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.
Daniel Levitin is most recently the author of The World in Six Songs. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Recalling a traumatic musical episode from his marriage. Author: Daniel Levitin Subjects Discussed: Songs that straddle multiple categories within Levitin’s taxonomy, neurological response vs. societal perception of a song, the original eight categories, oxytocin, “I Walk the Line,” […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 28:28 — 26.1MB)
MoreCourtney Humphries is the author of Superdove Condition of Mr. Segundo: Severely underestimating the carnivorous impulses of pigeons. Author: Courtney Humphries Subjects Discussed: Eating squab, pigeon dining options in restaurants, Robert Dunn’s pigeon paradox, urban forms of nature, pigeons as an ineluctable aspect of the city, people’s attitudes towards wildlife, the pigeon’s place in the […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 43:04 — 39.4MB)
MoreFor those of you who hoping that the Bat might put you to sleep, you’re in luck. The new season of Litstation has started, and The Bat Segundo Show can now be listened to every night at midnight EST (9PM PST). To tune in, go to the Litstation page, and click on the “Listen on […]
MoreBrent Spiner is most recently a producer and performer on the album, Dreamland. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Ducking his head and dodging paranoid crooners. Guest: Brent Spiner Subjects Discussed: Natural reverb, conversational limitations, co-owning a recording studio with Dave Way, being a control freak, the shaky profitability of the music industry, self-distributing a CD through […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 43:42 — 40.0MB)
MoreSarah Manguso is most recently the author of The Two Kinds of Decay. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Contemplating fifty-five additional states of decay. Author: Sarah Manguso Subjects Discussed: David Markson, sentences that originate in other formats, fan mail, whether a paragraph is truly a paragraph, problems with typesetting nomenclature, remembering personal moments at 1,000 words […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 35:57 — 32.9MB)
MorePaul Auster is most recently the author of Man in the Dark. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Opening himself up to explanation. Author: Paul Auster Subjects Discussed: Starting a novel from a title, the advance titles contained within The Book of Illusions, the working title of The Music of Chance, Mr. Blank, the relationship between Travels […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 35:17 — 32.3MB)
MoreWe’ve received some very kind shoutouts lately from The Los Angeles Times‘s Carolyn Kellogg, The Sound of Young America‘s Colin Marshall, and The Fiction Circus’s Miracle Jones. Thanks, folks, for the writeups. They’ve even made Mr. Segundo blush!
MoreJenny Davidson is most recently the author of The Explosionist. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Investigating the veracity of explosions. Author: Jenny Davidson Subjects Discussed: Coincidental run-ins, the necessity of war, Edmund Burke, philosophical asides, a novelist’s use of argument, Agatha Christie novels, John Buchan, ending chapters on cliffhangers, early 20th century British adventure fiction, alternate […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 1:01:01 — 55.9MB)
MoreRoss Raisin is the author of God’s Own Country (UK title)/Out Backward. (Please note: This discussion deals at length with many of the Yorkshire terms that Mr. Raisin uses within his novel. Please consult this lexicon if you’d like to know more.) Condition of Mr. Segundo: Abdicating to a helium-impaired fill-in host. Author: Ross Raisin […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 49:32 — 45.4MB)
MoreEthan Canin is most recently the author of America America. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Examining his miserable relationship with America. Author: Ethan Canin Subjects Discussed: Neil Diamond’s “America,” the stuttering titular impulse, the Corvair, journalists as heroes, intentional vs. unintentional symbols, the reporter’s instinct, “the ingenuity of the working man,” ideology, the politics of generosity, […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 42:52 — 39.3MB)
MoreKathryn Harrison is most recently the author of While They Slept. Condition of Mr. Segundo:: Grappling with death and emergencies. Author: Kathryn Harrison Subjects Discussed: Opening the novel with a stark transcript of a 9/11 call, exchange incongruities, differences between text and spoken word, lack of annotation, true crime as a writing choice, the Keddie […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 49:33 — 45.4MB)
MoreFirst off, I want to thank all of the people who have written with their concerns and kind words about The Bat Segundo Show. I have received messages from listeners all over the world — including France, Sweden, Japan, and Norway. I was also extremely honored by Colin Marshall’s kind writeup at The Sound of […]
More