Kobo in Conversation
137 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsJoin hosts Michael Tamblyn and Nathan Maharaj for in-depth conversations with all kinds of authors about their latest books, how they write, and the books and writers that shaped and inspired them.
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Episodes
Journalist Michael Finkel on seeing through the eyes of The Art Thief
April 17, 2024 04:00 - 47 minutes - 50.1 MBMichael spoke with journalist Michael Finkel, author of True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa, and The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit as well as numerous articles about extreme places and unlikely people for Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, GQ, and the New York Times Magazine. His latest book The Art Thief is the story of Stéphane Breitwieser, a man whose theft of over 200 artworks from the sleepy museums of central Europe showed a singular obs...
Kiley Reid on writing realistically about people and money
April 03, 2024 04:00 - 48 minutes - 47.2 MBNathan spoke with novelist Kiley Reid, author of the 2020 novel, Such a Fun Age. Her new book, Come and Get It is set on the campus of the University of Arkansas, specifically at a dormitory called Belgrade, and it follows Millie Cousins, a 24-year-old Resident Advisor or RA to folks familiar with dorm life, who’s launching a second run at the final year of her degree after taking time off to look after her mother, while quietly inching towards buying a little house. Kiley Reid on writing...
Dr. Jen Gunter on writing books about bodies for people
March 20, 2024 04:00 - 49 minutes - 51.4 MBNathan spoke with Dr Jen Gunter, OB/GYN and bestselling author of several books on health, anatomy, and medicine: The Vagina Bible, The Menopause Manifesto, and most recently a new book called Blood: The science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation. Dr. Jen Gunter on writing books about bodies for people
R. F. Kuang on seeing herself in Yellowface
March 06, 2024 05:00 - 36 minutes - 35.9 MBNathan spoke with R. F. Kuang, author of the epic historical fantasy trilogy The Poppy War, as well as the 2022 novel, also a work of historical fantasy called Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. R. F. Kuang’s latest novel is Yellowface. It’s the story of June Hayward and Athena Liu, a pair of writers on the rise—one of whom is rising significantly faster than the other, until a fatal freak accident leaves the survivor holding an u...
R.H. Thomson on viewing wars by the light of family history
February 21, 2024 05:00 - 46 minutes - 44.1 MBMichael spoke with R.H. Thomson: actor, director, playwright, and author of By The Ghost Light: Wars, Memory, and Families. Part memoir, part travelogue, part history, it’s a thoughtful and impassioned consideration of war and the stories we tell one another about it R.H. Thomson on viewing wars by the light of family history
Kai Thomas conjures fiction from the history of the upper country (encore)
February 07, 2024 05:00 - 40 minutes - 29.6 MBIn January of 2023 our host and producer Nathan Maharaj spoke with Kai Thomas, author of the novel In the Upper Country. It's a story set in the fictional Canadian town of Dunmore, a place where people fleeing slavery in the southern United States build new lives. In our roundup of the best books we read in 2023, Nathan called out In the Upper Country as the book that stayed with him the whole year and which he most wants to read again. And this past November, In the Upper Country won th...
Ashley Audrain on bringing rage from the group chat to the page
January 24, 2024 05:00 - 49 minutes - 50.7 MBNathan spoke with novelist Ashley Audrain, author of the 2021 international bestseller The Push. Her new book The Whispers is a story about marriage, mothers and motherhood and parenthood generally, and also women’s rage. Ashley Audrain on bringing rage from the group chat to the page
More of the best books we read in 2023
January 10, 2024 05:00 - 45 minutes - 36.2 MBYou can't possibly need more reading recommendations after our last episode featuring the best books read by the staff of Kobo in 2023 but we've never let the height of anybody's TBR pile stop us from singing the praises of our favourite books. Here are a few more, including one you absolutely must read ASAP—plus co-hosts Michael and Nathan talk about what made 2023 a different kind of year in books and why they're optimistic about what's coming next. The best books we read in 2023
The best books we read in 2023
December 27, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 51 MBWe connected with the staff of Kobo over Zoom and in our brand new studio in our new office to ask them about the best books they read in 2023. We learned what made Rebecca Ross a must-read author this year, how one staff member found the right book for remembering his rockstar friend, and what well-known series of thrillers one of our best-read colleagues wishes they'd gotten around to years ago. The best books we read in 2023
Rowan Jetté Knox on learning from hard times
December 13, 2023 05:00 - 51 minutes - 56.6 MBMichael spoke with journalist and human rights advocate Rowan Jetté Knox, author of the 2019 memoir Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family, as well as a new memoir that came out this year: One Sunny Afternoon: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing. Rowan Jetté Knox on learning from hard times
Alicia Elliott on telling the truth through the lens of fiction
November 29, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 41.3 MBMichael spoke with Mohawk writer and editor, Alicia Elliott, author of an award-winning book of essays, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, and a new novel, And Then She Fell. It is the story of a young woman named Alice experiencing the stress of new motherhood, feeling isolated in Toronto, which feels far away, culturally more than physically, from where she grew up on Six Nations. There she's trying to carve out time for writing and keeping up appearances as the wife of a rising academic sta...
Sean Michaels, live at TIFA 2023
November 15, 2023 05:00 - 50 minutes - 44.7 MBNathan joined Giller Prize-winning novelist Sean Michaels on stage at the Toronto International Festival of Authors to talk about his new novel Do You Remember Being Born? and the role of technology in the creation of art—from automated spellchecking to ChatGPT. Sean Michaels, live at TIFA 2023
Waubgeshig Rice on finding renewal at the end of the world
November 01, 2023 04:00 - 42 minutes - 49.7 MBNathan welcomed Waubgeshig Rice to the Kobo studio to talk about the sequel to his 2018 novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, the story of an Anishinaabe community slowly realizing that what at first appeared to be a power outage might be the end of the world as we know it. In Moon of the Turning Leaves the community realizes their time in this place may be at an end, so they send out a band of walkers to find them a new home. Waubgeshig Rice on finding renewal at the end of the world
Naomi Klein on what she sees in "the mirror world"
October 18, 2023 04:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBMichael spoke with writer and activist Naomi Klein, author of highly influential and bestselling books including No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, and the new book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. Like all of her books, it’s an accessible yet complex work of socioeconomic and political criticism... but it’s also funny, at times disturbing, deeply rooted in its author’s personal experience, but for any of us that spend time online or with a steady diet of media, it can feel joltingly fa...
Michael Crummey confronts The Adversary
October 04, 2023 04:00 - 51 minutes - 49.9 MBMichael welcomed poet and novelist Michael Crummey to the Kobo office studio to talk about his new novel, The Adversary. Set in a fictional Newfoundland village called Mockbeggar, it's the story of a lifelong rivalry between two entrepreneurs that escalates into violence and revenge. Michael Crummey confronts The Adversary
Zalika Reid-Benta on becoming the "weird writer" she's always wanted to be
September 20, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 30.8 MBNathan spoke with novelist Zalika Reid-Benta, 2020 winner of the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for her debut book Frying Plantain, and author of the new novel River Mumma. It’s the story of a young woman named Alicia, who we meet at a time in her life when things are no longer going as well as they used to. Then Alicia meets a water deity named River Mumma who tasks her with recovering a precious object—and she’s got just 24 hours to do it. Zalika Reid-Benta on becoming the "weird wr...
S. A. Cosby on finding fascination in writing a good guy
September 06, 2023 04:00 - 48 minutes - 47 MBMichael spoke with crime novelist S. A. Cosby, author of the 2021 breakout bestseller Razorblade Tears. His new book is All the Sinners Bleed, the story of Titus Crown, former FBI agent and Charon County Virginia’s first ever Black sheriff, who’s moved back to the county to live with his aging father. On the first anniversary of his election to sheriff he’s called to a school shooting. The investigation into the shooter's motivation leads Sheriff Crown into the darkest corners of Charon to r...
Britt Wray on bringing emotions to bear on climate science (encore)
August 23, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBWe're taking a little bit of time off for summer, so this episode is a re-release of one we put out early last year. It's with science writer Britt Wray. Nathan spoke with her last May about her book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis, which deals with the psychological and emotional implications of climate change, a topic that has only grown in relevance since it was first published. Britt Wray on bringing emotions to bear on climate science
John Vaillant sees more fire weather in the forecast
August 09, 2023 04:00 - 57 minutes - 45.6 MBMichael spoke with writer John Vaillant, author of page-turning non-fiction that examines the relationship between humans and the natural world. His new book is Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. At its heart is the 2016 wildfire that ravaged Fort McMurray, a city that stands at the heart of Canada’s petroleum industry—but it’s really about every city, every home, and the lives of every one of us inhabiting this increasingly flammable planet. John Vaillant sees more fire weather in the ...
Live at MOTIVE: Global Issues on the Page
July 26, 2023 04:00 - 48 minutes - 41.1 MBOn stage in downtown Toronto, Nathan interviewed authors Kevin Powers and Ausma Zehanat Khan about their latest novels, which introduce us to people working in the criminal justice system to solve violent crimes with far-reaching geopolitical causes—informed by each author’s own unique perspective and expertise. Live at MOTIVE: Global Issues on the Page
Tom Rachman on inhabiting the roles of others in The Imposters
July 12, 2023 04:00 - 37 minutes - 44.7 MBIn this episode recorded in-person in Kobo’s new office in downtown Toronto, Nathan spoke with novelist Tom Rachman, author of books including The Imperfectionists and The Italian Teacher. It’s our first in-person episode of Kobo in Conversation since 2020—and that’s why it sounds a little different from the episodes we’ve been making over Zoom over the past few years. The Imposters is a novel about a novelist, but a novelist unlike most you'll meet in fiction. Dora Frenhofer was once su...
Getting surreal with Samantha Irby
June 28, 2023 04:00 - 50 minutes - 41.5 MBNathan spoke with Samantha Irby, screenwriter on the TV series Shrill and most recently the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That..., and the author of books including We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Wow, No Thank You, as well as the new essay collection Quietly Hostile. They chatted about joining a TV writers' room as a superfan and why she hasn't (yet) written a book called "Garbage Time" or "Trench Mouth". Getting surreal with Samantha Irby
Ritu Bhasin on the good, the bad, and belonging
June 14, 2023 04:00 - 54 minutes - 43.9 MBMichael spoke with Rithu Bhasin, social justice advocate, entrepreneur, and author of We’ve Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging, a book about building a culture where everyone feels welcome to show up with their whole self. And it’s also a very personal book, in which she shares her own difficult journey towards a sense of belonging. Ritu Bhasin, on the good, the bad, and belonging
Ore Agbaje-Williams on writing a character who says it all out loud
May 31, 2023 04:00 - 40 minutes - 27.1 MBWe spoke with Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of the new novel The Three of Us. It’s a story about three people: a husband and wife, and the wife’s friend, who is definitely not the husband’s friend. It’s a wickedly funny book told through three voices in tension with one another, and possibly also objective reality. Ore Agbaje-Williams on writing a character who says it all out loud
Carley Fortune on summer love and second chances
May 17, 2023 04:00 - 48 minutes - 36.4 MBWe spoke with Canadian journalist and bestselling romance novelist Carley Fortune, author of the new book Meet Me at the Lake. It’s a summer love story about Fern Brookbanks, who's forced to grieve the sudden death of her mother while trying to run her family’s lakeside resort, alongside the manager who happens to be her ex. Unbeknownst to her, Fern’s mom had hired a consultant just before she died; and unfortunately it turns out to be Will Baxter, the guy who stole Fern's young heart years ...
David Grann on the brutal truths revealed in The Wager
May 03, 2023 04:00 - 55 minutes - 49.7 MBWe spoke with David Grann, author of non-fiction page-turners including The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon and Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, to say nothing of his many incredible articles about crime and adventure that he’s written over the past twenty years for The New Yorker. And he has a new book, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. It’s about seafaring, nautical battles, castaways on the brink of starvatio...
Shelley Read on bringing life to quiet characters
April 19, 2023 04:00 - 52 minutes - 46.6 MBShelley Read is the author of the novel Go as a River, a story set in the 1940s on a peach farm in a Colorado town called Iola. She spoke with us about finding the voices of her quiet characters through her deep knowledge of the history and geography of the region. Shelley Read on bringing life to quiet characters
Zoe Whittall on the truth about liars
April 05, 2023 04:00 - 37 minutes - 28.9 MBWe spoke with Zoe Whittall, poet, screenwriter, and novelist. Her new book The Fake is a novel about a liar named Cammie and two people who fall under her spell—and then have to pick up the pieces of their lives when they fall out of it. Zoe Whittall on the truth about liars
Hua Hsu on the strange characters of memoir
March 22, 2023 04:00 - 52 minutes - 37.2 MBWe spoke with writer Hua Hsu, author of Stay True: A Memoir. It’s a heartfelt, thoughtful book about family, friendship, and figuring out who you are—and was widely lauded as one of the best non-fiction books of 2022. Hua Hsu on the strange characters of memoir
Lindsay Wong tells us pleasant things about discomfort
March 10, 2023 05:00 - 29 minutes - 21.5 MBWe spoke with Lindsay Wong, author of the memoir The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family, which was a finalist for Canada Reads in 2019, and the YA novel My Summer of Love and Misfortune. And she has a marvelously macabre new short story collection, Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality. Lindsay Wong tells us pleasant things about discomfort
Cherie Dimaline on connecting with the extraordinary
February 24, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 40.1 MBWe were joined by novelist Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves, its sequel Hunting by Stars, and the acclaimed literary novel Empire of Wild. Her new book is VenCo, a work of speculative fiction in which a secretive corporation named VenCo hires a powerful witch to assemble an elite coven—before the recruits are found by an ancient witch hunter. Cherie Dimaline on connecting with the extraordinary
Jackie Lau on the Kobo Writing Life podcast
February 10, 2023 05:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBWe're bringing you a conversation from the Kobo Writing Life Podcast, where writers talk about how they're navigating the many publishing options available to authors today. Check out Jackie Lau on the Kobo Writing Life Podcast, with links to Jackie's books and the books discussed in this episode: KWL – 310 – Writing Romance, Working with Kobo Originals, and More with Jackie Lau And here's our Q&A with Jackie on the Kobo blog: Jackie Lau on writing romance, fake dating, and Asian represent...
CS Richardson on writing with all the colour in the world
January 27, 2023 05:00 - 37 minutes - 29.2 MBWe spoke with author and book designer CS Richardson, whose first novel The End of the Alphabet won the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best 1st Book. His new book, All the Colour in the World is a kaleidoscopic novel about a boy’s love affair with art and a man’s struggle with loss. And while we had him on the line, we took the opportunity to talk a bit about his other career as one of Canada’s most celebrate d book designers. CS Richardson on writing with all the colour in the world
Kai Thomas conjures fiction from the history of the upper country
January 14, 2023 05:00 - 40 minutes - 29.6 MBWe spoke with Kai Thomas, author of the novel In the Upper Country. It's a story set in the fictional Canadian town of Dunmore, a place where people fleeing slavery in the southern United States build new lives. Kai Thomas conjures fiction from the history of the upper country
More of the best books we read in 2022
January 01, 2023 05:00 - 40 minutes - 27 MBBecause you can never hear about too many great books, here's another batch of the best books Kobo staff read in 2022. There's memoir, investigative journalism, fun facts, romance, and more (also moors)! The best books we read in 2022
The best books we read in 2022
December 25, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 47.8 MBWe asked the staff of Kobo about the best eBooks and audiobooks they read in 2022, and we heard about memoirs, literary masterpieces, page-turning non-fiction, family sagas, mind-opening nature writing, sci-fi love stories across time, and so much more. The best books we read in 2022
Harold McGee on the science of smells
December 08, 2022 20:40 - 56 minutes - 39.4 MBWe spoke with award-winning science writer Harold McGee, author of the new book Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells, a wondrous and entertaining guide to the smells of food, yes, but also of our surroundings—indoor as well as outdoor, from rotten eggs and wet dogs to coffee and perfume—and offers readers a whiff of the very building blocks of the universe itself. Harold McGee on the science of smells
Beneath the veneer with Naben Ruthnum and André Forget
November 25, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 55.6 MBThe final of three interviews we recorded at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. With novelists André Forget author of In the City of Pigs, and Naben Ruthnum author of A Hero of Our Time we spoke about their darkly comic novels that play with themes of work, art, and the unreality of even so-called real estate. Beneath the veneer with Naben Ruthnum and André Forget
Jean Hanff Korelitz, live at TIFA 2022
November 11, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutes - 51 MBThe second of three interviews we recorded at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. We interviewed novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz, author of several critically acclaimed bestselling novels, but most recently The Latecomer. It's the story of the Oppenheimer family, who are materially very comfortable, and fairly uncomfortable in just about every other way. Jean Hanff Korelitz, live at TIFA 2022
Marian Keyes, live at TIFA 2022
October 29, 2022 04:00 - 39 minutes - 45.1 MBOver the next few weeks we'll be sharing recordings of live interviews conducted at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. The first of these features international bestselling author Marian Keyes speaking about her pandemic project, Again, Rachel, the unexpected (to her) sequel to her breakout 90s bestseller Rachel's Holiday. We spoke with Marian back in 2020 as well: Marian Keyes on getting older... but never feeling grown up
Ann-Marie MacDonald on staying open to surprise
October 14, 2022 04:00 - 48 minutes - 35 MBWe were joined by actor, playwright, and novelist Ann-Marie MacDonald, author of the international bestseller Fall on Your Knees, to talk about her new novel, Fayne, a work of historical fiction about a girl named Charlotte, her father Henry, a painting of Charlotte’s late mother and infant brother—and a secret that lies between them. Ann-Marie MacDonald on staying open to surprise.
Chief Robert Joseph on the need and desire for reconciliation
September 30, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 43.9 MBWe spoke with Chief Robert Joseph, a Hereditary chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation and honourary witness to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission about his new book Namwayut: A Pathway to Reconciliation. In the book and in this episode, Chief Joseph shares an intimate view of his own life while making an impassioned plea to readers to embrace vulnerability, summon the courage to recognize truth and trauma, and take steps towards reconciliation. Chief Robert Joseph on the need and ...
Hernan Diaz on power, truth, and Trust
September 02, 2022 04:00 - 50 minutes - 34.8 MBNovelist Hernan Diaz is a professor at Columbia University and the author of In the Distance, a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize. We spoke with him about a range of topics that inform his new novel Trust, a fractured, multi-layered book about the life and ambitions of the fictional tycoon Andrew Bevel. Hernan Diaz on power, truth, and Trust.
Deon Meyer on The Dark Flood
August 19, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutes - 35.2 MBDeon Meyer is the author of The Dark Flood, the newest installment in his Benny Griessel series of detective novels set in South Africa. We spoke with Deon as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors' Mystery & Crime Festival: MOTIVE. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation.
Ben Mezrich's wild ride
August 05, 2022 04:00 - 38 minutes - 34.5 MBEnjoy this conversation with non-fiction thriller author Ben Mezrich, author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House about his new historical fiction novel The Midnight Ride, which started out as a wildly ambitious project taken up in the early days of the pandemic. We spoke with Ben as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors' Mystery & Crime Festival: MOTIVE. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation.
Cory Silverberg on the right way to teach kids about sex
July 22, 2022 04:00 - 50 minutes - 39.5 MBWe spoke with Cory Silverberg, educator, entrepreneur, researcher, and author of the books What Makes a Baby, Sex is a Funny Word, and the new book, You Know, Sex. These books are approachable and factual guides to sex and bodies, but also grown-up feelings, experiences, and all kinds of stuff that can be really hard for anyone to talk about. Supported by Fiona Smyth’s vivid and playful illustrations, Cory Silverberg’s writing always finds a humane and plain-spoken way to explain everything ...
Elamin Abdelmahmoud wants to know everyone's elsewhere story
July 08, 2022 04:00 - 41 minutes - 29.1 MBSome listeners may recognize the voice of our guest Elamin Abdelmahmoud from the CBC podcasts Party Lines and Pop Chat. He joined us to talk about his new book, Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces in which he writes movingly of his relationship to his personal elsewhere, the Sudanese city of Khartoum from which he came to Kingston, Ontario as a child. He also writes beautifully about his passion for country music and affinity for the American South, and mounts a convincing defense of the mu...
Riley Black on the end of the world and new beginnings
June 24, 2022 04:00 - 57 minutes - 47.3 MBWe were joined by science writer Riley Black, author of several bestsellers on paleontology including My Beloved Brontosaurus, Written in Stone, and Skeleton Keys. And if you've read literally anything anywhere about dinosaurs in the last decade, you’ve probably happened upon pieces by her in National Geographic, WIRED, Smithsonian Magazine, and Scientific American. Her new book is The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World. It’s a richly narrat...
Sheila Heti on getting reacquainted with her imagination
June 10, 2022 04:00 - 41 minutes - 30.4 MBSheila Heti is a novelist, playwright, and former interviews editor for the literary magazine The Believer. We spoke with her (and her dog Feldman) about her new novel Pure Colour and how her novels come into being. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation.
Britt Wray on bringing emotions to bear on climate science
May 27, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBWe spoke with Britt Wray, broadcaster, science writer, and researcher at the intersection of mental health and climate change. Her new book is Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis which is a deeply felt and thoroughly-researched study of what it means to wake up every day and live our lives on this warming planet of ours—without succumbing to despair about it all. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation.