Three Percent Podcast

Latest Episodes:

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 180-225) Aug 26, 2019

Show notes

Tom Flynn from Volumes opens up today's episode with a reading from Brian's first book, Joytime Killbox. Then, along with Chad, they break down the rest of "The Human School" from Monsterhuman, talk about how much they love Skomsvold's voice and sense of humor, look at the way in which she starts playing with first- and third-person narration in the opening bits of "The Herring Factory," and crap on Ben Lerner a little bit. Good fun!

This week's music is "Please Take Me With You" by Broken Social Scene.

Next episode will cover pages 226-274 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. (All of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.) You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, follow Tom on Twitter, and buy some books from Volumes!

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #167: We Could All Do Better Aug 22, 2019

Show notes

Meytal Radzinski (@biblibio, founder of Women in Translation Month) joins Chad and Tom to talk about Women in Translation Month, depressing statistics, Virginie Despentes, nonfiction in translation, hopes for the future, and much more.

As always, feel free to send any and all comments or questions to: threepercentpodcast@gmail.com. Also, if there are articles you’d like us to read and analyze (or just make fun of), send those along as well.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

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: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 144-180) Aug 16, 2019

Show notes

Even though the first few seconds ("On today's Two Month Review we'll be talking about . . . ") got cut off, Chad gives his most professional podcast introduction to date, before he and Brian talk about the Nansen Academy, the cyclical nature of chronic illness, the idea of plot points vs. events, and reasons their respective spouses would give for leaving them. (Maybe an all-time TMR highlight.)

This week's music is "Has It Hit You?" by The Regrettes.

Next episode will cover pages 180-225 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. (All of our past episodes are available on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up on anything.) You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 92-143) Aug 15, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Chad and Brian applaud Kjersti for not getting back together with her ex-boyfriend, talk about circular structures, about the evolution of her written voice, about Antony and the Johnsons, the myth-making behind Babe Ruth, and much more.

This week's music is "Patterns Prevail" by Young Guv.

Next episode will cover pages 144-180 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 46-92) Aug 14, 2019

Show notes

One of the funniest TMR episodes in weeks, Chad and Brian crack each other up over writerly anxieties, the sharp wit Kjersti displays in this section, the White Claw Phenomenon, writer vs. author vs. journaler, Kjersti's distain for bad poetry (and TV) about chronic fatigue syndrome, pop culture references from the early-1990s, and much much more. They do also talk quite a bit about the book itself, how Skomsvold is creating a sort of narrative consciousness, the evolution of the book's voice (in lieu of a strong forward-moving plot), and other craft elements.

This week's music (maybe the music for the rest of the season?) is "Storyline Fever" by Purple Mountains.

Next episode will cover pages 93-143 and will be livestreamed on YouTube next Wednesday. You can find the complete reading schedule here.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

Three Percent #166: Women in Translation Month 2019 Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

Chad and Tom drop a number of recommendations for Women in Translation month, some that they've read, some that they're planning on reading. They also discuss possible infographics that Three Percent can produce over the course of the month (if you have any other suggestions, please email), and discuss Chad's new plan to try and review 20 books without knowing the author, translator, publisher, title, etc. Plus: Tom has some words for people who don't tip on coffee drinks.

This week's music is "Tethered" by Versing.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

BONUS EPISODE: Annette Orre Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

We finish up Norwegian Month at Three Percent by talking to Annette Orre of the Oslo Literary Agency. We talk trends, 1,000-page books, The History of Bees, Norway being the Guest of Honor at Frankfurt, using a "die" to rate all products from books to cheese, and much much more.

This episode's music is "Ashes & Embers" by the Casket Girls.

TMR: Monsterhuman by Kjersti Skomsvold (pgs 1-45) Jul 29, 2019

Show notes

The new season of the Two Month Review starts here! Through the end of September we'll be discussing Kjersti Skomsvold's Monsterhuman, translated from the Norwegian by Becky L. Crook. Marius Hjeldnes from Cappelen Damm joins Chad and Brian to provide a bit of background on Skomsvold, on trends in Norwegian literature, on that whole "dice" thing, and much more. They cover the first three sections of the book, laying out the main themes and ideas that set-up this novel about a young woman suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, trying to rebuild her sense of self by becoming a writer. An incredibly interesting, episodic novel that you should be able to dive into, even if you don't read every page.

This week's music comes directly from the opening sections, featuring some really tough songs: "Hole in the Head" by Sugababes and "Never Easy" by Kurt Nilsen.

Season 10 will be the first English-language title to be included, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, which was just named to the Booker Longlist.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And foll0w Marius on Instagram.

And be sure to preorder Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is coming out this fall from BOA Editions.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

BONUS EPISODE: John Erik Riley Jul 25, 2019

Show notes

To celebrate Norwegian Month at Three Percent, Chad talked with John Erik Riley, author, photographer, editor of Norwegian literature for Cappelen Damm, and member of the "Blindness Circle." They talk about current trends in Norwegian literature, American comparisons for various authors, a couple really long books, Norwegian science-fiction, and much more.

You can follow John Erik Riley on Instagram or Twitter. And if you read Norwegian, you should check out his latest novel, Heimdal, California.

This episode's music is "Eye Bath" by the Swedish band Death & Vanilla.

Three Percent #165: Disorder in the Book Shelves Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

This episode of the Three Percent Podcast never gets to its actual topic, but includes minor disagreements about ebooks in libraries and its impact on ebook revenu, more questions about Book Culture's situation, a general sense of malaise, trying to make sense of Dean Koontz, Audible's "Caption" program, a wild idea about shelving and how people browse, and recommendations for Marías's Berta Isla and Shirley Jackson's The Sundial.

This week's music is "My City" by Better Oblivion Community Center.

And if you like the podcast, tell a friend and rate us or leave a review on iTunes!

You can also follow Open Letter, Riffraff, and Chad and on Twitter and Instagram (OL, Riffraff, Chad) for book and baseball talk.

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