Pulp Fiction

Inspired by the pulp collectors Gary Lovisi and Lucille Cali, Harper’s Magazine senior editor Joe Kloc embarked on a freewheeling search for a magazine lost to time: the inaugural issue of Golden Fleece Historical Adventure. In this week’s episode, Kloc joins Violet Lucca to discuss his adventures exploring the world of pulp magazines, the act of collecting, and Lost at Sea, a book based on a previous feature Kloc wrote for Harper’s, slated for release in 2025. Subscribe to Harper’s for only $16.97: harpers.org/save “The Golden Fleece”: https://harpers.org/archive/2023/10/the-golden-fleece-kloc/ “Empathy, My Dear Sherlock”: https://harpers.org/archive/2020/09/empathy-my-dear-watson-netflix/ “Lost at Sea”: https://harpers.org/archive/2019/05/lost-at-sea-richardson-bay/ 3:55 “What appealed to me about Gary and pulp collecting in general is, this is really for the love of the game.” 4:06 “I was interested in the idea that people would be so passionate about those objects when it didn’t have that same monetary incentive.” 16:20 “Pulps technically mean only the magazines, not the paperbacks.” 19:00 “These pulp writers became those comic book writers. Those comic books become comic book movies, and these comic book movies are constantly competing for your attention.” 25:52 “It gives you a feeling of being a child and remembering a time when all was before you and anything could happen.” 27:28 “These objects carry a deeper meaning, even if they’ve been destroyed or lost.” 37:18 “It’s hard to describe the power of Sherlock Holmes in the pulp collecting world.” 41:02 “I’m not going to let go of my imagination. It always has been fun to think like this and it always will be fun to think like this.” 44:40 “It’s a form of vernacular creativity.”