They discuss the word 'experiment' and its relationship to contemporary literature, exploring the history of the word 'novel' and its function as a vehicle for new ideas. They also delve into the tension between creating a form adequate to the present while connecting it to the past.
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In this episode, we talk to the writers, editors, publishers, translators, publicists, librarians, & brilliant commentators Peter Dimock, Eugene Lim, and Ian Dreiblatt. We explore the future of the book, the form of the novel, the political potency of experimental writing and publishing, the monetization of attention, and how to value reading over books, reading beyond the commodification of content. We consider the book as testament to the principle that “everyone is valuable and everyone needs to talk to everybody else.” Along the way we find ourselves discussing apocalypse, the potential unrecognizability of the future, the coercion of optimism, the vitality and productivity of despair, and “joy in the triage.”
