Apology

The Apology podcast is back, and with such a guest! Henry Rollins, the musician, author, radio DJ, and actor, is here to speak with your host Jesse Pearson about many book-related topics such as his yearly re-reading of The Stooges history, obscure Stalin-era Russian writers, seeking solace in libraries as a youth, and managing his reading and writing time as mortality looms ever on the horizon. A...

On this episode of Apology, host Jesse Pearson speaks with the musician Kurt Vile about his favorite biographies of fellow musical artists, his love for Denis Johnson and Flannery O'Connor, his writing process, copying vs. stealing, and more. This episode is sponsored by Sci-Fi Fantasy.

On this episode of the Apology podcast, host Jesse Pearson welcomes the author Jonathan Lethem to discuss many topics including (but not limited to): Julio Cortázar; animals in literature; paths of entry to the works of Norman Mailer, Philip K. Dick, and Stanisław Lem; Lethem's latest book, Brooklyn Crime Novel ; and the class-based, Marxist underpinnings to the creation of literary genres. An...

The psychoanalyst and author Jamieson Webster returns to Apology today to go deep on Sigmund Freud and his writing. From the case histories to the Interpretation of Dreams and beyond, we touch on the libido, hysteria, transference, the death drive and more. Curious about Freud? Conflicted about Freud? Hopefully we can help you make up your mind with this episode.

On this episode, Apology's first return guest, the poet Eileen Myles, talks with Jesse Pearson about Pathetic Literature (the recent anthology they edited), what is pathetic and what is not, their theyness, Moby-Dick, masculinity, and many different writers. Welcome back, Eileen!

On this episode of Apology, Jesse Pearson speaks with the writer and former musician Richard Hell about physics, the blank page, his new book of poetry, a bad writer who writes great books, crying at his own readings, and much more.

On this episode of Apology, Jesse Pearson talks with Andre Gregory, the theater director, writer, painter, actor, and co-star of the classic film My Dinner with Andre . Topics include Proust, Freud, trance states, and Andre's "iceberg" theory of acting.

On this episode of the Apology podcast, Jesse Pearson welcomes Angel Olsen. The conversation goes from dating a narcissist to true crime to Emily Dickinson, with many recommendations in between. Angel is a perceptive reader who came prepared with a list, so keep a pencil and paper close at hand.

On this episode of Apology, founder and editor Jesse Pearson speaks with the musician and author Jarvis Cocker about so many things including but not limited to: J.D. Salinger, Sheffield, his new book Good Pop Bad Pop, Harold Pinter, and so much more. Thanks for listening!

On this episode of Apology, the radio host/podcaster, writer, voice actor, and director Tom Scharpling speaks with Jesse Pearson about books, yes, but also mental health, New Jersey, sportswriting, and much more.

On this episode, Apology editor and founder Jesse Pearson speaks with the writer David Means about his process; his new collection Two Nurses, Smoking; reading while watching football, the best story in James Joyce's Dubliners; and more.

On this episode, Apology editor Jesse Pearson speaks with the artist, musician, and author Cosey Fanni Tutti about her new book Re-Sisters, medieval times, looking at a Dali book while tripping, ghosts, and more.

On this episode of Apology, the writer Lucy Sante talks with Jesse Pearson about many things including—but not limited to—Belgian vs. French surrealists, learning from the Jesuits, trans literature, Edmund Wilson, Elizabeth Hardwick, working at The Strand bookstore with various No Wave stars, and more! more! more!

On this episode of Apology, the artist and skateboarder Ed Templeton talks with Jesse Pearson about a lot of things including but not limited to: all the books he's got on his nightstand right now, patriotism, atheism, the Ghent Altarpiece, his family history, and his hometown of Huntington Beach, CA.

On this episode the photographer Daniel Arnold speaks with Apology's Jesse Pearson about the ethics of street photography, his intimate connection to New York City, and dodging a felony charge.

On this episode, the New Yorker staff writer Naomi Fry talks about Martin Amis, Émile Zola, the '90s heyday of cultural studies, classic New Yorker stories, and more. 

On this episode of the Apology podcast, the philosopher, teacher, and author Simon Critchley talks with Apology’s Jesse Pearson about mysticism, krautrock, the Marx Brothers, and his up-and-down history with the work of T.S. Eliot.

On this episode of the Apology podcast, the writer Dennis Cooper talks about finding inspiration in the Jesus and Mary Chain, his teenage reading of the Marquis de Sade, his legendary punk literary fanzine Little Caesar , the kind of writing that crystal meth begets, and the George Miles cycle (a.k.a. his magnum opus).

On this episode Apology editor Jesse Pearson talks with the writer Kelefa Sanneh about his new book  Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres , being in the storied lineage of the New Yorker , and his punk rock bona fides.

On this episode, Apology founder and editor Jesse Pearson speaks with the musician and composer Warren Ellis about his new book Nina Simone’s Gum ( which is actually about a piece of Nina Simone’s gum, but also about the nature of holy relics), Warren’s experiences with the supernatural in the form of Beethoven and a troupe of clowns, the wildlife sanctuary he recently started in Sumatra, and much...

Apology founder and editor Jesse Pearson speaks with the poet CAConrad about why they read nothing but poetry, the didacticism of the novel, their work with the tarot, their experiences with ghosts, their new book Amanda Paradise , and the centrality of ritual to their practice. CA reads a couple poems too! 

On this episode of the Apology podcast, the film critic A.S. Hamrah offers up many book and movie recommendations, ruminates on what makes a critic a critic, and talks about writers from Samuel Beckett to Dawn Powell to Ben Hecht—as well as acknowledging what a dick Encyclopedia Brown was.

On this episode of the Apology podcast, the musician Ian MacKaye talks about his mother’s writing, his childhood obsession with the Oz books, watching Kurosawa films with his son, reading Kurt Vonnegut on 9-11, and the secret meaning of the word "fugazi."

The writer Rachel Kushner has an excellent new book of essays out now. It’s called The Hard Crowd . On this episode of the Apology podcast, Jesse Pearson speaks with Rachel about various topics she covers in the book (Marguerite Duras, prison abolition, motorcycle life) and some extra stuff too (Thom Jones, artists as writers, reading recommendations based on Rachel’s novels). Plus more, always mo...

On this episode of the Apology podcast, the songwriter, musician, writer, and artist Bill Callahan speaks with Apology founder and editor Jesse Pearson about many bookish and non-bookish topics including the brilliance of the writer Barry Hannah, Bill’s codebreaker parents, DC hardcore heroes Void, dropping out of college to focus on music, the Scottish writer James Kelman, Studs Terkels’s oral hi...