Kendra Grant Malone is the guest. She is the author of two poetry collections, Everything is Quiet (Scrambler Books) and Morocco (Dark Sky Books), the second of which she co-wrote with Matthew Savoca.

Blake Butler says

Kendra Grant Malone contains several hundred people. Likewise, her words seem to protect several hundred other words beneath their giddy, precise calm. Here is a mother and a voyeur and a pervert and a magick-making child, somewhere between them all your brand new old friend, teeming with such heat. Here is language more honest than I could ever be. I suggest you keep it close, warm. I suggest you keep an eye, as if this book had human hands beyond its gorgeous shoulders it would tickle you to death; it would hump your funny tired body, then eat your head for what you’ve seen.

And Ben Greenman says

Any book that thanks ‘vodka, cocaine, and Citalopram, for making mood swings bearable and this book possible’ is likely to a strong sense of its own identity, or identities, and Kendra Grant Malone’s Everything is Quiet certainly does. Strong: her use of language, her voice, her commitment to getting it right, even as she’s describing how she frequently gets it wrong. Sense: a good ear, a good eye, an intimate acquaintance with bodies and what (and who) they do. These fifty sexy, thoughtful, and sometimes pained poems do right by sex, love, and sometimes pain, not to mention menstrual blood, greasy hair, funny faces, and watering eyes.

Monologue topics: bachelor parties, relief, contradiction, antisocial behavior, strip clubs, Wrangler jeans, fly-fishing.

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Benjamin Percy is the guest. His new novel, Red Moon, is now available from Grand Central Publishing. It is the May selection of the TNB Book Club.  (Photo credit: The Oregonian.)

John Irving says

Red Moon is a serious, politically symbolic novel—a literary novel about lycanthropes. If George Orwell had imagined a future where the werewolf population had grown to the degree that they were colonized and drugged, this terrifying novel might be it.

And Library Journal, in a starred review, raves

This literary thriller by an award-winning young writer will excite fans of modern horror who enjoy a large canvas and a history to go with their bloody action. . . . Fans of Max Brooks’s zombies and Justin Cronin’s vampires will enjoy the dramatic breadth of Percy’s tale of werewolves.

Monologue topics: the Internet, blackouts, addiction, meditation, masturbation, my mother.

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Anna Stothard is the guest. Her novel The Pink Hotel is now available in the United States from Picador. And her latest effort, a novel called The Art of Leaving, is just out in the UK from Alma Books.

The New York Times calls The Pink Hotel

Stylish… captures an outsider’s gape at sun-drenched Los Angeles.

And Davy Rothbart raves

The Pink Hotel is mysterious, lyrical, and utterly absorbing, by turns funny and forlorn. [Stothard's] writing bristles with sexiness and suspense, love, loss, and longing. This is the best book I’ve read in years.

Monologue topics: stopping, vistas, nature, personal space, park benches, eating on airplanes, Reese Witherspoon.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

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Ken Baumann is the guest. He is an actor, writer, and publisher. His new novel, Solip, is now available from Tyrant Books.

HTML Giant says:

There is nothing on the back cover. A wall of black staring at you. No pull quotes or blurbs, and by the second page you realize why: because the book speaks for itself….I read this tiny book in one sitting in a coffee shop amazed by its power and had to go indoors to drown out the outside world to reread it and devour it properly….Early frontrunner for best book I’ve read this year, certainly the most memorable. I can’t remember reading anything quite like Solip….Solip is a twitter account from hell, a deranged patient babbling on a shrink’s couch….Concise yet brimming with ideas and thoughts and lists and fragments and run-ons and then it’s over and you’re left wondering what the fuck happened.

Monologue topics:  fiction, nonfiction, my novel, paralysis, creative quandaries, Errol Morris, Baltimore, The Black Guerilla Family, prison corruption.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

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Matt Nelson is the guest.  Along with Jacob Perkins, he is the co-founder of the Mellow Pages Library in Brooklyn, New York.

The library was recently featured in the New York Times:

Matt Nelson, a graduate student in creative writing at Queens College and one of the library’s two founders, explained the origins of the place, which is meant to serve as a reading room and gathering spot in addition to book lender. Mr. Nelson and Jacob Perkins, both 26, started the library in February, inspired in part by Pilot Books, a bookstore in Mr. Nelson’s hometown, Seattle, that carried volumes by independent publishers, and which closed in 2011.

Mellow Pages also specializes in those more arcane titles. Without the advertising budgets of major houses, the smaller presses have more difficulty finding readers, Mr. Nelson said, and the idea behind the library was to form a community of people who could share books that were not easy to find elsewhere….

Monologue topics:  voicemails, Spencer Madsen, Skype, my voice, cheese, New York City.

Watch Matt get his ear pierced upon learning that the Mellow Pages Library has 666 Facebook followers:

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And then finally some relief:

A listener named Joseph corrects my pronunciation of ‘Amherst’:

Really like the show. I just listened to Episode 162 and felt compelled to write and inform you that you’ve been mispronouncing the word Amherst. I first noticed it this past fall in the D.T. Max episode, and didn’t think much of it, but after this recent episode I thought that you might want to know that it’s not Am-Herst, but rather Am-erst. You seemed to be really stressing that H in your chat with Amity Gaige. I’m not trying to be snarky or pedantic or anything like that, just thought you might like to know. It’s a common mistake. People familiar with the area might be silently judging your pronunciation, and I like you and the show enough that I thought it might be worthwhile to [say something], sort of like if you had food stuck in your teeth or your zipper was down or something like that, you know?

Thanks, Joseph.  Am-erst it is.

A listener named Jeremy inquires about my health:

Hey Brad,

Long time, first time, and all that.

Couldn’t help but notice the following from the recent monologues:

1) You work out. You throw weights around. Afterward, sometimes, in an endorphin haze, you run back to your unit, dodging individuals on the sidewalk handing out magazines.

2) You suffered a hernia. You had hernia surgery.

Are these two events related?

Concerned,
Jeremy

Hi, Jeremy.  First:  The phrase ‘throw weights around’ seems way too generous.  Second:  No, the two events are not related.  I got the hernia (it was umbilical) by, um, lifting books.  True story.  I think I talk about it on a previous episode.  I was getting rid of hundreds of books, lifting big heavy boxes, and, well…

I’m getting old.

‘Max Millwood,’ the podcast’s regular, intensive, pseudonymous critic (he calls his reports ‘Listi Watch’) hated the monologue to Episode 167:

You sounded so morose [at] the top of the monologue that we at Listi Watch wondered if you had forgotten to take your Prozac. You revealed to us that you had procrastinated taping the introduction because of online dilly-dallying. This really did show when you went into a lazy riff on Fiona Apple calling the world ‘bullshit.’ The fact that Apple’s ‘Courtney Love-lite’ speech resonated with someone as smart as you, really shows the effects of extreme internet perusal. How much did that googling numb your senses? The world is bullshit? Really? How about the the (right) assessment: that the world is neither bullshit or wonderful — that it is what it is, and we make our own way through our minds, bodies, and the ones we keep in our lives. Bradley, you’re better than this… People who believe the world is bullshit will never be great. Be great, Brad.

I feel compelled to add that ‘the world’ Fiona is referring to is not the world, writ-large, but rather the world of corporate media, fashion, and entertainment (and, in her particular case: music).  And this world is, I would argue, largely made of bullshit.  It was an adolescent speech in many ways, sure, but come on:  She was 18 when she made it!  Personally, I think it showed some good instincts, and, if nothing else, some real balls.  It’s unusual to see someone bite the hand like that, at that age, and on such a big stage.  A weird, minor, misunderstood cultural moment, lost, to a large extent, amid the bad static.  And yes, its inclusion was the product of too much time spent dicking around online.  Mea culpa.

Millwood continues with his thoughts on Tupelo Hassman, guest on Episode 167:

She was a guest who seemingly didn’t want to talk about much; she was very reluctant and hesitant. But her life’s immensity (which seemed a bit fictionalized seeing as she had something of an aloof Stepford Wife quality on your show) redeemed any conversation-averse qualities. The conversation got off to a rocky start, as you nervously extended the pregnancy bit about 6 minutes too long. What’s more, she seemed to swat down every follow-up you were giving her. She was unwilling to take flight with you.

Really?  I thought Tupelo was totally agreeable.

He then takes issue with my interviewing style:

There is a habit I’m sure you’re aware of, and that Listi Watch has refrained from mentioning just because it’s so elemental to your interviewing style, but you hold very partisaned interviews. You’ll ask your guest a question, she’ll respond, and rather than take off with her response, you just talk about your experience to the question/issue at hand. So rather than play ping-pong with your guests, Brad, you serve the ball, she hits it back, you catch it with your hand and serve it again. Just play, baby.

Seems fair enough.

Gabrielle Gantz had a more positive response:

A listener named Erik sends in some kind words:

I just want to say that I love the podcast (I’ve listened to every one since I found out about it, starting with episode 17) and that hearing what you and other writers are going through gives me a whole bunch of hope, even if it doesn’t seem like there’s much out there.

I don’t have any idea about the current state of publishing, whether people are reading more or less than they used to, or whether this whole ship is going down, but I get the feeling that it has always been a pretty bleak industry for a career choice and that you have to wade through a whole lot of dark waters (often swimming upstream) until you find little islands of light here and there. I always return to your podcast when I’m feeling like this endeavor is pointless. Hearing the thoughts and fears of your guests makes me feel a little less alone in all this, and for that I thank you.

My pleasure, Erik.  Thanks for listening.

The good people at Hobart (is that you, Elizabeth?) seem to be lobbying for….who?….to appear on the show.

If you have requests, ladies and gentlemen, feel free to leave them on the comment board.  Or else email me.  I’m always open to ideas.

Millwood returns with his assessment of the Episode 168 monologue, and it is positive:

This was a very strong monologue. It gave us a bit of your narcissistic self-scrutiny that fills in the holes of, say, a Louis CK. Where Louis is a slob, you are a “good guy.” There were some fabulous exctractable phrases from the monologue that in-and-of-themselves provide a nice arc in the monologue. “I’ve got to grow up” turned into “I need to relax,” which finally resolved with “I can manage this.” Then there were just the bouts of humor: “I shouldn’t poison myself for my sister.” Lastly, you demonstrated some nice vocabulary gymnastics with “arrhythmically.” Just as we were getting comfortable in our seat for the Nadelson interview, you even anointed your monologue with a title, whether you knew it or not: The Cajun Element. Great, great monologue.

And he was equally generous regarding the interview with Scott Nadelson:

We were worried [about] the vague geographical banter which we’ve heard from you in 75 percent of your shows (city vs. city, East vs. West, etc.), but we were soon appeased when that broke out into remarkably fluid conversations on home as metaphor, Darwinian childhood psychologies, to Poland, etc. You lassoed it beautifully back to literature when you went into his publication story. As you’re wont to do, you allowed yourself to break out into the large issues like masculinity and, ironically enough, back to geographic significance. This was like a Nolan Ryan fastball, this interview. Nice work, Brad.

Chloe Caldwell likes the Episode 168 monologue as well:

Millwood’s thoughts on the Episode 169 monologue:

You started out this monologue with the good ol’ meta trick of talking about not knowing what to talk about. From mockumentaries to post-modern literature, this decades-old device has lost its appeal to much of The Enlisted, and expectedly fell flat….[which] made us wonder if you prepare for your monologues or just speak spontaneously. It’s an odd thing to wonder because your monologue is delivered with a confident cadence that suggests preparation, yet sometimes the topics of the monologue are so inconsequential that it suggests a fatigued improvisation.

I do prepare.  There are notes.  But, you know, I’m doing two shows a week, soup-to-nuts, and am very busy otherwise.  So it’s tough.  Oftentimes I’m scrambling for subject matter; other days I’m just plain exhausted.  Doing the best I can.  (Note:  This is why talk show hosts in higher realms have staff writers.)

On a (much) more positive note, Millwood has rave reviews for the Episode 169 guest, Fiona Maazel:

She brought a cunning intelligence that at times surpassed yours in its relentlessness, which I say only to illustrate how outstanding she was. She brought up some far-reaching ideas, from American distinction to North Korean reality, that were unusual to find on “Other People.” And just when you think a woman this smart will be above us, she talks about Meetup.com.  Maazel was my personal favorite guest so far.

His one beef (coupled with some personal revelation):

I will admit that it was frustrating to hear you two fall prey to the ubiquitous nostalgia-fetishizing from people over the age of 30. To make your arguments credible, the two of you of course brought up the pros of the Internet, but the whole section sounded generally pessimistic. Brad, I’ll have you know that the Internet is able to connect like-minded people in an exponentially more efficient way than ever before. Without it, I never would’ve found the woman who might be my soul-mate, to soul-cellular degrees. I never would’ve found the vlogs of a young hiker who hikes for the same reasons I do. I never would’ve found a friend in you and your program. This is a definitively good thing. STOP FEELING GUILTY ABOUT EVERYTHING. NO GUILT! NO GUILT! NO GUILT!

He  continues his gushing:

Maazel started to take the lead in the intellectual race between the two of you. She was flat-out impressive when she talked about the emotional estrangement that resulted in rugged American individualism. You earnestly tried to keep up with her, but the lead had been taken. But there were moments when it was nose-to-nose though. On two occasions, Maazel preempted something you were just going to say. But she would take the lead once more when shooting you down regarding North Korea’s leaders’ cognizance and George Plimpton’s essence. Just the fact that she did shoot down your ideas was so refreshing for a politically-cautious, overly-generous industry of writers.

I can understand this sentiment.  Writers are such a polite bunch, generally speaking.  Sometimes overly so.  And in a (semi-) professional interview setting such as the one we have here, politesse can sometimes get in the way of good conversation.  (I’m probably as guilty of this than anyone.)

Should also add that hailing someone for winning an ‘intellectual race’ against me is, I fear, to damn them with faint praise.  Heh.

A listener named Molly—I read a letter of hers on a previous episode—checks in again:

Hey Brad,

Thanks for pointing out Arundhati Roy’s work.  She’s an inspiration.

Also:  Thanks for your response.  I really appreciated it and my stomach did this rollercoaster-response-thing when you read the letter on the show awhile back.  I was in the throes of insomnia and final days before thesis defense and it really did a number on me, in a good way.

I don’t know why I feel the need to tell you that I defended and it went well, seeing as you know nothing about me, but — I finished.  And yeah, it went well.  I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how your honesty and candidness has helped open them up in the ways they interact with people, and I’ve often thought the same thing.  It’s strange to say, but conversations feel different somehow.  I keep thinking about the importance of curiosity.  Actually everything keeps coming down to curiosity and awareness, and it’s empowering, and yeah, thanks for making such a vital human quality so infectious.  It’s helped me a lot with getting through the murkiness of thesis.

It’s always fun listening to the show, thanks again for all your hard work.

Awww.  Thanks, Molly.

Finally, Millwood weighs in, harshly, on Episode 170, my conversation with Emily Rapp:

This review can either be nice or honest. For the sake of living up to the Listi Watch motto of “Keeping Brad Listi Honest since 2013,” you can probably guess which track we’ll take. [Emily's] son’s death is an absolute tragedy, and it is of my opinion that the senseless death of a child is proof enough that God probably doesn’t exist.

However. The empathy in your heart as both a father and a peer not only hijacked the show, but it makes it hard for me to criticize the hour-long cunnilingus you gave this reverse-sexist guest. And your monologue wasn’t great either. It’s the first show of May, and we are crossing our fingers that this show won’t be indicative of the rest of May’s shows.

He continues:

It’s not the fact that [Rapp] started the interview eating food [that bothers me most], or calling the disease that killed her son “the number one shittiest disease” (just to later sarcastically say about the whole thing, “good times”). It’s not that. It’s her flagrant sexism that you ignored while your head was buried in her genitals, taking a breath only to read a quote from her work.

Just in case you didn’t hear it from down there, Emily gave us some of her ‘man-hate’ with the blanket sentiment that if a man wrote the book she did, he would get universally celebrated, but because she was a woman, there was more criticism surrounding the book. I’m sorry, Emily, isn’t your outrageously blasé demeanor in this interview excused only because we, as your listeners, are assuming the gender bias that states that all mothers unyieldingly adore their offspring? Isn’t [the] shocking emotional removal in your voice predicated entirely on this beneficial gender bias?….The man-hating continued when Rapp talked about how a boyfriend of hers would react to Ronan’s condition. When she talked about how the boyfriend was loving toward Ronan, she said, “I didn’t think that was going to happen,” as in: “Isn’t [it] surprising that a guy would be so caring toward my terminally ill child!” Good job, men! Emily approves!

Dude.  Cut the woman some slack.  I don’t think it’s fair to judge her by her tone of voice, or choice of phrasing, in the context of a fluid, off-the-cuff conversation about very, very difficult (and exhausting) subject matter.  How can you fault her for attempting humor, or for resisting the drift into sadness?  If anyone deserves measured judgment, it’s a woman ten weeks removed from the loss of a child.

Also:  When she expressed her surprise over her boyfriend’s warmth, I think what she meant was:  I was surprised he didn’t run in the other direction.  Which is to say:  Most guys—most people—probably wouldn’t sign up for that kind of ultra-heavy grief experience when they’re out dating, particularly as they’re just getting to know someone.  Rather than bashing him, or bashing men, with this anecdote, I feel she was offering praise.

So…yeah.  I thought Emily was great to talk to, and courageous for agreeing to do so.  And her writing is flat-out spectacular.

That said, I do believe that reverse-sexism is a worthy topic of conversation and one that I wouldn’t mind addressing somehow in a future episode.

Chloe Caldwell offers her two cents:

And finally, there’s this bit of lovely Internet bullshit:

Emily Rapp is the guest. Her new memoir, The Still Point of the Turning World, is now available from Penguin.

Cheryl Strayed says

The Still Point of the Turning World is about the smallest things and the biggest things, the ugliest things and the most beautiful things, the darkest things and the brightest things, but most of all it’s about one very important thing: the way a woman loves a boy who will soon die. Emily Rapp didn’t want to tell us this story. She had to. That necessity is evident in every word of this intelligent, ferocious, grace-filled, gritty, astonishing starlight of a book.

And Kirkus, in a starred review, calls it

A beautiful, searing exploration of the landscape of grief and a profound meditation on the meaning of life.

Monologue topics:  wedding, Chicago, sobriety, alcohol, 5-Hour Energy, Tay-Sachs, NTSAD.org

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Fiona Maazel is the guest. Her new novel, Woke Up Lonely, is now available from Graywolf Press.

The Daily Beast says

[Maazel] has a real talent for taking these existential millstones of modern life—fear of death, failure, being alone, everything—and filtering them into morbidly funny, troublingly familiar forms. . . . Woke Up Lonely easily refutes the idea that the novel is a staid, obsolete form of writing. The stakes in Maazel’s book are at least as real as any work of nonfiction, and it’s a good deal more fun to read than any manifesto.

And Bookforum raves

Woke Up Lonely is another wunderkammer, a deeply felt and wildly original novel that repays the attention it demands, and once read won’t be soon forgotten.

Monologue topics: having nothing to say, saying something anyway, to-do lists, talking about writing, my dogs, dog baths.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

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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 one another, allowing their edges to overlap, tugging the reader forward and backward in time. The results are funny, quietly compelling, and unflinchingly frank. Nadelson has built a golem out of paper and typeface.

Monologue topics: my little sister’s wedding, peer pressure, alcohol, the Cajun element.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

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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 Hendrix of the Calle has as precocious and endearing a voice as Holden Caulfield of Central Park.

Monologue topics: the Internet, Fiona Apple, going crazy, the world is bullshit.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

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And another, this one tinged with a whiff of venom:

A listener named Ty has an observation:

I am continually impressed by the frequency [with which] the phrase ‘other people’ comes up in your show. [And] the context [does not involve] the show, which I find interesting. I’d say 80 percent of the episodes have you or your guest uttering ‘other people’ at one point during the dialogue.

All part of a diabolical subliminal advertising campaign, Ty.   I own you.

Ty also commented on the tragedy in Boston and my monologue for Episode 166:

I was at lunch when I saw the news about Boston in my Twitter feed. One of my first thoughts was the drone attacks and the innocent lives lost at the hands of our country. I didn’t tell anyone this because I was afraid. I’m not really sure what I was afraid of but I didn’t think that too many people would understand what I was feeling.

I was glad to hear what you had to say. I hate this violence.

A listener named Ben weighs in with his thoughts on Boston and the nature of violence:

I too couldn’t resist the temptation of looking at the images on the news websites. There was one picture where a group of police officers are drawing their guns in response to the second explosion. What were they going to do, shoot the explosion?…There is no end….

….What can I do or say, what course of action can I take that isn’t another lit match in the kerosene whirlpool? Unless I consider noticing to be an action….What more can I ask of myself? What more help can I bring? — because I’m not about to draw the gun that I don’t have. What can I give to the cries of the world pounding in my ear? I can give the world the moment that I already am — I can give my attention, which is unfolding now.

I’m an idiot.

No, you’re not.  Or if you are, then I am, too. 

Work hard to stay awake, and try your best to be the change.  Sounds like a plan to me.

Plenty of feedback on Episode 163, my conversation with Owen King, author of Double Feature and son of Stephen:

Even Max Millwood, the podcast’s most intensive critic, was bullish:

This episode proved that Episode 162 wasn’t a fluke, but that the show is truly on the rebound from its string of weak March interviews. This episode was truly a gift to the audience…The interview was enlightened conversation at its most muscular; curious self-evaluations of two like-minded authors. You impeccably treaded the sensitive issue of addressing [Owen's] father [Stephen King] with respect and your audience’s curiosity. Nicely done….

It’s almost as if Owen was made to not only write, but to be interviewed about his writing. It’s as if the sperm of Stephen King’s that became Owen had the genetic material to give good interviews about what it’s like to be of Stephen King’s sac of horror balls….

Though he takes issue with how I say the word horror:

Listi Watch does notice that you pronounce ‘horror’ as ‘whore.’ It sounded like you were saying ‘whore novels,’ which would’ve been an interesting link back to the monologue. Please pronounce it as ‘HAH-ruhr’ henceforth.

A listener named Stefan has a bone to pick with King regarding self-publishing:

[King's] analysis of the self-publishing movement was really far off. He doesn’t seem to have any understanding of why people self-publish. They’re not doing it because they think they’re so brilliant and don’t need any editing. They’re doing it because breaking through in the publishing industry is impossibly slow and difficult.

While there’s certainly tons of self-published work out there that’s not any good, King’s assertion that the professional editors in the publishing industry serve this great gate-keeping function is a bit hard to take, particularly coming from someone who, as he admits, has gotten some breaks due to his connections.

Max Millwood offers his thoughts on this topic, and wonders if he detected fear in my voice:

You spoke highly of editors in a way that was indeed honest, but seemed to have self-interested undertones. While Listi Watch doesn’t question the integrity of your opinions on the industry machine you deemed not only necessary but important, we do wonder if you felt a certain comfort in taking its side. It would be a lot more favorable for potential industry brass listening to your show to hear you talk positively of them as opposed to critically, and the soft trickle of fearful passion underlying your voice during this segment showed your awareness of that. But please note this is not a call-out of you by any means. We know you speak according to your beliefs.

The Newer York throws a line into the water:

Past guest Christopher Beha makes a request:

Answer:  Hopefully soon.  Stay tuned.

Millwood’s review of Episode 164, my conversation with Jennifer Spiegel, was mixed:

It was a weaker episode in comparison to the prior two episodes, which were something of an Other People renaissance. That is not to say that 164 returned to the awful level of the March shows, but it definitely did not take flight the way 162 and 163 did. Spiegel was a well-chosen guest who could’ve been dealt a better hand of hosting from you in the first half, but there was nothing overtly problematic in this episode….

He then takes out the scalpel:

Yours and Spiegel’s opinion on literary success was grossly naive. To rail against the privileged and the lucky [is] truly the last-ditch [cry] of a weak person. We at Listi Watch know you’re above that (no, really). Listi Watch knows that you must be aware that you yourself are incredibly privileged because it’s only the privileged who can complain about privilege. The underprivileged do one thing: survive. As a privileged person, you should have a belief that the laissez-faire economic system that has served you so, so well can serve you well in the laissez-faire publishing industry. Don’t be complicit in general capitalism, and then complain that you’re not being recognized enough in publishing capitalism. Business is business, and, yes, only the strong survive….If you have the literary talent and angry drive, then there’s nothing in publishing holding you back. That’s the beauty of the ‘laissez-faire’ system; it works both ways. So be privileged, but don’t be a privileged bitch. But first you gotta be a damn good writer.

I wish I could remember exactly what Jennifer and I said.  And yes, I realize that I could go back and listen to the show and try to find this particular segment, but…it’s Friday.

Not sure I agree with the above assessment—at least not entirely.  The stuff about complicity and laissez-faire capitalistic goodness and largesse.  But here’s what does ring true:  That those who truly struggle don’t have any time to complain.

Hard to argue that.

And, as I’ve said before on this program, to complain about the rigors of making of art is, at its core, insufferable.  It’s a privilege to be able to make art—particularly when one is doing so for (some meager semblance of) a living.

A listener named Shawn has some thoughts on the autobiographical, along with some kind words:

I enjoy how you steer conversation (sometimes artfully, sometimes clumsily) towards things that are inherently personal and emotional…I’m often surprised at how much energy some writers put into the denial of the autobiographical (or otherwise unsavory and personal) elements that creep into their work. As if the writer is supposed to be in total and complete control of the thoughts, memories, half-dreams, and feelings that shape stories. As if he can work with these raw materials and machine them to close of tolerances, without his own shit spoiling the finish. You seem to be very comfortable with this grey, middle game stuff, and it makes for great interviews. So thanks, and keep it coming.

My pleasure, Shawn.  Thanks for listening.

Meghan Murphy of Paper Darts responds to the ‘frustrated listener’ in Listener Feedback — Vol. 4:

Over at Burrow Press Extra, a reaction to Episode 139, my conversation with xTx:

I’ve been listening to Brad Listi’s ‘Other People’interview series for about a year now, mostly on days when I make the long drive to drop Jackson off at his daycare and then head back in the opposite direction to go to work. One of the more disturbingly compelling interviews was with female author xTx, whose work is so sexual that she fears the real-world professional consequences of revealing her name. This is her own choice, of course, to write the subject matter that she does, and the interview shows her to be extremely reasonable about her writing career and the hole she’s dug for herself with this anonymous approach. Here’s the disturbing part, though: she receives emails and Facebook messages from a variety of male readers, often treating the sexual scenes in her fiction as if they were true, and often offering themselves up to the author to…re-enact and improve upon the material in her fiction. God, that makes me want to go take a shower or something.

And speaking of xTx:

We talk about it constantly.

A listener named Janie gets hooked:

…and then goes on a massive binge:

A listener named Ray Shea takes issue with my monologue in Episode 160:

Peter Cavanaugh adds:

It was, at its core, a joke.  I often tell them (or try to) in the monologues.  Sometimes they work.  Sometimes not.

Here would seem to be an example of the latter.

Apologies for the upset.  I was truly just goofing around.

Doing two shows a week, usually at night, while tired and edgy from too much caffeine, trying to come up with something good to say.  This is my particular plight.

I’m not complaining, mind you—(easy, Max)—just trying to paint a picture in hopes that you’ll cut me some slack.

Some more good feedback via Twitter, this from the festively-named Patrick O’Flaherty regarding the Jerry Stahl episode:

Dogboi digs Lenore Zion:

On to Episode 165, my conversation with Michelle Orange.  Here again Max Millwood filed his regular report, and the mood is frosty at best:

There were enough painfully awkward holes in the interview to qualify it as a ‘miss,’ but the episode was so lightweight as a whole, that any mistakes made didn’t resonate. The genius of Episodes 162/163 can now officially be labelled an isolated event, as we’ve returned to an episode that just didn’t quite get the job done. If there was a job to get done in the first place.

He found the early stages of the interview to be embarrassingly flirtatious:

The whole conversation started to sound like a first date, with you getting her to giggle over embarrassing stories of her nerdiness and, like, stories of prom music. Just before we got to the first kiss, you started the by-the-book interview. There [were] some pretty meaningful conversation topics brought up, like Kickstarter (which you could’ve taken further, after she brought up the conflict between artistic integrity and financial compromising) and first drafts (which you did a swell job of illuminating for the beginner writers out there).

And then he got disappointed:

The ‘painfully awkward’ holes…included several trail-offs, suspended thoughts, and confusing moments for Orange. First, you calling attention to the static blip on her phone was unnecessary, and led to one of the most awkward moments the show has seen in a long time. Secondly, you asking if her mother was still with us [had you seeming] unnecessarily eager to make something out of nothing. Any time someone makes a person think of [her] parents as no longer existing, an awkward moment ensues.

The bottom line with Orange is that she wasn’t terribly interesting on a personal level, and what worthwhile information she did offer, you had a tough time curating. This was not a superb episode by any stretch of the imagination.

He concludes by pleading for relief:

We at Listi Watch are looking forward to you knocking it out of the fucking park, Sammy Sosa style, [in Episode 166]. We at Listi Watch are depressed and lonely. We at Listi Watch want you to make us feel better.

On a brighter note, Scott Macaulay over at Filmmaker magazine enjoyed the episode enough to tweet about it:

 Emily Allen is grateful for the learning experience:

Never, Emily.  Never.

Dmitry Samarov has nice things to say about Episode 157:

And Alexander Chee has figured out the secret of my ‘tweeting process‘:

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

This is a guy who clearly knows his way around a tour bus. And around a massive drug habit. A dark, funny, frightening, and above all authentic book about the toll the rock and roll lifestyle can take.

Monologue topics: Boston, terrorism, tragedy, talking about speechlessness, confusion, darkness, realism, pragmatism, idealism.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

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 technology and the commoditized image, she tells us much of what we already have intuited, but might have been afraid to admit to ourselves….

And Publishers Weekly raves

In this whip-smart, achingly funny collection, film critic Orange (The Sicily Papers) trains her lens on aging, self-image, and the ascendancy of the marketing demographic, among other puzzles of the Facebook generation….[this is] a collection whose voice feels at once fresh and inevitable.

Monologue topics: TNB Literary Experience, tweets.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

I’ll be hosting this event in LA next week.  Some great writers and poets will be reading their stuff.  And music by The Urinals.

The perfect way to kick off the LA Times Festival of Books weekend.  Everybody’s welcome.

If you’re around, we’d love to see you there.

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 personal and furiously global. We readers are lucky to find Jennifer Spiegel, a writer who is self-satirizing and vulnerable and elegant as hell.

About Love Slave, Publishers Weekly says

Spiegel’s novel evokes the psychic angst of Manhattanites presumptuous enough to describe themselves as struggling artistes, yet entitled enough to melt down when they can’t order breakfast in a diner after 11am…the writing is fresh and witty, and Sybil is a sympathetic character worthy of rooting for as she searches for something to believe in.

Monologue topics:  the gym, stress, running, the woman with magazines, stopping, Lawn Day.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

Owen King is the guest. His new novel, Double Feature, is now available from Scribner.  (Photo credit: Michael York | AP Photo.)

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 pleasures to its lucky readers.

And Larry McMurtry says

Double Feature is a beautiful, wrenching beginning, and Owen King is a young writer of immense promise.

Monologue topics: listener feedback, overdoing gender politics, Bad Sex in Fiction Award.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

I think it would be interesting to interview some editors from online literary journals like Jersey Devil Press, Defenestration, Paper Darts, or whomever.

I’ve been sending out work for the last six months with nothing but form rejections.  I’m curious to hear what it’s like from their perspective, who these people are, what their experiences as writers have been, how they got started with the journal, and what they really want from authors….

Not a bad idea.  If you’re jonesing, you can listen to my conversation with Paris Review editor Lorin Stein.

Another listener named Daniel, this one from Australia, has this to say:

I really enjoy the podcast, it’s a real highlight while I walk to my hideous day job and also when I escape to the botanical gardens at lunchtime….I’d really love to hear how your current novel is coming along, you were speaking about it in monologues, then you had the trip to Israel and mentioned you weren’t happy with what you had so far. And then silence while you tried to get some distance from it.

Answer: I’m working, slowly, on a rewrite.  I completed a full draft (current title: The Piñatas) back in December.  Can’t predict when I’ll finish.  I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment.  But it’s in some kind of motion.

And now on to ‘Listi Watch,’ the regular, unusually intensive reviews of the podcast sent in by ‘Max Millwood’ (a pseudonym, he tells me).

Max’s thoughts on Episode 158 — Tom Hansen:

There was something likable about this show. While the monologue was simply boring, the interview had a subdued tone that was mutually developed by Hansen’s temperament and the interview the two of you made. It was pleasant. Much in the same way your boredom made for a boring monologue, your ex-junkie guest made for a kind of junkyesque interview. When was the last time Terry Gross conducted a ‘junkyesque interview’?

Max’s generally positive tone continued with Episode 159 — Amber Dermont:

…a solid interview from start to finish. The amount of subjects you two hit on was very keen; it was a well balanced conversation; and it had a tone to it that never got too precious. The arching of the show was a little wonky. Asking her about her childhood about 70% into the show, jarringly going back to her parents being rare book dealers forty minutes after it was mentioned, and other minute examples made this show a bit knotty.

He was lukewarm on the episode’s more production-heavy, ‘David-Lynchian’ monologue:

You went above and beyond your typical comedic reach…by inserting David Lynch’s audio clip above the overdone background music. While this was ‘funny’ in the hard sense of the word, it wasn’t you…It would’ve been funnier if the character we’ve come to know as Brad Listi over the years, that three dimensional personality, just said ‘rubber clown suit’ in his sang-froid tone, instead of ironic insertions of Lynch’s voice. And even if we were to critique this new production-heavy type of comedy, we’d say that the background piano song went on for too long.

He then weighed in on Episode 160 — Giancarlo DiTrapano, panning both me and my guest:

After a perfectly timed segment of introductory banter, you went into the interview. Giancarlo quickly revealed himself to be a surprisingly inarticulate and scarcely investigative person who wasn’t interested in exchanging and developing ideas. This was a call to adjust for you, a host who ordinarily opposes all of those traits. Rather than be a—wait for it—counterpoint, you descended down to his level. The moments you bonded best were the ‘shooting [the] shit’ moments between two literati, which, we can’t stress enough, are always great to listen to. Yet just when the interview could’ve bloomed into a very intimate conversation, replete with gossip and shit-sharpshooting, you backtracked.

Worth noting that Giancarlo’s episode is among the most popular of the past six months in terms of listenership.

Millwood then goes on to say

Listi Watch is heterosexually wondering if you have a big penis.

Answer:  No.  My equipment is normal.  Maybe a bit above average.

And he weighs in on my (repeated) pleas for listeners to review the podcast at iTunes:

Since your tone of voice is getting a bit more demanding, I think you should bribe us with the whole iTunes review. Figure something out. Maybe promise to write something about a random iTunes review, give a free month long subscription, something. People are lazy.

Not a bad idea.  I’ll have to think on this.  In the meantime:  If you listen regularly and enjoy the program, please take 2 minutes out of your day and review it.  It’s an easy way to help the cause.

The criticism then escalates sharply in Millwood’s review of Episode 161 — Periel Aschenbrand:

Eesh, this episode wasn’t good. I hate to do this to you, Brad, especially since we haven’t witnessed a Vintage Listi episode for about two weeks, but what can I say? Neither your monologue nor your guest seemed to warrant appearances on your show. Your nightmare story [in the monologue], while vivid, was not terribly interesting in that it wasn’t stupendously surreal or interestingly interpreted. And none of us cared about your guest—in fact, she and the interview in general were both repellent.

He continues, harshly:

There’s nothing interesting about a Fran Drescher/Joan Jett fusion who treads through life with self-absorption and indulgence….You unfortunately continue to make the decision to resist bringing up the work of your guests for as long as you can, thereby giving the interview no point of entry for your audience. But this interview stood out as exceptionally weak. None of the interview dealt with her life as an author, or the memoir for that matter….Bottom line: this interview was an example of an ordinary, and extremely vain guest with no tangible accolades, merits, or, hell, even an idea, who was let loose on an unchallenging host.

Ouch.

To me, obviously, Periel is plenty worthy of being on the program.  And I felt she was wonderfully candid and charming in conversation.  I loved talking with her.

And still more from Millwood on Episode 161:

[Aschenbrand] had you flubbing ‘gals’ all over the place (intrusive gender sensitivity is now a staple of every episode), she had you awkwardly talking about pregnancy as if you yourself had been pregnant (‘I’m two and a half years post-delivery.’ —Brad Listi), and she had you basically shying away from asking anything any other author or creative type could work with.

Point taken on the gender sensitivity issue.  I need to stop talking about it.  It’s getting absurd.

And finally, we get to Episode 162 — Amity Gaige.  To which Millwood says

It was a good bounce-back show, seeing as how the prior two shows had been tampered by terrible guests and lazy hosting. While your monologues are still striving to get out of the pit they’ve been stuck in recently, Amity Gaige was an extraordinary guest who brought back the heartiness that this show handles so well. Even your flawed interviewing didn’t get in the way of a guest who was affable, articulate, intuitive, and perfectly qualified.

Regarding the monologue:

In an interesting turn that The Enlisted are not used to, there was the journalistic mention of a literary headline. We at Listi Watch feel that you can do this more often: current events, even profession-specific, are great source material for monologues.

And then:

You redeemed yourself when you brought up two phenomenal topics: gendered reading and literary exceptionalism. Well done bringing up these topics with deft seamlessness and proper investigation. Though this section was once again plagued with pandering gender-sensitivity (literally now a mark of every single show), the quality of conversation mitigated the annoyance of this habit. But, seriously, how many more female authors are going to find out on your show that you’re trying to understand women through books because of your daughter? We get that you’re a tolerant person. Now let’s see those testes. This is radio, baby.

Again: duly noted on the gender stuff.  Starting to hate myself now.

Moving on.  A listener named Kenneth is downright positive:

I think you have one of the top 3 podcasts going right now and I wanted to say thank you and keep up the great work….If I may comment on your monologue…You talk like you write. Your style of speaking directly to your listeners, without a guest, is very similar to reading A.D.D. (which I loved, by the way). That’s a compliment–I think there is much to the plain language/plain English movement….Not that your writing is simple. It’s intricate and layered–just in a straightforward, accessible way.

And finally, a listener named Will chimes in re: the podcast, Max Millwood, and Listener Feedback — Vol 3:

Just wanted to let you know that I’m a big fan. I listen on my bike ride in to work, and on the way home. Really dig the show, and I admire your dedication. Can’t be easy to turn out quality stuff week in and week out while simultaneously being husband, dad, writer, etc. Keep it up.

One note regarding Max: don’t take advice to ‘grow a pair’ from a guy who uses a pseudonym seriously.

**Note:  If you want to send your thoughts, you can email me here .

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 raves

The measure of Gaige’s great gifts as a storyteller is that she persuades you to believe in a situation that shouldn’t be believable, and to love a narrator who shouldn’t be lovable. Seldom has such a daring concept for a novel been grounded in such an appealing character.

Monologue topics: Amazon, Goodreads, indepenent presses, small furry animals, extinction, predators, apathy, confusion.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

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. Hell, everybody, real or imagined, just watch out! Because here comes Periel Aschenbrand!

And The New York Times calls her

Unsavorily compelling…in the manner of a female Howard Stern.

Monologue topics: insomnia, nightmares, pool bars, sushi, low tide, sleep apnea, Buddhism, pity.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

Chicago Reader has recommended the podcast in its ‘Culture Vultures’ feature.  Many kind thanks to Dmitry Samarov.

…Listi interviews writers of every type—from Lesley Arfin, who wrote for the HBO show Girls, to literary lightning rod David Shields, to Bernie Glassman, who pioneered the American Zen movement. Each episode starts with the charmingly dour and inward-looking Listi telling us whatever’s on his mind, whether it be a struggle with his own writing or an account of a recent hike in the Hollywood Hills or some other random thing that’s troubling him. The show has been described as a literary version of WTF With Marc Maron, but I think Listi is onto his own thing and does a great job of introducing novices like me to the various types who populate the world of letters.

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.  Solip, a new novel by Ken Baumann, is due out in May.  And 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 like this before. It’s painful, shocking and brilliantly written, with a great sensitivity to which details should be revealed and which should stay concealed. It’s formally complex, completely unforgettable, highly contemporary and plainly great. A terrifying proposal: could this be the Great American Novel for the twilight of “Great” America?

Monologue topics: nudity, Lena Dunham, streaking, sports, IMAX.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

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 for a pleasurable read. There is a vibrant lucidity to her language, a daring music.

And Kirkus says

Dermont’s short story collection, which follows her debut novel (The Starboard Sea, 2012), demonstrates the author’s versatility and sardonic humor…[She] delivers strong prose and intriguing characters who frequently defy stereotypical ideals…the overall effect is a tight collection that takes the reader in unexpected, often disconcerting, directions. Full of irony and contradictions, this compilation of contemporary short stories is a worthwhile effort.

Monologue topics: walking, Los Angeles, headphones, David Lynch, suffocating rubber clown suit, fire, Ashley Greene.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!

Don’t be ashamed about being from Indiana.  It’s a cultural disadvantage that can be overcome.

A listener named Ty, who sent word a while back re: the recent spate of ‘double features’ and episode length, wrote back in a guilty frame of mind, with second thoughts:

Looking back at [my previous] email I now realize I was an ass. It’s your show, you are giving it to the world for free, I just need to shut up.

(It’s okay, Ty.  I wasn’t offended in the least.)

And then there’s ‘Max,’ who remains, by far and away, the podcast’s most intensive listener.  He critiques every single episode, sending me lengthy, meticulous emails that he calls ‘Listi Watch.’

After listening to Episode 155 (Lenore Zion) he first offered his thoughts on the monologue (my ‘psycho-digital’ dinner party crisis) and revealed that he is, in fact, using a pseudonym:

…we, as your audience, don’t feel accountable for the things we say to you or how we say them. We can either poke you with a feather or brand you with a hot iron from behind the curtain of an email address. You, however, have a name, a career, and a reputation to uphold two times a week. We don’t have that burden. We can say whatever the hell we want to you. Listi Watch is a perfect example. My name is not Max. And I’m never as candid and abrasive with anyone as I am with you in these critiques.

He continues, urging me to grow a pair:

…you need to be a bit more ruthless as a host. Get a little more LA, and a little less Indiana. Acknowledge the fact that you are a media personality by your own volition, and assume that people who approach you are usually not who they say they are, or at least not totally….Remember, a little “fuck you” to your audience/readers goes a long way.

His thoughts on my conversation with Lenore (whom I befriended years ago, in graduate school):

…your friendship didn’t fit the interview model. It made the usual questions sound like borderline lazy insertions. It got to a point where you didn’t even bother framing questions and just tersely asked “Happy childhood?” or “Drugs? Alcohol?” Where we wanted to hear you guys talk more about queefing, you listlessly asked about her childhood.

Duly noted.  My audience likes ‘queef talk.’

Max continues, dourly:

The bottom of the barrel was when you said quote, “And so what else… y’know…?” The Enlisted [Max refers to my listeners as 'The Enlisted'] at this point were probably wondering if there was ever sexual attraction between you two. After all, you did have a cinematic introduction (drawings of cow, drawings of poop, happily ever after). Your audience then was probably wondering why all your friends are female. Or what else your “sex and poop” poems were about.

For the record, Lenore and I never had sex, though she’s quite lovely.  We’ve always just been buddies.

On a brighter note, Max was far more bullish about Episode 156, my conversation with Tim Horvath:

This episode was vintage Listi. Just wonderful…Self-conscious and soft-spoken paranoia from a peripheral author during the monologue; a solidly structured interview; boom, boom, hook, line, and sinker.

He gives Episode 157 (Ayana Mathis), a decidedly mixed review:

This was a spotty episode…You knew what was interesting about this show and what wasn’t; ergo so did we. The monologue was standard fare with your reading of some mail, but the guest segment was a bit more unsteady. Ayana was lively and passionate about her work and her ideas, and this made her somewhat rambling in the interview. Just huge chunks of answers. Sometimes you dropped the leash, and it became clear you lost a little focus (and we lost interest). However, this is not to say that this was a lost episode. There were some shrewd moments that gives this show a rating of about 5/10.

He then comments on my monologue and the ‘mail’ segment in particular, taking issue with a negative letter from a listener named ‘Pie.’  Pie sent word to let me know that the show has, in his(?) opinion, lost its way, devolving into narcissistic self-obsession.

Max’s take:

The notable piece of mail was from “Pie.” Aside from being competition to Listi Watch as the preeminent Listi Critic, we think “he’s” wrong on the issue he brought up. It shouldn’t be a self-focus vs. selflessness spectrum. How can you host a show without being self-obsessed? Howard Stern, our hero, made it clear more than anyone else, that self-obsession is a huge factor in hosting. What Pie was trying to hit on though was probably audience interest. Pie discovered that he wasn’t interested, and incorrectly thought “self-focus” was the problem. You’ve always been self-focused. The problem for him was that you were focused on the wrong things. Perhaps, to him, it was triviality in subject matter, or laziness of investigation, but it wasn’t self-focus. So ignore that.

Max elaborates some more on my conversation with Ayana Mathis:

At first glance, what we’re all thinking is, “Hmm, this could be interesting. Brad is a mild-mannered white, straight male who will be interviewing a garrulous black lesbian.” To your credit, you didn’t talk about blackness, lesbianism, Maya Angelou, or identity politics as it revolves around Oprah’s book selection process. However, problem is, we did want to hear about that. At least, we wanted to hear that you weren’t going to talk about that. We at Listi Watch also wondered why, for a black guest, you chose funky disco as the segue music from monologue to interview.

Jesus. I blushed a little when I read that. Did I really pick the ‘disco’ segue because Ayana is black?  If I did, it was purely subconscious.  I mean, if I’m being honest, I think I do try to match music to guest, and/or to the overall mood of the show.  Is the disco number the ‘blackest’ segue music I have on hand?  I guess so.  But it also feels upbeat and happy, and Ayana was certainly both of those things.

Max with more on the Ayana interview (he had a lot to say about this one):

The opposition in temperament…between you and Mathis manifested almost right away. It became clear to you that your tongue-in-cheek sarcasm would have no effect on her. Your stating that you would weep if Oprah called you was met with nothing from Mathis, and your statement that Cheryl [Strayed] and Oprah would go hiking together also fell flat.

And still more:

You  once again allowed yourself to have pedestrian musings on religion, as you’ve done with politics in prior episodes. I have no problem with half-stab conversations about politics and religion in general, but it does betray your show’s mission statement of interviewing authors about their lives, with the unspoken curiosity as to how those lives influenced their works. Plus it’s something that, in public, has to be done well to be sufferable.

And finally, a listener by the name of ‘peterbd’ sent an email titled ‘thoughts i had while listening to your podcast this week.’  His thoughts:

brad listi may or may not be responsible for tupac’s death

brad listi didn’t go to awp this year because he didn’t want to deal with the paparazzi

louis ck’s upcoming comedy special is called oh my god. brad listi says ‘oh my god’ at the beginning of all his podcasts. somebody’s gettin sued

brad listi has a great speaking voice. he probably wakes up each morning and says ‘i have a great fucking speaking voice’

i wonder if ric ross listens to other people before or after his midday snack

does brad listi realize that alt lit is illuminati propaganda created by tao lin that’s carried out by steve roggenbuck?

i like listening to brad listi’s podcast because it’s a podcast and i feel obligated to listen to it

jonathan franzen is probably a violent drunk. brad listi is probably the type of drunk that says ‘i love you bro’

other people is a beach house song. other people is the name of brad listi’s podcast. somebody’s gettin sued

brad listi is most likely a great dancer but likes to hide it because he’s humble

we all have a little brad listi inside of us all. we just have to be brave enough to show it

mira gonzalez is a bad influence on brad listi

You’re right, Peter:  I’m an incredible dancer.

And:  I think that’s it for this week.  As always, if you have something you wanna say— thoughts on the show, random asides, a story to tell, etc.—you can email me here.

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 one person’s wish fulfillment means another’s nightmare? What does it mean to be free, or to escape? At its core, This is What We Do gives us two people left with nothing, cutting close to the uncoolness of loving without fear.

And Gina Frangello says

Hansen’s debut novel covers even wilder, trickier ground than his memoir, American Junkie. Anti-hero James Nethery seems an ordinary, lonely man drinking Coke at the bar, until he meets “Lily,” a Ukrainian prostitute, and what began as a quiet, atmospheric meditation on down-and-out expats in Paris explodes into a nonstop, genre-blending noir-crime-vigilante-political-sexy-nihilistic-almost surreal thrill ride, infused in equal measures with brutality and beauty.

Monologue topics:  The Nervous Breakdown, TNB 5.0, sleeping at the mall, kid birthday parties, magicians, the end of tweets?

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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. (Photo credit: Rob Howard.)

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 earthbound and plainspoken, and the book’s structure is ingenious…an excellent debut.

And Marilynne Robinson raves

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is a vibrant and compassionate portrait of a family hardened and scattered by circumstance and yet deeply a family. Its language is elegant in its purity and rigor. The characters are full of life, mingled thing that it is, and dignified by the writer’s judicious tenderness towards them. This first novel is a work of rare maturity.

Monologue topics: mail, dinner invitations, IRL.

This podcast now has its own app, available (free!) for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and is also available (free!) for Android devices.

To learn more about the app and how to get access to premium content, please click right here.

Also: You can subscribe to the show over at iTunes, or at Stitcher, free of charge.

Or just push PLAY below…

***Like the podcast? Please take a moment to rate and review it on iTunes. Thank you!