Otherppl with Brad Listi

Scott Nadelson is the guest. His new memoir, The Next Scott Nadelson: A Life in Progress, is now available from Hawthorne Books. Kirkus calls it "Eloquent and universal." And The Portland Mercury says "It’s unusual to read a memoir built of short stories, but it works—instead of forcing a narrative arc onto his own life, as so many memoir writers do, Nadelson simply places these stories next to on...

Tupelo Hassman is the guest. Her debut novel, Girlchild, has just been published in paperback by Picador.  The New York Times raves "A voice as fresh as hers is so rare that at times I caught myself cheering. . . .I’d go anywhere with this writer." And The Boston Globe says "So fresh, original, and funny you’ll be in awe… Tupelo Hassman has created a character you’ll never forget. Rory Dawn Hendri...

Rob Roberge is the guest. His new novel, The Cost of Living, is now available from Other Voices Books. It is the April selection of the TNB Book Club. Cheryl Strayed says "Roberge’s writing is both drop-dead gorgeous and mindbendingly smart. The Cost of Living is an intimate, original, important novel that I’ll be recommending for years to come." And Scott Shriner, bass player for Weezer, says "Th...

Michelle Orange is the guest. Her new essay collection, This is Running for Your Life, is now available from Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. The Daily Beast calls it "A brilliant collection of essays on modern life, and ways that technology and connectivity are changing how we interact with the world....As Orange brilliantly breaks down the state of modern life and how it stands in relation to technolog...

Jennifer Spiegel is the guest. In 2012, she published two books:  The Freak Chronicles, a story collection, now available from Dzanc Books; and Love Slave, a novel out from Unbridled Books. About The Freak Chronicles, bestselling author Lauren Groff says "The Freak Chronicles is a miracle of a story collection: passionately political and a shout of ambivalence about political passion, intensely pe...

Owen King is the guest. His new novel, Double Feature, is now available from Scribner. Karen Russell raves “What a kinetic, joyful, gonzo ride—Double Feature made me laugh so loudly on a plane that I had to describe the plot of Sam's Spruce Moose of a debut film (it stars a satyr) to my seatmate by way of explanation. Booth and Sam are an unforgettable Oedipal duo. A book that delivers walloping p...

Amity Gaige is the guest. Her new novel, Schroder, has just been published by Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Jennifer Egan says "In Schroder, Amity Gaige explores the rich, murky realm where parental devotion edges into mania, and logic crabwalks into crime. This offbeat, exquisitely written novel showcases a fresh, forceful young voice in American letters." And Jonathan Franzen r...

Periel Aschenbrand is the guest. She is the author of two memoirs, the latest of which is called On My Knees. It is available now for pre-order and will be published by Harper Perennial on June 18, 2013. Jonathan Ames raves "Ribald, outrageous, gutter-mouthed, hilarious—a startling new voice in American letters. Watch out Portnoy, watch out Caulfield, watch out Bukowski, watch out E. L. James. Hel...

Giancarlo DiTrapano is the guest. He's the editor of NY Tyrant magazine and the publisher of Tyrant Books, an independent press based in New York City. His authors include Brian Evensen, Blake Butler, Eugene Marten, and Michael Kimball.  And later this year, in June, he'll be publishing Marie Calloway's debut novel, what purpose did i serve in your life.  Sheila Heti says "I have never read a book...

Amber Dermont is the guest. Her debut novel, The Starboard Sea, was a New York Times bestseller, and her new story collection, Damage Control, is now available. Both were published by St. Martin's.  Marilynne Robinson raves "With unflinching wit, Amber Dermont examines the harsh vicissitudes of life, and though the worlds she creates are often unsettling places, her sense of detail always makes fo...

Tom Hansen is the guest. He is the author of the memoir American Junkie and a new novel called This is What We Do. Both are available from Emergency Press. Grace Krilanovich says "There’s what people say, and then there’s what they do. The phrase will infect your consciousness, contorting and twisting itself around to take on more and more dimensions. What does it mean to act on our desires when o...

Ayana Mathis is today's guest. Her debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, was an official selection of Oprah's Book Club 2.0 and has since gone on to become a New York Times bestseller. It is available now from Knopf. Kirkus, in a starred review, calls it “Cutting, emotional…pure heartbreak…though Mathis has inherited some of Toni Morrison’s poetic intonation, her own prose is appealingly earth...

Tim Horvath is the guest. His new story collection, Understories, is now available from Bellevue Literary Press. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune calls it “Profound . . . with more to say on the human condition than most full books. . . . A remarkable collection, with pitch-perfect leaps of imagination.” And HTML Giant says “This is transformative prose at its best. . . . If you want an actual contemp...

Lenore Zion is the guest. She is the author of two books, the first of which, a humor collection called My Dead Pets Are Interesting, was published by TNB Books in 2011. And now her debut novel, Stupid Children, has just been published by Emergency Press. Necessary Fiction raves "Stupid Children is a bildungsroman of twisted proportions told with startling clarity through the filter of a smart, ps...

Sam Lipsyte is the guest. His new story collection, The Fun Parts, is now available from Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. Ben Fountain raves "Lipsyte expertly works the line between hilarity and pathos." And Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, says “In this second story collection, fierce satire mingles with warmth and pathos as Lipsyte (The Ask) showcases his knack for stylistic variety and tangles...

Christine Sneed is the guest. Her new novel, Little Known Facts, was featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review last week. It is available now from Bloomsbury. Booklist, in a starred review, calls it "An ensnaring first novel that delves into the complex challenges and anguish of living with and in the shadow of celebrity. Sneed’s wit, curiosity, empathy, and ability to divine the per...

Bernie Glassman is the guest. He is a pioneer in the American Zen Movement, an accomplished academic and businessman, and the founder of the Zen Peacemakers. His new book, co-authored by Jeff Bridges, is called The Dude and the Zenmaster. A New York Times bestseller, it is available now from Blue Rider Press. Sheila Heti, writing for the Financial Times, says “The Dude and the Zen Master [is] a wo...

Lesley Arfin is the guest. She was a staff writer on the first two seasons of the hit television show Girls, starring Lena Dunham, and she also writes on the MTV series Awkward.  Her book, Dear Diary, is based on a column of the same name that originally appeared in Vice magazine.  It was published by Vice Books/MTV Press in 2007. Sarah Silverman says “Here’s your chance to have all the benefits o...

Jordan Castro is the guest. He is the author of several books, and his latest is a poetry collection called Young Americans, available now from Civil Coping Mechanisms. Ben Brooks, author of Grow Up, says “I read these poems three times in one night, then put the duvet over my head and held my knees for a while. It’s good when something makes sense. I really really liked these poems.” And Chris Ki...

A conversation with Megan Boyle, Mira Gonzalez, and a guy named Sam.  Recorded late at night on February 13th/14th, 2013.  Megan, Mira, and Sam were in Tao Lin's apartment in New York City.  (Tao was not there; he was out of the country at the time.) I was here in Los Angeles, in the home office.  Things got interesting.  Enjoy. -BL Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Terry Tempest Williams is the guest. She is the author of several books, including the environmental literature classic, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. Her latest book is called When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice.  It was published in hardcover by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux in 2012, and the paperback edition is due out from Picador on February 26, 2013. Susan Sa...

Michael Robbins is the guest. His debut poetry collection, Alien vs. Predator, was named one of the best books of 2012 by The New York Times, Slate, Commonweal, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and The Millions.  Dwight Garner of the The New York Times says "Mr. Robbins's heart is not lovely but beating a bit arrhythmically; not dark but lighted by a dangling disco ball; not deep but as shallow and alert as a tid...

Joyce Johnson is the guest. She is the author of several books, the most recent of which is called The Voice is All: The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac, available now from Viking.  Kirkus calls it “An exemplary biography of the Beat icon and his development as a writer…Johnson [turns] a laser-sharp focus on Kerouac’s evolving ideas about language, fiction vs. truth and the role of the writer in hi...

James Lasdun is the guest. He is the author of two novels, four collections of poetry, and two collections of short stories, including the collection The Siege, the title story of which was made into a film by Bernardo Bertolucci (Besieged). With Jonathan Nossiter he co-wrote the films Sunday, which won Best Feature and Best Screenplay awards at Sundance, and Signs and Wonders, starring Charlotte...

Matthew Salesses is the guest. He is the author of two chapbooks, Our Island of Epidemics and We Will Take What We Can Get, and his new novel is called I'm Not Saying, I'm Just Saying, which is published by Civil Coping Mechanisms.  Matt Bell raves “In Matt Salesses’s smart novel-in-shorts, a newly-minted father flees telling his own story by any means necessary—by sarcasm, by denial, by playful a...