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.
China Miéville is most recently the author of Un Lun Dun. Condition of Mr. Segundo: One might say quite “un”-well. Author: China Miéville Subjects Discussed: World-building, building a world with an urban center, being a “city animal,” the imagination-per-page ratio, a creative license to put in anything, C.S. Lewis, ideology and YA books, Marxism, terrorism, […]
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MoreMartin Amis is most recently the author of House of Meetings. Author: Martin Amis Condition of Mr. Segundo: Inveighing against Stalinistic safeguards. Subjects Discussed: The relationship between Koba the Dread and House of Meetings, the Soviet experiment, the original format of House of Meetings, the critical reception of Yellow Dog, the effect of reviews upon […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 46:21 — 42.4MB)
MoreTayari Jones is most recently the author of Leaving Atlanta. Author: Tayari Jones Condition of Mr. Segundo: Caught in the act of untelling. Subjects Discussed: Drawing from personal experience, Atlanta, accessible metaphors, writing and throwing away many pages, conversational vs. literary tone, “This is not what Dr. King died for,” the West End neighborhood and […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 28:06 — 25.7MB)
MoreCharlie Huston is most recently the author of No Dominion. Author: Charlie Huston Condition of Mr. Segundo: Contemplating the socialist qualities of the sun. Subjects Discussed: Dialogue vs. description, the influence of acting upon fiction writing, Raymond Chandler, dashes vs. quotation marks, Huston house style, Cormac McCarthy, one-word-one-period dialogue, indicative gestures, drinking and smoking, setting […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 1:05:10 — 59.7MB)
MoreNgugi wa Thiong’o is most recently the author of Wizard of the Crow. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Avoiding impostor kings. Guests: Carrie A.A. Frye and Ngugi wa Thiong’o Subjects Discussed: Satirical plausibility, Wordsworth’s willing suspension of disbelief, narrative explanation and interconnectedness, queuing, The Wizard of the Crow as a history of Africa and a global […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 1:00:38 — 55.5MB)
MoreStephen Graham Jones is most recently the author of Demon Theory. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Not sacrificing time for horror. Guests: Scott McKenzie and Stephen Graham Jones Subjects Discussed: Approachable authors in the frozen food section, the implementation of pre-2000 references into narrative, the lineage of horror films, screenplay terminology, the relationship between Demon Theory‘s […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 55:48 — 51.1MB)
MoreNick Mamatas is most recently the author of Under My Roof. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Introspective about his long lost lawn gnome. Author: Nick Mamatas Subjects Discussed: The X+Y book formula, H.P. Lovecraft, Jack Kerouac, Aristophanes’ The Acharnians, telepathy, garden gnomes, radioactive fallout, conspiracies, Elián González , Littleton, Under My Roof as allegory, the influence […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 28:06 — 25.7MB)
MoreChristopher Moore is most recently the author of You Suck: A Love Story. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Contemplating his vampiristic sensibilities. Author: Christopher Moore Subjects Discussed: WordStar word processors, using the nouns “monkey love” and “guy,” Midwestern vernacular, trying to figure out the ten year interval between Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck, San Francisco topography, […]
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MoreValerie Trueblood is most recently the author of Seven Loves. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Fleeing from disco. Guests: Anne Fernald and Valerie Trueblood Subjects Discussed: Weaknesses for beautiful books, life as “structured anarchy,” the definition of plot, David Markson, narrative flow, cause and effect in narrative, unexpected events, Seven Loves‘ “eventless” perception, on being “anti-plot,” […]
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MoreRichard Ford is most recently the author of The Lay of the Land. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Trying to get the lay of the land. Author: Richard Ford Subjects Discussed: Bill Buford’s “dirty realism,” inland vs. coastal territory in the Frank Bascombe books, nautical motifs, Joshua Slocum’s Sailing Alone Around the World, the development of […]
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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)
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