Category / Bat Segundo

by Edward Champion

BSS #72: Nora Ephron

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Author: Nora Ephron

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Terse, but combative towards golden boys.

Subjects Discussed: The side effects of eating cake, book tour provisos, Marie Antoinette, superthin models, anatomical parts as literary inspiration, ageism, hair dye, Botox, responding to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, declarative sentences, David Markson, the relationship between exposing truth and drawing an audience, New Journalism, the newspaper environment in the 1970s, Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, exclamation points, Jonathan Yardley’s reconsideration of Crazy Salad, the real Ephron vs. the written Ephron, the orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally…, dessert spoons, on not sleeping with JFK, Ephron as blogger, and using popular songs in movies.

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by Edward Champion

BSS #71: Bouchercon 2006

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Guests: Lee Goldberg, Robert S. Levinson, Alexandra Sokoloff, Sarah Weinman, Jon Jordan, Jennifer Jordan, Jim Winter, Russel McLean, Sandi Loper-Herzog, Steve Stillwell, and Duane Swierczynski.

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Attemptnig to seek a spiritual path.

Subjects Discussed: The Goldberg brothers, story limits and novelists, pi, Marie Callender’s, Tod Goldberg’s toe, the Beatles, CrimeSpree Magazine, man boobs, rude noir, Charlie Huston’s penchant for f-bombs, David Simon, beer vs. press, the British Embassy, passing around hotel room numbers, book bribes, Crime Scene Scotland, gray-haired ladies hooked on drugs, attending multiple Bouchercons, and the narrative inspiration of hair color.

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by Edward Champion

BSS #70: T.C. Boyle II

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Author: T.C. Boyle

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Dubious of state lottery programs.

Subjects Discussed: Multiple genders, Lawrence Durrell, on whether Talk Talk is a thriller, Anthony Burgess’ The Right to an Answer, Graham Greene, identity theft, Milton, paranoia, jail, Cassie Chadwick, biometrics, capitalist society, why Talk Talk is set in a contemporary setting, cell phones, strangers in New York, on T.C. Boyle’s site being hacked, private conversations vs. public conversations, responding to critics, manipulative movie trailers, Amazon, harsh critics, the pitfalls of tennis, the competitive nature of writing, on reaching audiences, Boyle film adaptations, commercialism, Boyle’s two existences, showing vs. telling, tattoos on women, fun in writing, egrets, the original appendix to Talk Talk, the 1980s band Talk Talk, and ASL.

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by Edward Champion

BSS #69: Annalee Newitz

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Author: Annalee Newitz

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Looking for an unwholesome bargain.

Subjects Discussed: Capitalist monsters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, brain movies, Birth of a Nation, the fear of white power being lost, class warfare, Sawny Beane, the individual impulses of serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer, the labor tools of killing, the Unabomber, serial killer and terrorist nomenclature, freeway snipers, Fight Club, avuncular hackers, V for Vendetta, narratives involving women who gorge, The Man With Two Brains, Darren Aronofsky, Pi, the labor principles of freelancing, a lengthy argument on H.P. Lovecraft, and the inevitability of decay.

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by Edward Champion

BSS #68: Tommy Chong

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Author: Tommy Chong

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Recovering from a medical mishap.

Subjects Discussed: Examining Title 21, Section 863, whether Clinton was in power in the 1980s, salsa dancing, the requirements for being an FBI special agent, plea bargaining, prison life, bodyguards, the Bush family, the advantages of celebrity status vs. a common offender being incarcerated, Michael Milken, humility, trying to remember prisoner numbers, respect for victims of disaster, looking at objects differently after prison, Cheech Marin, Up in Smoke, Chong as director, the benefits of pot, Chong as lyricist, Pipe Dreams: The Musical, Eric Idle, conflict between Cheech and Chong, Cheech’s art collection, Terence Malick, Lou Adler, Born in East L.A., Radiohead, and groups vs. individual artists.

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