Narrative Edge

Unstuck is the inspiring firsthand account of Stephanie Stuckey’s rise to CEO upon suddenly acquiring her family’s beloved yet struggling brand, which had become a fading memory for most Americans. Peter and Orlando discuss this captivating and inspiring memoir of the beloved, Georgia-based roadside icon. 

Athens resident Rebecca McCarthy creates an intimate portrait of Norman Maclean, drawing on her long friendship with the author from when she became a student at the University of Chicago through the rest of his life.  Norman Maclean: A Life of Letters and Rivers  is a well-researched glimpse into the life of a compelling author that benefits from the insights provided by the author's pe...

In this episode, Peter and Orlando explore the comprehensive, authoritative biography of civil rights icon John Lewis, “The Conscience of the Congress.” The 700-page volume draws on interviews with Lewis and approximately 275 others who knew him at various stages of his life and never-before-used FBI files and documents. 

Peter and Orlando discuss Erin Carlyle’s Girl at the End of the World , a collection of poetry that considers the complex grief of a parent lost to Opioids. In the book, the speaker works through her father's death with a sharp focus on place, expanding into the realms of science fiction and mythmaking.     

We're all a little bit broken, aren't we? Young widow Tracie Shaw may be more than most. She spends her days hidden away making beautiful treasures out of other people's trash. Her life changes when she finds someone's abandoned ashes in a storage bin auction. When she meets a woman who might have a clue as to where the ashes came from and what they mean, her life turns upside down. 

In this episode of Narrative Edge , hosts Peter Biello and Orlando Montoya explore Flight of the Wild Swan by Melissa Pritchard, a novelization of Florence Nightingale’s life. They discuss Nightingale's pioneering role in nursing, her complex personal journey, and the challenges she faced during the Crimean War. The hosts delve into her groundbreaking use of statistics to improve healthcare and he...

LISTEN: The coming-of-age story of Philbet, gay and living with a disability, battles bullying, ignorance, and disdain as he makes his way in life as an outsider in the Deep South — before finding acceptance in unlikely places. Fueled by tomato sandwiches and green milkshakes, and obsessed with cars, Philbet struggles with life and love as a gay boy in rural Georgia. Join Peter, Orlando, and autho...

The 1987 murder of Lita McClinton Sullivan sent shockwaves through the affluent Atlanta suburb of Buckhead. The neighborhood, with its stately mansions and top-tier schools, was not the kind of place where women were gunned down in cold blood in broad daylight. In  A Devil Went Down to Georgia , author Deb Miller Landau details the shocking events that followed Lita’s murder in 1987, includin...

Jessica Leigh Lebos describes herself as a writer, adopted Southerner, anti-socialite and Camellia Thief. On this episode of Narrative Edge , Orlando introduces Peter to the award-winning local columnist and community builder who has published two popular books, Savannah Sideways  and The Camellia Thief & Other Tales .

Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s "Inside the Mirror" is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power. In this episode, Peter and Orlando discuss this relatable and timeless pursuit of dreams by Atlanta's Ka...

In this epic novel, New York Times bestselling author Denene Millner explores the lives of three generations of women tied together by love, hope, dreams, ambition — and family secrets. Potent, poetic, powerful, told with deep love, and spanning from the Great Migration to the civil unrest of the 1960s to the quest for women’s equality in the early 2000s, Denene Millner’s beautifully wrought novel...

Violence haunts 1915 Atlanta and so does the golem a group of girls creates. A dark, lyrical blend of historical fiction and magical realism, "The Curators" examines an underexplored event in American history through unlikely eyes. All of Atlanta is obsessed with the two-year-long trial and subsequent lynching of Jewish factory superintendent Leo Frank in 1915. None more so than thirteen-year-old...

Join hosts Orlando Montoya and Peter Biello as they dive into the fascinating life of Asa 'Buddy' Candler Jr., the eccentric son of Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler, in this episode of Narrative Edge. Discover the bizarre yet captivating story of Buddy Candler, whose life of inherited wealth led to a series of spectacular ventures and notorious failures, from racing cars and airplanes to launching a...

Part coming-of-age romance, part thriller, "Bomb Island" is a funny and fast-paced Southern summer novel exploring sub-culture communities, survival, and found family set on an island near an unexploded atomic bomb. Join Peter and Orlando as they discuss this journey through the weirds and wilds of Coastal Georgia.  

Secrets of Ash is a riveting, fast-paced, and suspenseful novel of fraternal love and dark memories, told from the alternating points of view of two brothers who cross a lifetime, and a rugged mountain, to come to terms with themselves and each other. Peter and Orlando discuss the characters, the struggles, and a surprising ending with Georgia Author of the Year nominee Josh Green. 

In this episode, Orlando and Peter explore the life and legacy of celebrated Southern writer Carson McCullers. Drawing from the new biography "Carson McCullers: A Life" by Mary Dearborn, they discuss McCullers' journey from Columbus, Georgia, to literary fame in New York City, her groundbreaking works like "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter," and delve into McCullers' personal challenges, including hea...

In this episode, we unravel the complex story of Alvin Ridley, the "Zenith Man," a television repairman from a small town in Georgia who was accused of murdering his wife in 1997. Despite his eccentric behavior and a town's suspicion, the truth revealed a different narrative. Join Orlando Montoya and Peter Biello as they discuss the new book, "Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia C...

When a massive asteroid hurtles toward Earth, humanity braces for annihilation—but the end doesn’t come. In fact, it isn’t an asteroid but a three-mile-tall alien that drops down, seemingly dead, outside Little Springs, Nebraska. Dubbed “the giant,” its arrival transforms the red-state farm town into a top-secret government research site and major metropolitan area, flooded with soldiers, scientis...

A city is hellbent on revolution. Passionate and impetuous, Shelley is a university student at a time of political discord in Dhaka in the late 1960s. Frustrated by the oppression of West Pakistani rulers, the Bengali people are rising up, taking Shelley with them. As he is forced to navigate the chaos of an uprising, where his every choice and action weighs heavy with consequence, Shelley's life...

One of the world's greatest basketball players is the hero in two very American tales: one, a success story the nation loves; the other, the latest installment in an ongoing chronicle of American antiblackness. Author Valerie Babb joins Peter and Orlando to discuss the power, politics, and passion of LeBron James. 

Utilizing more than two decades of meticulous research, fresh historical analysis, and compelling storytelling, Michael L. Thurmond rewrites the prehistory of abolitionism and adds an important new chapter to Georgia’s origin story. Can he change the hearts and minds of those who were taught Georgia history years ago? Can he change the hearts and minds of our hosts, Peter and Orlando? Listen and j...

For generations, upwardly mobile white families have extracted opportunity from the nation’s heavily subsidized suburbs, then moved on before the bills for maintenance and repair came due, leaving the mostly Black and Brown families who followed to clean up the ensuing mess. Peter and Orlando are joined by author Benjamin Herold to discover the vicious cycle undermining the dreams upon which Ameri...

When celebrated American novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor died at the age of 39 in 1964, she left behind an unfinished third novel titled "Why Do the Heathen Rage?" Scholarly experts uncovered and studied the material, deeming it unpublishable. It stayed that way for 40 years. Until now. Join Peter and Orlando as they explore, along with author Jessica Hooten Wilson, the lessons a...

Dan Sinykin details how changes in the publishing industry have affected fiction and literary form, and reveals how conglomeration has shaped what kinds of books and writers are published. Peter and Orlando explore a conversation with the author and discuss underrated and "weird" books from nonprofit publishing houses. 

In her third book of essays, Georgia Author of the Year Award winner Kathy Bradley continues to ask important questions about humanity, community, and stewardship. In this episode, Peter and Orlando discuss this "rare gem" of a book, the difficulties and art of writing against a deadline, and finding meaning and metaphor in the simplest things.