fiction/non/fiction

Latest Episodes:

S8 Ep. 12: Journalists Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko on Trump and Ukraine Dec 19, 2024

Show notes

Nearly three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, journalists and podcasters Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko return to Fiction/Non/Fiction to tell hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell how Ukrainians view Donald Trump’s return to power in the U.S. They talk about the situation at the frontlines, the consequences of delayed aid, the urgent need for a swift and decisive response to Russian aggression, and continued Ukrainian resilience in the face of the existential threat of the war.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/.

This podcast is produced by Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan.

Selected Readings:

Tetyana Ogarkova

Volodymyr Yermolenko

Others:

Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5 Episode 15: Scott Anderson on What Russia’s Wars in Chechnya Tell Us about the Invasion of Ukraine
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 51: Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko on How Artists Are Responding to the War in Ukraine
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 2: How Dostoevsky’s Classic Has Shaped Russia’s War in Ukraine, with Explaining Ukraine’s Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko

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S8 Ep. 11: Molly Redden on Trump’s Plan to Seize Spending Power Dec 12, 2024

Show notes

ProPublica reporter Molly Redden joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her recent piece on impoundment, Donald Trump’s strategy to thwart Congressional spending priorities. Redden talks about how the presidential budget and Congressional appropriations work now, Trump’s claim that he has the authority to ignore what Congress wants to fund, what this could mean for those he perceives as enemies, and the possible role of the “nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency,” co-led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. She explains the history of impoundment, Richard Nixon’s excessive use of the power to ignore projects he didn’t want to do, and how this led to a 1974 law restricting the option. She analyzes the likelihood that Trump will succeed in challenging the law and reflects on writing and reporting on seemingly outlandish schemes that are neither likely nor impossible. She reads from her article, “How Trump Plans to Seize the Power of the Purse From Congress.”

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Molly Redden

“How Trump Plans to Seize the Power of the Purse from Congress” | ProPublica

Others:

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S8 Ep. 10: Carvell Wallace on Love, Survival, and Endings Dec 05, 2024

Show notes

Writer and podcaster Carvell Wallace joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss finding his way to the understanding that life is lived on a continuum and is not made up of neat endings and beginnings. He talks about how his childhood experiences with poverty, housing insecurity, and a frustrated creative genius of a single mother prepared him to understand the world. Wallace also discusses his expansive, generous approach to writing about both people he knows and loves and those he’s profiling as a journalist. He reads from his new memoir Another Word for Love.

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Carvell Wallace

Another Word for Love

Others:

Life is Elsewhere by Milan Kundera
Marilynne Robinson
Easy Rider
“Remembering Hollywood's Hays Code, 40 Years On” | All Things Considered, NPR | August 8, 2008
James Alan McPherson

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S8 Ep. 9: REBROADCAST: The Best and Worst Dinner Parties in Literature: Mar-A-Lago Edition, Featuring Michael Knight Nov 28, 2024

Show notes

Following Donald Trump’s dinner at Mar-A-Lago with Ye (formerly Kanye West) and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, novelist Michael Knight joins hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about the best and worst dinner parties in literature. They discuss the pressures of hosting, what makes someone a great guest, signature dishes, post-party regrets, and festive successes, as well as scenes in literature featuring all of these things. Knight also reads from a classic dinner party scene in his novella The Holiday Season.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Michael Knight

Others:

“The inside story of Trump’s explosive dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes,” by Marc Caputo
The Days of Afreketeby Asali Solomon
To the Lighthouseby Virginia Woolf
Leo Tolstoy
“The 8 best Festivus moments from ‘Seinfeld,’ ranked,” USA Today
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”: Bad Middling
Bobcat and Other Storiesby Rebecca Lee
Light Yearsby James Salter
Last Nightby James Salter
Belovedby Toni Morrison
The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mrs. Dallowayby Virginia Woolf
The Dark Tower VIIby Stephen King
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafeby Fannie Flagg
The Family Chaoby Lan Samantha Chang
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Jim Harrison
Alice in Wonderlandby Lewis Carroll
Jesus’ Sonby Denis Johnson
The Sun Also Risesby Ernest Hemingway
Redwall series by Brian Jacques

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S8 Ep. 8: Ruben Reyes Jr. on Trump's Plans for Mass Deportation Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

Writer Ruben Reyes Jr. joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportation. Reyes explains how deportation could affect families or households with different immigration statuses, including those here through Deferred Action Childhood Arrival (commonly known as DACA) and with Temporary Protected Status. The three discuss Trump’s plans to involve the military in his efforts, and the difficulties he may face, given the interconnectedness of our social and economic systems. Reyes also talks about writing about the dehumanization of immigrants through science fiction and satire, and how he thinks about agency and possibility when he is portraying characters facing systemic oppression. He reads from his short story collection There is a Rio Grande in Heaven.

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Ruben Reyes Jr.

There is a Rio Grande in Heaven

Others:

“Trump is promising deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. What is it?” by Rachel Treisman | NPR
Stephen Miller
“Who is Usha Vance? Yale law graduate and wife of vice presidential nominee JD Vance” by Olivia Diaz |AP
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
"Trump's goal of mass deportations fell short. But he has new plans for a second term" by Elliot Spagat | AP
Donald Trump TIME Interview on 2024 Transcript | Time
"In Trump's mass deportation plan, the private prison industry sees a lucrative opportunity" by Laura Romero and Peter Charalambous | ABC News
"If Trump Wins the Election, This is What's at Stake" by Lauren Gambino | The Guardian
“Trump promised the 'largest deportation' in U.S. history. Here's how he might start” by Steve Inskeep and Christopher Thomas | NPR

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S8 Ep. 7: Maggie Tokuda-Hall on Project 2025’s Plans For Book Bans Nov 14, 2024

Show notes

In the wake of the election, writer Maggie Tokuda-Hall joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss what Project 2025 has in store for authors and book bans. Tokuda-Hall explains Project 2025’s misuse of terms like “critical race theory” and “pornography” and how these will be used to attack mainstream content, especially material by BIPOC and LGBTQ creators. She analyzes conservatives’ plans to make reading less accessible to the general population and talks about co-founding the new organization, Authors Against Book Bans. She also reflects on her experiences with corporate attempts to censor her books for children and young adults, the importance of libraries, and how individuals can resist by connecting with others and by understanding and focusing on their own expertise.

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Others:

Authors Against Book Bans
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5, Episode 13: "Censoring the American Canon: Farah Jasmine Griffin on Book Bans Targeting Black Writers"
"The Republicans’ Project 2025 is Disastrous For Books," by James Folta | LitHub
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5, Episode 12: "Intimate Contact: Garth Greenwell on Book Bans and Writing About Sex"
Alex DiFrancesco's resignation from Jessica Kingsley Publishers | X
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 52: "Brooklyn Public Library’s Leigh Hurwitz on Helping Young People Resist Censorship"
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 4, Episode 20: "Adam Serwer on Critical Race Theory and the Very American Fear of Owning Up to Our Racist Past and Present"
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 22: “Rachel Bitecofer on Democratic Strategies to Counter Republicans in the 2024 Election”
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell, and Henry Cole
Idaho House Bill No. 710
Iowa Senate File 496
Book Bans | PEN America
Kimberlé Crenshaw

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S8 Ep. 6: Jennifer Maritza McCauley on Puerto Ricans, Trump, and the Election Nov 07, 2024

Show notes

Writer Jennifer Maritza McCauley joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to analyze the fallout from Tony Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of garbage” comment at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. McCauley—whose mother is Puerto Rican—discusses the island’s history and her communities’ reactions. McCauley reads her mother’s self-assured response to Hinchcliffe’s racism and reflects on the country’s distinctive mix of African, Spanish, and Indigenous populations. She also discusses the rights Puerto Ricans have and are denied, given their unusual status as U.S. citizens of a territory rather than a state. She reads from the title story of her collection, When Trying to Return Home, which includes many depictions of Puerto Rican identity.

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Jennifer Maritza McCauley

Others:

"Pennsylvania: anger among Puerto Ricans in key swing state after racist remarks"by José Olivares | The Guardian
Tony Hinchcliffe
“Trump’s Derision of Haitians Goes Back Years” by Michael D. Shear | The New York Times
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 52: “Myriam J.A. Chancy on Haitian American Communities”
“Donald Trump is the First White President” by Ta-Nehisi Coates | The Atlantic | October 2017
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
The Jones Act
“Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny, and Racism” by Shane Goldmacher, Maggie Haberman and Michael Gold | The New York Times
X: “Bigot Coachella”

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S8 Ep. 5: Jess Walter on the Election Oct 31, 2024

Show notes

In the lead-up to the presidential election, novelist Jess Walter returns to the show to revisit his previous comments about former president Donald Trump. Walter joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss Trump’s dangerous decisions and inflammatory rhetoric, as well as how reactions to him have changed since 2016. Walter talks about former Trump cronies who have abandoned the candidate and endorsed Kamala Harris, and reflects on the inaction that has made it possible for Trump, a felon, to run for the presidency once more. He hazards a prediction about the election results, and reads from his short story “Town and Country,” which appeared in his recent story collection Angel of Rome.

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Jess Walter

Others:

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S8 Ep. 4: Stephen Markley on The Deluge to Come Oct 24, 2024

Show notes

In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, novelist Stephen Markley joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his novel The Deluge, which predicts and depicts the impact of climate change over the next couple of decades. Markley talks about researching and portraying the scale of catastrophic climate events, the role of the markets and other financial considerations in pushing world leaders to take the issue seriously, and which character in his novel was previously Kamala Harris. Markely also reflects on how in revision, he repeatedly had to scale up his fictional disasters to keep them ahead of actual events, the uncanny experience of forecasting disasters like Helene, and the movement leaders—including Bill McKibben, Al Gore, and James Hansen—he felt compelled to include in his novel. Markley reads from The Deluge.

Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf and Cheni Thein.

Stephen Markley

Others:

Matthew Salesses on the Possibilities of Climate Fiction| Literary Hub
1984 by George Orwell
Ali Zaidi
Weather Underground
Climate Defiance
The End of Nature by Bill McKibben
The Stand by Stephen King
The Inflation Reduction Act
The Green New Deal
“Helene, Milton losses expected to surpass ‘truly historic’ $50 billion each” - CBS News
“Beyond Helene: Hurricane death toll tops 300 lives, with month left in season” - USA Today
Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 4 Episode 15: Workshop Politics: Matthew Salesses on Centering the Marginalized Writer

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S8 Ep. 3: Anne Curzan on Our Changing Language Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

Linguist, writer, and professor Anne Curzan joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how language is constantly changing—and how that’s okay. Curzan talks about how, in her work as an English language historian, she’s learned that people have always been critical of usage changes; Ben Franklin, for instance, didn’t care for colonize as a verb. But, Curzan explains, as much as “grammandos” bemoan the evolution of language, it can’t be stopped—singular “they,” “funnest,” and “very unique” are here to stay. Curzan reads from her book, Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Language.

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Anne Curzan