The Bat Segundo Show was a long-running cultural radio program devoted to quirky and very thorough long-form interviews with contemporary authors, idiosyncratic thinkers, and other assorted artists. Guests included David Lynch, Octavia Butler, John Waters, John Updike, Stephen Fry, Marilynne Robinson, Karen Russell, Weird Al Yankovic, Robert A. Caro, and more than 500 others. There was also a program called Follow Your Ears, which was a thematic investigative counterpart, in which I pursued a specific subject through several angles. The entire archive of what I did from 2005 to 2014 is included here.
Nam Le is the author of The Boat. Condition of the Show: Attempting to find classification within the media industrial complex. Author: Nam Le Subjects Discussed: On writing about panna cotta before experiencing it, plausibility and aesthetics, subjectivity, the dangers of autobiographical connections and personal experience perceived by readers and critics, why fiction needs to […]
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MoreGrandmaster Flash is most recently the author of The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash (with David Ritz). Karen Abbott is most recently the author of Sin in the Second City. Condition of the Show: Marinating in urban culture. Authors: Grandmaster Flash and Karen Abbott SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Using “adventures” in a book title, cutting, rubbing and scratching, […]
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MoreMark Kurlansky is most recently the author of The Last Fish Tale. Condition of the Show: Moving forward after unexpected losses. Author: Mark Kurlansky Subjects Discussed: Mark Kurlansky’s wonderful dog, coming into Gloucester from an outsider’s perspective, possible solutions to global fishing problems, the close parallels between bottom dragging and the decline in fish stocks, […]
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MoreTo my great shock, the late, great Thomas M. Disch committed suicide on July 4, 2008. This was his last face-to-face interview before his death, conducted on June 25, 2008 at his apartment. For more on Disch, start here. His most recent book was The Word of God. Condition of the Show: In memoriam. Author: […]
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MoreAndre Dubus III is most recently the author of The Garden of Last Days. Condition of the Show: Plagued by decaying verdure and intrusive catering managers. Author: Andre Dubus III Subjects Discussed: The propinquity of Roman numerals after surnames, Richard Flanagan’s The Unknown Terrorist, Heinrich Böll, books being categorized as post-9/11 novels, on letting a […]
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MoreRachel Shukert is the author of Have You No Shame? Condition of the Show: Contending with tenuous widows and the mysterious circumstances of Mr. Segundo’s death. Author: Rachel Shukert Subjects Discussed: Whether Ms. Shukert is still on the Viacom blacklist, the soul-crushing aspects of temping, working odd jobs in Amsterdam, Anne Frank as a constant […]
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MoreChristian Bauman is most recently the author of In Hoboken. Condition of the Show: Contending with contentious Midtown diners. Author: Christian Bauman Subjects Discussed: Defining a rock and roll novel, writing an ensemble novel with Hoboken as a character, references to paper storms and 9/11, chronological foreshadowing, using real-life Hoboken locations vs. invented locations, the […]
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MoreSteven Greenhouse is the New York Times labor reporter and the author of The Big Squeeze. Condition of the Show: Reporting upon the darker truths of America. Author: Steven Greenhouse Subjects Discussed: Whether economic factors of the 1970s or Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous maxim caused the current strife between corporations and workers, the social contract that […]
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MoreFiona Maazel is the author of Last, Last Chance. [LISTENING NOTE! Please note that this show contains numerous grinding noises. We have endeavored to remove as many of these as possible, and reduce the noise where possible. Alas, SOME aural residue remains.] Condition of the Show: Considering the niceties of superplagues. Author: Fiona Maazel Subjects […]
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MoreEd Park is most recently the author of Personal Days. Condition of the Show: Plagued by brutal downsizing. Author: Ed Park Subjects Discussed: Literary people named Ed, writing Personal Days and using vacation days while employed at the Voice, counting words written per day, B.S. Johnson, Jonathan Coe’s Like a Fiery Elephant, Harry Stephen Keeler, […]
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MoreCynthia Ozick is most recently the author of Dictation. Condition of the Show: Overtaken by a tyrannical dictator. Author: Cynthia Ozick Subjects Discussed: Balancing two authors, two secretaries and other stylistic repetitions that evoke typewriters in “Dictation,” purloining language from Henry James and Joseph Conrad’s letters, Henry James’s “forgotten umbrella,” “Literary Entrails,” parallels between the […]
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MoreSloane Crosley is the author of I Was Told There’d Be Cake. Condition of the Show: Placing the authors and book titles under too much scrutiny. Author: Sloane Crosley Subjects Discussed: Marie Antoinette, caring about perception, Veganism, the personal essay as a series of impersonations and observations, on being perceived as “nice,” the text as […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 49:50 — 45.6MB)
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