Three Percent Podcast

Latest Episodes:

TMR 14.9: "J R Shipping Corp" Feb 13, 2021

Show notes

This week, Sam Rutter and Nick During join Chad for a long, sprawling discussion of J R, of the interesting quote Joy Williams attributes to Gaddis instead of Gibbs, of Gibbs's knowledge of financial doings, of how great Rhoda is as a character, and so so much more. This is the longest episode to date, but also one of the most fun.

This week's music is "Don't Get Hit By a Car" by Cheekface.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. (This episode is really fun to watch because Chad's camera shorted out . . . ) You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, February 17th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.8: "$$$$$$$$" [J R] Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

Chad and Brian talk about church parking lots, relationship entropy, millionaires, corporate logos ("Just Rite"), the uneasy alliance of art and commerce, and much more on this week's episode.

This week's music is "Highlights of 100" by Kiwi Jr.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, February 3rd where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.7: "Alsaka" [J R] Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

Dan O'Brien (The House in Scarsdale, A Story that Happens) joins the podcast this week to talk about J R from a playwriting perspective. Lots of interesting insights in this episode, about theater, about the relationship between art and commerce in the book, and about GameStop.

This week's music is "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" by Okkervil River.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.6: "A Strolling Game of Pocket Billiards" [J R] Jan 22, 2021

Show notes

Chad and Brian go it alone this week, and prove that even the most claustrophobic sections (trigger warning for anyone who grew up with hoarders) of J R are also riotously funny. They also don't understand money or business, but no one else in the book seems to either . . . There's also a lot of talk about Gibbs's footwear issues.

This week's music is "Laugh Track" by Ben Hopkins, one of the greatest songs of 2020.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 27th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.5: "Eagle Mills Employees' Glee Club" Jan 19, 2021

Show notes

Rodrigo Fresan (The Dreamed Part) joins Chad and Brian to talk about one of his favorite authors and books. There's good banter, some insight into J R, tell a (false) story about Fire the Bastards!, and generally try and entertain you.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 20th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

BTBA #1: GUANTANAMO by Dorothea Dieckmann and Tim Mohr Jan 11, 2021

Show notes

The year-long Best Translated Book Award retrospective kicks off with this episode featuring the very first winner of the BTBA: Guantanamo by Dorothea Dieckmann, translated from the German by Tim Mohr and published by Soft Skull. There are three discussions on this episode: Chad W. Post and Patrick Smith talk about the formation of the BTBA and how the first year worked, then Patrick and Tim Mohr discuss Guantanamo, and finally Chad and Richard Nash talk about publishing ca. 2007.

Music featured on this episode (all from albums released in 2007) includes "Paper Planes," "1234," "All My Friends," and "The Crystal Cat."

This series will continue biweekly through the end of the year, covering all twenty-five winning BTBA books (poetry and fiction) culminating in a Best of the BTBA award chosen by YOU, the listeners and fans, at the end of 2021. Stay tuned to Three Percent for additional posts, interviews, analysis of translation trends, and more.

If you don’t already subscribe to the Three Percent Podcast you can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and other places. Or you can always subscribe by adding our feed directly into your favorite podcast app: http://threepercent.libsyn.com/rss

TMR 14.4: "Who Made the Rules" [J R] Jan 08, 2021

Show notes

Ryan Chapman (Riots I Have Known) joins Chad and Brian to crap on Jonathan Franzen's "famous" "essay" about Gaddis, "Mr. Difficult." They also talk about the casual sexism present in so many of the male characters, the parallels and reversals connecting various scenes, just how funny and readable this book is, and the relationships between kids and adults in J R.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 13th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.3: "Stamp Out Smut" [J R] Jan 06, 2021

Show notes

Vince Francone made his TMR debut on this episode about one of the funniest sections of J R to date. They talk about the dirty photos, how the book isn't as challenging as its reputation indicates, the maybe incest scene, shitting in a piano, and much more.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, January 6th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

AND, be sure to order Vince's books, The Soft Lunacy and Like a Dog: A Memoir.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 14.2: "How to Make Big Profits Overseas" [J R] Jan 06, 2021

Show notes

First time Gaddis reader Elizabeth DeMeo from Tin House joins Chad and Brian to talk about J R's field trip to the New York Stock Exchange where his class buys a share of Diamond Cable stock. In addition to recapping this somewhat chaotic segment—just imagine twelve sixth graders loose in NYC—they talk about Gaddis's style, what he had to say about the process of writing a book, the Rick Moody introduction to the Dalkey edition, ideas about what exactly makes this book "difficult," and much more.

This week's music is "Money, Money, Money" by ABBA.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, December 30th where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Three Percent #183: Sound on Sound on Sound Jan 01, 2021

Show notes

The first new Three Percent Podcast since May! This is an episode all about sound and curation—in books, in music. It's unlike all the previous episodes, featuring three readings and two interviews.

Here are all the songs featured on this episode:

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