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
March 08, 2017 19:00 - 54 minutes - 62.5 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Laurie Frankel about how she managed to write so convincingly about life with five kids, which parts she ended up leaving out, and all the ways this novel is and isn't a metaphor; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss loss and gain, diagnosis and transformation, and princesses in towers.
Episode 34: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
February 28, 2017 19:00 - 56 minutes - 64.2 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Min Jin Lee about writing what you know versus writing what you don't, and what she sees at the heart of this novel ("It's about race, and refugees, and assimilation, but I think, above all, it's a book about survival"); guest readers Kate Kincaid and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss passing and identity, family and home, and whether, and how, it matters if history has failed us.
Episode 33: The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
February 08, 2017 19:00 - 54 minutes - 62 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Kayla Rae Whitaker about why she left so many questions unanswered and what, in the book, surprised even her; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers and daughters, journeys and rebirth, and the powers and dangers of stories.
Episode 32: The Winter in Anna by Reed Karaim
January 25, 2017 19:00 - 51 minutes - 58.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Reed Karaim about choosing to begin at the end, how to revise, and why he writes fiction in today's America; guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Jennifer Eng join Oppenheimer to discuss fire and ice, oceans and buffalo, and tragedy and redemption.
Episode 31: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
December 14, 2016 19:00 - 59 minutes - 67.6 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Robin Sloan about unlearning how to write for the Internet ("I still catch myself rushing, hurrying, getting nervous that a section’s going to go on too long”) and reading with Google open on the side ("it makes my brain light up and makes my heart glow, what an amazing, wonderful way to read"); guest readers Tui Sutherland and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to discuss technology and tradition, fantasy and friendship, names and nighttime.
Episode 30: Brewster by Mark Slouka
November 02, 2016 18:00 - 50 minutes - 58.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with Mark Slouka about story and memory, truth and fiction, tragedy and redemption; guest readers Sam Purdy and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss fathers and brothers, power and pain, and why we run the race we run.
Episode 29: Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo by Boris Fishman
October 19, 2016 18:00 - 58 minutes - 67.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with Boris Fishman about belonging, community, and notions of home, along with how fiction is a way to explore alternate lives ("or the lives at which we have not yet arrived"); guest readers Brad Ridky and Shifra Sharlin join Oppenheimer to discuss insiders and interlopers, others and outsiders, driving and being driven.
Episode 28: The Wangs vs. The World by Jade Chang
October 05, 2016 18:00 - 55 minutes - 31.6 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Jade Chang about what was interesting about writing a book set during the Great Recession ("When you're in a time of upheaval, it's also a time when anything can happen"), and the ways her novel rebels against the traditional immigrant narrative ("I really wanted to write about immigrants who see themselves as absolutely central to their own story and to the story of this country"); guest readers Brian Eng and Jennifer Eng join Oppenheimer to discuss art...
Episode 27: The Nix by Nathan Hill
September 28, 2016 18:00 - 56 minutes - 64.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Nathan Hill about misadventures in Chicago traffic, writing as a source of joy, and what he left out between the 1200-page first draft and the final 620 pages; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss ghosts, choosing your own adventure, and the invisible injury.
Episode 26: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
September 07, 2016 18:00 - 51 minutes - 58.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Imbolo Mbue about race, class, and becoming a writer; guest readers Ian Solomon and Matt Levine join Oppenheimer to discuss what this novel has to say about heroism and humanity, dissembling and deception, and the quest for authenticity.
Episode 25: Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
August 24, 2016 18:00 - 56 minutes - 65.1 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Lily Brooks- Dalton about writing the quietest post-apocalyptic novel ever and about her choice to end with a cliffhanger ("Coming to a culmination in a place of not knowing is so much of what life is"); guest readers Brian Slattery and Tui Sutherland join Oppenheimer to discuss isolation, loneliness, grief, and hope, and crack each other up playing a game of "Which Astronaut Are You?"
Episode 24: The Unseen World by Liz Moore
July 27, 2016 18:00 - 51 minutes - 59.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Liz Moore about her writing process, the way this novel differs from her last, and her character's original secret past; guest readers Sophfronia Scott and Alice Baumgartner join Oppenheimer to discuss grief and ghosts, betrayal and bequests, inheritance and invention.
Episode 23: Surprise Me by Deena Goldstone
July 13, 2016 18:00 - 55 minutes - 63.1 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Deena Goldstone about the morality of mining other people's lives in your own writing and whether it's possible to teach someone to write; guest readers Emily Moore and Matt Higbee join Oppenheimer to discuss gender dynamics, writing and motherhood, and stalkers and figure skaters.
Episode 22: A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl
June 29, 2016 18:00 - 59 minutes - 68.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Bob Proehl about his first draft and how he chose when to reveal certain secrets ("[When] you realize a piece of information is going to be in the marketing materials, you have to give that away right off - that's the not-fun answer!"); guest readers Brian Slattery and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to consider the ways this novel is both a love letter to comic books and a critique of them, and to see how many times they can say "agency" in 25 minutes.
Episode 21: The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein
June 16, 2016 02:36 - 51 minutes - 57.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Rebecca Dinerstein about starting her novel with a broken condom ("That sentence absolutely mortifies me") and what her writing workshop had to say about her first draft ("'There's no plot! There's no story!'"); guest readers Brad Ridky and Annie Thoms join Oppenheimer to discuss bread-making and art, beginnings and endings, and why we sometimes need darkness.
Episode 20: Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capo Crucet
June 01, 2016 22:58 - 58 minutes - 133 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Jennine Capó Crucet about her novel Make Your Home Among Strangers ("It's not a writer's job to solve a problem, but to define a problem clearly"); guest readers Sam Purdy and Shifra Sharlin join Oppenheimer to examine how their own backgrounds shape their reactions to these characters and their choices.
Episode 19: The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester
May 19, 2016 00:19 - 56 minutes - 65.2 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Julia Rochester about her novel The House at the Edge of the World, and about escape, re-invention, and the power of storytelling; guest readers Tui Sutherland and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss fable and myth, and water as metaphor.
Episode 18: Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
May 05, 2016 00:19 - 1 hour - 70 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Adam Haslett about his novel Imagine Me Gone ("It feels like the book I was meant to write") ; guest readers Kate Kincaid and Alice Baumgartner join Oppenheimer to discuss haunting, ghosts, and "the dark repetition."
Episode 17: & Sons by David Gilbert
April 21, 2016 00:37 - 59 minutes - 67.7 MBIn one of the most fascinating interview ever on Book Talk, host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author David Gilbert about his novel & Sons, discussing what it means when you decide to kill off a character by having him get hit by a bus; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to talk about shoes, closets, and the ways this post-modern novel plays with our understanding of stories, truth, and our own histories.
Episode 16: Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau
April 06, 2016 16:25 - 58 minutes - 66.5 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Mo Daviau about her novel Every Anxious Wave (she even sings!); guest readers Alfie Guy and Brian Slattery join Oppenheimer to consider the ways the stories we tell bout our pasts shape our presents and our futures.
Episode 15: The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell
March 23, 2016 20:36 - 54 minutes - 62.6 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Catherine Lowell about her novel The Madwoman Upstairs, asking her whether you need to read the whole Bronte oeuvre to appreciate this book (short answer, no, but why not do it anyway?); guest readers Tui Sutherland and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers, madness, and the Wizard of Oz.
Episode 14: Girl Through Glass by Sari Wilson
March 09, 2016 21:43 - 56 minutes - 64.8 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Sari Wilson about her novel Girl Through Glass, and the way it mimics the form of a Romantic ballet; guest readers Alice Baumgartner and Kate Kincaid discuss beauty, power, and desire, and reflect upon blackouts.
Episode 13: Why We Came to the City by Kristopher Jansma
February 24, 2016 21:58 - 57 minutes - 66.4 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Kristopher Jansma about his novel Why We Came to the City ("It's about what happens to the city when the characters aren't in it, after they've left it, when it's become a part of them"); guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss pilgrimages and odysseys, 9/11, and the poet Yehuda ha-Levi.
Episode 12: Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
February 10, 2016 22:06 - 56 minutes - 129 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Kate Racculia about her novel Bellweather Rhapsody, discussing the way smartphones have rendered the mystery obsolete; guest readers Alfie Guy and Tui Sutherland join Oppenheimer to talk about ghosts and guilt, disguise and destruction, and music, magic, and mirrors.
Episode 11: Florence Gordon by Brian Morton
January 28, 2016 02:35 - 57 minutes - 66.3 MBHost Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Brian Morton about his novel Florence Gordon ("If you give up the effort to try to imagine what the world looks like from other people's points of view, you're not only giving up the effort to write fiction, you're giving up the effort to be a citizen of the world"); guest readers Sam Purdy and Shifra Sharlin join Oppenheimer to discuss whether ambition and decency can co-exist, and what constitutes courage.