Author Nicholson Baker joins Tom, Laurie, and Evan Kindley to discuss his new book Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids which tells the story of Baker's time as a substitute teacher in a Maine public school system. This opens up into a fascinating discussion of pedagogy in light of the everyday realities of contemporary American public schooling.

Ron Arias, author of the acclaimed novel The Road to Tamazunchale, joins Tom and Laurie to discuss his new collection The Wetback and Other Stories; as well as his career in journalism and his encounters with Jorge Luis Borges and Ernest Hemingway. Also, Jannice Littlejohn returns to recommend Monica Coleman's Bipolar Faith: A Black Woman's Journey with Depression and Faith.

This week Tom and Laurie talk with Lesley MM Blume about her new book Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises. Laura Albert is back on the show after last week's brilliant interview to recommend everyone read Annie Proulx’s Barkskins. Plus, Janet Fitch reads from her novel Paint it Black.

Hosts Laurie Winer and Tom Lutz talk with Laura Albert on the eve of the cinematic debut of the documentary film about her, "Author: The JT Leroy Story." The conversation covers the story of the Albert's bestselling books, which she wrote under the pseudonym - or rather, through her avatar - "JT Leroy." It's one of the most fascinating, and controversial, tales in recent American letters.

LARB's Senior Editors Janice Littlejohn and Evan Kindley join Tom and Laurie for a pair of wide ranging conversations. First, Janice discusses the documentary film she is producing on women horn players; and then two recent articles she wrote: one about representation of people of color in Hollywood films (with a focus on a project in development about the Persian poet Rumi with Leonardo DiCaprio slated to play the muslim scholar); the second about the relationship of people of mixed race to Black American political and cultural discourse. Then, Evan Kindley discusses his book, Questionairre, a delightful study of the history of the form from its origins to its most popular contemporary incarnation - as irresistible click bait.