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.
Tayari 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 […]
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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 […]
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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)
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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MoreHeidi Julavits is most recently the author of The Uses of Enchantment. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Enchanted with sobriquets. Author: Heidi Julavits Subjects Discussed: Heidi’s middle name, the psychotherapeutic muse, Michelle Stacey’s The Fasting Girl, Mollie Fancher, science vs. faith, Freud’s Dora study, responding to Marisa Meltzer’s claims of conservatism, the pros and cons of […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 58:02 — 53.1MB)
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