Alex and Lindsay talk with Suzanne Cope (POWER HUNGRY: Women of the Black Panther Movement and Freedom Summer and Their Fight to Feed a Movement) about deep research, using her voice to amplify others, how the pandemic changed everything, and more! Suzanne Cope, PhD is a narrative journalist and food studies scholar with a focus on food as a tool for social and political change. In addition to her book POWER HUNGRY, she has written about food, activism, and culture for the New York Times, The At...
Mar 29, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Today we talk with Isaac Butler (THE METHOD: HOW THE TWENTIETH CENTURY LEARNED TO ACT) about how Jared Leto is not a Method actor!, something called "ekphrasis" that we pretended to understand, cutting his massive draft down, reading drafts out loud, the impulse to go into free indirect, tons of juicy details about Method and non-Method actors, the crossover between the Method and writing, the allure of research-heavy projects, and mooooooooore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....
Mar 24, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Alex and Lindsay talk with Christian Tebordo (THE APOLOGY) about our mutual love of Gabe Habash’s STEPHEN FLORIDA; Nabokov always perched on his shoulder; Adam Levin’s theory of “optimal tension”; loving books without hooks; women as avenging angels as inspired by Knight Rider, yes, that Knight Rider; writing books that are unpublishable by the mainstream; feeling liberated by bad reviews; talking with his students about the possibilities of publishing; Chicago’s unique literary scene; and if yo...
Mar 17, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Today we talk with Sara Lippmann (JERKS) about her great new collection, the annoying persistence of the Madonna/whore complex, rage, hope, motherhood, mosaic-y fiction (shoutout Kathy Fish), forgetting how to write a novel while writing stories and vice versa, her favorite story collections (Rebecca Schiff’s The Bed Moved; Nina McConigley’s Cowboys and East Indians; Danielle Lazarin’s Back Talk; Margaret Malone’s People Like You), taking breaks, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
Mar 08, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Today we talk with Mike Meginnis (DROWNING PRACTICE) about writing apocalyptic fiction without including the whole world, choosing the dumbest ideas, YMCA memories, writing about what scares you, writing from the perspectives of a 13-year-old girl and her mother, elf names, his great author photo holy shit did Alex and Lindsay start hitting on him??, his imaginary-gift-giving podcast he runs with his partner, Tracy Rae Bowling, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...
Mar 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Today we talk with Joy Lanzendorfer (RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM) about her wonderful, very fun debut novel, big, complicated, bells 'n whistles books, unlikeable characters, ambition, women trying to make it, using a Ouija board as muse, and more. Most importantly, Joy tells us the insane, unbelievable story of how this book made it to publication. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Alex and Lindsay talk with Leigh Stein (What to Miss When) about her new poetry collection, writing fast and furiously in the early months of the pandemic, the joy in editing at the sentence level, Summer House and other reality television, is it okay to write fiction about the pandemic yet? and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 15, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Today we talk with Liv Stratman (CHEAT DAY) about writing about a subject that is so universal and also so personal, the expectations readers have for a book based on packaging, grappling with your intentions when writing versus what readers take from it, studying with Lorrie Moore! and Lynda Barry!, working on her second novel, messy books, working in the service industry, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Today we talk with Cara Blue Adams (You Never Get it Back) about her debut story collection, how she came to linking the stories, what it's like to put out a book that is so well received, workshops, submitting, terrible advice, good advice, impatient dogs, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Today we chat with JoAnna Novak (MEANINGFUL WORK; NEW LIFE) about putting out both a story collection AND a poetry collection in the same year, getting two (2!) MFAs, working every sort of job you can imagine, staying in the fight, and lots more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Today we talk with Mallory Smart (The Only Living Girl in Chicago) about her publishing house, Maudlin House, looking for authors that make her want to write, horror movies, Dmitry Samarov, free writing, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 18, 2022•57 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Today we talk with Ben H. Winters (THE QUIET BOY) about teaching himself to write a novel by adding sea monsters to a classic, embracing the randomness that builds a career, learning about power dynamics and dialogue by watching celebrity press junkets, working on multiple projects at once, lists/tasks versus word count, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 10
Alex and Lindsay talk with Ted Flanagan (Every Hidden Thing) about finally deciding to take writing seriously, writing literary crime (or “tweener”) fiction, the long-ish journey to publication, rejection, writing a Worcester novel, his new historical fiction project, and somehow hockey sneaks in at the end there, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 07, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Alex and Lindsay talk with Brendan Mathews (The World of Tomorrow; This is Not a Love Song) about being a late bloomer, returning to the work after long stretches of life butting in, research, working with Deborah Eisenberg, what it's like to receive a blurb from John Irving, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Alex and Lindsay talk with Hilary Leichter (Temporary) about turning a short story into a novel, transmuting the emotions the writer feels while writing into what the reader will read, the submission process, working with Emily Books, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 18, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Today we talk with Alice Kaltman (DAWG TOWNE) about her new book, the fun of drafting and the torture of revision, working with a smaller press, trying something new, and so much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 09, 2021•58 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Today we talk with Chris Stuck (GIVE MY LOVE TO THE SAVAGES) about publishing 20 years after his MFA, sticking around, letting work go, trying to figure out, and re-figure out, and re-re-re-figure out the publishing industry, his favorite recent collections, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 19, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Today we talk with Frances Badalamenti (SALAD DAYS) about her new novel, autofiction, her work in creativity counseling, publishing with an indie press, and more! Plus: ALEX IS GETTING A PELOTON Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 12, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Today we talk with Tyler Barton (ETERNAL NIGHT AT THE NATURE MUSEUM) about his new book, the evolution of his writing, submitting a story collection, his literary visual art, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 05, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Today we're joined by Dana Norris (THE STORYTELLING CODE), founder of the Story Club franchise! We talk what the pandemic hath wrought upon our families and writing, living with anxiety while also loving to perform, writing a book very fast, how to start telling your own stories, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 2
We're back for season two and we've got Emily Adrian (THE SECOND SEASON) talking to us about what it was like to write a novel based on a real person; transitioning from writing YA to writing for adults; the notion of a writer's brand; and so much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 1
Today we talk with Kyle Beachy (THE MOST FUN THING) about his new memoir/collection of essays, skateboarding, intimacy and selfhood in writing, finding permission in writing nonfiction that wasn't available in fiction, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 10, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Today we talk with Megan Stielstra (THE WRONG WAY TO SAVE YOUR LIFE) about compartmentalization, boundaries, revisiting old work in advance of reissue, writing from grief, giving yourself permission to change as a person and as a writer, and so much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Today we are joined by Ilana Masad (ALL MY MOTHER'S LOVERS) to talk about creating authentic relationships in fiction; trusting in fast first drafts; what it's like to be a debut author; reincorporating the "weird" in new work; experimental writing; and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Today lone Buthead Lindsay is joined by Lacy Crawford (NOTES ON A SILENCING) for a powerful chat about agency in nonfiction, claiming your story, the difference between writing memoir and fiction, where the hell are all the menopausal-but-with-small-children books? and so much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Today we talk with Rachel Yoder (NIGHTBITCH) about her wild, incendiary, fun, important debut novel; coming back to yourself-as-artist after having a child; writing the screenplay adaptation; catharsis; and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 13, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Today we talk with Rachel Mans McKenny (THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT) about the hard work that goes in to effortlessness, realizing a project needs a different agent, Snickers salad (!), revising, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 06, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Today we talk with Julie Fine (THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE) about her dark, insistent, important new novel, the intersection of postpartum and horror, wedging in the time to write around the harvesting of snacks, what she's working on now, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 29, 2021•52 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Krys Malcolm Belc (THE NATURAL MOTHER OF THE CHILD) joins us to talk his new memoir, finding his way into the work using prompts, rejecting drafts that are "false versions of themselves," shaping a life that is only part writing, CrossFit, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 22, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 30
You know her, you love her, WE GOT SAMANTHA IRBY! The author of WOW, NO THANK YOU joins us to talk about everything BUT writing. Okay, some writing is discussed. Also: secret snacks, procrastinating, her TV work, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 29
