Western Thought artwork

Western Thought

51 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago -

A couple of years ago Jonah Andrist convinced Will Peterson, of the Walrus and Carpenter bookstore in Pocatello ID, to go halfsies on a recorder. Every month or so we've sat down in front of this recorder for a chat, with some beer, to talk about writing and great writers and the philosophy of doing as such. Will has an incredible amount of developed training as a talker - being a personal knowledge hub who people look to for suggestion and guidance, a great bookstore owner - and as a writer himself knows the pains and pleasures of trying to do something great. Jonah felt doomed to becoming a writer, come hell or high water (of which there's been plenty) and with less life experience than Will has yet tried to read as widely as possible to truly understand the magic of the craft.

Together they form a highly educated 45 year old who has dedicated their life to books and the people who read them.

Books Arts literature philosophy writing publishing lighthearted failure
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Episodes

Episode 56: Thomas Hardy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Hunter S. Thompson, Herman Hesse,

November 17, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 110 MB

About 4 minutes in Jonah reveals the idea for this episode: he is going to list off bursts of authors he's read in the last five years of doing the podcast which they haven't featured and Will is going to riff on whatever comes to mind. Thanks for listening fellow littérateurs. This may be our last episode ... Jonah is tired of doing jobs he doesn't like so he's gonna get out of Idaho and get beat on the dirty streets of Hollywood. He is leaving behind a box of books of his short st...

Episode 55: Mallarme (accent not included)

August 14, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 93.9 MB

This is a very loosely styled podcast. I know, usually we keep it so on point and tight. But often I think podcasts are more fun this way. At least we had fun. It's the conversation you'll get in the Walrus and Carpenter bookstore. Come sit for a while and geek out about language.

Episode 54: Milan Kundera Dies Age 94

July 19, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 103 MB

A eulogy Live from the Walrus and Carpenter bookstore. Ten years ago, when Jonah first fell headfirst into an obsession with Kundera (and his new English translations) Jonah was surprised to learn Kundera was still alive.  Shortly after he started writing notes for an article about the importance of Kundera's novel Immortality to 20th century literature - halfway expecting at some point to have a relationship with a literary journal which might publish it. Those notes still exist bu...

Episode 52: A Deadly Day

June 24, 2023 00:00 - 12 minutes - 19.5 MB

Just a little short story told loosely. This is a little inside baseball for anyone who wonders why creators keep stumbling into using sites like patreon. And like inside baseball, you're gonna have to care to find this interesting so feel free to change channels quickly. At a certain threshold of published episodes your server fees for posting continue to grow, steeply. From where this podcast is now to the next level would cost me triple the yearly cost. On Patreon you can post a...

Episode 50: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"

May 02, 2023 00:00 - 51 minutes - 79 MB

You've been clamoring for it and it's finally here! More clanging of the chimes on Will's bookstore door, more conversational meandering.  More of Jonah suggesting they talk about books which Will hasn't looked at in decades but Jonah stubbornly thinks will be interesting anyway until he realizes, again, he's forced a topic which he wasn't prepared for. This topic is the physicist Richard Feynman. Apparently you can get free pdf's of this classic lighthearted romp through the intell...

Episode 48: ee cummings

February 27, 2023 00:00 - 40 minutes - 61.3 MB

It would be cool to be really interesting in one of these description areas ... But I don't think it is possible. It's like the summation for a piece of fiction. You're sort of telling what the story is about but if you get to close to saying exactly what happens you either A. Miss the larger metaphorical or allegorical content or B. You end up risking spoilers. The thing, with podcasts, is they're impossible to spoil so I suppose this could literally be a transcription for words sp...

Episode 44: Virginia Woolf

January 05, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 102 MB

The initial idea for this episode was to do a centennial retrospective of the year 1922. The writers TS Eliot, EM Forster, and last but not least, Woolf. Woolf, I think for both of us, ended up being the most fascinating. Partially because a week before, in the Walrus and Carpenter (Will's bookstore) Jonah found a copy of Beginning Again. One part of five of Leonard Woolf's autobiography. A fascinating remnant of literary history which is used to create, in our opinion, literary spe...

Episode 43: Meditations on the Tarot

November 17, 2022 00:00 - 42 minutes - 58 MB

Not necessarily literature but a larger discussion about the nature of the universe. Whether it's open or closed. These Meditations are from a book by a anonymous author and are basic discussions for the understanding of Christian Hermeticism. Just pop your head into the bookstore and see if anything peaks your interest. We had fun.

Episode 41: Was Herman Melville homosexual?

November 02, 2022 00:00 - 59 minutes - 92.3 MB

Will stumbled upon a book (Homosexuals in History) with a reference to Hawthorne being potentially homosexual. We try and dig into the confluence of art and sex. So far, for this year, I think this may be our best podcast. Maybe because it's now chilly enough in Idaho that Will has the fireplace running at the front of his store again. Come sit near for a bit. As always, old episodes available at patreon.com/westernthought.

Episode 39: Gertrude Stein

October 06, 2022 00:00 - 38 minutes - 60.1 MB

A fairly busy Tuesday at the bookstore with a few sales and auditory distractions from a new roof being applied. Still, there's a few good one-liners and a (possibly) good introduction to Stein and her cubist doodlings with words (my words). Shorter episodes these days as Will now has a standing dinner date. Perhaps we will compensate by doing them more frequently. As always, old episodes are now stored for you perusal at patreon.com/westernthought. Come sit in the bookstore for a w...

Episode 37: Two Stories

August 03, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 107 MB

Another fictional supplement to the podcast. Two independent stories which have been recorded for your listening interest (written far apart with very different styles).  The first story is a touch of exaggerated reality - with an artist who makes exceptional pictures in the foam of coffee. The second story is a Henry Miller inspired first person wander through a mysterious death and a "postmodern" deconstruction of the mystery genre. The second story begins 24 minutes in.

Episode 36: Simone de Beauvoir's THE MANDARINS

July 20, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 165 MB

A couple technical (battery) hiccups fragment the show a little at the beginning, but not necessarily to its detriment. Beauvoir is a writer that Jonah has wanted to do for some years and it's fun to get around to that period of French letters and another female - though our depth in reviewing Beauvoir's THE SECOND SEX is quite limited.  Reminder that we have a Patreon for old episodes.  Another two hours to come hang out in the bookstore.

Episode 35: The Drug Show (a podcast about Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation)

June 10, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 144 MB

This felt pretty good after we'd finished. The format Jonah always had in mind for the function of the podcast. A lot of Will talking with some pointed questions and secondary material thrown in. Some other secret magic may also have been involved. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Episode 34: Trying to Understand William Faulkner

May 20, 2022 23:01 - 1 hour - 94.8 MB

We are joined by a cool painter in a Canadian tuxedo named Sydney who plays the good sport. This one is rambling and reaching with a lot of laughter and Will tells me in the second half we get very un-PC. Jonah remembers a certain amount of belligerence ... but that's usually the most fun one can have with a podcast. So come sit in the bookstore and try to figure out what's the deal with William Faulkner. www.patreon.com/westernthought

Episode 33: Phantasmagoria, Robert Musil and a Writer's Festival

April 28, 2022 21:29 - 1 hour - 119 MB

This one starts a little bit slow. Jonah wanted to do an examination of what potential writer's festivals have become in this world of many other distractions. This kinda gets done? But basically commits the same sin that was meant to be avoided. Namely, dropping info that most of you wont really have that much context for. Reminder that we have a Western Thought Patreon now. Why would anyone pay for this? I mean I've never subscribed to anyone else's Patreon, why should you? I hate...

Episode 32: Ralph Ellison

April 03, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 41.8 MB

The middle of this discussion features an interview about Human Rights - and how to make money from them. Jonah tries his best to discuss Ralph Ellison's life in essays but mainly reflects on the one which tickled him the most. Come sit in the bookstore for a while. Oh yeah, and Western Thought has a Patreon now. Check it out for episodes removed because of server storage costs that our number of listeners doesn't really justify paying as of yet.

Episode 31: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut

February 17, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 75.4 MB

An exciting little book from an author to look out for. Jonah drinks his beer too fast and Will talks about Leonard Cohen, which honestly should probably be the title. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Episode 30: The David Foster Wallace Special

January 06, 2022 21:39 - 1 hour - 132 MB

Warning: this episode contains irony. (To ruin the fun: It's actually about Henry Miller. Wait ... is that technically irony? It's not what I mean, and it's intended for comedic affect - I think it counts. Wallace was more concerned with Irony on a large scale cultural level which is obviously what this podcast will never have - so we get to have fun with the irony instead of wringing our hands.) Come sit in the bookstore for a while. www.patreon.com/westernthought

Episode 29: A Beautiful Lie, or, A Fairly Boring Truth

November 26, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 54.1 MB

A cold open song, disrupted by thoughts on nihilism and and wisdom. Will talks about a biography he read on Eva Gardner. Some loose ends of the podcast are discussed. Jonah ends with a rant about an awful foreword to a collection of Stanislaw Lem's Ijon Tiichy cycle. Check Lem out if you haven't already.

Episode 28: LABYRINTHS by J.L.B

October 20, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 61.1 MB

A purposeful labyrinthine title for an episode that starts with a real world mystery. You will know if you're in the know who JLB is -  the famously blind and brilliant librarian of the imagination. Honestly there was something of a miscommunication for this episode. We started with an idea of doing Borges and then Jonah gave Will a supplementary text titled the Oxford Book of Latin American Short Stories just to round out the conversation. But Will seemed so enamored with a few o...

Episode 27: Truman Capote, John Kennedy Toole

September 23, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 68 MB

Capote's MUSIC for CHAMELEONS and Toole's "Confederacy of Dunces" are discussed. Jonah discovers after the fact that he is wrong about much of Toole's biography. This well written article is probably worth more than his words. https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/the-uneasy-afterlife-of-a-confederacy-of-dunces Yet the virtue of the medium allows for the display of ignorance-par-excellance.  Pretty breezy discussion with perhaps a touch too many personal stories, but hey, we'r...

Episode 26: A Susan Sontag Reader

August 26, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 58.7 MB

With a dash of irony I'm going to set up a false dichotomy: this is either the worst show we've ever done or it's the best. Jonah laments not having it more prepared like a lecture - yet what would a lecture bring that reading Sontag's work in her own words would not? Perhaps this mess is preferable. In fact this is part of Sontag's themes in The Aesthetics of Silence. She argues for the spoken word rather than the written. Which, by the way, like any difficult or messy work of art...

Episode 25: Cormac McCarthy or The Evening Redness in the West

August 05, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 116 MB

Could probably fill up multiple podcasts with this author. An American and Western writer of first order. Unlike our first episodes we don't really deviate much into other authors - though Will gives some interesting personal accounts. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Episode 24: Haruki Murakami

July 08, 2021 00:00 - 3 minutes - 37.6 MB

Shorter episode where we discuss the short stories of Murakami. Perhaps the most famous Japanese writer translated into English? Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Finding Everett Ruess

May 27, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 60.5 MB

You may recognize this name from Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild which featured a chapter on Everett. Painter, poet, vagabond for beauty. Also victim of a mysterious disappearance in 1934. Though he lives on as a figure onto whom the artistic soul can commune. The book we mainly discuss is authored by David Roberts. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Christina Rossetti

May 07, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 64.7 MB

We start with a discussion of Rossetti's poetry and potential meanings. Soon though we move onto a secret that Jonah's been keeping under his hat. Once A Fool! by Boye de Mente. A journey from Tokyo to Alaska by Amphibious Jeep. A story perfect for a screenplay but would need 15 million dollars and a director with the nascent hutzpa to try and film on the ocean. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

James Joyce FINNEGAN'S WAKE

April 01, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 44.9 MB

Tripping through some passages of this cultural mish-mash of a book there is a lot of laughter. We're joined by Pam, a helping hand for giving us everyman context. Also discussed is Albert Camus whom I hope to discuss more in a future episode .... though to be honest I doubt we'd do better than The Partially Examined Life #4 on Camus. Check that one out if you want as good a philosophical starter course as any you'd get at university.

Spring Non-Fiction

March 26, 2021 00:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MB

Two non-fictional pieces on tap for this episode. One is what I should've lead off with to start this whole podcast. It's a character piece I did on Will Peterson. The second piece is an article I wrote about strippers in Reno (back in 2018). This episode is brought to you by The Town of Books. Jonah's audiobook with professional reader Tom Strah, instead of Jonah's weedy voice.

Eps 19: Charles Bukowski PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK

March 04, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 63 MB

Jonah and Will end up talking a decent amount about drinking and fighting. Surprise surprise. You guys, don't think of writing as your dream. Don't fantasize this shit. Your neighbor who's going to work to afford the lease on a mustang is closer to pursuing a dream than you are. You are grub in a vast universe of time. Don't try ... write only when you are risking being hated, hated for saying you think you see the world how it is.

Episode 18: THE MASTER AND MARGARITA by Mikhail Bulgakov

February 03, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 61.2 MB

A jaunty Russian novel that is one of Will's favorites. We get to really dig our teeth into some big topics in this one. Meaning! Yes, what is the meaning of meaning? Listen and be as confused as when you started (though hopefully amused for an hour).

Episode 17: Franz Kafka and the Logic of Literature

January 06, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 62.6 MB

Touch a few bases of Kafka's oeuvre in this episode. As always we fall down a few separate rabbit holes. Fun though. I've always loved thinking and talking about Kafka. Definitely a fundament of Western Thought. Does our podcast need music? Intros or outros? Personally I like just getting straight into the talking but any feedback is welcomed. Still looking for submissions if you got em. In the spring Will mentions that he's going to do a Crater's of the Moon anthology. Take a shot...

Episode 16: Milan Kundera and Michel Houellebecq

December 05, 2020 10:06 - 1 hour - 131 MB

This episode's discussion begins with a reading from Kundera's THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING. I cannot stress this enough - if you go out and get one of Kundera's middle period novels (and you should, right now) you need to get the Aaron Asher translations. He worked closely with Kundera in the 90's and they really are superior in every way. We get pretty french this week.

William Gibson's PATTERN RECOGNITION

November 11, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 45.2 MB

Will and Jonah are on their game for this one. Unfortunately for you we shut off the recorder and talked for another two hours, but I like to think that it's burying peat, fertilizing the soil for future episodes.

Edits and Improv on a Novel Idea - Part 1?

October 20, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 63.5 MB

Doing something different this week. Taking 'the bones' of a novella idea that Will had some years ago and riffing off its theme. Will gave Jonah the book to possibly edit and Jonah thought that this would be much effort with little reward. But talking candidly for you here is pretty fun. Anyway, who wants to read expertly crafted sentences when they can just listen to a couple whiskey drinking yahoos bullshit on the main topic of the book. Called, by the way, KHAMSIN. A story of a l...

Fall Fiction

September 29, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 45.8 MB

When Will and I first conceived of Western Thought we pictured it as a literary magazine. Obviously there were practical roadblocks to this and I thought a podcast would be more fun. But I've maintained interest in doing something with more fiction. If you or anyone you know has a piece of fiction that they think is solid and would be good as audio I encourage you to submit. Will and I do this podcast cause we like reading and will read most anything. Submit to my email jonah.andrist...

Is Our Podcast Elitist?

September 25, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MB

Jonah and Will discuss the writer Harold Brodkey's collection of non-fiction: SEA BATTLES ON DRY LAND. The title of this one says it all. The answer? Yeah, we probably are. Brodkey has a very slash and burn (solipsistic might be another word for it) writing style that very much attracted Jonah when he was younger. The idea of being absolutely free when creating your art. Perhaps Jonah has grown up a little since then. Don't start with Brodkey's non-fiction. His short stories are wh...

Grace Paley and a (bad) Introduction to Postmodernism

August 28, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 61.4 MB

Joined again by Andrea Lovelace to discuss another female writer ... though a writer not particularly liked by Andrea or Will. Digressions are had, as the last time Andrea was on, about genre. Including discussion of a new young adult series that Jonah will have no part in writing.

Friedrich Nietzsche's THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY

August 01, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 57.9 MB

Other writers discussed in conversation. Italo Calvino, Proust, Toni Morrison. Pretty hard to do a whole podcast on Nietzsche without lecture notes, but you should learn something. One thing each podcast - that's all I ever hope for.

Annie Proulx's "The Wamsutter Wolf": And Other Stories

July 06, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 52.7 MB

Back to Western Thought classic, just Jonah and Will. A year of doing this podcast (albeit with long hiatuses). I think we've got another year in us.

Vladimir Nabokov's PALE FIRE

June 15, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 54.7 MB

We are joined by the subtle wit of sir Thomas Strah. Painter, writer, narrator of Jonah's audiobook The Town of Books. What isn't to like about Nabokov. Hopefully this will urge you to pick him up again.

Raymond Chandler's FAREWELL MY LOVELY

May 29, 2020 20:59 - 1 hour - 129 MB

This is one of Will's favorite writers. Jonah gets Chandlerian level drunk. We are joined again by the lovely Andrea Lovelace, pay extra attention to her laugh. Also, enjoy the outdoors bird sounds. patreon.com/westernthought for archived episodes.

Possession by AS Byatt

April 15, 2020 00:00 - 2 hours - 83.5 MB

We are joined by the delightful great grand-niece of Ada Lovelace (would be cool) Andrea Lovelace, to discuss a novel which we all sort of liked at the beginning. Hey, at least it's by a woman. That was the thought process anyway.

Raymond Carver and Interception Theory

March 09, 2020 00:57 - 1 hour - 92.7 MB

This episode mainly discusses Will's new literary theory. It's not so fully formed but we try and get there. Luckily for you the listener, we are joined by Mark, a beer bumming customer of the bookshop who will be your voice of confusion. I think this is a fun one.

Saul Bellow HUMBOLDT'S GIFT

February 11, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 48.8 MB

There is some dust in the gears that Will and Jonah try to wash out with some beer. After a three month hiatus luckily we have a great book to talk about. We barely scratch the surface ... almost to the point where Jonah wants a re-do, but for now, ya get what u git. This episode is brought to you by the audiobook THE TOWN OF BOOKS. Written by Jonah Andrist and now available everywhere. Production quality much better than the podcast, and if you want to listen to something, it's arguably mo...

Halloween, 2019

November 06, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 45.3 MB

There's a creepy amount of 'hang' in this episode. No real author highlights, just Jonah and Will walking into trouble. Some people come into the bookstore, though the clanging of Will's chime does give a certain ominous vibe.

Norman Mailer's THE PRISONER OF SEX

October 11, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 48.3 MB

Buzzwords: Feminism, misogyny, Dick Cavett. Henry Miller. DH Lawrence. Mailer, possibly due a re-evaluation.

Proud to Be Part of One of the Biggest Jerkoffs in History

September 17, 2019 00:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MB

Tom Wolfe's, THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST. This episode is highlighted by a musical number. Jonah and Will might be getting better at this.

Papa Hemingway

September 04, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 63.5 MB

Will and Jonah start day drinking in Hemingway's honor. Giving the whole podcast a very loose feel. There was editing done, for the first time, for you, the listener's benefit.

Novellas, Philip Roth's THE GHOST WRITER

July 30, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 46.3 MB

How did Will name his store? Is Tennessee Williams overrated because of his association with some of the best actors of our time?

John Rember's TRAPLINES

July 30, 2019 00:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MB

Returning to the Sawtooth Valley in central Idaho, Rember reflects on the past. Conversation discussing this well formed book.