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.
Julie Orringer is most recently the author of The Invisible Bridge. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Bridging the gap between Paris and Budapest. Author: Julie Orringer Subjects Discussed: [List forthcoming] EXCERPT FROM SHOW: Correspondent: You’re balancing a 200,000 word manuscript, I’m guessing. Orringer: Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. Correspondent: The thing I actually wanted to talk to […]
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MoreRobin Black is most recently the author of If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This. Condition of Mr. Segundo: If he could tell you, he’d have to love you. Author: Robin Black Subjects Discussed: Writing ten stories over eight years, rumination time and writing, Black discarding 75% of what she writes, the importance […]
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MoreAdam Thirlwell is most recently the author of The Escape. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Wondering if a piña colada might serve as literary escape. Author: Adam Thirlwell Subjects Discussed: The narrator device in Politics and The Escape, not understanding an early attempt to write a Henry James novel, the S&M of a writer being both […]
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MoreJuan José Campanella is most recently the co-writer and director of The Secret in Their Eyes, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and opens in theaters on April 16, 2010. Allison Amend is most recently the author of Stations West and previously appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #256. Condition of Mr. […]
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MoreJulie Klausner is most recently the author of I Don’t Care About Your Band Condition of Mr. Segundo: Dodging dubious-minded vegans. Author: Julie Klausner Subjects Discussed: Terms for imposing snow, submitting a story to the New York Times‘s “Modern Love” section, the rejected “Modern Love” column, writing a book without any specific disciplinary pattern, crossing […]
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MoreNell Irvin Painter is most recently the author of The History of White People. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Drowning in David Coverdale’s noxious imperialism. Author: Nell Irvin Painter Subjects Discussed: Dred Scott, the Chinese Exclusion Act, Buck vs. Bell, Plessy vs. Ferguson, William Z. Ripley, racist intellectuals vs. racist legal decisions, Irish poverty and Emerson’s […]
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MoreChang-Rae Lee is most recently the author of The Surrendered Condition of Mr. Segundo: Searching for the middle-ground between “beat” and “sweet.” Author: Chang-Rae Lee Subjects Discussed: The similarities and differences between writing in first-person vs. third-person, the advantages of sitting in the god’s seat, infinite choices within sentences, the difficulties in pursuing the “inner […]
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MoreDavid Shields is most recently the author of Reality Hunger. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Settling for a quesadilla or some reality for lunch. Author: David Shields Subjects Discussed: The origins of the novel and the pretense of actuality, Shields’s dismissal of Myla Goldberg’s forthcoming novel based solely on a catalog description, the creative possibilities that […]
Listen: Play in new window | Download (Running Time: 54:15 — 49.7MB)
MoreSam Lipsyte recently appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #325. Mr. Lipsyte is most recently the author of The Ask. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Looking to ask someone for something. Author: Sam Lipsyte Subjects Discussed: Milo Burke as the obverse to Home Land‘s Lewis Miner (and common personality qualities), Lipsyte’s early draft of The Ask […]
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MoreMarilyn Johnson is most recently the author of This Book is Overdue! Condition of Mr. Segundo: Hoping to avoid being arrested by Rusty the Bailiff. Author: Marlyn Johnson Subjects Discussed: Why libraries are little regarded by the American public, the preservation of blogs and websites, Josh Greenberg’s efforts at digital preservation, the Firefox extension Zotero, […]
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MoreJustin Taylor is most recently the author of Everything Here is the Best Thing Ever. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Fearful of sanguine book titles. Guest: Justin Taylor Subjects Discussed: Not naming protagonists until well into the stories, dissatisfaction with formality, how characters reveal themselves, gender confusion within “Weekend Away,” Taylor’s aversion to “bright neon signs” […]
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MoreKevin Sampsell is most recently the author of A Common Pornography. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Airing his dirty laundry. Guest: Kevin Sampsell Subjects Discussed: Maintaining an emotional spectrum within the two editions of A Common Pornography, balancing sweet material with darker installments, how the death of Sampsell’s father (and subsequent revelations) altered Sampsell’s perspective, the […]
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