Poured Over

Latest Episodes:

R.F. Kuang on BABEL Aug 25, 2022

Show notes

"We're all constantly translating ourselves to the world—we all are trying to take the inevitable stuff that happens in our psyche, our fears, and hopes and desires and dreams and trying to communicate that with others. And some of us are more successful at it than others." A group of four friends find themselves at the center of a deadly battle between good and evil at an alternate 1800s Oxford University in Babel, the epic new novel from R.F. Kuang, author of the bestselling Poppy War series. Rebecca joins us on the show to talk about world-building, friendship, colonialism, her literary inspirations (including The Secret History by Donna Tartt), Victorian ideas of masculinity and queerness, how she writes, and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from interns Issa and Jenna.

Featured Books (episode)

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke

Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation by David L. Eng Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Beth Macy on RAISING LAZARUS: HOPE, JUSTICE AND THE FUTURE OF AMERICA'S OVERDOSE CRISIS Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

"And so, then I thought, Who do I most admire? Who taught me the most, and also, they're doing it for completely selfless reasons, right? And I thought, Oh, that moment and the parking lot. So, I thought, I'm going to start a book in the parking lot of a McDonald's dumpster in a dying town and show you how, in the most unlikely places, magic is happening." Beth Macy's 2018 bestseller Dopesick and the Emmy-nominated Hulu streamer it inspired have helped changed our national conversation about Opioids and addiction. Her new book, Raising Lazarus, takes a new approach to our ever-growing crisis, focusing on solutions and the people bringing those solutions to our communities. Beth joins us on the show to talk about harm reduction, meeting people where they are, organizing at a local level, the lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and the behavior of the Sackler family, activism, and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.

Featured Books (episode)

Raising Lazarus by Beth Macy

Dopesick by Beth Macy

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Featured Books (TBR Topoff)

Undoing Drugs by Maia Szalavitz

Death in Mud Lick by Eric Eyre

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Keith Corbin on CALIFORNIA SOUL: AN AMERICAN EPIC OF COOKING AND SURVIVAL Aug 20, 2022

Show notes

"But I had fun growing up, you know, kids Double Dutch and playing football in the front yard, trash can basketball, running around 40 deep into projects with extended family, cutting the lights off—we really have fun. Of course, you've seen the drug selling, you've seen the dice games. We found a way to become comfortable in an uncomfortable situation." Keith Corbin's story is unlike any we've heard for a James Beard Award nominated chef, and he holds nothing back in his candid memoir, California Soul: An American Epic of Cooking and Survival. Keith joins us on the show to talk about representation, the realities of second chances (and why opportunity without support isn't enough), fact-checking his memories with members of his community, the start of his friendship with fellow chef Daniel Patterson, unexpected loneliness and much more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer.

Featured Book:

California Soul by Keith Corbin

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Dr. Moiya McTier on THE MILKY WAY: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF OUR GALAXY Aug 18, 2022

Show notes

"To me, science is the rigorous attempt at understanding the world around you. And most people think that that means you're in a lab wearing a coat, working with test tubes. But I think that that's just a matter of using the scientific method in your everyday life. It's a matter of observing the world around you and being curious enough to ask questions and having the logic skills and some math and science skills to find the answers to those questions. But it goes beyond physics and chemistry. It goes beyond math. It goes beyond psychology and sociology, the social sciences." Dr. Moiya McTier delivers a very fun and somewhat surprising look at our universe in her debut, The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy. Dr. McTier joins us on the show to talk about stepping outside of herself to find our galaxy's voice, the importance of story (and how it relates to science), growing up in rural Pennsylvania, her hit Exolore podcast, why space isn't just for billionaires, and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we finish this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.

Featured Books (Episode)

The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy by Moiya McTier

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

Featured Books (TBR Topoff)

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku

How I Killed Pluto by Mike Brown

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Julian Barnes on ELIZABETH FINCH Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

"This is one of the great differences between journalism and literature, which I practice in. You write journalism in order for everything to be absolutely clear at the first reading … you write fiction in order to reflect the complexity of the world. And that complexity isn't necessarily grasped at first meeting." Elizabeth Finch is the latest (and deceptively slim) new novel from Julian Barnes, author of the Booker Prize-winning novel The Sense of an Ending. He joins us on the show to talk about cutting to the chase, unreliable narrators, the intersection of time and memory and history, translating Flaubert, his friendships with fellow Booker Prize-winners Anita Brookner and Ian McEwan, electric typewriters and Blackwing pencils, and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we finish this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.

Featured Books:

Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes

Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (translated by Frances Steegmuller

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (translated by Lydia Davis)

Featured Books (TBR Topoff)

Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Jana Casale on HOW TO FALL OUT OF LOVE MADLY Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

"To me, the thing as a writer that you should always be working towards is like, how can I make this just be delicious for the reader?"

Jana Casale has perfected the art of writing about the ordinary lives of women in such a way that fans of Elena Ferrante and Sally Rooney will flock to, and her latest story following the lives of three young women as they navigate love, How to Fall Out of Love Madly, is just out. Jana joins us on the show to talk about the lives and relationships of Millennial women, body image issues, self-love, loneliness, the influence one teacher had on her decision to be a writer, and much more with guest host, Elani Wilson. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.

Featured Books (episode)

How to Fall Out of Love Madly by Jana Casale

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

Next Year, for Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

This episode of Poured Over is produced and hosted by Elani Wilson and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Jasmine Guillory on Writing Characters We Love Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

"All three of the books that I have written during the pandemic have really been my way of going into another world and finding a place where none of this was happening. And that I could just relax and have fun. And so, I hope that my books are that kind of fun, joyous of maybe slightly salacious time for readers, too, because that's what I enjoyed as I was writing them." Jasmine Guillory is one of our favorite rom-com authors, with her seventh and eighth books (By the Book and Drunk on Love) releasing this year. Jasmine joins us on the show to talk about writing Black leads in romance, her literary influences, releasing three books during the pandemic and connecting with readers in person again, her love for the Bay Area, the elements that make up a signature Jasmine Guillory novel, and much more with guest host, Elani Wilson. And we end this episode with a TBR Topoff with Marc and Rhys riffing on their favorite Jasmine Guillory novels

Featured Books (episode)

Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

This episode of Poured Over is produced and hosted by Elani Wilson and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Tess Gunty on THE RABBIT HUTCH Aug 06, 2022

Show notes

"To write a young woman who refuses to define herself by anything other than her activism, her mind, her curiosity, that was just a delight, and she wasn't the most predictable character, but she was the one who told me what to do on every page." How to describe Tess Gunty's dynamic debut, The Rabbit Hutch? Think Jennifer Egan + Denis Johnson. Think polyphonic novel about climate change and gentrification and coming-of-age in a dying American Dream with an unforgettable 18-year-old as its heart. Tess joins us on the show to talk about loneliness and connection, South Bend and Studebaker automobiles, needing to leave home in order to write about it, how an anxious kid became a writer, mysticism, revision, the poets and writers who inspire her and much more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.

Featured Books (episode)

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

NW by Zadie Smith

Great House by Nicole Krauss

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Featured Books (TBR Topoff)

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays, with occasional Saturdays.

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Ryka Aoki on LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

"But when I write, that's when I feel I can take part in society, I can contribute to ideas, and to teach and to share, and to say, I love you to society—to maybe talk about some of the difficult things in life, but to affirm that these experiences only serve to make life what it is." From space aliens and cursed violins to a Queen of Hell with a heart, to found family, coming-of-age and living in your truest self, Ryka Aoki's Light from Uncommon Stars is our latest Speculative Fiction Monthly Pick and it's an absolute blast to read. Ryka joins us on the show to talk about world-building, the San Gabriel Valley, writing love stories, the evolution of science fiction, her literary inspirations, donuts and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.

Featured Book (episode)

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Featured Books (TBR Topoff)

Blackwater Sister by Zen Cho

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays. A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Anthony Marra on MERCURY PICTURES PRESENTS Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

"There's just so much rich material in Hollywood during the 1940s—which is where much of the book is set—there is just sort of an endless rabbit hole you can go down. And of course, one of the problems with writing a book about the movie industry is that sitting around watching movies technically counts as research." We still think about Anthony Marra's incredible debut, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, years after first reading. His newest novel, Mercury Pictures Presents, is an epic story of family secrets, love and war, loyalty and reinvention that cuts between Hollywood and Mussolini's Italy in the 1930s and 40s—and it's the August B&N Book Club pick. Anthony joins us on the show to talk about mapping stories, the landscape of exile and imprisonment, the importance of humor, research and rewrites and snappy dialogue, his literary inspirations (including Zadie Smith and David Mitchell), and much more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book reviews from Marc and Becky.

Featured Books (episode):

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra

Los Angeles in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City of Angels by Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan

A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

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