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.
In response to several requests, the first torrent pack for The Bat Segundo Show is now available for your downloading pleasure at The Pirate Bay. Torrent Pack #1 contains the first twenty shows, including conversations with Jonathan Ames, Octavia Butler, T.C. Boyle, Bret Easton Ellis, Jennifer Weiner, and many more authors. Future torrent packs will […]
MoreDue to strange existential circumstances, only Shows #110 and #113 have been released when the producers intended a four-show bundle all at once. Show #111 is coming tonight. Show #112 is coming in a few days. To download Show #113 (featuring LBC nominee Mark Binelli and Jessica Stockton) in the interim period, use this link. […]
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, […]
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MoreEllen Klages is most recently the author of Portable Childhoods. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Affirming his miserable status. Author: Ellen Klages Subjects Discussed: On being approached by Sharon November at a convention to write a children’s book, writing fiction from a child’s perspective vs. an adult’s perspective, conducting research for a story, the 1950s, how […]
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MoreChina 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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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 […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 32:33 — 29.8MB)
MoreRon Jeremy is the author of The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz. Author: Ron Jeremy Condition of Mr. Segundo: Filled with gushing admiration. Subjects Discussed: On being “the hardest working man in show business,” being covered by the New York Times Book Review, Eric Spitznagel as ghost writer, celebrity stories, Parkinson’s disease, Al Goldstein, on […]
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MoreJane Ganahl is most recently the author of Naked on the Page. Author: Jane Ganahl Condition of Mr. Segundo: Contemplating older women. Subjects Discussed: Newsweek‘s controversial article about older women and marriage, the interrelationship between the “Single Minded” columns and Naked on the Page, why Ganahl left the Chronicle, how the book represented an effort […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 45:57 — 42.1MB)
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)
MoreDavid Lynch is most recently the author of Catching the Big Fish. Author: David Lynch Condition of Mr. Segundo: In absentia, terrified of meditation. Subjects Discussed: Transcendental Meditation, true happiness, contending with stress, fear and anxiety, anger, the relationship between filmmaking and TM, inner happiness, walking vs. TM, Knut Hamsun, Einstein’s Theory of Everything, Dostoevsky’s […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 33:43 — 30.9MB)
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