Kobo in Conversation

As we draw Season 4 of  Kobo in Conversation  to a close, we bring you a conversation with theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack on a wholly different kind of ending. Listeners may recall host Michael Tamblyn's praise for  The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)  in our  year-end Staff Picks episode , where he found that during 2020, it helped to have a sense of time and space and the forces...

Torrey Peters' debut novel  Detransition, Baby  wasn't supposed to be a novel. She'd self-published a pair of novellas and was planning on doing the same for this book -- until it outgrew her plans for it. She spoke with us about her writing career, how she navigates expectations of representation, and why  Detransition, Baby  is perfectly suited to a mainstream publisher who doesn't specialize in...

Paleontologist Steve Brusatte joined us to talk about his new book for young readers,  The Age of Dinosaurs as well as his 2018 book for adults,  The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs . We learned about his passion for giving readers a sense of dinosaurs as living, breathing animals, and what his hopes are for the future of paleontology. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

Helen Oyeyemi, author of Gingerbread and the playful new novel Peaces , spoke with us about the importance to her writing process of taking long book-free breaks, and how serving on juries for literary prizes has made her certain that she'll never win a major award. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

Dr. Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree, spoke with us about the astonishing science of how trees communicate with one another. And she gave us a view into the hard work, dirty hands, and heartbreak of a life spent living in and studying forests. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

Natalie Zina Walschots spoke with us about her novel Hench , the day-to-day work of supervillainy, and why fanfic is her marker of success as a writer. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

With the publication of his first book in 2000, Malcolm Gladwell pioneered and proceeded to dominate a whole genre of non-fiction where concepts explored in academic research were made presentable to a mass audience. But to write his latest book The Bomber Mafia , he approached his craft in a new way. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

In this final episode of Season 3 of  Kobo in Conversation , we spoke with Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton  series of Regency romance novels. She told us about what it was like to see her characters come to life on-screen, and we asked her whether we'll eventually see a cinematic interpretation of a Smythe-Smith musicale. Hear more from  Kobo in Conversation .

In  Gutter Child Jael Richardson creates a dystopian world where disadvantage for some is written into law. In this wide-ranging conversation we spoke with her about this new novel, as well as the past and future of her writing career, and we learned how she conceives of her roles as a broadcaster and literary festival director who can bring a lot of attention to books and authors. Hear more from...

In her novel Little Threats , Emily Schultz transports readers to the summer of 1993, when a terrible crime was committed -- and possibly a miscarriage of justice. We spoke with Emily about her inspiration for this story of crime and punishment, how she sees the style of this book in connection to her other books, and why she set out not to write just another crime novel about a dead girl.  Hear m...

We spoke with actor Joanne Vannicola about their memoir,  All We Knew But Couldn't Say  and learned how they turned painful memories of their upbringing into a story of growth and self-discovery. Hear more from  Kobo in Conversation .

Journalist and novelist Linden MacIntyre joined us to talk about his new audiobook, The Wake: The Deadly Legacy of a Newfoundland Tsunami .  Hear more from  Kobo in Conversation .

We spoke with poet and scholar Billy-Ray Belcourt about his new book, A History of My Brief Body , a poetic, intellectual work of theory, essay, and memoir. He explained how he builds on the work of others in his own writing and what drives his mission to locate joy at the centre of Indigenous stories. Hear more from  Kobo in Conversation .

As epic as our  staff picks roundup was last week , we just couldn't stop once we got started.

In 2020, even the most avid readers struggled to find the time and focus amid new routines to immerse themselves in the comfort of books. Fortunately, some of us at Kobo found a way through and got to spend time reading great things -- and we're happy to share them with you here . Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

Our friends at the Kobo Writing Life podcast spoke with romance writer Talia Hibbert, author of  Wrapped Up in You. Hear more from  Kobo in Conversation . Read Wrapped Up in You on Kobo.

Marian Keyes joined us to talk about Grown-Ups, her new book about money, family, love, and the pressure to meet the expectations of others, even the ones we love. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

We spoke with Vicki Laveau-Harvie, author of The Erratics , about why she doesn't see her book as a misery memoir, the proper place for catharsis, and why we're unlikely to ever find her on Twitter. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

Toronto journalist Eternity Martis spoke with us about her memoir,  They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

In Tobly McSmith's debut  Stay Gold , a young adult novel about a transgender boy named Pony, he tells the story of a character who embraces the truth of his gender identity in his teens, much earlier than the author did himself. In our conversation we learn that he was creating a world that might have been and offering comfort to the next trans guy growing up in central Texas. Learn more about an...

Jared Diamond, author of  Guns, Germs, and Steel , joined us to talk about his new book,  Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis . In this wide-ranging discussion Jared speaks about the COVID-19 crisis, as well as authoritarianism, and the need for nations to have the humility to see their errors -- and hopefully learn from them. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation .

We're back, safely ensconced with microphones and broadband internet, bringing you a new season of conversations with authors about books! To kick things off, we spoke with Eden Robinson, author of the Trickster trilogy. Hear more from  Kobo in Conversation .

Listen to Kerri's pick, I'm Just a Person by Tig Notaro .

To end our second season, we spoke with Timothy Caulfield, public health expert and the author of The Science of Celebrity... Or, is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything .  Hear more from  Kobo in Conversation  and subscribe to be sure to hear all that we've got coming in Season 3.

Read Deepika's pick, Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson .