Introduction

Our Season 3 finale opens with “The Trick Is to Pretend,” a poem by Natalie Scenters-Zapico, read by the singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers: “I climb knowing the only way down / is by falling.” The actor Jessica Hecht plays Joan Didion in a reenactment of her classic Art of Fiction interview with Linda Kuehl. Jericho Brown reads his poem “Hero”: “my brothers and I grew up fighting / Over our mother’s mind.” The actor, comedian, and podcaster Connor Ratliff reads Bud Smith’s “Violets,” the story of two unlikely arsonists rediscovering life in the flames. The episode closes with Bridgers performing “Garden Song.”

To hear more from Connor Ratliff, check out his podcast Dead Eyes. To hear Avery Trufelman’s latest show, find the podcast Nice Try!

“Hero” by Jericho Brown appears courtesy of the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center.

This episode was sound designed and mixed by Hannis Brown, and mastered by Justin Shturtz.