Poured Over

“Look at all the advances we've made in the last 50 years, look at the way that culture and medicine and technology and science have advanced since the Beatles broke up, since we were involved in Vietnam, but the poverty rate has been incredibly stubbornly persistent and I think it's rather shameful for the richest country in the history of the world.” Reading Matthew Desmond’s books will make you smarter­, break your heart, make you mad, and push you to think differently about poverty — all in the same moment. Poverty, by America is his follow-up to his landmark book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Desmond joins us on the show to talk about going where the data takes him, the human cost of poverty, the gig economy, writing in community, what a post-poverty would could look like, and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Featured Books: Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

Who gets to tell our stories? Two debut authors use their powerful voices to show strong female characters navigating family, race and colonialism with unfailing humor and heart. Claire Jiménez’s What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez follows a family in the wake of a tragedy as they attempt to move on — and up. Jiménez talks with us about finding the voice in her work, telling Puerto Rican stories, how she uses perspective and humor and more. In Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou we find a young Taiwanese American woman mired in the world of academia and all the challenges that privilege and power can bring. Chou joins us to talk about Asian American identity, how she changed while writing the book, what she’s working on next and more. Listen in as both talk separately with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.  And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Jamie and Madyson.     Featured Books (Episode): Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita Another Country by James Baldwin Dear Miss Metropolitan by Carolyn Ferrell Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson Yellowface by R.F. Kuang Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A. Denis Velorio by Xavier Navarro Aquino   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

From the trenches of WWI to the coast of Australia, these two debut novels depict the ubiquity of coming of age, even when the circumstances are drastically different.  In Alice Winn’s In Memoriam, two young men find love and tragedy on the fields of battle. Winn talked with us about how the story came into being, the extensive research required to create her characters and their world, her literary influences and more. Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas follows a young woman through a newfound relationship that alters her perspective on life and the future. Lucas joins us in conversation about location as a character, other novels and writers that weave their way into her work, the music she listens to when writing and more.   Listen in as both talk separately with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.  And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.    Featured Books (Episode): In Memoriam by Alice Winn Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara The Runaways by Fatima Bhutto Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain Regeneration by Pat Barker Vladimir by Julia May Jonas Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Lover by Marguerite Duras Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys The Friend by Sigrid Nunez   Featured Books (TBR Topoff):   Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman Good-bye to All That by Robert Graves    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

Family dynamics, for better or worse, are front and center in these two novels from two striking voices in fiction. Jenny Jackson’s debut, Pineapple Street, brings us to an upper-class suburb in New York City — an old-money family, new romance, heartbreak and the kinds of drama only the one-percent can deliver. Jackson joins us to talk about publishing as an author rather than an editor, the intrigue of Brooklyn Heights, how to write humor and more. In Hello Beautiful, Ann Napolitano follows four sisters as they navigate their lives from the 80s to early 2000s through tragedy, love and what happens when our futures don’t go as we’ve planned. We talked with Napolitano about her emotional journey while writing this, incorporating obsessions into your work, how to know when a story sounds right and more.  Listen in as both talk separately with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.  And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.    Featured Books (Episode):  Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson  Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano  Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan  Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin  Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding  Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny  Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott  Commonwealth by Ann Patchett    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo  How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

"I'm also trying to make use of how innate I think curiosity is for people, because curiosity is kind of a way towards hope… it's in that direction." Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell, author of How to Do Nothing, asks readers to look at the concept of time, how it relates to the structure of our society and how it can change the way we live our lives. Odell joins us to talk about commodifying time and leisure, the language we use to describe time, the authors and artists that have influenced her and more with Poured Over host Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Madyson.      Featured Books (Episode):  Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell  How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell  Grapefruit by Yoko Ono     Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee  Still Pictures by Janet Malcolm    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I'm interested in how deceptions can make you feel more of yourself or can unlock something in you that you didn't know you had.” Eleanor Catton, Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, is back with Birnam Wood — part eco-thriller, part social and political satire, wholly insightful. This propulsive novel is prescient, timely, and all-too relatable in our present day. Catton joins us in conversation about creating her characters, Shakespeare’s use of prophecy and power, how the story was influenced by Jane Austen’s Emma and more with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Madyson.     Featured Books (Episode):  Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton  The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton  Macbeth by William Shakespeare  We are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins  Emma by Jane Austen   Memento Mori by Muriel Spark   On Writing by Stephen King    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  The Appeal by Janice Hallett  Wilder Girls by Rory Power    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays)

“How do you spot a ‘we should not be friends’ friendship? It's when someone shows you who they are, and you like it.” Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club, tells us how an unexpected friendship with a polar-opposite grew into a lifelong journey through love, losses and triumphs. Schwalbe and Chris Maxey, former Navy SEAL and founder of the Island School, join us to talk about Schwalbe's new book, We Should Not Be Friends: A Story of a Friendship, meeting through a Yale secret society, the importance of vulnerability, what they learned about themselves and each other through telling this story and more live at Barnes & Noble Union Square with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer.     Featured Books (episode):  We Should Not Be Friends by Will Schwalbe  The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe  The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone  The Rediscovery of North America by Barry Lopez    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

"Each time I wrote a story that belonged in this book… It held some pain. It held some love. It held some hope, some longing..."  Eloghosa Osunde’s debut novel Vagabonds! is an inventive, mythic whirlwind through the city of Lagos, Nigeria. Told through interconnected short stories, this raw, painful, and ultimately hopeful work sheds light on an often-unseen world and its diverse inhabitants. Osunde talks with us about the significance and spark of inspiration behind the title, writing a novel in an uncommon format, the feelings she wants to leave her readers with and more with Poured Over guest host, Jenna Seery.    Featured Books (Episode):  Vagabonds! By Eloghosa Osunde  The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy  The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi   A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):   Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I feel like we're in a real golden age of fantasy that's exploring diversity from lots of different perspectives, and telling lots of stories that need to be heard at the moment — I feel really honored to be working within that space.” A Day of Fallen Night has what readers want in high fantasy: strong women, masterful worldbuilding and, of course, dragons. Samantha Shannon’s prequel to her highly acclaimed The Priory of the Orange Tree, is a welcome return to the lands and skies of this mystical world. Shannon joins us to talk about reframing myths, equality in the fantasy genre, how her books get their stunning covers, authors she recommends and more with Poured Over guest host, Kat Sarfas.  Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Madyson.    Featured Books (Episode): A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri The Unbroken by C.L. Clark Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao Eragon by Christopher Paolini   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays)

“When you've been disappointed for that long in your life — what kind of people are you? What do you become?” A Country You Can Leave, the debut novel from author Asale Angel-Ajani, is an unconventional family story following a Russian mother and Black, biracial daughter as they navigate class, trauma and relationships in California’s desert. Angel-Ajani joins us in conversation about discovering her characters, the portrayal of motherhood, her literary influences, and more with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Madyson.     Featured Books (Episode):  A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-Ajani  Strange Trade by Asale Angel-Ajani  The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector  The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker  Another Country by James Baldwin    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart  On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).