Three Percent Podcast

Latest Episodes:

TMR 13.3 “Hammock and Honey” [ADA, OR ARDOR] Sep 18, 2020

Show notes

Rodrigo Fresán (The Invented Part, The Dreamed Part, Bottom of the Sky) joins Chad and Brian to talk about the only Nabokov book he hasn't read. In addition to talking about all the reasons to love Nabokov, about how this book is the one where he actually seems to be measuring himself against the all time greats, they talk about strange science-fiction books, publishers as characters (and superheroes), the layers of (unreliable) narration surrounding the text, and beautiful writing about socially unacceptable things.

This week's music is "Nabokov's Wandering Eye" from an album called Poklapocalypse. Nothing could be more fitting.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 3 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

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 13.1 “All Happy Families” [ADA, OR ARDOR] Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

Chad and Brian try their best to unpack the first three chapters of Vladimir Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor, in an attempt to find some solid footing for this sci-fi (?), ambitious, reference-laded masterwork of one of the greatest writers of our times. Lots of questions about where we are (Terra or Anti-Terra?); mirrors; the relationship between text, footnotes, and parenthetical comments; the L disaster and "thank Log"; Nabokovian verbs; Anna Karenina and Wuthering Heights; and much more. It's a fun way to kick off this season, encapsulating the joy and confusion of reading a Nabokov book for the first time.

There are a surprising amount of songs with "Nabokov" in the title. Not sure if any of them are actually good, but here's "Nabokov's Butterfly" by Hailey Wojcik.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 2 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

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 12.12 “Finale” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 21, 2020

Show notes

Carmen Boullosa joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about The Book of Anna, memories of watching baseball, why she (today) supports Karenin and thinks Anna K made a mistake with Vronsky, the origin and structure of the novel, her system of having a book in the queue before the previous one is published, and much more.

And, at the very end, the book for Season 13—coming Wednesday, September 9th—is revealed! More information about the actual schedule will be available next week.

This week's music lacks an Anna reference, but is maybe an allusion to Anna and Vronksy . . . It's "Be as Good as You Want to Be" by Boat.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part four, “Finale” (pgs 162-End) with Carmen Boullosa herself. You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 19th.

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 12.11 “The Book of Anna” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

Translator and Words Without Borders co-founder Samantha Schnee joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about Anna's "opium-fueled" fairy tale that was referenced in passing in Anna Karenina, and a centerpiece of Boullosa's "sequel." A lively conversation about language, various Tolstoy translations, the book's origin, ways to interpret the fairy tale, and much more.

This week's musical Anna reference comes from Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea."

And again, if you want to help pick from the four finalists for season 13 (Zone, Vernon Subutex, Ada, or Ardor, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming), fill out this survey. Thanks in advance!

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 12.10 “Karenina's Portrait” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 06, 2020

Show notes

After talking a bit about Women in Translation Month and the voting process for choosing the Season 13 title, Chad and Brian get into the twisty nature of Part III of The Book of Anna, in which Anna's portrait is given to the tsar, and Leo Tolstoy appears in the dreams of two characters, both to berate them and make a case for revolution. This part ends with a bit of a tease, as next week we finally get to hear from Anna Karenina herself in the form of her opium inspired book.

This week's Anna song is "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" by Sunset Rubdown.

And again, if you want to help pick from the four finalists for season 13 (Zone, Vernon Subutex, Ada, or Ardor, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming), fill out this survey. Thanks in advance!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part four, “The Book of Anna” (pgs 127-161). You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 12th.

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 12.9 “Bloody Sunday” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Jul 30, 2020

Show notes

This week's episode is one of the more political ones to date, as Chad and Brian talk about Russia's "Bloody Sunday," comparing the Tsar's actions to Trump and what's going on in Portland. (They also sigh loudly over his most recent attempt to stoke racial and class anger.) They talk about the pacing and balance between these first two parts of the novel, the ways in which this section are almost anti-Tolstoy in nature, the relationship between power and history, and Chad's obsession with Baudrillard and illusion. (See this post.)

This week's Anna song is "Anna Begins" by Counting Crows.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part three, “Karenina's Portrait” (pgs 99-126). You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 5th.

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 12.8 “Anna’s Sergei and Anya’s City” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Jul 24, 2020

Show notes

The final part of season 12 kicks off with Chad and Brian discussing the first part of Carmen Boullosa's The Book of Anna, translated from the Spanish by Samantha Schnee and published by Coffee House. Chad gives a brief recap of Leo Tolstoy's novella, Anna Karenina, then they discuss how and what type of sequel this is, get into the two different storylines—revolution and Anna's children—and end with a discussion of the metafictional elements and the way in which this book plays off of Nabokov's Bend Sinister.

This week's Anna song is "Anna" by Will Butler. (The video for which stars Emma Stone.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part two, “Bloody Sunday” (pgs 74-98). You can watch it live next Wednesday, July 29nd.

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 12.7: "Heroes and Mercenaries" [FOUR BY FOUR] Jul 16, 2020

Show notes

Katie Whittemore joins on this episode to refute a list of crazy fan theories about Four by Four, and to talk about the difficulties of translating a book in which there's really no where to hide. Chad also shares some new, bad, jacket copy, and makes a pitch for one of Katie's next books to come out: World's Best Mother by Nuria Labari. Very fun, loose, enjoyable episode putting to bed a book that is, ultimately, quite unnerving.

This week's musical four-by-four reference is from Malibu Ken in his appropriately creepy "Acid King."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll move on to The Book of Anna by Carmen Boullosa and Samantha Schnee. Get your copy today! We'll discuss part one, “Anna’s Sergei and Anya’s City” (pgs 1-73), next Wednesday, July 22nd, and you can watch live here.

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 you can get 20% off Four by Four by using the code 2MONTH at checkout. (Offer only good in the U.S., since we can't ship overseas, but to be honest, we can't ship right now! Order it from Bookshop.org.)

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 12.6: "A Substitute's Diary, Part II" [FOUR BY FOUR] Jul 16, 2020

Show notes

ALTA executive director and Arabic translator (Minor Detail), Lissie Jaquette joined Chad and Brian to talk about Bedragare's breakdown and all the events in the second half of his journal. They also wonder what the "mystery" of the novel is, and talk about various (possibly nutty) theories about who killed Lux and Ledesma. All of this sets up next week's episode in which—according to Chad—the real will be explained . . .

It's amazing how much questionable music there is that includes a reference to a "4x4." This week's is a little ditty by Hardy that includes this lyric, "Them good old boys been feeling macho / In that quatro wheel drive." Hell yeah!

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. The next broadcast will be on July 15th. We'll be talking about the final section of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

After next week's episode, we'll move on to The Book of Anna by Carmen Boullosa and Samantha Schnee. Get your copy today!

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

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 12.5: "A Substitute's Diary, Part I" [FOUR BY FOUR] Jul 02, 2020

Show notes

After being taken over by Chad's daughter, the podcast gets back on track, and Chad and Derek Maine (Read the World YouTube channel) break down the first half of part two of Four by Four, talking about the ways in which power structures are replicated, the increasing scope of the novel's construction, reading between the lines, trusting the impulses in children, books that don't offer clear solutions, and much more.

This week's musical "4x4" reference is from Florida Georgia Line, because of course it is.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. (And seriously, this week's opening is worth watching.) The next broadcast will be on July 8th. We'll be talking about pages 156-222) of Four by Four, which is available in bookstores everywhere. (And as an audiobook via Tantor Media!)

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

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected