1storypod

NYC — Al Jacobs, 30, is an NYC-based writer from Toledo, Ohio. He read the copy of Jesus' Son (1992) I lent him over the past few months. I reread the Picador Modern Classics pocket version i copped after lending him my old version over the same period. Jesus' Son (1992) is a series of interconnected short stories narrated by a guy, "Fuckhead," and follows several recurring characters, all addicts...

MANHATTAN — Harold, 22, is a writer, standup, and boxer. He grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Steubenville, Ohio. He read Absalom, Absalom! in the fortnight following the death of his paternal grandfather, about a month ago. I read it around the same time, six months after the death of my paternal grandfather. A lotta dad stuff in this ep. Apologies for this extended Faulky bender I'm on. This...

JERSEY CITY — In the second part of 2666 (2004) by Bolaño, Amalfitano, a philosophy professor losing his mind, tries to understand the secrets of the universe through an esoteric geometry book. But instead of reading it, he hangs it on a clothesline, outside, and watches it get rained on—blasted by the elements. Bud Smith’s writing embodies this idea: he out here, in the world, working at his oil...

N 41ST ST — Convo w my neighbor Glenda, 52. On my last day on the block (07/31/2019), after living there 2 plus yrs.

WEST PHILLY — Nicholas Baptiste is a Philly-based writer, reader, musician, and MFKN LIBRARIAN YO. So sick. We post up on a blasted summer day on Baltimore Ave and powwow off the cuff about a whole gang of shit, returning throughout to our most recent reads: Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) and Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son (1992), respectively. We talk writing processes and what we conside...

BKLYN-PHILLY — Eric Conroe, 33, is a writer and builder living in Brooklyn. He is the author of the poetry chapbook TOP BLOCKER (2017), available here: https://bit.ly/2M7ZvVV. He is my cousin. He read Thrown (2014) by Kerry Howley in a sitting two weeks ago. I read it in multiple sittings a year ago. Kerry Howley, 38, teaches nonfiction at University of Iowa. Thrown is her first book.

SOUTH PHILLY/SOUTH JERSEY — Still asking the same questions about monogamy, marriage, loyalty, child rearing, father/motherhood, the nuclear family, and work v. “love.” How these questions play out in Jenny Offill’s Dept of Speculation (2014), which charts a relationship from its inception to marriage to childbirth to infidelity, complicates things. Read in sips over the past three weeks and recor...

PHILLY VIA BOSTON — In this special Lent pod, I catch up with the homie Aaron, 28 (1SP episodes 003 and 015), about the below topics during his weekend visit to Philly from Boston. Read is blog (http://somedayyeasayer.blogspot.com/). He's got some recent poems up about a hitchhiking trip he took around Scotland late last year. 0:00 - intro (03.11.2019) 2:44 - start of convo (03.09.2019) 6:00 - on...

PHILLY — New Bolaño novel dropped 11 days ago, written when he was 31. New story I mention: https://softcartel.com/2019/02/18/a-seat-in-the-circle-by-sean-thor-conroe/

PHILLY — Really hit close to home, this one, especially with how dang nippy out it's getting; feeling of late like hibernation is just about all I'm up for. Otessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018), her fourth book and second novel, is about a mid-twenties Manhattanite intent on blocking out the world by ingesting an increasingly harrowing cocktail of sedatives. Read it last week, m...

LOS ANGELES — Sergio González Rodríguez (1950–2017) was a Mexican journalist and writer. A friend and colleague of Roberto Bolaño's, he was the primary source of information on the femicides—the countless unsolved rape-murders of women, primarily factory workers—in Ciudad Juárez, for the late Chilean novelist's novel, 2666. Sean Thor Conroe's work has appeared in X-R-A-Y and is forthcoming from So...

LOS ANGELES — Been a trip and a half reading Motherhood while posted with the mother this past month of holiday fam time / convalescence out here in LA. Has really propelled me into the nitty-grit of thangs. In this ep, I go in with more gripes about Sheila's stance on procreation than I come out with. I consider her view on the importance or lack thereof of Art. I hash out her ideas on family ext...

LOS ANGELES — I started reading The Elementary Particles (2000) this past summer. I railed through the first couple hundred pages fairly quickly, before stalling out on the last sixty-or-so. I finished it this past Thanksgiving. In this episode, I explore Houellebecq's takes on the death of the nuclear family, extreme individualism in the West, and the value of declaratives. Michel Houellebecq was...

PHILADELPHIA — Gina Myers is poet living in Philadelphia. She is the author of the poetry books HOLD IT DOWN (2013), A MODEL YEAR (2009), and six chapbooks including PHILADELPHIA (2017), from Barrelhouse, which she wrote, mostly on her phone, during the first few months of moving to Philadelphia (August–October 2014). I encountered her work after hearing her read from PHILADELPHIA in early 2017, m...

WEST PHILLY — Nicholas lives, and has for “about six years,” in West Philly. He is originally from Seattle. He read Don Quixote (1615) recently, finishing it within the past fortnight. I read the first half in the summer of 2016 and the second half in the fall of 2017. We both read the edition translated by Edith Grossman and published by Ecco Books in 2003. Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) publish...

MANHATTAN — Daoud, 26, is an Oakland-based producer. His work lives on the Internet @daoudmakesmusic (Soundcloud). He began working on Saba's second album Care For Me (2018) with @sabapivot and co-producer @daedaepivot last fall. I listened to Care For Me about once daily since its April 5 release. This conversation was recorded before and after Saba's April 13 tour stop at Highline Ballroom in Ne...

SAN JUAN, P.R. — Whether extolling the virtues of a legume-centric diet or exuding disarming gratitude in matters fraternal to cosmic, a quick TSA search finds YaMZ effortlessly emotive, lucid, and playful. Recorded entirely in transit, TSA Approved YaMZ, at just under eight minutes, could well be his most cohesive work yet. Full EP: https://goo.gl/QKQwWD. Blog: http://bumsum.net – @itscanals

BED-STUY — Eric, 31, is a poet, modern dancer, and carpenter living in Brooklyn. His chapbook, TOP BLOCKER, is now available from GAUSS PDF. I've read TOP BLOCKER a number of times over the past months, since its release. Order/read TOP BLOCKER here: https://goo.gl/VMpi1x. Eric tweets @ejconroe. - @sho_thor, http://1storyhaus.com

PHILLY — Aaron, 26, is a reader and writer of poetry living in Philadelphia. He discovered Hera Lindsay Bird while visiting New Zealand last month. I read Hera Lindsay Bird (Victoria University Press) twice over the past week. Hera Lindsay Bird (b. 1987) was born and raised in Thames, New Zealand. This, her first book, won the Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award. @sho_thor http://1storyhaus.com Bu...

PHILADELPHIA — Nick, 26, grew up primarily in North Carolina and lives in Los Angeles, where he writes and teaches. He first read My Brilliant Friend "a few months ago." I read it over the past fortnight, finishing it literally moments before this conversation. The first story published under the pseudonym Elena Ferrante appeared in 1992. There is considerable debate about her real identity, about...

LOS ANGELES — Takako was born in Tokyo in 1955, teaches at a Waldorf school in California, and is also, turns out, my mother. She first read Almost Transparent Blue (1976) while still a student at Tokyo Daigaku, so at twentyish. I first read Almost Transparent Blue (tr. Nancy Andrew, 1976) maybe a month ago, and have reread it since. Ryu Murakami (b. Feb, 1952) was born and raised in Sasebo, Nagas...

PHILADELPHIA — Charlotte, 24, grew up outside of Philadelphia and in 2017 has lived or will live in Philadelphia, Austin, and California. She is a potential future doula, part-time farmer, and caretaker of small creatures. She read The Argonauts this past winter and How Should A Person Be? this past spring.

PHILADELPHIA — Zac, 26, lives in Philadelphia and works at an art gallery. He read The Possibility of an Island (tr. Gavin Bowd) in a week, finishing it hours before this conversation. I read it a couple months back, also fairly quickly. Michel Houellebecq (b. 1956), 61, is a novelist, filmmaker, and poet. He was born on the French island of Reunion, and lives in France. Houellebecq (Michel's gran...

BUSHWICK, N.Y. — Chelsea, 25, was born in Hawaii, grew up in California, and lives, paints, and works in New York City. She first read The Wallcreeper "one or two" years ago; I finished it a week ago. In this episode we consider the present-day relevance (or lack thereof) of traditional marital monogamy, Zink's significance as a female novelist, and how considerations of "female novelists" might d...

AXOLOTL, a ty6e 6eat ta6e in three parts, charts the evolution of the young male axolotl, from the larval to full grown – though sexually immature – adult, fully aquatic, amphibian stage. POV (Official Music Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOKb9m0I8fc ITSCana1s and YaMZ seek no money or clout for the release of AXOLOTL, only to evolve the creative lives of these beats, producers of which a...