1storypod

Full hourlong video ep "Confessions" with Harold Rogers: https://www.patreon.com/posts/confessions-w-92292166 On our own books, literary confession, diary writing, Gilbert Sorrentino, Gwendoline Riley, Jack Houghteling, Drake, Borges, Alphabetical Diaries, and Andrew Martin. Tropicalia by Harold Rogers: https://www.amazon.com/Tropic%C3%A1lia-Novel-Harold-Rogers/dp/1668013878/ref=monarch_sidesheet Alphabetical Diaries (FSG, 2/6/24): https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374610784/alphabeticaldiaries Early Work (2018) by Andrew Martin: https://www.amazon.com/Early-Work-Novel-Andrew-Martin/dp/1250215013/ref=monarch_sidesheet video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZsC5v8Tan4&t=54s

"ODB, the Mud Puppy, and Me," from Scott McClanahan's first book Stories (2008): https://www.amazon.com/Stories-scott-mcclanahan/dp/0981009123?ref_=ast_author_dp From 10.27.23 eclipse pod w Harold: https://www.patreon.com/1storypod

Babak Lakghomi, author of Floating Notes (Tyrant, 2018) and South (Dundern, 2023), on working with the late great Giancarlo DiTrapano, David Markson, fragments, friction, literature as a revolutionary act, Proust, and autofiction. 1 min - on working with Gian / Tyrant 6 min - on South (Dundern Press) 7 min - on David Markson 8 min - fragments 9 min - archetypes / Edith Grossman 9.5 - Alvaro Mutis, Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll (1995) 10 min - Nada (1945) by Carmen Laforet 14 min - writing as a revolutionary act (vs books as commodities) 17 min - what Literature is / Kafka 23 min - Solenoid by Mircia Cartarescu 26 min - the Courageous act of Literature 27 min - Proust / To the Lighthouse 29 min - Mary McCarthy 30 min - on autofiction

Author Alex Kazemi talks about the process of writing and publishing a book, networking in the fashion industry, misconceptions and negative perceptions, surrendering and letting go of control, different approaches to creating music, relationships and controversies, unique styles in writing, the ugly side of human nature, discussion of songs and movie ideas, immortalizing through art, book feedback, LA reading, and character assassination and deception.

Ep. 80: With philosopher, author, and Auerbach scholar Matthias Bormuth (b.1963), a professor of Comparative Intellectual History at University of Oldenburg. On Erich Auerbach's MIMESIS: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (1946), and how it was influenced by the great Neapolitan thinker Giambattista Vico's NEW SCIENCE (1744). I first met Matthias at this Phillip Roth festival in Newark I wrote about back in March for the Paris Review: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2023/04/19/reading-myself-and-others-roth-festival-dispatch/ Giambattista Vico was born in Naples in 1668 and was a relatively unknown Professor of Rhetoric at the city's university. He'd work on and revise his ambitious work NEW SCIENCE throughout his life, publishing preliminary versions in 1725 and 1730, though it wasn't till his death in 1744 that the third and final version appeared. Vico's text, most of all his literal and historical view of Homer, would go on to hugely influence James Joyce's writing of Ulysses (a literal retelling of the Odyssey), along with other modernists. Erich Auerbach's 1946 work of literary criticism MIMESIS treats canonical texts from the Bible to Homer to Dante to Don Quixote to Zola up to Virginia Woolf as literal-historical writers trying to understand their time, only speaking from their provisional perspective, rather than as deific texts to unpack as divine providence. A German-Jew who fought for Germany in the first World War, Auerbach worked at a library from 1922-1929, during which time he translated Vico's NEW SCIENCE into German for the first time. Matthias and I try to unpack the connection between these two texts, and to find the relevance between them and our current age. Some notes: Overview of Giambattista Vico (4:22); Auerbach’s early years following World War One translating Vico (9:24); Auerbach on Zola’s Germinal (40:22); Matthias’s critique of Heidegger (50:22); writing as Letter Writing / Auerbach’s letters (1:07:33); Matthias on Knausgaard (1:11:55).

On Franny and Zooey, Crime and Punishment, Nine Stories, Brothers Karamazov, Absalom, Absalom and the Gospels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFv_OUiwdM4 Notes: Sean on Salinger, Crime & Punishment (0:55); referenced Salinger essay https://www.firstthings.com/article/2023/06/christ-like-holden-caulfield (4:55); Mary & Martha (11:55); Harold on CBS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsdlLK7grNg (17:17); Harold on Karamazov (20:22); Harold ran back Absalom (39:39)

The podcast touches on the frustration of labeling and erasing people based on political beliefs, the appeal of clean comics and the challenges of countercultural writing, reflections on interviews and the publishing process, and the exploration of the influence of World War II on writers and the connection between fascist tendencies and the pursuit of perfection in literature.

Author Sean Thor Conroe discusses expatriation, self awareness, Dasein, existentialism, Rudolf Steiner, and the mission of America. The conversation also explores personal relationships, breaking cycles, self-discovery, individuation in America, late empire parallels, and the need for unity amidst polarization.

NYC - Harold Rogers, 26, is a standup, boxing coach, and novelist. He is the author of Tropicalia (2023), out now from Atria: https://www.amazon.com/Tropic%C3%A1lia-Novel-Harold-Rogers/dp/1668013878/ref=monarch_sidesheet Sean Thor Conroe is the author of Fuccboi (2022): https://www.amazon.com/Fuccboi-Novel-Sean-Thor-Conroe/dp/0316394912/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

NYC — Sam Lipsyte is the author of Venus Drive (2000), The Subject Steve (2001), Homeland (2004), The Ask (2010), The Fun Parts (2013), Hark (2019), Friend of the Pod (2022) and No One Left to Come Looking For You (2022).