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.
Katha Pollitt is most recently the author of Learning to Drive. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Dwelling on legal inconsistencies. Author: Katha Pollitt Subjects Discussed: The pragmatism in learning to drive, being lazy, observation as a strength and weakness, “webstalking” vs. Googling, responding to Toni Bentley’s review, what a feminist is supposed to be, whether or […]
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MoreNaomi Klein is most recently the author of The Shock Doctrine. PROGRAM NOTES: (1) Our Young, Roving Correspondent claimed that Milton Friedman supported the New Deal. Naomi Klein claimed that he did not. As it turns out, both Our Young, Roving Correspondent and Klein were wrong. In an October 2000 interview, Friedman professed his support […]
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MoreKatie Roiphe is most recently the author of Uncommon Arrangements. SPECIAL PROGRAM NOTE: I had arranged an interview with Katie Roiphe because I felt that she might be misunderstood. Ms. Roiphe had laid down some interesting ideas over the years that had pissed more than a few people off, including the notion that women were […]
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MoreWilliam T. Vollmann is most recently the author of Poor People. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Distancing himself from emus. Author: William T. Vollmann Subjects Discussed: The relationship between The Atlas and Poor People, the dimensions of poverty vs. the moral compass, I.A. Richards’ poetic experiments, photographs, the problems with objective solutions to poverty, “More aid, […]
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MoreKen Alder is most recently the author of The Lie Detectors. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Puzzled by polygraphs. Author: Ken Alder Subjects Discussed: The connection between polygraphs and Northwestern University, the United States’ fascination with lie detectors and cultural connections, why allied nations use junk science, polygraph tests and employment, the lie detector as coercive […]
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MoreArlene Goldbard is most recently the author of New Creative Community.. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Feeling that the community misunderstands him. Author: Arlene Goldbard Subjects Discussed: Artistic individuality vs. creative community, the benefits of 20th century funding for the arts, the WPA, community murals, public plays, happenings, the political agenda of “creative community,” collective absolutism, […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 46:49 — 42.9MB)
MoreCharlie Anders and Annalee Newitz are the co-editors of She’s Such a Geek. Authors: Charlie Anders and Annalee Newitz Condition of Mr. Segundo: Rethinking his views on women. Subjects Discussed: The gender divide in science and technology, whether empirical accounts can raise public awareness, present historical perceptions of gender in relation to past perceptions, female […]
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MoreNeal Pollack is most recently the author of Alternadad. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Contemplating the litigious aspects of fatherhood. Author: Neal Pollack Subjects Discussed: The stigma against father memoirs, the Neal Pollack persona vs. the real Neal Pollack, neighborhood activism, politics, writing a book to “feed my family,” balancing art and commerce, the Chicago theatre […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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MoreRichard Dawkins is most recently the author of The God Delusion. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Attempting to set up a tequila-faith based organization. Author: Richard Dawkins Subjects Discussed: The audience for The God Delusion, comparing an atheistic text to Satan, evolutionary biology and religion, charitable religious-based organizations, Mother Teresa, whether imaginary constructs are a bad […]
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MoreAnnalee Newitz is the author of Pretend We’re Dead> Author: Annalee Newitz Condition of Mr. Segundo: Looking for an unwholesome bargain. Subjects Discussed: Capitalist monsters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, brain movies, Birth of a Nation, the fear of white power being lost, class warfare, Sawny Beane, the individual impulses of serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer, […]
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