logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
41m 8s

21st Century Books Special Edition: Jenn...

The New York Times
About this episode
As part of its recent “100 Best Books of the 21st Century" project, The New York Times Book Review is interviewing some of the authors whose books appeared on the list. This week, Jennifer Egan discusses discuss her Pulitzer-winning novel about the music industry, "A Visit From the Goon Squad." 
Up next
Yesterday
Welcome to Literary Award Season
<p>Literature isn’t a horse race. Taste is subjective, and artistic value can’t be measured in terms of “winners" and “losers.”</p><p>That doesn’t mean it’s not fun to try.</p><p>The book world’s awards season officially kicked off on Oct. 9, when the Hungarian novelist Laszlo Kr ... Show More
46m 32s
Nov 14
Nicholas Boggs on Writing a James Baldwin Biography
<p>Nicholas Boggs’s “Baldwin: A Love Story,” is many things at once. It’s a comprehensive biography of James Baldwin. It’s a nimble excavation of Baldwin’s work, filled with astute literary analysis of his books and prose. And, most pressingly, it’s an argument for a new critical ... Show More
36m 28s
Nov 7
The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 50 Years Later
<p>On Nov. 10, 1975, during a calamitous storm, the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk below the waves of Lake Superior. All 29 men aboard went down with the vessel. With no survivors and no eyewitnesses, there’s always been a sense of mystery to what is arguably the most famous shipwreck in ... Show More
39m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
Rebecca Makkai Reads Jhumpa Lahiri
Rebecca Makkai joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Third and Final Continent,” by Jhumpa Lahiri, which was published in The New Yorker in 1999. Makkai is the author of the story collection “Music for Wartime” and the novels “The Borrower,” “The Hundred Year House,” “T ... Show More
1h 18m
Aug 13
Jason Mott’s new novel ‘People Like Us’ is metafiction that was almost memoir
In 2021, Jason Mott won the National Book Award for Hell of a Book. Now, he’s out with a new novel called People Like Us, in which two Black writers navigate life in the United States in an era of gun violence. Mott says the book is loosely based on himself – and leans into the a ... Show More
9m 26s
Nov 2024
Aleksandar Hemon Reads ZZ Packer
Aleksandar Hemon joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” by ZZ Packer, which was published in The New Yorker in 2000. Hemon, a winner of a MacArthur Fellowship and a PEN/W. G. Sebald Award, among others, is the author of eight books, including the ... Show More
1h 17m
Mar 2025
Paul Theroux Reads V. S. Pritchett
Paul Theroux joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Necklace,” by V. S. Pritchett, which was published in The New Yorker in 1958. Theroux’s nonfiction books include “The Great Railway Bazaar” and “On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey.” A winner of the James Tait Bla ... Show More
1h 5m
Dec 2024
Behind the Pages: The Journey of Anna-Maria Athanasiou
Anna-Maria Athanasiou, a Greek Cypriot author from Leeds, began her writing journey in secret, jotting down her first stories on napkins. Her debut novel, Waiting for Summer, grew from these humble beginnings into a 900-page best-seller, eventually becoming the first book in a tw ... Show More
40m 34s
Oct 1
Karen Russell Reads Louise Erdrich
Karen Russell joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Stone,” by Louise Erdrich, which was published in The New Yorker in 2019. Russell is the author of six books of fiction, including the story collections “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” and “Orange World and Other Stories ... Show More
49m 19s
Nov 6
Why are generations at war with each other? With Zadie Smith
Which multi-generational novels inspired White Teeth? Where does Zadie Smith turn for her next great read? And our Penguin team is back to solve your reading dilemmas - whether you're after fascinating memoirs, this year's pick of prize-winning books, or stories perfect for Autum ... Show More
56m 1s
Sep 3
The Hollow Half: a Memoir of Bodies and Borders | Sarah Aziza
The author discussed her multigenerational Palestinian family memoir "The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders," which spans from mandate Palestine to the present day. Sarah Aziza reflects on her relationship with her Palestinian identity, the complexities of being "half" ... Show More
1h 1m
Oct 2023
David Fincher’s The Killer and the week’s highlights reviewed
The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, has been hailed as a return to tense and stylish form for the director David Fincher. Critics Rhianna Dhillon and John Mullan join Tom Sutcliffe to give their views on this new take on the assassin genre. They also venture into uncanny rea ... Show More
42m 35s
Apr 2024
Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and Percival Everett's James reviewed
Back to Black is the Amy Winehouse biopic out this week and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. James is Percival Everett’s retelling of Mark Twain’s 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, narrated by the enslaved Jim. The Wallace collection spotlights Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja ... Show More
42m 24s