Thresholds
137 episodes - English - Latest episode: 18 days ago -This is Thresholds, a series of interviews with writers and artists you love about the transformative experiences (surprises, crises, existential freakouts, u-turns, breakthroughs) that have shaped their work. The life-wasn’t-the-same-after-that moments.Hosted by Jordan Kisner, author of the essay collection THIN PLACES. Thresholds is a Lit Hub Radio podcast. www.thisisthresholds.com
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Episodes
Dorothea Lasky
April 12, 2024 18:00 - 42 minutes - 96.5 MBJordan chats with Dorothea Lasky (The Shining) about interpreting a horror classic in her latest poetry collection, her love for horror, and why playfulness and horror aren't incompatible—and might in fact be inextricably connected. MENTIONED: The Shining by Stephen King The Shining (1980) Bernadette Mayer's "Memory" project Dorothea Lasky is the author, most recently, of The Shining (October 2023), and Animal, published in 2019 in the Bagley Wright Lecture Series. She is also the aut...
Vinson Cunningham
March 22, 2024 17:38 - 44 minutes - 103 MBJordan talks with Vinson Cunningham (Great Expectations) about finding himself in the midst of history, discovering ways to hang onto moments, and why he turned to his real life for his debut novel. MENTIONED: The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina Brown Answered Prayers by Truman Capote "How Auto is Auto-fiction" by Christian Lorentzen "American Boy" by Estelle The Idiot by Elif Batuman Shadow and Act by Ralph Ellison Vinson Cunningham is a staff writer and a theatre critic at The New Yor...
Meghan O'Rourke
March 08, 2024 17:30 - 48 minutes - 112 MBJordan chats with Meghan O'Rourke (The Invisible Kingdom) about hiding from herself, the death of her father, and the challenges of writing a book without knowing where it will go. MENTIONED: The Riddles of the Sphinx by Anna Shechtman Walking and Talking (1996, written & directed by Nicole Holofcener) "The Teens Have Made Nirvana Preppy" by Sarah Stankorb Meghan O’Rourke is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness and The Long Good...
Rumaan Alam
February 23, 2024 18:00 - 44 minutes - 102 MBJordan talks with Rumaan Alam (Leave the World Behind) about money, freedom, his recent period of creative fecundity, and the enduring power of art. MENTIONED: The Golden Bowl by Henry James Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Family Meal by Bryan Washington Zero K by Don DeLillo Agnes Martin Rumaan Alam is the author of three novels: Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and Leave the World Behind. Other writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Bookforu...
Maira Kalman
February 09, 2024 17:15 - 39 minutes - 90.4 MBJordan talks with artist and writer Maira Kalman about the death of her husband Tibor Kalman, the process of grief, and her irrepressible creative spirit. MENTIONED: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren Sarah Berman's Closet The Diaries of Franz Kakfa by Franz Kafka, tr. by Ross Benjamin "Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin, sung by Fred Astaire Maira Kalman was born in Tel Aviv and moved to New York City with her family at the age of four. She has written/illustrated over 30 books for ...
McKenzie Wark
January 26, 2024 11:00 - 41 minutes - 47.8 MBThresholds is back! To open a new season, Jordan sits down with McKenzie Wark live at PioneerWorks in Red Hook, Brooklyn, for a conversation about raving, gender transition, and the radical work of "playing" with form. MENTIONED: Leonora Carrington Kenneth Goldsmith Audre Lorde’s Zami Zoo, Or Letters Not About Love McKenzie Wark is the author of Love & Money, Sex & Death; Raving; Capital Is Dead; Reverse Cowgirl, and The Beach Beneath the Street, among other books. She is a Professor o...
Gina Chung
April 12, 2023 04:00 - 41 minutesFor her last guest as guest-host, Mira chats with former mentee Gina Chung about her debut novel Sea Change, writing about the honest messy stuff, and about learning to take better care of yourself (mind, body, and spirit) for the long-haul creative practice. MENTIONED: The bats under Congress Bridge in Austin, TX “The Love Song of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat” by Gina Chung (at F(r)iction) The Daniels accepting the Oscar for Best Picture for Everything Everywhere All At Once Gina Chung ...
J Wortham
April 05, 2023 04:00 - 40 minutesJ Wortham joins Mira to talk about the power of changes -- changing location, changing names, changing pronouns -- and the space that can open up as a result of them. Plus, some love for benevolent conspiracies! MENTIONED: Alejandro's Run in LA Still Processing Kristy from The Babysitter's Club J Wortham (they/them) is a sound healer,, reiki practitioner, herbalist, and community care worker oriented towards healing justice and liberation. J is also a staff writer for The New York Time...
Barbara Brandon-Croft
March 29, 2023 04:00 - 49 minutesLegendary cartoonist Barbara Brandon-Croft (Where I’m Coming From) joins Mira to talk about building a life out of odd jobs, the double-edged sword of being ‘the first,’ and how being a cartoonist was never on her mind until it happened. MENTIONED: Brumsic Brandon, Jr. (Barbara’s father, creator of the comic Luther) Marie Brown Jules Feiffer’s Village Voice strip Women’s Wear Daily Barbara Brandon-Croft was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island. After debuting her comic strip Wh...
Sarah Thankam Mathews
March 15, 2023 04:00 - 47 minutesWriter and organizer Sarah Thankam Mathews (All This Could Be Different) joins Mira to discuss a brush with mortality in a rip-tide off the California coast, discovering “the sourdough starter of ego death,” and the problems of being an artist under capitalism. MENTIONED: Big Sur, California "How to Escape a Rip Current" What It Is by Lynda Barry I May Destroy You Michaela Coel's Emmy acceptance speech (video, transcript) Sarah Thankam Mathews grew up between Oman and India, immigrati...
Layli Long Soldier
March 08, 2023 05:00 - 47 minutesPoet Layli Long Soldier joins Mira to talk about her transformation during pregnancy, learning to open up to the possibilities of the world, and how she makes a space for ease in order to make a space for creativity. MENTIONED: The Indigenous Language Institute The Real Housewives S.J. Res 14 (111th Congress) Layli Long Soldier earned a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and an MFA with honors from Bard College. She is the author of the chapbook Chromosomory (2010) and the f...
Hari Kondabolu
March 01, 2023 05:00 - 1 hourComedian Hari Kondabolu joins Mira to talk about seeing space for himself on the screen, discovering an answer to the question of how to be in the world, the first joke he was really proud of, and the power that comes from alienating an audience on purpose. There's a lot of laughter in this one, y'all -- as you might expect. MENTIONED: People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1992: Nick Nolte Apu Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Hari's 'diamond' joke Race by Paul Mooney Stewart Lee Also, ...
Angie Cruz
February 22, 2023 05:00 - 44 minutesMira chats with novelist Angie Cruz (How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water) about figuring out who you want to be, Angie's semi-secret history in fashion design and painting, the arrival of her character Cara Romero in her life, and questioning the truths of America in these most trying of times. MENTIONED: FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin Just Above My Head by James Baldwin Jazz by Toni Morrison Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino Angie Cruz ...
Chani Nicholas
February 15, 2023 05:00 - 47 minutesGuest-host Mira Jacob talks with astrologer and author Chani Nicholas about being the child at the party, how Chani found her voice, and the question of who heals the healers? MENTIONED: Morning Pages (from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way) FreeFrom therapy CHANI NICHOLAS is a Los Angeles–based New York Times bestselling author of You Were Born For This and astrologer with a community of over one million monthly readers. She has been a counseling astrologer for more than twenty years, g...
Introducing Guest Host Mira Jacob
February 08, 2023 05:00 - 25 minutesBig News: novelist/memoirist/wonderful human Mira Jacob will be stepping into the host chair this spring! This week, she and Jordan sit down for a pass-the-baton chat -- kicking off with a flashback to the very first Thresholds episode (and interview) from February 2020. MENTIONED: Mira's Thresholds interview "What You Might Not Know About 'Getting Roofied'" by Jordan Kisner Mira in conversation with Saeed Jones and Kiese Laymon for Bookable Mira Jacob is a novelist, memoirist, illustra...
Hafizah Geter
February 01, 2023 05:00 - 41 minutesHafizah Geter (The Black Period) joins Jordan to discuss her family's influence on her work, the power of memory, being in conversation with the writers you love, and how all of us live in a mix of genres. MENTIONED: Goya's Black Paintings "Fighting Erasure" by Parul Sehgal Toni Morrison's concept of rememory Fela Kuti, Yussef Lateef, Otis Redding Hafizah Augustus Geter is a Nigerian American writer, poet, and literary agent born in Zaria, Nigeria, and raised in Akron, Ohio, and Columb...
Sam Lipsyte
January 25, 2023 05:00 - 39 minutesSam Lipsyte (No One Left to Come Looking For You) joins Jordan to talk about giving up on punk rock, rediscovering a passion for writing, and the revelation that if you realize nobody cares, then you can do the thing that makes you happy. MENTIONED: Dungbeetle Riverbank State Park John Cheever Galaxie 500 Sam Lipsyte's latest novel is No One Left to Come Looking For You. He is the author of the story collections Venus Drive and The Fun Parts and four novels: Hark, The Ask (a New York T...
Heather Radke
January 18, 2023 05:00 - 49 minutesHeather Radke joins Jordan to talk about Butts: A Backstory, the playful invitation of the book's title, the general unruliness of bodies, and the joys of a JSTOR deep-dive. MENTIONED: Jodie Foster's Coppertone ad "Baby Got Back," Sir Mix-a-lot Elizabeth Alexander's "The Venus Hottentot" The Normman & Norma Statues Heather Radke is an essayist, journalist, and contributing editor and reporter at Radiolab, the Peabody Award–winning program from WNYC. She has written for publications in...
A 100th Episode Celebration
December 28, 2022 05:00 - 23 minutesThresholds reaches its centenary episode with equal parts celebration and consideration. We reached out to old friends to leave us some voicemails, Jordan wrote a musing on this particular milestone, and we're doing a little giveaway to celebrate all of you who've helped bring us this far along the path. Mentioned: "Notebook, 1981," by Eileen Myles The Isolation Journals by Suleika Jaouad Thanks to all of our guests, to our team, and to you listeners! Here's to many more, in 2023 and be...
Endnotes: Saeed Jones, Chloé Cooper Jones, and pre-orders
December 07, 2022 05:00 - 11 minutesIt's the end of our last full capsule for 2022 -- and what a joyful, life-affirming batch of conversations it was! First up, we've got Saeed Jones offering some writing advice (and an exercise, of sorts) -- then some alumni news and a call to pre-order several 2023 releases -- and finally, Chloé Cooper Jones and Jordan get into talking about revision and the life-affirming process of writing. MENTIONED: The Best American Essays 2022, edited by Alexander Chee Biography of X by Catherine La...
Alyssa Songsiridej
November 30, 2022 22:30 - 35 minutesAlyssa Songsiridej (Little Rabbit) chats with Jordan about moving to a new city, the scary-freeing experience of being away from one's community, and how letting a book out into the world is a process of letting go. MENTIONED: Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel how cold winters get in Boston Alyssa Songsiridej is an editor at Electric Literature. Her fiction has appeared in StoryQuarterly, The Indiana Revie...
Asali Solomon
November 23, 2022 05:00 - 36 minutesJordan talks with Asali Solomon about The Days of Afrekete, the unexpected discovery that she’s a funny writer, and trying to impart wisdom to students while she’s still learning too. MENTIONED: Get a Life (1990-1992) The Simple Stories by Langston Hughes The Book of Night Women by Marlon James An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken Asali Solomon’s first novel, Disgruntled, was named a best book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Denver ...
Saeed Jones
November 16, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutesPoet Saeed Jones joins Jordan to talk about the long-term experience of grief, the intensity of writing from the point of view of another person, and the unexpected trilogy of his first three books. MENTIONED: Paul Mooney Diahann Carroll Whitney Houston Toni Morrison Saeed Jones is the author of the memoir HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES, winner of the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the poetry collection PRELUDE TO BRUISE, winner for the 2015 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry. His ...
Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
November 09, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutesAlex Marzano-Lesnevich (The Fact of a Body) joins Jordan to talk about a particularly life-altering haircut, the power of a sequined tuxedo, and what it means for a culture to put a narrative onto a person. MENTIONED: South Pacific Ghostly Matters by Avery Gordon My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland Joseph Lobdell Alex Marzano-Lesnevich is the author of THE FACT OF A BODY: A Murder and a Memoir, which received a Lambda Literary Award, the Chautauqua Prize, the Grand Pr...
Chloé Cooper Jones
November 02, 2022 04:00 - 49 minutesChloé Cooper Jones (Easy Beauty) joins Jordan to talk about avoiding mandates, about writing through pain and trauma, and about finding the neutral room in one's own mind. MENTIONED: "Everything is copy" -- Nora Ephron sacral agenesis Richard Serra Chloé Cooper Jones is a writer based in New York City. In 2020, Chloé was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing for “Fearing for His Life,” a profile of Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the killing of Eric Garner. She was the recipient ...
Kay Ulanday Barrett
October 26, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutesJordan talks with poet/performer/advocate Kay Ulanday Barrett about their decision to get top surgery, the intersection of family and food, and writing through health crises. MENTIONED: Grey’s Anatomy Swype The Asian American Writers Workshop Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Kay Ulanday Barrett aka @Brownroundboi is a poet, performer, and cultural strategist. Their second book, More Than Organs (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2020) received a 2021 Stonewall Honor Book Award by the American Library...
Endnotes: Patrick Cottrell, Lynn Steger Strong, and some scary reading
October 12, 2022 04:00 - 26 minutesIt's the end of our 'ghosts' capsule and not a moment too soon! Those days sure are getting shorter... FEATURED: Patrick Cottrell on his change-of-seasons vibe this year A thematically-appropriate clip from our long-ago episode with Lynn Steger Strong (whose new book Flight is out soon! pre-order it!) Threshold alum highlights!! Scary-season book recommendations from the October Country, courtesy of Drew See you in a couple weeks! for more Thresholds, visit us at www.thisisthresholds....
Samantha Hunt
October 05, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutesSamantha Hunt joins Jordan to talk about The Unwritten Book, what it means to believe in ghosts, grieving the death of her father, and confronting the darkness out there in the woods. MENTIONED: geodesic domes slasher movies Flash Count Diary by Darcy Steinke If Not, Winter by Sappho, translated by Anne Carson One Direction Samantha Hunt is the author of the non-fiction book The Unwritten Book, the story collection The Dark Dark and the novels Mr. Splitfoot, The Invention of Everythin...
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
September 28, 2022 04:00 - 49 minutesJordan talks with Ingrid Rojas Contreras (The Man Who Could Move Clouds) about the accident that left her with amnesia, grappling with the decision to write about her family, and the importance of offering healing. MENTIONED: A black Vera Wang gown Curanderos Topographical disorientation INGRID ROJAS CONTRERAS was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her latest book, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, was longlisted for the National Book Award in Non-Fiction. Her first novel Fruit of the D...
Amy Fusselman
September 21, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutesJordan talks to Amy Fusselman about writers who perform, getting out of your own head, and the agonies and ecstasies of comedy. It's a laugh-out-loud kind of episode. MENTIONED: McSweeney's Internet Concern "Hawk" by Joy Williams Second Position Amy Fusselman is the author of five books. Her latest, The Mean$, is her first novel. Fusselman’s previous four books, all nonfiction, have been translated into several languages. Her work has been nominated for The Believer Book Award and the ...
Celeste Ng
September 14, 2022 04:00 - 50 minutesCeleste Ng joins Jordan to talk about her new book Our Missing Hearts, motherhood and parenting while writing, and the big questions of what kind of place art can have in the fight against fascism. MENTIONED: The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan #DontLookAway / #NoKidsInCages Hamlet by William Shakespeare Celeste Ng is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere. Her third novel, Our Missing Hearts, will be publis...
Endnotes: Crystal Hana Kim, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, and summer reading
August 10, 2022 04:00 - 27 minutesIt's the end of a 'Family' capsule of episodes and the last before our summer break, so we really pulled out all the stops this time. FEATURED: an outtake of Crystal Hana Kim talking about her next novel a voicemail from Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore about how she does August Threshold alum highlights (like a bunch of them) summer reading recommendations from Jordan & Drew See you in September, with fresh pencils and notebooks and interviews! For more Thresholds, visit us at www.thisist...
Michelle Tea
August 03, 2022 04:00 - 45 minutesJordan talks with Michelle Tea about her new memoir (Knocking Myself Up), making the decision to get pregnant, her tarot practice, and creating a queer family. MENTIONED: The Rider-Waite Tarot Valencia by Michelle Tea XOJane.com Buddhism Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen books, including the cult-classic Valencia, the essay collection Against Memoir, and the speculative memoir Black Wave. She is the recipient of awards from the Guggenheim, Lambda Literary, and Rona Jaffe Found...
Keith Gessen
July 27, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutesJordan talks with Keith Gessen about his new memoir of fatherhood, Raising Raffi: The First Five Years, and the challenges -- and wonders -- of being a parent and a writer, and what he thinks Raffi will think of the book when he's older. MENTIONED: Raising America by Ann Hulbert "Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City" by Nikole Hannah-Jones Emily Oster, economics professor and parenting advisor The Kazdin Method Keith Gessen is a founding editor of n+1 and a contribut...
Crystal Hana Kim
July 20, 2022 04:00 - 39 minutesJordan talks with Crystal Hana Kim (If You Leave Me) about the ultimate unknowability of another person's story, about motherhood as a writer, and about how a friend's validation and encouragement helped her get serious about her craft. MENTIONED: The Korean War Post-partum depression Reproductive justice Ceramics class Crystal Hana Kim is the author of If You Leave Me, which was a Booklist Editor’s Choice title and named a best book of 2018 by over a dozen publications. Kim is the rec...
Lydia Conklin
July 13, 2022 04:00 - 39 minutesJordan talks with Lydia Conklin about bucking the conventions of queer storytelling, how a childhood Oregon Trail reenactment led to one of the most memorable stories in Rainbow Rainbow, and the excitement of making big moves in life and art. MENTIONED: * The Oregon Trail (play here) * Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates * Intimacies by Katie Kitamura Lydia Conklin is an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Previously they were the Helen Zell Visiting Professor in Fi...
Ashley C. Ford
July 06, 2022 04:00 - 50 minutesJordan talks with Ashley C. Ford (author of the memoir Somebody's Daughter) about how writing made her into more of herself, about the systems that we live under, and about finding joy in new community. MENTIONED: Dr. Jill Christman, professor at Ball State paying off lunch debts (check out All for Lunch!) Onsite Workshops in Tennessee Ashley C. Ford is a writer, host, and educator who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, poet and fiction writer Kelly Stacy, and their chocol...
Endnotes: Marie-Helene Bertino, Ocean Vuong, and listening to your own voice
June 22, 2022 04:00 - 15 minutesIt’s the end of our ‘Inheritance' capsule of episodes! MENTIONED: Marie-Helene Bertino shares her summer reading plans (hint: they involve Ursula K. Le Guin) Jordan and Drew answer some more listener questions, and Jordan describes the horror of hearing her own voice over and over again updates about cool Thresholds alums like Ryka Aoki, Ed Yong, Fernanda Melchor, Sarah Manguso, and Fariha Roisin a flashback to Jordan's conversation with Ocean Vuong We'll be back with our next capsule ...
Jhumpa Lahiri
June 15, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutesJordan talks with Jhumpa Lahiri about her new collection of essays (Translating Myself and Others), how Ovid helped her navigate her mother’s death, and how translating her own new story collection is an exciting way to edit. MENTIONED: the Roman god Janus the novels of Domenico Starnone (translated by Jhumpa Lahiri) Ovid's Metamorphoses "je est un autre" -- Arthur Rimbaud Jhumpa Lahiri is the author of Translating Myself and Others as well as four works of fiction including the Pulit...
Elissa Washuta
June 08, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutesJordan talks with Elissa Washuta (White Magic) about the transformative nature of narrative, avoiding vs. thinking about painful things, why she takes more notes, and the power of a good video game. MENTIONED: Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return Dorrie the Little Witch by Patricia Coombs The Craft Red Dead Redemption 2 Elissa Washuta is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and a nonfiction writer. She is the author of White Magic, My Body Is a Book of Rules, and Starvation Mode. With...
Jessamine Chan
June 01, 2022 04:00 - 41 minutesJordan talks with Jessamine Chan about the ways having a kid changed her writing, about the difficulties mothers face in America, and about the one very good day of writing that led to The School for Good Mothers. MENTIONED: "Where is Your Mother?" by Rachel Aviv (The New Yorker) Cost of Living by Emily Maloney SCOTUS draft decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization The Ragdale Foundation Jessamine Chan's debut novel is The School for Good Mothers, an instant New York Tim...
Morgan Talty
May 25, 2022 04:00 - 46 minutesJordan talks with Morgan Talty in advance of his debut story collection about moms, storytelling, writing from a teen point of view, and the villain of colonialism. MENTIONED: The Lowering Days by Gregory Brown "The Blessing Tobacco" The Penobscot Indian Nation Superstore Morgan Talty is a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation where he grew up. He received his BA in Native American Studies from Dartmouth College and his MFA in fiction from Stonecoast’s low-residency program. His story...
Stephanie Foo
May 18, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutesJordan talks to Stephanie Foo about Complex PTSD, what it takes to accept and understand a diagnosis, and the transformative power of Google Doc Therapy. MENTIONED: * Brooklyn Botanic Garden * Dr. Jacob Ham * Hershey's Cookies'n'Cream * Google Docs Stephanie Foo is a writer and radio producer, most recently for This American Life. Her debut memoir is What My Bones Know and her work has aired on Snap Judgment, Reply All, 99% Invisible, and Radiolab. A noted speaker and instructor, she h...
Endnotes: Ross Gay, adrienne maree brown, and a special song
May 04, 2022 04:00 - 22 minutesIt’s the end of our ‘The World Around Us' capsule of episodes! MENTIONED: Jordan calls up Ross Gay to talk about his garden and something called a goumi an outtake from our convo with adrienne maree brown, on the power of expressing the thing that needed to be expressed updates about cool Thresholds alums like Alex Kleeman, Melissa Febos, Margo Jefferson, and Susan Orlean some book recommendations from Typo's dad, Ed Yong our audio engineer/composer Lora-Faye Åshuvud whips up a sonic t...
Jeff VanderMeer
April 27, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutesJordan talks with Jeff VanderMeer about the process of re-wilding his backyard, his initial obsession with uprooting air potatoes, learning to see more of the natural world, and where his fiction is headed next. MENTIONED: Air potatoes The Atlanta Botanical Garden Florida House Representative Anna Eskamani "How to Rewild Your Balcony" from Esquire Jeff VanderMeer is the author of Hummingbird Salamander, Dead Astronauts, Borne, The Ambergris Trilogy, and The Southern Reach Trilogy, the ...
Introducing Storybound
April 26, 2022 15:00 - 32 minutesNow celebrating its fifth season, Storybound is a radio theater program designed for the podcast age. Hosted by 2021 KCRW Radio Race winner Jude Brewer, Storybound presents the voices of today’s best writers, like Mitchell S. Jackson, Tamara Winfrey-Harris, and Clint Smith, reading accomplished works of fiction and non-fiction. You’ll also hear original music specially composed for the respective text. Needless to say, it’s an immersive storytelling experience. The episode we’re sharing tod...
N. Scott Momaday
April 20, 2022 04:00 - 23 minutesJordan talks with N. Scott Momaday about the Stanford fellowship that changed his life, the importance of taking the natural world into your heart, and the genius of Emily Dickinson. MENTIONED: The Stanford Creative Writing Fellowship (now the Stegner Fellowship) "My Cricket" by Emily Dickinson The Pueblo of Jemez N. Scott Momaday is an internationally renowned poet, novelist, artist, teacher, and storyteller whose works celebrate and preserve Native American heritage. He won the Pulitz...
Lulu Miller
April 13, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutesLulu Miller joins Jordan to talk about heartbreak and building back from it, about making writing the healthy choice, about relating to David Starr Jordan -- and a little bit about fish. MENTIONED: Radiolab The 1906 San Francisco earthquake Lisa Frank Lulu Miller is the cohost of Radiolab, cofounder of NPR’s Invisibilia, and a Peabody Award–winning science journalist. Her first book is Why Fish Don't Exist and her writing has been published in The New Yorker, VQR, Orion, Electric Litera...
adrienne maree brown
April 06, 2022 04:00 - 49 minutesadrienne maree brown joins Jordan to talk about the moment she learned what her style of leadership looked like, about the power of saying things aloud, and about her love of Octavia Butler and finding her way to writing fiction. MENTIONED: The League of Young Voters (or The League of Pissed-Off Voters) AK Press Left Turn Magazine's 2010 issue "Other Worlds are Possible: Visionary Fiction, Culture, and Organizing" edited by Walidah Imarisha Octavia E. Butler's archive at the Huntington ...
Allegra Hyde
March 30, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutesAllegra Hyde talks to Jordan about the peripatetic experience she had trying to find herself in utopian communities after college -- and a transformative near-miss with a mushroom that led her to where she is now. MENTIONED: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll the Rainbow Valley Community in New Zealand Brook Farm Important Saftey Tip: never eat a raw mushroom or one you haven't safely identified as non-poisonous. We recommend this handy NYT guide on "How to Forage Mushroo...