Turek Books Podcast

Netflix comedian Kimberly Clark gets deep into music with a memoir she's currently reading by jazz legend Thelonious Monk and a biography she loved about the late music producer J Dilla. She and Josh discuss morality and greatness and how to reconcile your admiration of deeply flawed artists. "Confederacy of Dunces" is another one of her picks, she likens the main character to Larry David and disc...

On this week's episode Joshua is joined by his first Gen Z guests, the comedy duo behind Content. Channel, Cam George and Peter Ditzler. Not only have these two been helping with the podcast, they've also been kindred readers with Joshua sharing similar tastes in books since they met. They get into their shared love of Mike Davis, particularly his book about the geology of Los Angeles and modern d...

Actor and Sundance Festival Filmmaker, Bridey Elliott joins Joshua to discuss self help, the people who believe dolphins are aliens, NASA experiments gone wrong, and how Bridey throws away every journal she ever finishes. Their book conversation ranges from parasocial relationships, a lesbian psychosexual love affair in the novel “Big Swiss” to the short fiery life and memoir of author Cookie Muel...

"Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" writer Jeff Loveness (Rick and Morty, Jimmy Kimmel Live) brings our biggest stack of books yet and talks with Joshua about everything from Anthony Bourdain books to the Teenage Bible. He and Joshua bring the same final novel of Tolstoy, "Resurrection" and joke about the time they bro'd out at the Alamo Theater and watched the emotionally heavy movie "Past L...

“Bananas Podcast” co-host and voice on BOB’S BURGERS, stand up comedian, Kurt Braunohler joins Joshua to talk about how his kids read more than him by virtue of them exhausting him. The two discuss their shared love of trees prompted by book “The Overstory” that Kurt says is one of his all time favorites even if he hasn’t finished it yet. Their conversation ranges from a book about dishwashing to...

“Family Guy” writer/producer Evan Waite joins Turek Books to talk about his time writing for “The Onion” and his new book “Life Wants You Dead”. Evan and Joshua bond over used book sales at libraries and avoiding social media witch hunts. Evan talks about how reading “48 Laws of Power” was the impetus to creating a writer’s group at the Strand Bookstore in New York City. He also discusses making t...

Comedian Ali Macofsky joins Joshua to talk about both being child actors and Jeanette McCurdy’s bestselling book about that life “I’m Glad My Mom is Dead”.  Longtime friends, they discuss growing up in Southern California and Steve Martin being a magician at Disneyland. Their conversation threads through subjects like public transportation, stand up comedy, old substance slang like “cran...

Emmy nominated writer and comedian Ellory Smith joins us to talk about being a George Saunders superfan and trying to identify the hypocrisy of the world as a means of illuminating a better one. She and Joshua get into conspiracy theories about hippies and PETA, Toni Morrison and Magic Bullet blenders. Their conversation ranges from nature reclaiming Chernobyl to the graffiti artists doing the sam...

Joshua is joined by comedian and stoke activist JT Parr from Chad and JT Go Deep on Netflix, a comedic duo known for their amazing viral videos, often addressing city councils across America with urgent pleas for services like public yachts. Beneath his comedic characters, JT is lowkey well-read. He and Joshua discuss Elmore Leonard, life before social media, David Foster Wallace after cancel...

Comedian, writer, and actor, Alyssa Limperis whose special “No Bad Days” is airing on Peacock, joins Joshua to tell him about her hang ups toward having to finish things in life and how it makes the commitment of choosing a book treacherous. Josh tells Alyssa about his emotional support books on his nightstand and how he reads multiple books like others surf tv channels. Alyssa shares her apprecia...

Stand up Comedian and Co-Creator and star of “This Fool” on Hulu, Chris Estrada brings in a stack of graphic novels and converts Joshua into a fan of the form. They get into their childhood shoplifting stories and Chris attempting to solve the Black Dahlia murder mystery after a particularly bad break-up in his 20’s. Books discussed include “Julio’s Day” by Gilbert Hernandez, “Today is the Last Da...

Akilah Hughes is a writer, actor, author, and podcast host who joins Joshua to talk about how they both re-read “The Great Gatsby” after high school and enjoyed it a lot more when there wasn’t a test involved. They discuss her memoir “Obviously” and the evolution of her feelings toward it five years after its publishing and the tragic loss of her collaborator on it. Also covered are the impactful...

The multi-talented writer, comedian, and professor joins Joshua to talk about how authors like Joan Didion and Lorrie Moore helped open her eyes to the life experiences she could one day write about as a renowned short story author herself and soon to be published novelist. Books talked about include but are not limited to "Birds of America" by Lorrie Moore, "Play It As It Lays" by Joan Didio...