Talking Writing

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews drummer and composer Jay Mumford from New York City. He is half of the funk duo the Du-Rites and author of the out-of-print autobiography Root for the Villain , which pokes fun at the classic musician’s story of rising to fame and fortune. The book offers a different and more realistic perspective of a creative career.

In this week’s episode, TW publisher and founder Martha Nichols interviews author Sean Michaels. Sean is an internationally bestselling novelist and critic from Montreal. He is the author of the new novel Do You Remember Being Born? , a book about family, poetry, work, and artificial intelligence (AI). During their conversation, Martha inquires about his thoughts on the intersection of AI and writ...

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Minaa B, author of Owning Our Struggles , which is available for purchase now on our Bookshop page. Her work focuses on taking responsibility for one’s self in order to enjoy the benefits of healing, including taking a look at one’s own personal development, one’s community, and the social justice issues that one may have to deal with on a day-to-day bas...

In this week’s episode, the TW staff get together to share their current technological obsessions. We discuss everything from software to hardware and everything in between. We share the tools that make our daily lives so much easier and complain about the planned obsolescence that seems to be ingrained in every new piece of tech we buy today.

TW Copyeditor Jess Barnett interviews Jonathan Kravetz, author of How We Were Before, which will be released Running Wild Press this month. His short stories and plays have appeared in various journals, including The Iris Literary Journal , The Rappahannock Review , The Furious Gazelle , The Opiate Magazine , Narrative Northeast , and others. He also teaches a creative writing class online. This w...

TW founder and publisher Martha Nichols talks AI with linguist and professor Naomi Baron. Mostly centering around Baron's recent book, Who Wrote This? How AI and the Lure of Efficiency Threaten Human Writing (Stanford University Press, 2023), their discussion ranges from the effects of AI on writing and teaching, what makes good writing, and the importance of thinking for oneself in an AI world.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Russell Baker, the creator of the sustainability platform A Modern Remedy (AMR), a company helping purpose-led organizations deliver value for people and the planet. On his website, Russell writes long-form essays about various topics and their role in sustainability, including artificial intelligence, social media, fashion, and weather, among other subje...

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone . In this episode, the two discuss the idea of the American dream, how it is used to control the working class, and how it affects working artists and their ability to live off their work.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Alan King, a poet and author of the book, Point Blank . In this interview, which John collected as part of his Perfect Recognition project on intense aesthetic experiences, the two discuss his connection to music and poetry, as well as his development as a poet.

TW ’s Podcast Production Manager Sarah Tulloch interviews Angie Elita Newell, a trained historian, and author of the novel All I See Is Violence . The two discuss how Angie sought to make Native American history more accessible by writing a historical fiction novel as well as the lasting impact of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and how the results of the battle still affect us to this day.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Saundra Gilliard, a professional storyteller, a playwright, and a personal transformation leader. The two discuss the importance of prioritizing feminine storytelling from the perspective of feminine people. Much of mainstream media prioritizes the misogynistic idea of a feminine woman rather than the stories written by women for women. Saundra emphasize...

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Bekka Palmer, Matt Buccelli, and Toya Gavin. Each guest is a respected artist in their field and creates art while raising their kids. In this week’s episode, the group discusses how they juggle their creative careers and parenting.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews musician and author Adam Gnade, who just released I Wish to Say Lovely Things . The two discuss the realities of life as an artist—including the idea of the starving artist, avoiding lifestyle creep, and making the world a better place.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones, author of The Hurricane Book: A Lyric History . In this episode, Neva and Claudia discuss the process of writing a memoir from the perspective of people who have experienced ecological and colonial trauma. 

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Nifemi Aluko, author of Toffy’s Divide. In this episode, Neva and Nifemi discuss the rise of Web3 options in publishing and his use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to maintain ownership over his work.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Amy Belfi , PhD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Science exploring the intersection of music, psychology, and neuroscience. In this week’s episode, they discuss intense aesthetic experiences, the role of art in people's personal lives and society as a whole, and Amy’s journey to the science of music.

In this week’s episode, the TW staff get together to share their current artistic obsessions. We discussed everything from community building, ink making, book reviewing, and a thorough analysis of Beverly Hills, 90210 . This discussion allowed us to take a break from making art to pay the bills and discuss our processes of making art for art’s sake.

In this week’s episode, the TW staff get together to share their current artistic obsessions. We discussed everything from community building, ink making, book reviewing, and a thorough analysis of Beverly Hills, 90210 . This discussion allowed us to take a break from making art to pay the bills and discuss our processes of making art for art’s sake.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Athena Dixon, the author of The Loneliness Files . In this episode, Neva and Athena discuss the weight of loneliness that came about during the lockdown of 2020 and how it affected our daily lives even after being lifted.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Tuan Phan, author of Remembering Water: A Memoir of Departure and Return (Hidden River Press). Tuan juxtaposes his childhood memories of Vietnam and his family’s exile to the US with his parents’ recollection of the same events, finding connections and resonance in spite of the discrepancies. The memoir explores the complex questions around identity and...

John Vogel, our creative director, interviews artist and short story writer Christian McCulloch , also known as WART. WART's art has been featured on the Talking Writing website before so it’s only natural that we invite him to speak on the podcast. WART is a prolific short-story writer with a background in fine art. He’s been an international teacher in the British West Indies, Singapore, Japan,...

Sarah Tulloch, Talking Writing ’s podcast production manager, interviewed JoeAnn Hart. JoeAnn is the author of Highwire Act and Other Tales of Survival . Highwire Act is a collection of previously published short stories that highlight the conflicts that climate change will bring to the forefront of human civilization. The characters are confronted with the consequences of dying ecosystems, illnes...

In the wake of this summer’s Canadian wildfires, protesters are descending on Climate Week NYC, which includes today’s United Nations Climate Ambition Summit. Although the spotlight on climate change has gotten a lot brighter in the past several months, the issue has been going on for decades. Three works have come out recently that were all conceived before this summer’s alarming weather but seem...

In this episode, the interviewed artists talk about their approaches to playing their music live. What are the challenges? Where is the wiggle room for improvisation? What makes a performance engaging? As with the previous episode, each artist approaches the live situation differently, whether trying to present something that you've made in a studio or working out something that you've made in reh...

Performing live and recording music are very different acts, and the skill sets don't necessarily cross over. Some musicians are prone to creating things in the studio and then face the challenge of making something live out of it. Others write and experiment in the live setting and then go into the studio to try and translate what they've been doing live. Both approaches come with unique challeng...