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.
Due to technical mishaps on our main workstation, the Bat Segundo production schedule has been delayed. But have no fear: we expect to be back next week with two fresh podcasts. There are some fantastic interviews coming up. And we’ve also landed a very special guest for Show #100. But we’ll leave you guessing as […]
MoreNina Hartley is most recently the author of Nina Hartley’s Guide to Total Sex. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Harried and henpecked. Author: Nina Hartley Subjects Discussed: The meaning of “total sex,” vanilla vs. “alternative” sex, basics vs. options, self-acceptance, foreplay, the relationship between sexual realities and porn film fantasies, the “three position” proclivity, swinging, sexual […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 53:39 — 49.1MB)
MoreAmy Sedaris is most recently the author of I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Ready to party in the Biblical sense. Author: Amy Sedaris Subjects Discussed: The lost art of hospitality, Martha Stewart, party theme taxonomy, entertaining old people, profiting from party guests, having a first date in your apartment, […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 40:20 — 36.9MB)
MoreSimon Winchester is most recently the author of A Crack in the Edge of the World. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Ready to drink geologists under the table. Author: Simon Winchester Subjects Discussed: San Francisco’s edgy impermanence, San Francisco vs. Venice and the North Sea cities, humankind’s geological privilege, New Orleans & Katrina, the hubris of […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 41:13 — 37.7MB)
MoreClaire Messud is most recently the author of The Emperor’s Children. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Trying to locate his voice. Author: Claire Messud Subjects Discussed: Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road, references to revolution in The Emperor’s Children, Russian literature, Chauncey Gardner in Being There, Dostoevsky, the influences that spawned Bootie, on Messud writing novels outside her […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 39:38 — 36.3MB)
MoreKate Atkinson is most recently the author of One Good Turn. Author: Kate Atkinson Condition of Mr. Segundo: Investigating turns of an altogether different sort. Subjects Discussed: Narrative flow, the difficulty of writing the first 100 pages, perspective, good sentences, discovering the internal monologue, writing about inept men, narrative sadism, similarities between T.C. Boyle and […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 34:49 — 31.9MB)
MoreFrancine Prose is most recently the author of Reading Like a Writer. Author: Francine Prose Condition of Mr. Segundo: Introspective about Xmas realities. Subjects Discussed: Reading like a writer vs. reading as an escapist, Car Talk, reading People as preparation for reading Chekhov, The Illustrated Elements of Style, diagramming sentences, making grammar fun, academia and […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 31:54 — 29.2MB)
MoreJoe Meno is most recently the author of The Boy Detective Fails. Authors: Joe Meno, Todd Taylor, Todd Dills and Bucky Sinister Condition of Mr. Segundo: Responding to MySpace lies. Subjects Discussed: Shirley Wins, pumpkin launching, Halloween, grandmothers, writing women convincingly, Sons of the Rapture, Strom Thurmond, the differences between North Carolina and South Carolina, […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 1:00:16 — 55.2MB)
MoreKelly Link is most recently the author of Magic for Beginners. Author: Kelly Link Condition of Mr. Segundo: At odds with his boyhood dreams. Subjects Discussed: Coffee, the Turkish language, planting little clues within stories, real-life inspirations for fantasy, writing short stories vs. novels, the value of a gestation period, on being easily distracted, being […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 53:29 — 49.0MB)
MoreMary Gaitskill is most recently the author of Veronica. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Feeling triumphant over hepatitis. Author: Mary Gaitskill Subjects Discussed: Emotional mood and writing, Marin County, horticultural details, decomposition and decay, dichotomous characters and the gray areas of life, unusual character relationships, the conscious design of Veronica‘s environments, office environments, the modeling world, […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 34:04 — 31.2MB)
MoreEdward P. Jones is most recently the author of The Known World. Author: Edward P. Jones Condition of Mr. Segundo: Feeling oppressed by MySpace. Subjects Discussed: Jones’s instinct for precision, specifics, city streets, details within minor characters, family lineage within fiction, Squirrel Nuts, penny candy, handicapped characters, gifted students, avoiding recurrent motifs and repeating stories, […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 39:41 — 36.3MB)
MoreWe’re not sure how this happened. Mr. Segundo is hardly savvy with computers, but he’s somehow nabbed himself a MySpace page.
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