In the first half of the show, writer and critic Melissa Anderson joins Kate Wolf to discuss her first book, Inland Empire, another volume in the very excellent Fireflies Press Decadent Editions, which revisit seminal films from the 2000s. A story of a “woman in trouble” Inland Empire, directed by David Lynch and released in 2006, is a bold selection since, as Anderson poi...

Essayist, poet, playwright and filmmaker Jose Vadi joins Eric Newman to discuss his debut essay collection, Interstate. Jose's first play, A Eulogy for Three, was the winner of the San Francisco Foundation's Shenson Performing Arts Award. He is also the author of a SoMa Lurk, a collection of photos and poems that spring from the San Francisco neighborhood of the same name,...

Ruth Ozeki is a writer, filmmaker, Zen Buddhist priest, and author of three novels, My Year of Meats, All Over Creation, and A Tale for the Time Being, which was a finalist for the 2013 Booker Prize. Her nonfiction work includes a memoir, The Face: A Time Code, and the documentary film, Halving the Bones. Ruth joins Eric Newman and Medaya Ocher to talk about her latest nov...

Eric and Daya are joined by writer and novelist Tom McCarthy, author of the contemporary classic, Remainder, as well as the novels C and Satin Island, both of which were shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He is also the author of a collection of essays, called Typewriters, Bombs, and Jellyfish as well as the literary study Tintin and the Secret of Literature. He is also...

Kate, Daya, and Eric speak with director Todd Haynes about his latest movie, and first documentary, The Velvet Underground, which shows just how the legendary rock group became a cultural touchstone representing a range of contradictions. The band is both of their time, yet timeless; rooted in high art and underground culture. The film features in-depth interviews with key...

Writer Dodie Bellamy joins Kate Wolf to speak about her latest collection, Bee Reaved. The book gathers nearly 20 essays Bellamy has written over the last few years, with a focus on the state of bereavement, examining not only the loss of her husband Kevin Killian, but the loss of other artists, physical objects, her own past lives, and radical social movements. As with al...

Kate Wolf speaks with writer Kelefa Sanneh about his debut book, Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. An exhaustive, enthralling breakdown of the last fifty years in music, Major Labels diagrams the American sonic landscape, Alfred Barr style, in the discrete yet overlapping categories of Rock, R&B, Country, Punk, Hip Hop, Dance and Pop; it also pays c...

Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by author Cynthia Cruz to discuss The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class. A mix of memoir, cultural theory, and polemic, Cruz’s latest work addresses the personal and social consequences of the marginalization of America’s majority population, its working class. Cruz speaks about what inspired her to write the book...

Writer and Poet Cynthia Cruz joins Kate and Medaya to discuss The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class. A mix of memoir, cultural theory, and polemic, Cruz’s latest work addresses the personal and social consequences of the marginalization of America’s majority population, its working class. Cruz discusses what inspired her to write the book; and how she...