The Paris Review

A special bonus episode, recorded live at On Air Fest on March 8, 2020 (just before social distancing sent everyone home), featuring a crowded room of lovely human beings enjoying an immersive live performance of The Paris Review Podcast. The show opens with excerpts of Toni Morrison’s 1993 Art of Fiction Interview, scored live by some of the musicians that created the score for Seasons 1 and 2. Then Vijay Seshadri reads his poem “Ailanthus”; Quincy Tyler Bernstine reads “A Story for Your Daughters, A Story for Your Sons” by Rebecca Makkai; finally, Emily Wells provides live scoring for Bill Callahan’s rendition of Adrienne Rich’s poem “The Tree.” “The Tree” excerpted from Collected Poems: 1950-2012 © 2016 by the Adrienne Rich Literary Trust. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. // The musicians providing the live scoring are Curtis Breweron guitar, Sam Ospovat on drums, and Mike Brown on bass. // Our theme song is composed by David Cieri.

The final episode of Season 2. The incomparable Charlotte Rampling reenacts Simone de Beauvoir’s classic 1965 Paris Review interview; Danez Smith reads their poem “my bitch!”; Sarah Manguso shares her lyric essay “Oceans,” about moving to California, cancer, and writing oceanically; actor Griffin Dunne reads Henry Green’s story “Arcady; or a Night Out.”; and we close with a recording of the late WS Merwin reading his poem “Night Singing.”

Singer/songwriter Bill Callahan reads “Laguna Blues,” a poem by former U.S. poet laureate Charles Wright; J.M. Holmes reads his Pushcart Prize–winning story “What’s Wrong with You? What’s Wrong with Me?”; seminal dramatist Tennessee Williams describes his daily rituals in an archival interview; and comedian Jenny Slate channels Anne Sexton in her reading of the poet’s “Admonitions to a Special Person.”

Salman Rushdie reads an apologetic letter by Dylan Thomas. Sharon Olds identifies "The Solution" to America's problems. Alexandra Kleeman reads a haunting story. Devendra Banhart reads the little-known legend of "The Woe Shirt" by Paulé Bártón.

Actor Quincy Tyler Bernstine revisits one of the most unsettling scandals of the nineties with her reading of Lucille Clifton’s poem “lorena”; Jason Alexander brings Philip Roth’s early story “The Conversion of the Jews” to vivid life; and poet Brenda Shaughnessy contemplates “All Possible Pain.”Lucille Clifton, “lorena” from The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton. Copyright © 1996 by Lucille Clifton. Used with permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of BOA Editions, Ltd., boaeditions.org.

Legendary novelist and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison explains why beauty is absolutely necessary in an interview from the magazine’s archives; Molly Ringwald channels adolescent grief in her reading of “Guests,” a story by Mary Terrier; and poet Alex Dimitrov reads his poem “Impermanence.”

The celebrated podcast from the legendary literary magazine returns! Join us for new audio adventures through The Paris Review's fiction, poetry, interviews, archival recordings, and sonic imaginings with the likes of Simone de Beauvoir , Tennessee Williams, and today's leading writers. Featuring readings and writings from Charlotte Rampling, Jason Alexander, Jenny Slate, Devendra Banhart, Danez Smith, Sharon Olds, Lucille Clifton, Molly Ringwald, Salman Rushdie, and more! Check out this trailer for a preview of the upcoming season, and subscribe now to hear the first episode on October 23rd. More info at www.theparisreview.org/podcast

Before Philip Roth was an American icon, he published one of his first short stories in The Paris Review in 1958. In 2010 he received the Hadada, our award for lifetime achievement. Here is his acceptance speech.

The final episode of Season 1. Jamaica Kincaid in conversation and reading her short story WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING LATELY; James Salter’s story BANGKOK read by Dick Cavett; Sadie Stein encounters a literary specter on the 1 Train; Frederick Seidel reads his poem THE END OF SUMMER; and Caitlin Youngquist reads Robert Bly’s CHORAL STANZA NUMBER ONE, which appeared in the very first issue of The Paris Review, in the Spring of 1953.

Shotguns, peacocks, golf, acid. Editor Terry McDonell recounts his 1984 visit, along with George Plimpton, to Hunter S. Thompson's home in Colorado, including never-before-heard archival tape; a poem by Pablo Neruda, translated by Alastair Reid and read by Antonio Gueudinot; and actor Paul Heesang Miller reads WILLIAM WEI, a short story by Amie Barrodale. "Emerging" from EXTRAVAGARIA by Pablo Neruda, translated by Alastair Reid. Translation copyright © 1974 by Alastair Reid. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.