Poured Over

Richard Powers is the author of 13 novels, including The Overstory, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. His new novel, Bewilderment, shortlisted for The Booker Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction, is an intimate story of two lost boys—father and son—and it's a bit of a departure from his earlier books. Richard joins us on the show for a charming conversation about where the title came from, why he used a first-person narrative for this book, the connection between writing fiction and computer code, writing about grief, and more. Produces/hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We've seen what death and dying do to the human body and we've investigated the afterlife thanks to Mary Roach. We've gone to space and to war with her. We've learned more than a little about taste and our digestive tracts, and, well, bonking--all thanks to Mary and her very, very funny books, her seventh book Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law has just landed. And as with all of her earlier books, we're pretty sure like us, you're going to feel smarter after you've read it. Mary joins us on the show to talk about her new book and more. Featured books: Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach Produced/Hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Two Pulitzers, a National Book Award, and a MacArthur Genius Grant: Colson Whitehead is one of the greatest novelists working today. From The Intuitionist to The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, his incredible body of work is driven by sharp insight and brilliant sentences. Harlem Shuffle is his newest novel, a character study, a caper flick, and an absolute thrill to read. Colson joins us on the show to talk about his love of 1970s heist flicks, walking aimlessly around Harlem, messy internet searches, and more. Featured Books: Harlem Shuffle and The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead, Richard Stark's Parker novels, and The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Produced/hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Qian Julie Wang's unforgettable memoir, Beautiful Country, belongs on the shelf next to modern classics like Educated by Tara Westover, When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Qian Julie joins us on the show to talk about capturing the universality of childhood (no matter how difficult the details), facing down shame in order to tell the truth and more. Featured books: Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong, Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters and Middlemarch by George Elliott. Produced/Hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"My ears were bent for stories." Poet Warrior is the indelible new memoir by Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate of the United States. Joy joins us on the show to talk about her family's stories, making music, Emily Dickinson's poetry, how reading work out loud helps with the editing process, and more. Featured Books: Poet Warrior and An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo. Produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Folow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A new book from Lauren Groff is always a hit with us, from her early novels, The Monsters of Templeton and Arcadia, to her massive 2015 bestseller, Fates and Furies, and her story collections, Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. We can't get enough of her gorgeous sentences, evocative details, and the worlds she conjures. We'll follow Lauren anywhere, and now that includes a 12th Century Abbey; her fabulous new novel, Matrix, is out today, and it's our September Barnes & Noble Book Club selection. Lauren joins us on the show to talk about how the past and present collide in Matrix, her love of research, the joy of reading, and more. Featured books: Matrix by Lauren Groff, Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen, Middlemarch by George Elliott and Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Featured poets and writers: Emily Dickinson, Anne Carson, James Salter, Dennis Johnson, Grace Paley and Alice Munro. Produced/Hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

We love B.B. Alston and his Supernatural Investigation series—his debut novel for Middle Readers, Amari and the Night Brothers, is the Overall Winner of the Barnes & Noble Children's and YA Book Awards—and the second book in the series is due in 2022. B.B. joins us on the show to talk about writing for children (and how to bring reluctant readers around to the sheer joy of books and reading); the writers who made him want to be a reader (and a writer); and more. Featured books: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern, and Black Boy Joy, edited by Kwame Mbalia. Produced/hosted by Miwa Messer and sound mix by Emily Hiott. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Love it or hate it (and there really seems to be no middle ground), The Great Gatsby still speaks volumes about us, our society, and the American Dream. Min Jin Lee, the acclaimed author of Pachinko and Free Food for Millionaires, has a written an introduction for this classic, and she joins us on the show to talk about Fitzgerald's characters, what the novel means to her, and more. Featured books: The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, with an introduction by Min Jin Lee, and Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. Produced/hosted by Miwa Messer, sound mix by Emily Hiott. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A fun, spoiler-free conversation with Linden Lewis about her fabulous new novel The Second Rebel, the sequel to The First Sister, our first Speculative Fiction Monthly Pick. Linden joins us on the show to talk about Space Opera, world-building, scrapping full first drafts, giving yourself permission to write what you want to write, and more. Produced/Hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Featured Books: The Second Rebel and The First Sister by Linden Lewis, Red Rising by Pierce Brown, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Poured Over is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Grief, trauma and tragedy run through Kat Chow's family tree, with everything coming together in 1980s Connecticut. Kat joins us on the show to talk about death and grief, ghosts and survival and debt, what it was like to report her own family's story, taxidermy as metaphor, and more. Featured books: Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow and Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala. Produced/Hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Poured Over is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.