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A talk with bassist extraordinaire Matt Lux. Check out his  Communication Arts Quartet ,  Isotope 217 , and  KVL . Theme music forever by Bill MacKay .

I read excerpts from several books. 00:00 from The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery 02:37 chapter 57 of Moby Dick by Herman Melville 10:00 from I'm Losing You by Bruce Wagner 14:58 from A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley

A talk with musician Tom Shannon about  Cheater Slicks , about Boston, Columbus, his long career in music, and much more. If you don’t know Cheater Slicks music,  start here . Theme music by  Bill MacKay , as ever. Theme music by  Bill MacKay , as ever.

A talk with cartoonist Laura Park about moving to France, living in Chicago, quitting art school, how everyone should love dogs, and a lot more. You can also find her on Instagram . Theme music by Bill MacKay , as ever.

A talk with music writer  Leor Galil  about studying at Brandeis, getting into music, and ending up at the  Chicago Reader . Theme music, now and always, by Bill MacKay .

I read three chapters from  Denis Johnson’s “The Largesse of the Sea Maiden” .

A talk with Marc Fischer about his many varied activities. For more,  start here and  here . Theme music, forever, by Bill MacKay .

A talk with the writer Tobias Carroll about the publication of his new novel,  Ex-Members  (Astrophil Press) , New Jersey, punk bands,  Vol.1 Brooklyn , et al. Learn more about Carroll  here  and read  my review  of his book. Theme music, as ever, by Bill MacKay .

A talk with writer Lindsay Hunter about Florida, podcasting, being okay with not becoming Claire Danes, and more.  Get  her books  and follow her on  Twitter . Music today, tomorrow, and the days after that by  Bill MacKay .

A talk with writer and professor Sonia Weiner. We discuss migratory literature, the time she wrote about me, her family’s move from the US to Israel, and more.  More about her here . Theme music today, tomorrow, and all the other tomorrows by  Bill MacKay .

A talk with writer and artist Sam Pink. Before we talk, I read Pink’s story. “Move in With Me”. Follow Pink on Twitter and Instagram . Episode art by Sam Pink. Theme music forever by Bill MacKay .

A talk with musician Jonathan van Herik about Wicker Park in the 90s, being in bands like Joan of Arc , Boas, Disappears , and Facs , self-doubt, and a whole lot more. Follow van Herik on Instagram . Theme music, eternally, by Bill MacKay .

A talk with writer Gint Aras. Learn more about him at  his site  and read  my review of  The Fugue  . Theme music, forever, by Bill MacKay . Subscribe at  Apple  or the other usual places.

A talk with Chicago writer Kathleen Rooney. We discuss teaching, competing generations, and our bizarre cultural moment. Learn more about Rooney at her site , the press she co-runs , and her poetry-typing concern. Theme music by Bill MacKay , natch.

A talk with Rick Rizzo of  Eleventh Dream Day  about his music career, teaching, working for AC Nielson, collecting records, and a whole lot more.  Buy Eleventh Dream Day albums on Bandcamp  and follow them on  Instagram . Theme music by  Bill MacKay , of course.

A talk with film writer Kat Sachs. We discuss how her love of cinema was born at drive-ins in Ohio, auteur theory, our odd cultural moment, and more. Learn more about Sachs at  Cinefile  and the  Chicago Reader.  Read her  great essay on Jane Campion  too. Theme music by  Bill MacKay , as ever.

A talk with musician Emmett Kelly about Chicago, LA, art, the state of the recording industry, and much more. Check out Kelly’s  cassette label  and his old band,  the Cairo Gang . Kelly also plays with Will Oldham, Ty Segall, and many others. Theme music by Bill MacKay .

I talk to podcaster, pharma trade guru, and novice artist Gil Roth about podcasting, his day job, getting into visual art at 50 and more. Listen to Gil’s great Virtual Memories show  and see a bunch of his drawings and paintings . Theme music by  Bill MacKay .

I talk to writer, farmer, and cassette-label mogul Adam Gnade about writing, living, off the land, releasing cassettes, and more. Learn about him at his site   and all the usual social media places. Theme music by Bill MacKay .

I read some poems in Russian. Selected a few dozen that my father sent me during the plague. 00:00— “New Year’s Eve” by Boris Ryzhy 01:00— two poems by Boris Ryzhy 02:51 —”A Winter Night” by Boris Pasternak 04:00—untitled poem by Sergey Gandlevsky 07:30—several by Lidia Zaozerskaya 12:00—”Neznakomka” by Alexander Blok 15:00—”Mirror” by Arseniy Tarkovsky 17:57—”From a Poet” by Arseniy Tarkovsky Tak...

Recorded readings (circa 2020) of rough drafts of chapters from my 2021 book,  Old Style . 00:52 —”Flyover” (music by the Dick Slessig Combo) 08:30—”Don Lived Upstairs from the Blue Light (music by Mute Duo) 11:34—”Dead Rae” (music by Arvo Part) 19:57—”Can’t Recall” (music by Ran Blake) 31:45—”Ask for Rose” (music by Thelonius Monk) 41:07—”Innocent When You Dream”

Four excerpts from Don DeLillo’s  Underworld , which I reread during plague lockdown in 2020. 00:00—”Waste” (music by Charles Mingus) 06:00—”An American Sort of Thing” (music by Miles Davis) 10:50—”Quotidian” (music by Ornette Coleman) 17:25—”Denizens” (music by Endless Boogie)

I talk to one of my oldest friends, Chicago painter Frank Spidale. We talk art, music, jobs, living in Chicago, and more. See Spidale’s work at his  site  and follow him on  Instagram .

A talk with writer Lucy Sante. We discuss immigration, her upcoming trip to her native Belgium, transitioning, and more. Learn about Sante at  her website and follow her on  Instagram . Read my reviews of  The Other Paris  and  Maybe the People Would Be the Times   and  a newsletter about a lunch we shared in May, 2021 .

I talk with Chicago writer Mallory Smart about writing, publishing, and a lot more sometime in 2021.