Elucidations

Elucidations is an unexpected philosophy podcast produced in association with the University of Chicago. Each month, Matt Teichman sits down with a person of philosophical interest to discuss their view on a topic. Now and again, he is joined by an awesome co-host. Some of the guests are philosophy professors, some of the guests are other kinds of professors, and some of the guests are not professors. Either way, the goal is to develop a feel for how the guest’s perspective hangs together interactively.

Rank #1: Episode 3: Brian Leiter discusses Nietzsche on morality.
In this episode, Brian Leiter discusses Nietzsche's critique of morality and his naturalist approach to human psychology.

Rank #2: Episode 103: Brian Leiter explains why we should think about Marx.
In this episode, we talk to Brian Leiter about why the writings of Karl Marx are helpful for understanding the current situation of the working and middle class in America, the 2016 Presidential election, and related topics!

New Books in Philosophy

Interview with Philosophers about their New Books

Rank #1: Lee Braver, “Groundless Grounds: A Study of Wittgenstein and Heidegger” (MIT Press, 2012).
Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger are both considered among the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. Both were born in 1889 in German-speaking countries; both studied under leading philosophers of their day – Bertrand Russell and Edmund Husserl, respectively – and were considered their philosophical heirs; and both ended up critiquing their mentors and thereby influencing the direction of thought in both the Analytic and Continental traditions. In Groundless Grounds: A Study of Wittgenstein and Heidegger (MIT Press, 2012), Lee Braver, associate professor of philosophy at Hiram College attempts to build what he calls a “load-bearing bridge” between these often polarized traditions. He argues that both thinkers have similar arguments for similar conclusions on similar fundamental issues. Both blame the disengaged contemplation of traditional philosophy for confusion about the nature of language, thought and ontology, and that attention to normal, ongoing human activity in context presents alternative fundamental insights into their nature. The groundless grounds of the title is the idea that finite human nature gives us everything we need to understand meaning, mind and being, and that to insist that this ground requires justification itself betrays confusion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rank #2: Martha Nussbaum, “Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice” (Oxford UP, 2016).
Anger is among the most familiar phenomena in our moral lives. It is common to think that anger is an appropriate, and sometimes morally required, emotional response to wrongdoing and injustice. In fact, our day-to-day lives are saturated with inducements not only to become angry, but to embrace the idea that anger is morally righteous. However, at the same time, were all familiar with the ways in which anger can go morally wrong. We know that anger can eat away at us; it can render us morally blind; it can engulf our entire lives. So one might wonder: What exactly is the point of anger?In Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (Oxford University Press, 2016), Martha Nussbaum argues that, in its most familiar forms, anger is not only pointless, but morally confused and pernicious. Drawing lessons from the Stoics, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Nussbaum advocates replacing anger with forms of generosity, friendship, justice, and kindness. She develops her critique of anger across the spectrum of human experience, from the intimate, to the interpersonal, and eventually the political. Along the way, she proposes important revisions to common ideas about punishment, justice, and social reform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The History of Literature

Literature enthusiast Jacke Wilson journeys through the history of literature, from ancient epics to contemporary classics.Find out more at historyofliterature.com and facebook.com/historyofliterature.

Rank #1: 47 Hemingway vs Fitzgerald.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) were the pole stars of the Lost Generation, the collection of young American authors who came of age in the Paris and New York of the 1920s. The Hemingway-Fitzgerald relationship has been examined for decades and continues to fascinate. Why are we so drawn to these two authors? What do they represent in American literature? Who was the better author, and why? Jacke and Mike take a look at the great Hemingway-Fitzgerald debate – and challenge themselves to find ten new things to say about these American icons. Show Notes:  You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rank #2: 83 Overrated! Top 10 Books You Don’t Need to Read.
Life is short, and books are many. How many great books have you read? How many more have you NOT read? How to choose? Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a discussion of overrated classics and the pleasures of shortening one’s list of must-reads. FREE GIFT!  Write a review on iTunes (or another site), then send us an email at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com to receive your free History of Literature card as a thank you gift. Act now while supplies last! Show Notes:  Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature. You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC. Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA). “Sweet Vermouth” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Books in Critical Theory

Interviews with Scholars of Critical Theory about their New Books

Rank #1: Steven Shaviro, “The Universe of Things: On Speculative Realism” (University of Minnesota Press, 2014).
Steven Shaviro‘s new book is a wonderfully engaging study of speculative realism, new materialism, and the ways in which those fields can speak to and be informed by the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. While The Universe of Things: On Speculative Realism (University of Minnesota Press, 2014) will satisfy even advanced scholars working on “object-oriented ontology” and related issues, it’s also a fantastic introduction for readers who have never heard of “correlationism” or panpsychism, don’t quite understand what all of the recent humanities-wide Whitehead-related fuss is all about, and aren’t sure where to begin. After a helpful introduction that lays out the major terms and stakes of the study, seven chapters each function as stand-alone units (and thus are very assignable in upper-level undergrad or graduate courses) while also progressively building on one another to collectively advance an argument for what Shaviro calls a “speculative aesthetics.”The Universe of Things emphasizes the importance of aesthetics and aesthetic theory to reading and engaging the work of Whitehead, Harman, Meillassoux, Kant, Levinas, Bryant, and others as an ongoing conversation about how we understand, inhabit, and exist as part of a material world. It’s a fabulous (and fabulously clearly written!) work that I will be recommending widely to colleagues and students.During the course of the interview we talked a bit about the opportunities that electronic and web-based media have brought to life and work in academia. On that note, you can find Steve’s blog here: http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rank #2: Eugene Thacker, “Horror of Philosophy” (Zero Book, 2011-2015).
Eugene Thacker‘s wonderful Horror of Philosophy series includes three books – In the Dust of this Planet (Zero Books, 2011), Starry Speculative Corpse (Zero Books, 2015), and Tentacles Longer than Night (Zero Books, 2015) – that collectively explore the relationship between philosophy (especially as it overlaps with demonology, occultism, and mysticism) and horror (especially of the supernatural sort). Each book takes on a particular problematic using a particular form from the history of philosophy, from the quaestio, lectio, and disputatio of medieval scholarship, to shorter aphoristic prose, to productive “mis-readings” of works of horror as philosophical texts and vice versa. Taken together, the books thoughtfully model the possibilities born of a comparative scholarly approach that creates conversations among works that might not ordinarily be juxtaposed in the same work: like Nishitani, Kant, Yohji Yamamoto, and Fludd; or Argento, Dante, and Lautramont. Though they explore topics like darkness, pessimism, vampiric cephalopods, and “black tentacular voids,” these books vibrate with life and offer consistent and shining inspiration for the careful reader. Anyone interested in philosophy, theology, modern literature and cinema, literatures on life and death, the history of horror…or really, anyone at all who appreciates thoughtful writing in any form should grab them – grab all of them! – and sit somewhere comfy, and prepare to read, reflect, and enjoy.For Thacker’s brand-new book Cosmic Pessimism (published by Univocal with a super-groovy black-on-black cover) go here. Thacker is co-teaching a course with Simon Critchley on “Mysticism” at the New School for Social Research this fall 2015. You can check out the description here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slavoj Žižek - Collected Recordings

A Collection of Talks, Debates and Speeches of Slavoj Žižek

Rank #1: ZIZ065 Versus Cornel West.
Slavoj Zizek and Cornel West in Conversation

Rank #2: ZIZ231 Happiness: Capitalism vs. Marxism (with Jordan Peterson) (19.04.2019).
Debate between Peterson and Žižek. Both start with a 30 minute introduction, followed by a 10 minute replay, followed by discussion. Sony Center Toronto, Canada

Soundings from The New York Review

Interviews, conversations, discussions, events and more from the writers and staff of The New York Review of Books

Rank #1: Helen Vendler on Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell.
Poetry critic and frequent Review contributor Helen Vendler speaks with Sasha Weiss about the correspondence of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, and reads some of the poems that were inspired by the poets' lifelong friendship.

Rank #2: Alison Lurie on John Updike.
Alison Lurie speaks with Giles Harvey about John Updike's life, his work, and his place in American literary history.

Phi Fic: A Fiction Podcast

Phi Fic is our monthly conversation on recommended fiction. We dive into the plot, characters, philosophy, ideas, and best lines, in a discussion full of SPOILERS! Nathan Hanks hosts fellow readers Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis and Mary Claire, with the occasional guest. Thanks to Christopher Nolen for the music. Phi Fic is a member of the Partially Examined Life podcast network, and originated as the Philosophical Fiction group in PEL’s Not School. phificpodcast@gmail.com

Rank #1: Phi Fic #10 “The Fall” by Albert Camus.
We discuss the novel about what you do when you're "called" and how you live afterward. You can listen along while Cezary, Daniel, Laura, Mary, and Nathan discuss The Fall by Albert Camus, which Sartre claimed was "perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood" of Camus's books.Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Rank #2: Phi Fic #9 “The Grand Inquisitor” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
We discuss the poem within The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

New Books in Literary Studies

Interviews with Scholars of Literature about their New Books

Rank #1: Paul K. Saint-Amour, “Tense Future: Modernism, Total War, Encyclopedic Form” (Oxford UP, 2015).
Paul K. Saint-Amour, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, is a ruminative thinker and meticulous writer. These traits pay dividends in the surprising insights of his new book, Tense Future: Modernism, Total War, Encyclopedic Form (Oxford University Press, 2015), which reframes total war and literature in the interwar years and in the present moment. The book’s articulation of the partiality of total war, especially its focus on violence committed in the so-called periphery–which denies civilians the protections of officially declared war–is all too familiar in the present. Tense Future, like the texts it examines, defamiliarizes works we thought we knew well. It also makes strange some of the familiar narratives within the field of modernist studies, like that concerning the genre of the Modern Epic. Tense Future decouples encyclopedic form from the modern epic, showing how the encyclopedia inspired interwar writers to playfully wrest totality out of the suffocating grip of total war. Saint-Amour’s boldest claim, that we live in perpetual interwar, sutures the drone attacks of the present to air-war theories developed after the zeppelin raids of WWI. Our own future, though not foreclosed, is nonetheless subject to the aperture of the past. Tense Future reminds us of futures past in order to pry open a little room for hope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rank #2: Richard Salomon, "The Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhāra: An Introduction with Selected Translation" (Wisdom Publications, 2018).
In this episode of New Books in Buddhist Studies, Dr. Richard Salomon speaks about his book The Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhāra: An Introduction with Selected Translation (Wisdom Publications, 2018). One of the great archeological finds of the 20th century, the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts, dating from the 1st century CE, are the oldest Buddhist manuscripts ever discovered. Richard discusses his pioneering research on these fascinating manuscripts, how the then obscure Gāndhārī language was deciphered, the historical and religious context from which these texts emerged, and the Gandhāran influence on other parts of the Buddhist world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Philosophy Now

Podcasts from philosophynow.org, home of the most widely read philosophy magazine in the world, Philosophy Now.

Rank #1: The Thoughts of Friedrich Nietzsche.
Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now discusses the influence and ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche, the infamous German anti-Christian philosopher, with Ken Gemes, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck. First broadcast on 8 November 2011 on Resonance FM.

Rank #2: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics.
Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now talks to Manjit Kumar, author of Quantum, about quantum mechanics. First broadcast on 21 June 2011 on Resonance FM.

The World in Time / Lapham’s Quarterly

Lewis H. Lapham, the founder and editor of Lapham’s Quarterly, interviews authors of new books of history. New episodes are released biweekly. laphamsquarterly.org.

Rank #1: Episode 03: John Micklethwait.
In the sixteenth century 300,000 people lived in the imperial quarter of Beijing, which housed the bureaucracy of the Chinese state. At the time Europe had only three cities—London, Naples, and Paris—with as many residents. European governments were by contrast small and static. Over the past five hundred years, partly in response to the grand scale of government power in Asia and the Islamic world, Western nations have gone through a series of revolutions in government: from Thomas Hobbes’ imagining of the modern nation state to liberal reforms advocated by John Stuart Mill and William Gladstone and the advent of the welfare state.Lewis Lapham talks to John Micklethwait, co-author, with Adrian Wooldridge, of The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the State, about the history of government in the West and rethinking the machinery of the state in the twenty-first century.Thanks to our generous donors. Lead support for this podcast has been provided by Elizabeth “Lisette” Prince. Additional support was provided by James J. “Jimmy” Coleman Jr.

Rank #2: Episode 47: Ziya Tong.
Lewis H. Lapham talks with Ziya Tong, author of The Reality Bubble: Blind Spots, Hidden Truths, and the Dangerous Illusions That Shape Our World.Thanks to our generous donors. Lead support for this podcast has been provided by Elizabeth “Lisette” Prince. Additional support was provided by James J. “Jimmy” Coleman Jr.

Always Already Podcast, a critical theory podcast

Tune in to the Always Already Podcast for indulgent conversations about critical theory (in the broadest read of the term!). Our podcast consists of two episode streams. The first is a discussion of texts spanning critical theory, political theory, social theory, and philosophy. We work through and analyze main ideas, underlying assumptions, connections with other texts and theories, and occasionally delve into the great abyss of free association, ad hoc theory jokes, and makeshift puns. The second stream, entitled Epistemic Unruliness, consists of interviews and discussions with activists, artists, and academics whose “disobedient” work builds upon the themes of that arise in the texts we discuss and in our ongoing podcast conversations. In the first stream we also entertain the questions of friends and strangers and dole out slapdash advice about everything from massaging a head of Brooklyn kale to sweet talking a nebechy philosopher and dealing with the vagaries of academic life. We also put on our Freud-Klein-Lacan-Irigaray hats as we provide dream analysis to (always already anonymized) listener dreams.Be a part by sending us text suggestions, interview ideas, advice questions to answer, and dreams to analyze. The Always Already Podcast is created by B Aultman, Rachel Brown, Emily Crandall, John McMahon, and James Padilioni, Jr. The text discussion episodes also entertain the questions of friends and strangers as we dole out slapdash advice to audience queries on everything from how to massage a head of Brooklyn kale to how to sweet talk a nebechy philosopher to how to deal with the vagaries of academic life. We also put on our Freud-Klein-Lacan hats as we provide dream analysis to (always already anonymized) listener dreams.Tune in, and send us text suggestions, interview ideas, advice questions to answer, and dreams to analyze. The Always Already Podcast is created by B Aultman, Rachel Brown, Emily Crandall, John McMahon, and James Padilioni, Jr.

Rank #1: Ep. 43 – Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks.
In our first text-discussion episode in a while (sorry podcast fam!), John is joined by two special guest hosts, his Beloit College colleagues M. Shadee Malaklou (Critical Identity Studies) and Michelle Bumatay (French). We discuss Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon, focusing on the Introduction, “The Man of Color and the White Woman” (chap. 3) and “The Lived Experience of the Black Man” (chap. 5).  How does anti-blackness make black ontology impossible? How does the white gaze phenomenologically fix and objectify and reify? How does Fanon link temporality, racism, colonialism, and psychic structures? How does Fanon critique the white Continental philosophical tradition? All this and much more, including finding out which one of us has a ‘Humanism is a Racism’ bumper sticker. Later on, we’re joined by Robin Zebrowski (Cognitive Science at Beloit) to help give some advice on deciding to apply for grad school and analyze a dream about a spectral boss, tree canopies with glass walls, and telepathy. Remember to support us on Patreon to help offset/reimburse the cost of our fancy new microphone, which we have named Lacan. Requests for texts for us to discuss? Dreams for us to interpret? Advice questions for us to answer? Email us at alwaysalreadypodcast AT gmail DOT com. Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter. Like our Facebook page. RSS feed here. Thanks to Leah Dion, Rocco & Lizzie, and B for the music. Get the mp3 here. https://alwaysalreadypodcast.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/ep43.mp3 Links! Black Skin, White Masks at google books Find out more about Michelle Bumatay: academia.edu; blog Find out more about M. Shadee Malaklou: academia.edu; blog Find out more about Robin Zebrowski: Beloit page Listen to our previous episode on afro-pessimism Achille Mbembe lecture on Fanon and the Politics of Viscerality Interview with Frank B. Wilderson III on the enduring legacy of Fanon Lewis Gordon talk and discussion on his book What Fanon Said

Rank #2: Ep. 57 – Sylvia Wynter, “Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom”.
In this episode, James, Shadee, and John settle into unsettling the ongoing colonial project with Sylvia Wynter’s “Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation–An Argument.” The trio work through Wynter’s textured genealogy that traces the transmutations of the European conception of the human from its early days as a Christian subject within the Latin Church to the emergence of Man1 as a political subject during the Renaissance, followed by the Enlightenment’s Man2 — an evolutionary biological-economical creature that still dominates Western ideologies today. The discussion relates Wynter’s project to post-humanism and Afro-pessimism, and questions whether the problem of antiblack racism is a problem of the human category generally, or if Wynter’s move to rehabilitate the human by thinking it through genres is a more generative tack to take. It also takes on the ways Wynter’s anti-Man humanism engages anticolonial movements in the 1960s. Support us on Patreon to help us upgrade our recording equipment, potentially provide episode transcripts, and more – plus, you may have the chance to jump your request to the top of the request queue. Thanks to listener Jordan F for the Wynter suggestion. Requests for texts for us to discuss? Dreams for us to interpret? Advice questions for us to answer? Email us at alwaysalreadypodcast AT gmail DOT com. Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter. Like our Facebook page. RSS feed here. We are part of the Critical Mediations network. Thanks to Bad Infinity for the intro music, and always already thanks to B for the outro music. For the mp3 of the episode click here. https://alwaysalreadypodcast.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/wynter.mp3 Links: Sylvia Wynter: On Being Human as Praxis – 2015 anthology of Wynter’s writings edited by Katherine McKittrick; Sylvia Wynter’s audio response to her 2012 induction as a fellow by the Institute of Jamaica, summarizing her life oeuvre  “The Re-Enchantment of Humanism: An Interview with Sylvia Wynter and David Scott” (pdf at link) “No Humans Allowed: An Open Letter to my Colleagues” Greg Thomas’ interview with Sylvia Wynter at Proud Flesh Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “Portrait of Jamaican novelist, dramatist, essayist and academic Sylvia Wynter, circa 1970s.”Found at: http://kalamu.com/neogriot/2016/12/23/pov-are-you-an-intellectual/

The LRB Podcast

On the LRB Podcast you'll find recent (and not so recent) pieces read by the author; our 'Close Reading’ series, in which Seamus Perry and Mark Ford consider 20th century poets through the lens of the pieces written about them in the LRB; and a range of other conversations on topics and writers covered in the paper.

Rank #1: Trump is the Boot Man: Adam Shatz talks to Wallace Shawn.
Writer and actor Wallace Shawn talks to Adam Shatz about ‘the thin line between entertainment and cruelty’ in the age of Trump.Read more by Adam Shatz in the LRB: https://lrb.me/shatzpodSign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acast For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Rank #2: In Conversation: Long-Form Essays in the Digital Age.
Mary-Kay Wilmers, Andrew O’Hagan and Ben Eastham talk to Sarah Howe about ‘Long-Form Essays in the Digital Age’.Sign up to the LRB newsletter: https://lrb.me/acastRead Mary-Kay Wilmers in the LRB: https://lrb.me/wilmerspodRead Andrew O'Hagan in the LRB: https://lrb.me/ohaganpod For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

London Review Bookshop Podcasts

Twice a week or so, the London Review Bookshop becomes a miniature auditorium in which authors talk about and read from their work, meet their readers and engage in lively debate about the burning topics of the day. Fortunately, for those of you who weren't able to make it to one of our talks, were able to make it but couldn't get a ticket, or did in fact make it but weren't paying attention and want to listen again, we make a recording of everything that happens. So now you can hear Alan Bennett, Hilary Mantel, Iain Sinclair, Jarvis Cocker, Jenny Diski, Patti Smith (yes, she sings) and many, many more, wherever, and whenever you like.

Rank #1: Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Saidiya Hartman and Lola Olufemi.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the first emancipated generation of black women in the USA were obliged, sometimes enabled and often hindered in creating new ways of living after the abolition of slavery. In Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments (Profile), Professor Saidiya Hartman tells the inspiring and surprising stories of these pioneers, whose discoveries about how to be in the world have been followed and emulated by people, black, white, gay, straight, cis, trans and other, ever since. Hartman was in conversation about her work with writer and activist Lola Olufemi.

Rank #2: Richard Powers and Benjamin Markovits: The Overstory.
Richard Powers, one of America’s greatest novelists, often compared to Pynchon and Roth, read from and talked about his twelfth novel ‘The Overstory’ (Heinemann). Powers has always been remarkable for the seriousness with which he takes science and nature and their intersections with literature, and in ‘The Overstory’, which stretches in time and place from antebellum New York to the Pacific North West timber wars in the late 20th century, he provides us with an arboreal equivalent to Moby Dick, and a book that will permanently change – and for the better – the way you view the world around you. Powers was in conversation with the novelist Benjamin Markovits.

LA Review of Books

The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts.The Los Angeles Review of Books magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics. The Los Angeles Review of Books seeks to revive and reinvent the book review for the internet age, and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.

Rank #1: Sally Rooney: Great Expectations.
Co-hosts Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf speak with Sally Rooney about her two novels Conversations with Friends and Normal People. Dubbed the "Jane Austin of the Precariat" and called "the first great millennial novelist" Sally addresses the acclaim she’s received; and how she’s grown into the person and writer she is today. Also, William E. Jones returns to recommend The Imposter byJavier Cercas, which tells the story of Spaniard Enric Marco, who was a national hero until he was exposed as a fraud in 2005.

Rank #2: Radio Hour: Lesley MM Blume on Ernest Hemingway, Laura Albert recommends, and Janet Fitch reads.
This week Tom and Laurie talk with Lesley MM Blume about her new book 'Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises.' Laura Albert is back on the show after last week's brilliant interview to recommend Annie Proulx’s 'Barkskins.' Plus, Janet Fitch’s reading from her novel 'Paint it Black.'