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.
Adam Langer is most recently the author of Ellington Boulevard. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Scurrying away from Duke-loving hipsters. Author: Adam Langer Subjects Discussed: Topographical narrative, characters that emerge from the environment, being a “method writer,” dialogue and perspective, the use of quotation marks, writing from the perspective of animals, dog science and memory, coincidences […]
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MoreA.L. Kennedy is most recently the author of Day. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Never mind the Bat. Hubba hubba. Author: A.L. Kennedy Subjects Discussed: The relationship between the style and the voice, active thought vs. the subconscious, accidental religious cues, whether Kennedy consciously writes difficult books, bizarre Monty Python interpretations, William Hartnell, Doctor Who, the […]
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MoreJami Attenberg is most recently the author of The Kept Man. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Seduced by the Church of Tequilology. Author: Jami Attenberg Subjects Discussed: Adam Sternbergh’s grups article, Terri Schiavo, wondering what people do all day long, the donut girls in Greenpoint, donut shops that stick on the brain, pickup artists, describing objects […]
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MoreSue Miller is most recently the author of The Senator’s Wife. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Wary of Washington’s workings. Author: Sue Miller Subjects Discussed: Character names, the New Left, Tom Hayden vs. Tom Naughton, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, setting a story in the early Clinton years, Updike’s Terrorist, the reticence of older writers writing about certain […]
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MoreAmy Bloom is most recently the author of Away. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Momentarily replaced by an obnoxious sportscaster filling in. Author: Amy Bloom Subjects Discussed: Opening a novel with a protagonist immersed within the Yiddish Theater, coloring a story with tragedy vs. getting to know a character, the 57 blocks of the Lower East […]
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MoreDavid Rakoff is the author of Fraud and Don’t Get Too Comfortable, and a contributor to This American Life. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Bitter towards cheapskates. Author: David Rakoff Subjects Discussed: What type of journalist Rakoff is, being careful with revealing a personal life, Gypsy Rose Lee, whether or not Rakoff has contacted the people […]
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MoreDavid Rakoff is the author of Fraud and Don’t Get Too Comfortable, and a contributor to This American Life. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Considering his fraudulent nature. Author: David Rakoff Subjects Discussed: Being indoors, how Rakoff gets outdoors to write a travel piece, the necessity of deadlines, writing not for money, Rakoff’s homemade furnishings, performing […]
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MoreDave White is the author of When One Man Dies. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Hostile towards Our Young, Roving Correspondent’s inability to spell “Jack Daniel’s” correctly. Author: Dave White Subjects Discussed: John Donne quotes, first names and hangovers, Billy Martin and the Yankees, war veterans, color blindness, Anthony Burgess, first-person and third-person chapters, having an […]
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MoreHoward Jacobson is the author of Kalooki Nights. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Taking umbrage with card game titles. Author: Howard Jacobson Subjects Discussed: The onus of being on tour, the strange exercise of talking about books, loose trousers, the Jewish relationship with the body, being Jewish in England, jokes and audience reaction, Seriously Funny, Jewish […]
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MorePeter Fernandez and Corinne Orr are best known for their voiceover work on Speed Racer. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Trying to figure out why his voice gone all funny. Guests: Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr Subjects Discussed: Being referred to as a voiceover artist vs. being referred to as an actor, dubbing foreign films into […]
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MoreJess Walter is the author of the 2006 National Book Award-nominated book, The Zero. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Hostile towards definite articles. Author: Jess Walter Subjects Discussed: Writing novels with protagonists groping for an identity, political allegory, growing up in Spokane, authors who fail to address grit and the working class, looking at New York […]
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MoreKen Kalfus is the author of the 2006 National Book Award-nominated book, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country. Condition of Mr. Segundo: On the defensive in relation to disorders and his divorce. Author: Ken Kalfus Subjects Discussed: The outlandish nature of Peculiar in relation with the more realist tone of Thirst, designing an episodic novel, […]
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