Literary Disco

Literary Disco

Writers talk about reading. Hosted by Tod Goldberg, Julia Pistell, and Rider Strong. https://www.literarydisco.com

Episodes

November 4, 2022 56 mins
On today's episode, we revisit a recent conversation with one favorite authors on the podcast, George Saunders, whose new story collection Liberation Day is out now. This episode is brought to you by Bombas, the socks Julia and her family is ALWAYS wearing! Go to bombas.com/disco and use code DISCO for 20% off your purchase! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Today, on Literary Disco, we continue our genre-based season. Each episode of this season, we're diving deep into a particular literary genre, exploring what defines it, what makes it work or not work, interviewing authors, talking to fans, scholars, whomever can help us unlock what it is that makes a genre a genre. And with this, our third episode, we grab a flashlight, head into the dark woods to that house on the hill or just ma...
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July 20, 2022 89 mins
Today, we continue our genre-based season where we dive deep into a literary genre exploring what defines it, what makes it work and not work, interviewing authors, talking to fans and scholars, whoever can unlock what makes a genre a genre. In our second episode, we find a body, a clue or two, maybe even some justice. We'll undoubtedly confront the darkness and the human heart as we talk crime. This week, our special guests are pr...
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June 27, 2022 65 mins
Today we launch a new format of the Disco as we begin our "Genre Season." Each episode of this season, we're going to dive deep into a particular literary genre, exploring what defines it, what makes it work or not work, interviewing authors, talking to fans, scholars, whoever can help us unlock what it is that makes a genre a genre. With our inaugural episode, we discover our long lost lineage. hop on Pegasus, and fly to the far r...
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April 15, 2022 90 mins
This is a recording of a live episode from Sea Tea Improv in Hartford, Connecticut, back in March. Julia and Rider are joined by special guests curator Mallory Howard of the Mark Twain House & Museum and librarian Gwen Glazer of the Croton Free Library -- and Tod's disembodied head joining virtually. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Hey, guys! It's been a while. While Julia may have grown a beard, Rider still hasn't cut his hair, and Tod is still up to his old bullshit, we've been still reading books and are ready to start a new season -- with some surprises! Listen in to find out what we're going to be up to in 2022. We're also coming to a town near you! And by town near you, we mean those of you near Hartford, Connecticut! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/litera...
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November 12, 2021 76 mins
It's episode 200. We're going to talk about what's changed over the years, and maybe do a bookshelf revisit. Who knows?! We're getting old. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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October 1, 2021 84 mins
This week, Julia, Rider, and Tod head back to school with special guest Bree Rolfe, a teacher from Austin, Texas, where she helps high school students discover literature and creative writing. She is also a poet, whose collection Who's Going to Love the Dying Girl is out now. She is also a dear friend of Literary Disco, a fellow graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars and exactly one semester ahead of the rest of us. Bree was i...
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August 24, 2021 68 mins
This week, Julia, Rider, and Tod tackle the incredibly popular, enduring, and surprisingly diverse world of the horse girl. We have read a classic of the genre, Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, and have read a new collection of essays edited by Halimah Marcus entitled Horse Girls, in which female writers go deep on horses and the horse girl phenomenon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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August 3, 2021 63 mins
On this episode of Literary Disco, Julia, Rider, and Tod take on John Steinbeck's classic epic novel East of Eden, which centers on the Salinas Valley of California and tells the story of several generations of the Trask and Hamilton families. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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July 13, 2021 66 mins
On this episode of Literary Disco, while Rider's off camping, Tod and Julia talk about their philosophy of pool reads—and why they'll read books at the pool that they'd never be caught reading anywhere else. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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June 29, 2021 54 mins
On this week's episode, Julia, Rider, and Tod read some poetry -- and discuss Lauren Shapiro's poetry collection, Arena, which was published in 2020 to rave reviews. Lauren Shapiro is the author of Easy Math (Sarabande, 2013), which was the winner of the Kathryn A. Morton Prize and the Debut-litzer Prize for Poetry, as well as a chapbook of poems, Yo-Yo Logic (DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press, 2011). She is an associate professor of Engl...
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May 28, 2021 62 mins
Today, Julia, Rider, and Tod discuss three articles from Alta Magazine, the publication based in California that focuses on news, history, literature, and culture, with a decidedly Western bent. Its founder, William Hearst III, declares it to be "a literate magazine that serves as a counterpoint to the New Yorker." Articles discussed: "The Accident on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Louise Farr, about the tragic death of a hiker "Whe...
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May 7, 2021 59 mins
On today's episode, Julia, Rider, and Tod talk about all the things human beings never want to talk about: death, pain, sickness, and more, when we discuss Atul Gawande's seminal 2014 book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Today's sponsor: This episode is supported by GreenChef. Go to GreenChef.com/90disco and use code 90disco to get $90 off including free shipping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...
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April 20, 2021 51 mins
On today's episode, Julia, Rider, and Tod discuss Brandon Hobson's new novel, The Removed, that follows a Cherokee family in Oklahoma in the aftermath of their son's death at the hands of a police officer. Today's sponsor: This episode is supported by GreenChef. Go to GreenChef.com/90disco and use code 90disco to get $90 off including free shipping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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March 30, 2021 64 mins
This week, Julia, Tod, and Rider celebrate Literary Disco’s ninth birthday by breaking out some book games. In Judging a Book by Its Cover, Rider reads the first few lines of a book while Tod and Julia try to guess the era, genre, author, and even the book itself. In Game Two, Julia and Rider try to decipher between a poem, a song, a popular song, and something Tod's made up. And in the final game, Julia leads a round of Bookshelf ...
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March 16, 2021 65 mins
This week, Julia, Tod, and Rider talk about their favorite crime reads—and why we're so hooked on the genre, anyway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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March 3, 2021 65 mins
This week, Julia, Tod, and Rider go behind the scenes of Tod’s new book, The Low Desert, out now from Counterpoint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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February 16, 2021 97 mins
On today's special episode, we are live from LumaCon 2021 — a comic convention brought to you by a cohort of public libraries in Sonoma County, California. Today, we discuss the graphic novel Cruel Summer by Ed Brubaker, and then a Q&A with the live audience. This episode is brought to you by Literati Kids. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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February 2, 2021 49 mins
Today, for the first time in a while, Julia, Rider, and Tod tackle a single short story. We solicited our listeners via social media for recommendations, and a couple of you directed us to "The Neighbors" by Shruti Swamy, which is available online at Electric Literature and is part of the collection A House Is a Body. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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