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.
Howard 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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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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MoreStewart O’Nan is the author of Last Night at the Lobster. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Permitting authors to depict his sad quotidian life. Author: Stewart O’Nan Subjects Discussed: The anonymous perception of the service sector, avoiding legal clearances from the Red Lobster, personal loyalty and honor vs. corporations, High Noon, the advantages of a setting […]
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MoreWill Self is the author of Psychogeography and The Book of Dave. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Frightened by walking and crosswalk signals. Author: Will Self Subjects Discussed: The overlapping relationship between The Book of Dave and Psychogeography, topographical narrative, Nicholson Baker, Nabokov’s rule about topographical necessity and novels, John Updike’s Brazil, the Post-It notes in […]
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MoreGarth Risk Hallberg is the author of A Field Guide to the North American Family. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Considering alternatives to artsy-fartsy books. Author: Garth Risk Hallberg Subjects Discussed: Authoring a conceptual book with veto power over the designer, family detachment, cross-references, Bay Area literary magazines, the McSweeney’s influence, Em Magazine, book art practitioners, […]
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MoreAndrea Barret is most recently the author of The Air We Breathe. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Praising the smell of authors. Author: Andrea Barrett Subjects Discussed: The similarities between pre-World War I and contemporary environments, stumbling upon 1916, sanatoriums, The Magic Mountain, ethnic backgrounds, dwelling upon immigrants and working class backgrounds, blowhard intellectuals, cure cottages, […]
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MoreUrsula Hegi is most recently the author of The Worst Thing I’ve Done. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Contemplating the worst thing he’s ever done. Author: Ursula Hegi Subjects Discussed: Collage artist protagonists and collage-inspired novels, stream of consciousness and italics, using specific fonts, Mason’s voice as a pulse, how Hegi communicated with typographers, the problems […]
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MoreRichard Russo is most recently the author of Bridge of Sighs. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Spending the days sighing. Author: Richard Russo Subjects Discussed: The origins of Bridge of Sighs‘s dual narrative, writing a long novel without an end in sight, Byron, characters who approach Lucy’s elbows, a protagonist’s blind spots, Marconi — the character […]
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MoreDavid Peace is most recently of Tokyo Year Zero. [podpress] Condition of Mr. Segundo: Empathizing with surnames. Author: David Peace Subjects Discussed: Why it took so long to set a book in Japan, stereotypes, research, the occupation period, the effects of serial killers, language and repetition, dissociation, Japan vs. the UK, Zodiac, police investigation, the […]
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MoreChimamanda Adichie is most recently the author of Half of a Yellow Sun. [powerppress] Condition of Mr. Segundo: Finding uses for his Kleenex supply. Author: Chimamanda Adichie Subjects Discussed: Young novelists and ambitious war novels, horrible Nigerian critics, the novel as the ideal prism for the Biafra conflict, A Woman in Berlin, the advantages of […]
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MoreRupert Thomson is most recently the author of Death of a Murderer. [This is the second of an in-depth, two-part conversation with Rupert Thomson, conducted over the course of two days. The first part, which can be heard in Show #137, details primarily with Death of a Murderer. The second part extends into his career. […]
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