Thresholds

Jordan talks with Vinson Cunningham ( Great Expectations ) about finding himself in the midst of history, discovering ways to hang onto moments, and why he turned to his real life for his debut novel. MENTIONED: The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina Brown Answered Prayers by Truman Capote "How Auto is Auto-fiction" by Christian Lorentzen "American Boy" by Estelle The Idiot by Elif Batuman Shadow and Act...

Jordan chats with Meghan O'Rourke ( The Invisible Kingdom ) about hiding from herself, the death of her father, and the challenges of writing a book without knowing where it will go. MENTIONED: The Riddles of the Sphinx by Anna Shechtman Walking and Talking (1996, written & directed by Nicole Holofcener) "The Teens Have Made Nirvana Preppy" by Sarah Stankorb Meghan O’Rourke is the author of th...

Jordan talks with Rumaan Alam ( Leave the World Behind ) about money, freedom, his recent period of creative fecundity, and the enduring power of art. MENTIONED: The Golden Bowl by Henry James Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Family Meal by Bryan Washington Zero K by Don DeLillo Agnes Martin Rumaan Alam is the author of three novels: Rich and Pretty , T hat Kind of Mother , and Leave the Worl...

Jordan talks with artist and writer Maira Kalman about the death of her husband Tibor Kalman, the process of grief, and her irrepressible creative spirit. MENTIONED: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren Sarah Berman's Closet The Diaries of Franz Kakfa by Franz Kafka, tr. by Ross Benjamin "Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin, sung by Fred Astaire Maira Kalman was born in Tel Aviv and moved to New Yo...

Thresholds is back! To open a new season, Jordan sits down with McKenzie Wark live at PioneerWorks in Red Hook, Brooklyn, for a conversation about raving, gender transition, and the radical work of "playing" with form. MENTIONED: Leonora Carrington Kenneth Goldsmith Audre Lorde’s Zami Zoo, Or Letters Not About Love McKenzie Wark is the author of Love & Money, Sex & Death; Raving; Capital I...

For her last guest as guest-host, Mira chats with former mentee Gina Chung about her debut novel Sea Change , writing about the honest messy stuff, and about learning to take better care of yourself (mind, body, and spirit) for the long-haul creative practice. MENTIONED: The bats under Congress Bridge in Austin, TX “The Love Song of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat” by Gina Chung (at F(r)iction ) The D...

J Wortham joins Mira to talk about the power of changes -- changing location, changing names, changing pronouns -- and the space that can open up as a result of them. Plus, some love for benevolent conspiracies! MENTIONED: Alejandro's Run in LA Still Processing Kristy from The Babysitter's Club J Wortham (they/them) is a sound healer, , reiki practitioner, herbalist, and community care worker ori...

Legendary cartoonist Barbara Brandon-Croft ( Where I’m Coming From ) joins Mira to talk about building a life out of odd jobs, the double-edged sword of being ‘the first,’ and how being a cartoonist was never on her mind until it happened. MENTIONED: Brumsic Brandon, Jr. (Barbara’s father, creator of the comic Luther )  Marie Brown Jules Feiffer ’s Village Voice strip Women’s Wear Daily Barbara Br...

Writer and organizer Sarah Thankam Mathews ( All This Could Be Different ) joins Mira to discuss a brush with mortality in a rip-tide off the California coast, discovering “the sourdough starter of ego death,” and the problems of being an artist under capitalism. MENTIONED: Big Sur , California "How to Escape a Rip Current" What It Is by Lynda Barry I May Destroy You Michaela Coel's Emmy acceptanc...

Poet Layli Long Soldier joins Mira to talk about her transformation during pregnancy, learning to open up to the possibilities of the world, and how she makes a space for ease in order to make a space for creativity. MENTIONED: The Indigenous Language Institute The Real Housewives S.J. Res 14 (111th Congress) Layli Long Soldier earned a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and an MFA wit...

Comedian Hari Kondabolu joins Mira to talk about seeing space for himself on the screen, discovering an answer to the question of how to be in the world, the first joke he was really proud of, and the power that comes from alienating an audience on purpose. There's a lot of laughter in this one, y'all -- as you might expect. MENTIONED: People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1992: Nick Nolte Apu Co...

Mira chats with novelist Angie Cruz ( How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water ) about figuring out who you want to be, Angie's semi-secret history in fashion design and painting, the arrival of her character Cara Romero in her life, and questioning the truths of America in these most trying of times. MENTIONED: FIT ( Fashion Institute of Technology ) Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin Just A...

Guest-host Mira Jacob talks with astrologer and author Chani Nicholas about being the child at the party, how Chani found her voice, and the question of who heals the healers? MENTIONED: Morning Pages (from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way ) FreeFrom therapy CHANI NICHOLAS is a Los Angeles–based New York Times bestselling author of You Were Born For This and astrologer with a community of over one...

Big News: novelist/memoirist/wonderful human Mira Jacob will be stepping into the host chair this spring! This week, she and Jordan sit down for a pass-the-baton chat -- kicking off with a flashback to the very first Thresholds episode (and interview) from February 2020. MENTIONED: Mira's Thresholds interview "What You Might Not Know About 'Getting Roofied'" by Jordan Kisner Mira in conversation w...

Hafizah Geter ( The Black Period ) joins Jordan to discuss her family's influence on her work, the power of memory, being in conversation with the writers you love, and how all of us live in a mix of genres. MENTIONED: Goya's Black Paintings "Fighting Erasure" by Parul Sehgal Toni Morrison's concept of rememory Fela Kuti, Yussef Lateef, Otis Redding Hafizah Augustus Geter is a Nigerian American wr...

Sam Lipsyte ( No One Left to Come Looking For You ) joins Jordan to talk about giving up on punk rock, rediscovering a passion for writing, and the revelation that if you realize nobody cares, then you can do the thing that makes you happy. MENTIONED: Dungbeetle Riverbank State Park John Cheever Galaxie 500 Sam Lipsyte 's latest novel is No One Left to Come Looking For You . He is the author of th...

Heather Radke joins Jordan to talk about Butts: A Backstory , the playful invitation of the book's title, the general unruliness of bodies, and the joys of a JSTOR deep-dive. MENTIONED: Jodie Foster's Coppertone ad " Baby Got Back ," Sir Mix-a-lot Elizabeth Alexander's "The Venus Hottentot" The Normman & Norma Statues Heather Radke  is an essayist, journalist, and contributing editor and repor...

Thresholds reaches its centenary episode with equal parts celebration and consideration. We reached out to old friends to leave us some voicemails, Jordan wrote a musing on this particular milestone, and we're doing a little giveaway to celebrate all of you who've helped bring us this far along the path. Mentioned: "Notebook, 1981," by Eileen Myles The Isolation Journals by Suleika Jaouad Thanks t...

It's the end of our last full capsule for 2022 -- and what a joyful, life-affirming batch of conversations it was! First up, we've got Saeed Jones offering some writing advice (and an exercise, of sorts) -- then some alumni news and a call to pre-order several 2023 releases -- and finally, Chloé Cooper Jones and Jordan get into talking about revision and the life-affirming process of writing. MENT...

Alyssa Songsiridej ( Little Rabbit ) chats with Jordan about moving to a new city, the scary-freeing experience of being away from one's community, and how letting a book out into the world is a process of letting go. MENTIONED: Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel how cold winters get in Boston Alyssa Songsiridej is an e...

Jordan talks with Asali Solomon about The Days of Afrekete , the unexpected discovery that she’s a funny writer, and trying to impart wisdom to students while she’s still learning too.  MENTIONED: Get a Life (1990-1992) The Simple Stories by Langston Hughes The Book of Night Women by Marlon James An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken Asali Solomon ’s first novel, D...

Poet Saeed Jones joins Jordan to talk about the long-term experience of grief, the intensity of writing from the point of view of another person, and the unexpected trilogy of his first three books. MENTIONED: Paul Mooney Diahann Carroll Whitney Houston Toni Morrison Saeed Jones is the author of the memoir HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES , winner of the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the poetry c...

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich ( The Fact of a Body ) joins Jordan to talk about a particularly life-altering haircut, the power of a sequined tuxedo, and what it means for a culture to put a narrative onto a person. MENTIONED: South Pacific Ghostly Matters by Avery Gordon My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland Joseph Lobdell Alex Marzano-Lesnevich is the author of  THE FACT OF A BODY: A Mu...

Chloé Cooper Jones ( Easy Beauty ) joins Jordan to talk about avoiding mandates, about writing through pain and trauma, and about finding the neutral room in one's own mind. MENTIONED: "Everything is copy" -- Nora Ephron sacral agenesis Richard Serra Chloé Cooper Jones is a writer based in New York City. In 2020, Chloé was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing for “Fearing for His Life,” a...

Jordan talks with poet/performer/advocate Kay Ulanday Barrett about their decision to get top surgery, the intersection of family and food, and writing through health crises. MENTIONED: Grey’s Anatomy Swype The Asian American Writers Workshop Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Kay Ulanday Barrett aka @Brownroundboi is a poet, performer, and cultural strategist. Their second book,  More Than Organs (Sibl...