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LARB Radio Hour

The Los Angeles Review of Books Radio Hour is a weekly show featuring interviews, readings and discussions about all things literary. Hosted by LARB Editors-at-Large Kate Wolf, Medaya Ocher, and Eric Newman.
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Now displaying: 2015
Dec 31, 2015

This week marks the exciting release of a special end-of-year edition of the LARB Radio Hour, taped for the first time ever in front of a live audience on December 9 in Los Feliz, California. Our three special guests were Terry McMillan, author of the award-winning novels (later turned into motion pictures) Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Pulitzer Prize–winning Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold, and English-born Angeleno Geoff Dyer, author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including his most recent work, Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Dec 10, 2015

This week’s show features The Economist science correspondent Matt Kaplan talking about the science of liver prophecies and other folklore, author Eli Horowitz discussing his new multi-platform novel The Pickle Index, and author and actor Wally Rudolph on his new book Mighty, Mighty and the discounted role of Catholicism in modern fiction.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Dec 3, 2015

On this week’s show, author and critic Luc Sante discusses his new book, The Other Paris, David L. Ulin drops by to recommend Richard Rayner’s novel Los Angeles Without a Map, and entrepreneur Jessica Jackley joins to talk about her book Clay Water Brick and the world of micro-finance.

Join us on Wednesday, December 9, for our first-ever live broadcast of the LARB Radio Hour. We’re bringing our weekly variety show to the pop-up Annex next door to Skylight Books, at 1816 N. Vermont Ave. in Los Feliz. Hosts Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland will be joined by author and critic Geoff Dyer, novelist Terry McMillan, and Pulitzer Prize–winning food writer Jonathan Gold. Tickets are free but please RSVP!

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/152087148480554/

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/larb-radio-hour-live-tickets-19735277747

Nov 19, 2015

This week’s show features author and film critic Karina Longworth, whose podcast You Must Remember This, a show focusing on the politics, culture, and scandals of classic Hollywood icons, is getting widespread acclaim in recent months. Novelist Dana Johnson joins to talk about The Little Brother by Victoria Patterson, and longtime LARB podcaster Colin Marshall bids farewell for now to Los Angeles and discusses his upcoming move to Seoul, Korea.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Nov 12, 2015

Bruce Bauman, adjunct professor in the CalArts MFA Writing Program and the senior editor of Black Clock, joins to talk about his latest novel, Broken Sleep. Also featuring novelist Parnaz Foroutan’s book recommendations, and a discussion about the ongoing heated debates at Yale surrounding the school’s Halloween costume email.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Nov 5, 2015

In his new book, popular secular critic and bestselling author Sam Harris puts his views in dialogue with Maajid Nawaz, a once radical Islamist who reformed and co-founded Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank based in London. In a bit of a departure from his earlier work, which some on the left have viewed as aggressive and intolerant criticism of Islam, Harris hopes this partnership with Nawaz will feel more accessible to the Muslim world, which he says doesn’t need more criticism from “infidels like me, but from self-identifying Muslims who want to find some basis for reform.” The interview features Harris’s take on the effect of Islamic doctrine compared with other religious doctrines both past and present, the challenges of reforming Islam, and his response to his liberal critics.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Oct 29, 2015

On this week’s show, LARB contributing editor Magdalena Edwards talks about the recent revival of acclaimed Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector; Harry G. Frankfurt, professor emeritus of philosophy at Princeton University, joins to talk about his new book On Inequality; and Jedediah Purdy and LARB editor Sarah Mesle join to talk about Purdy’s recent LARB essay “Maybe Connect,” which compares two noteworthy authors of the last year, Elena Ferrante and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Oct 23, 2015

On this week’s show, Los Angeles Times book critic David L. Ulin joins to talk about his latest book Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles, the artifice and authenticity of the popular entertainment complex The Grove, and the urban qualities of New York compared with Los Angeles.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Oct 15, 2015

On this week’s show, New York–based writer, filmmaker, and visual artist Gary Indiana stops by to talk about resentment writing, overhyped authors, and his new memoir I Can Give You Anything But Love; and Uruguayan-born author Carolina De Robertis discusses The Gods of Tango, her new novel about tango culture, gender politics, and immigration in early 20th-century Argentina.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Oct 8, 2015

On this week’s show, LARB Radio Hour favorite Boris Dralyuk returns to talk about the pivotal and yet shamefully unknown Los Angeles poet Henri Coulette; critic John Powers discusses Horacio Castellanos Moya, one of his favorite Central American novelists; author Nina Revoyr recommends two books that everyone should be reading this fall; and Jerry Stahl talks about his first encounter with Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People.”

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Oct 1, 2015

On this week’s show, screenwriter and novelist Peter Lefcourt discusses his latest book Purgatory Gardens, author Katherine Taylor talks about the underappreciated books of Eve Babitz, Jerry Stahl recommends a lesser known work by his mentor Hubert Selby, and poet Amy Uyematsu reads several of her poems.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Sep 24, 2015

On this week's show, author David Shields talks about his new collaboration That Thing You Do With Your MouthLARB senior editor Sarah Mesle recommends The Royal We by the creators of the popular blog Go Fug Yourself, and Parnaz Foroutan joins to discuss her debut novel, The Girl from the Garden.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

 

Sep 17, 2015

On this week's show, author Dana Johnson explains the dos and don'ts of writing sex scenes, Antoine Wilson recommends Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist, and vocal coach Rae Dubow talks about helping writers become better speakers and gives Tom, Laurie, and Seth feedback on their radio voices.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

 

Sep 10, 2015

On this week's show, Tom Lutz talks with acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie about his new book Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, poet Jill Essbaum discusses her debut novel Hausfrau, and novelist and TV writer Jerry Stahl joins to talk about his new essay collection OG Dad: Weird Shit Happens When You Don't Die Young.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 3:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Sep 3, 2015

On this week's show, author Nina Revoyr talks about her new backpacking thriller Lost Canyon, film critic John Powers unearths the forgotten Hollywood novels of Alfred Hayes, LARB senior editor Sarah Mesle drops some knowledge about mansplaining, and National Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera reads a poem by the late Philip Levine.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 3:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Aug 27, 2015

On this week's show, author Katherine Taylor talks about her new book Valley Fever and her admiration for Vivian Gornick, author Antoine Wilson explains why he refused to write a LARB review of John Barth's forthcoming Collected Stories, and mystery writer Gary Phillips returns to talk about Something Strange is Going On!, a short story collection based on the life of the nefarious 1930s cartoonist Fletcher Hanks.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 3:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

Aug 20, 2015

On this week's show, screenwriter turned novelist Karolina Waclawiak talks about her new book The Invaders, frequent LARB contributor Boris Dralyuk discusses the subtle literary footprint of Russian immigrants in Los Angeles, and author Mark Haskell Smith proclaims Paul Beatty's The Sellout to be one of the funniest books he's ever read.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 3:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

 

Aug 6, 2015

This week's show features an interview with Jason Segel and James Ponsoldt, the star and director of The End of the Tour, a new film that dramatizes journalist David Lipsky's four-day interview with the late author David Foster Wallace. In the second half of the show, music and food writer Josh Kun joins to talk about his new book To Live and Dine in L.A., a history of Los Angeles food culture and politics that's accompanied by rarely seen old menus from the archives of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Jul 30, 2015

On this week's show, author Diana Wagman talks about her new novel Life #6 and the Robert Stone interview that changed her life, Laurie reports back from her interview with The Look of Silence director Joshua Oppenheimer, and Tom, Laurie, and Seth talk about a recent petition calling for the Los Angeles Unified School District to change the name of a middle school that's currently named for the influential film director and infamous racist D.W. Griffith.

Jul 16, 2015

This week marks the release of Harper Lee's new book Go Set a Watchman, her first novel to be published in 55 years. Based on the discarded first draft of her only other novel, 1960's Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird, the story focuses on the same protagonist, Scout Finch, who is decades older than her character in To Kill a Mockingbird, lives in New York, and travels home to face her racist father, Atticus (no longer a beacon of tolerance and justice). Also on this week's show, John Powers, film critic at Vogue magazine and NPR's Fresh Air, joins your hosts to talk about the relentless positivity of American film, TV, and book reviews.

 

Jul 9, 2015

On this week's show, Mark Haskell Smith discusses research for his new book Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World, writer and producer Betsy Borns talks about the struggles women have faced breaking into TV writing, Dinah Lenney talks about Helen Macdonald's award-winning memoir H Is for Hawk, and Tom Lutz and Seth Greenland try to make sense of the crisis in Greece through the eyes of recently resigned Greek finance minister and LARB contributor Yanis Varoufakis.

 

Jun 25, 2015

This week we present the second half of our interview with Michael Silverblatt, the host of KCRW's nationally syndicated literary show Bookworm. Silverblatt explains his 100-page rule for reading, how old-school writers shared a kind of magician's code, and how he relates his Jewish grandmother to the novels of Samuel Beckett.

Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin.

 

Jun 18, 2015

This week's show features crime and mystery writer Gary Phillips, who discusses the changing publishing landscape in genre fiction, diversity in genre fiction, and the Black Pulp and soon to be released Asian Pulp anthologies that he created. Also, television writer and producer Betsy Borns joins to talk about the success of comedian Amy Schumer, Russian studies professor Boris Dralyuk talks about one of his favorite Ukrainian crime writers, and writer Meri Nana-Ama Danquah reads a poem by Kenyan-born poet Warsan Shire.

Jun 11, 2015

On this week's show, Tom, Laurie, and Seth interview Michael Silverblatt, the host of Bookworm, a nationally syndicated radio show featuring interviews with the world's best writers of literary fiction and poetry. Silverblatt talks about conceiving a show where "the author finally talks to someone who has read their work," and talks about his rigorous interviewing style and process, shares stories of some of his favorite guests — like David Foster Wallace and Joy Williams — and also talks about his childhood and his early love of musicals.

Jun 4, 2015

Conceptual Poet Vanessa Place has ruffled some feathers in the literary world as a growing number of people have taken notice of her latest project, in which she has been tweeting the entirety of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind juxtaposed with provocative images of mammy characters. Place says her goal is to point to the racism in the text, but a Change.org petition rallied together many voices who found the project itself to be "at best, startlingly racially insensitive, and, at worst, racist." Recently the Assn. of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) removed her from the selection committee for next year's annual meeting, and this year's Berkeley Poetry Conference, where she was scheduled to speak, has been cancelled in response to protests.

On our program this week we try to make sense of what we feel is a very complicated issue. Does the racism lie in Mitchell's original work, or in Vanessa Place's re-creation? What responsibilities, if any, does one have to contextualize their art or make it more sensitive? Does the fact of her being white make the project more insensitive? And how do we think about her dismissal from the AWP and the canceling of the Berkeley Poetry Conference, which this year was celebrating a 50-year anniversary of the Free Speech Movement?

We'll hear from Vanessa Place to try to better understand her meaning, and we'll also hear from two writers, Matthew Shenoda and Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, both of whom are critical of Place's work. 

 

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