fiction/non/fiction

Latest Episodes:

S5 Ep. 31: What Do Dems Do Now?: Thomas Frank on How the Left Can Counter a Rogue Supreme Court Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

Writer and historian Thomas Frank joins Fiction/Non/Fiction hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how the U.S. can move forward in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Frank offers his perspective on what it would take for Democrats to win back control of states that have swung right in recent years. He also reads from his 2004 book What’s the Matter With Kansas?

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 Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Thomas Frank

Others:

Caligula
Anatole France
Vladimir Nabokov
An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
More than 1 million voters switch to GOP in warning for Dems - The Washington Post
The Unpopular Tale of Populism: Thomas Frank on the Real History of an American Mass Movement Season 3, Episode 22 of the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast
The Return of Socialism in America? Dana Goldstein and Thomas Frank on Season 1, Episode 17 of the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast

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S5 Ep. 30: The Literature of Star Wars: Van Lathan Jr. on How American Life Shapes and Is Shaped by a Galaxy Far, Far Away Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

Podcaster and writer Van Lathan Jr. joins Fiction/Non/Fiction host Whitney Terrell to talk about growing up a Star Wars fan and continuing to think and talk about the franchise as a co-host of The Ringer podcast. He discusses the enduring qualities of the universe, the continuing relevance of the characters, and how the story intersects with American politics and literature. He also talks about and reads from his new book, Fat, Crazy, and Tired: Tales from the Trenches of Transformation.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Van Lathan Jr.

● Fat, Crazy, and Tired: Tales From the Trenches of Transformation

● The Midnight Boys

● Higher Learning

● The Ringer

● The Red Pill

● Two Distant Strangers

● Hip Hop Homicides

Others:

● George Lucas

● Kathleen Kennedy

● Deborah Chow

● Octavia Butler

● Starwars.com

● Superman

● Buzz Lightyear

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S5 Ep. 29: ‘A War I Saw Unfolding Firsthand’: Héctor Tobar Reflects on the 30th Anniversary of the L.A. Riots Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

Novelist and journalist Héctor Tobar joins Fiction/Non/Fiction hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about the articles he wrote on the L.A. riots both as they took place in 1992 and this year on the 30th anniversary. Tobar also reads from his 2020 novel The Last Great Road Bum, and discusses how his fiction writing and journalism have informed each other.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Héctor Tobar

● The Last Great Road Bum

● Deep Down Dark

● The Tattooed Soldier

● Translation Nation

● The Barbarian Nurseries

● “The L.A. Riots Were 30 Years Ago. I’m Still Trying to Understand Them,” by Héctor Tobar

● “COLUMN ONE : South L.A. Burns and Grieves : Life has been hard in the neglected area for years. But now, as self-inflicted wounds mount, residents fear for the future,” by Hector Tobar and Jonathan Peterson

● “Tape of L.A. Police Beating Suspect Stirs Public Furor,” by Hector Tobar and Leslie Berger

Others:

● James Alan McPherson

● Ralph Ellison

● David Foster Wallace

● Roger Ebert

● Don Quixote, Cervantes

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S5 Ep. 28: The Prose Version of That Blue Steel Look From Zoolander: V.V. Ganeshananthan Dishes on Blurbs, Jacket Copy, Cover Art, and All the Dark Arts of Publishing a Book Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

Novelist and Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast co-host V.V. Ganeshananthan talks to co-host Whitney Terrell about what happens to a book between writing and publication. Ganeshananthan’s second novel, Brotherless Night, about a young woman in the early years of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war, will be released by Random House in January of 2023. Ganeshananthan describes the editorial process, selecting and approaching other writers about writing blurbs, selecting jacket art, and writing cover copy.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

V.V. Ganeshananthan

Others:

Celeste Ng
Sara Nović
Brit Bennett
Danielle Evans
Marilynne Robinson
Ann Patchett
Emily Barton
Jonathan Escoffery
Thomas Pynchon
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan
Granta
New York Observer
“Bartleby, the Scrivener”
The Land Before Time
Reese Witherspoon Book Club
Zoolander
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
“Writers, Protect Your Inner Life,” by Lan Samantha Chang, Literary Hub, August 7, 2017

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S5 Ep. 27: ‘Gun Violence Has Traumatized All of Us’: Amye Archer on the Long History of Mass Shootings Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

Writer and educator Amye Archer joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her 2019 anthology, If I Don't Make It, I Love You: Survivors in the Aftermath of School Shootings, co-edited with Loren Kleinman. Archer explains how hearing the heartbreaking details of loss can prevent us from glossing over the staggering trauma of these events. Archer also reads from the anthology’s section on the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, and questions why, as a nation, we haven’t changed the Second Amendment in response to modern weapons.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Amye Archer

If I Don't Make It, I Love You: Survivors in the Aftermath of School Shootings (pre-order paperback)
“Holding the Pain,” Longreads, July 2019

Others:

Gun Violence Archive
“What to Know About the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas,” | The New York Times | May 30, 2022
“Medical Worker Rushed to Escape 'Labyrinth' of Offices in Tulsa,” by Alex Traub | The New York Times | June 2, 2022
“Gunman Kills 10 at Buffalo Supermarket in Racist Attack,” | The New York Times | May 17, 2022
“California Church Shooting Was 'Hate Incident,' Sheriff Says,” by Livia Albeck-Ripka, Shawn Hubler and Eduardo Medina | The New York Times | May 16, 2022
Full Transcript: Biden's Speech on Gun Control - The New York Times
“From Sandy Hook to Uvalde, the Violent Images Never Seen,” by Elizabeth Williamson | The New York Times | May 30, 2022
“For Uvalde, Caskets Adorned in Childhood Dreams,” by Emily Rhyne and Mark Abramson | The New York Times | June 2, 2022
“The Fourth State of Matter,” by Jo Ann Beard | The New Yorker, June 17, 1996
Elephant (2003) dir. Gus Van Sant
“Gun Violence, #NeverAgain and the Power of Teenage Protest,” Jim Shepard and Danielle Evans, Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1, Episode 12
New York Times Sunday Review tweet of gun violence graphic

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S5 Ep. 26: ‘Let Me Say It With All My Heart: This is Such Bullshit’: Shelly Oria and Kristen Arnett on the Reproductive Rights Crisis Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

Editor and writer Shelly Oria and novelist Kristen Arnett join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the reproductive rights crisis through the lens of art, specifically through the stories, plays, essays and poems that comprise McSweeney’s new anthology, I Know What’s Best for You, edited by Oria. In the wake of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the conversation teases out how, through art, charged political issues like abortion take on a specificity that they don’t in basic reporting or debate. The writers speak about misinformation and crisis pregnancy centers, as well as what a post-Roe future might hold. Arnett reads from her story, “The Babies,” and Oria reads from hers, “We Bled All Winter.”

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Shelly Oria

Kristen Arnett

Others:

Select contributors:

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S5 Ep. 25: A Change of Fortune: Sunila Galappatti on the #GotaGoHome Protests in Sri Lanka May 26, 2022

Show notes

Editor, dramaturg, and author Sunila Galappattijoins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss why protesters across Sri Lanka are calling for the resignation of their once-popular president, Gotabaya “Gota” Rajapaksa. Galappatti reads from her recent article in The Hindu about what the protests look like firsthand, and also talks about how brutal economic conditions are driving people of different class and ethnic backgrounds—including Gota’s primarily Sinhalese base—to unite in unexpected ways; the growing space for critical political speech; and what the international media is missing about the protests.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Sunila Galappatti

A Long Watch: War, Captivity and Return in Sri Lanka
“Seeking Refuge in ‘GotaGoGama’ – a Partial Journal of Protest,” The Hindu, May 16, 2022

Others:

“Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell
Capital by Rana Dasgupta
“Majoritarianism and Minorities in Asia,” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1, Episode 13
John Peel: Margrave of the Marshes by John Peel, Sheila Ravenscroft, and Jack White
Mueller Report
Himal Southasian podcast
Meera Srinivasan

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S5 Ep. 24: Live from Unbound: Steve Paul and Henry Schvey on How Evan S. Connell and Tennessee Williams Never Really Left Missouri May 19, 2022

Show notes

Journalist and biographer Steve Paul and writer and Washington University professor Henry Schvey join host Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, to discuss their books on novelist Evan S. Connell and Tennessee Williams, respectively. Each of the old masters was from Missouri—Connell from Kansas City and Williams from St. Louis. Paul and Schvey talk about how, though neither man was happy about his city of origin, those locations factored importantly into their work. Finally, they take questions from the live audience at Unbound.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Steve Paul

Henry Schvey

Blue Song

Others

Tennessee Williams
Ernest Hemingway
Mrs. Bridge, Evan S. Connell
Mr. Bridge, Connell
The Patriot, Connell
Son of the Morningstar, Connell
The Diary of a Rapist, Connell
The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams
Night of the Iguana, Williams
Anne Lamott
Paris Review
Max Steele
The New Republic
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (film)
Wallace Stegner

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S5 Ep. 23: The Brothers Chao: Lan Samantha Chang on Food, Family, and New Ways of Imagining Asian American Narratives May 12, 2022

Show notes

Novelist and Iowa Writers’ Workshop director Lan Samantha Chang joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, The Family Chao, an homage to The Brothers Karamazov centered on the title family’s Midwestern Chinese restaurant. Chang talks about how the three brothers of her story and their varied relationships to identity reflect their parents’ changing circumstances. She also discusses how Asian American and immigrant narratives are evolving to reflect new generations; Asian American life in the Midwest; using humor to subvert cliches; and how directing the Workshop has altered her approach to writing.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Lan Samantha Chang

Others

The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Number One Chinese Restaurant, Lillian Li
Babette’s Feast, Isak Dinesen
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
Anita Mannur
Frank Conroy
Peter Ho Davies
James Alan McPherson
Iowa Writers’ Workshop
The Connie Brothers Era: 45 Years at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 3, Episode 2
Is College Education a Right or a Privilege?, Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1, Episode 5

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S5 Ep. 22: Live from Unbound: Alex George on the ‘Absolutely Extraordinary Journey’ of Running a Book Festival May 05, 2022

Show notes

Novelist, Skylark Bookshop owner, and Unbound Book Festival organizer Alex George joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the festival in Columbia, Missouri, to discuss what’s harder, writing a novel or running a bookfest – or doing both and continuing his (other) day job as an attorney. It turns out that doing all of the above is difficult, but so rewarding that George wouldn’t have it any other way. George also reads from his 2020 novel The Paris Hours, an Indie Next Book of the Month selection and Amazon Best Book of the Month, and discusses the merits of living in Columbia’s literary community. Finally, he takes questions from the live audience at Unbound.

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Alex George

Others