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.
Ralph Bakshi is the director of such films as Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, and American Pop. There is also a recent book, Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi, now out that collects his work. Condition of the Show: Caught in a musical daydream. Guest: Ralph Bakshi Subjects Discussed: The role of music in Bakshi’s films, making good […]
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MoreSteven Greenhouse is the New York Times labor reporter and the author of The Big Squeeze. Condition of the Show: Reporting upon the darker truths of America. Author: Steven Greenhouse Subjects Discussed: Whether economic factors of the 1970s or Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous maxim caused the current strife between corporations and workers, the social contract that […]
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MoreFiona Maazel is the author of Last, Last Chance. [LISTENING NOTE! Please note that this show contains numerous grinding noises. We have endeavored to remove as many of these as possible, and reduce the noise where possible. Alas, SOME aural residue remains.] Condition of the Show: Considering the niceties of superplagues. Author: Fiona Maazel Subjects […]
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MoreEd Park is most recently the author of Personal Days. Condition of the Show: Plagued by brutal downsizing. Author: Ed Park Subjects Discussed: Literary people named Ed, writing Personal Days and using vacation days while employed at the Voice, counting words written per day, B.S. Johnson, Jonathan Coe’s Like a Fiery Elephant, Harry Stephen Keeler, […]
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MoreCynthia Ozick is most recently the author of Dictation. Condition of the Show: Overtaken by a tyrannical dictator. Author: Cynthia Ozick Subjects Discussed: Balancing two authors, two secretaries and other stylistic repetitions that evoke typewriters in “Dictation,” purloining language from Henry James and Joseph Conrad’s letters, Henry James’s “forgotten umbrella,” “Literary Entrails,” parallels between the […]
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MoreSloane Crosley is the author of I Was Told There’d Be Cake. Condition of the Show: Placing the authors and book titles under too much scrutiny. Author: Sloane Crosley Subjects Discussed: Marie Antoinette, caring about perception, Veganism, the personal essay as a series of impersonations and observations, on being perceived as “nice,” the text as […]
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MoreTobias Wolff is most recently the author of Our Story Begins. Condition of the Show: Speculating upon Mr. Wolff’s unknown powers. Author: Tobias Wolff Subjects Discussed: Writing first-person stories that don’t seem like first-person stories, the use of the word “I,” contemporary short stories and therapy sessions, fiction and narcissism, William Trevor, knowing the lay […]
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MoreDavid Hajdu is most recently the author of The Ten-Cent Plague. Condition of the Show: Dabbling into hidden threats. Author: David Hajdu Subjects Discussed: Hajdu’s approach to journalism, primary sources vs. secondary sources, categories of people to talk with when preparing a book, tracking down people who disappeared, grassroots methods of finding people, changing names, […]
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MoreSarah Hall is most recently the author of Daughters of the North (published in the UK as The Carhullan Army). Condition of the Show: Remaining optimistic about a dystopian future. Author: Sarah Hall Subjects Discussed: Daughters of the North vs. The Carhullan Army, writing books that aren’t set in the present day, concern for environmental […]
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MoreNew York ComicCon is a rather insane event featuring all manner of comic artists and other assorted individuals. Many thanks to Eric Rosenfield for interview assistance and his laconic pal Phil for moral support and a shoulder to cry on. 1. Mike Pellerito — In this somewhat naughty conversation, Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Managing Editor […]
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MoreChen Shi-Zheng is the director of Dark Matter. Liu Ye is the star. The film is now out in theaters. Condition of the Show: Adopting a theoretical construct. Guests: Chen Shi-Zheng and Liu Ye Subjects Discussed: The visual emphasis on stairwells, metallic college environments, the relationship between character and environment, string theory, researching cosmology, comparisons […]
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MoreBrad and John Hennegan are the filmmakers behind First Saturday in May, which opens in theaters on April 17, 2008. Condition of the Show: Racing to the finish line. Guests: Brad Hennegan and John Hennegan Subjects Discussed: Why the Hennegans chose six horse trainers, cutting the film down from a three hour epic, Pop-Up Video-style […]
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