fiction/non/fiction

Eighteen months into the invasion of Ukraine, Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko, hosts of the podcast Explaining Ukraine, return to talk to co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan about how the war has affected Ukrainian artists and how they’re responding. They talk about the actions of deeply engaged writers and intellectuals they know, like Yaryna Chornohuz, a young poet who’s an activist and has joined the army as a paramedic. They also give an update on what’s happening at the front and the possibility of the formation of an international war tribunal to investigate crimes of the Russian Federation.To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko Explaining Ukraine (podcast) Ukraine in Histories and Stories Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 2: “How Dostoevsky’s Classic Has Shaped Russia’s War in Ukraine, with Explaining Ukraine’s Tetyana Ogarkova and Volodymyr Yermolenko”  Yaryna Chornohuz "Being a poet and a woman on the frontline - with Yaryna Chornohuz" (Explaining Ukraine) Timothy Snyder "Timothy Snyder: Freedom as a Value and a Task - a Talk in Kyiv" (Explaining Ukraine) Joseph Heller Thomas Pynchon All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso “The Parable of the Old Man and the Young,” by Wilfred Owen “Remembering Ukrainian novelist Victoria Amelina, killed by a Russian missile,” by Joanna Kikissis Kateryna Kalytko Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Novelist Leila Aboulela joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan on their 200th episode to talk about the fighting between rival military factions in her native Sudan, which has displaced millions of civilians. She compares the situation of Sudan, which underwent a coup in 2019, with the six other African countries that have experienced coups since 2020. Aboulela explains the historical precedents and particularities and reflects on how, when a country’s military is its mightiest institution, a coup can be the only way to change leadership. She also reads from her new novel River Spirit, which covers the period of time leading up to the British occupation of Sudan. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Leila Aboulela River Spirit Bird Summons Elsewhere, Home The Kindness of Enemies Lyrics Alley Minaret Coloured Lights The Translator Articles in The Guardian Others: “What’s behind the wave of coups in Africa,” Al Jazeera “Chaos in Sudan: Who Is Battling for Power, and Why It Hasn't Stopped,” by Declan Walsh and Abdi Latif Dahir "How To Write About Africa," Granta, by Binyavanga Wainaina, 2005 “Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan Writer And LGBTQ Activist, Dies At 48,” by Colin Dwyer, NPR, May 22, 2019 Sudan, a coup laboratory - ISS Africa Khartoum (1966 film) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fiction writer Maurice Carlos Ruffin joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the literary and historical antecedents to Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who has filed a RICO case against Trump and 18 co-defendants for their illegal attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He discusses the long history of Black women who have challenged the white establishment when it comes to issues like political corruption, incarceration, and violence. He reads from his forthcoming novel The American Daughters, historical fiction about an enslaved woman who joins a society of spies.To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Maurice Carlos Ruffin We Cast a Shadow The Ones Who Don’t Say I Love You The American Daughters (forthcoming in 2024) “Returning the Gaze” | VQR Online Others: Ida Bae Wells on X: "Once again, it is Black people who are the greatest agents of democracy the United States has ever seen." / X “Fani Willis Took On Atlanta’s Gangs. Now She May Be Coming For Trump.” The New York Times Magazine Maurice Ruffin, First (Literary) Citizen of New Orleans (Literary Hub) Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s Creative Journey from Lawyer to Award-Winning Writer (Literary Hub) Fiction/Non/Fiction: Season 3, Episode 26: “The Past Is Never Dead: Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Michael Gorra on the ‘New South’ and Whether Faulkner Still Belongs There” Toni Morrison The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement, by Janet Dewart Bell   Sojourner Truth Angela Davis Harriet Tubman Ida B. Wells Phillis Wheatley Nikole Hannah-Jones Maya Angelou Zora Neale Hurston Ernest J. Gaines The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kansas Reflector editor-in-chief Sherman Smith joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the police raid on the tiny Marion County Record. He explains the newspaper’s investigation of the DUI history of a local restaurant owner who’d applied for a liquor license, which led to an August 11 raid of both the newspaper’s office and publishers’ home. The local magistrate, with her own DUI history, signed the warrant that alleged possible identity theft by one of the reporters. Sherman explains what the police took, why it was ultimately returned, and why he’s encouraged by the national and international response that sends the message that this treatment of journalists will not be tolerated. He also reads from the Reflector’s initial reporting.To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Sherman Smith Kansas Reflector “Police stage ‘chilling’ raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and cellphones,” by Sherman Smith, Sam Bailey, Rachel Mipro, and Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector “Sheriff's office agrees to destroy evidence obtained from raid on Kansas newspaper,” Kansas Reflector Others: Marion County Record MacGyver Carl Hiaasen “Judge who approved raid on Kansas newspaper has history of DUI arrests,” by Chance Swaim, Wichita Eagle Hunter Biden Kris Kobach American Press Institute Rachel Maddow States Newsroom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As summer draws to an end, Thurber Prize-winning novelist Julie Schumacher joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the state of the American vacation and how holidays are portrayed in literature. Schumacher discusses her new comic novel, The English Experience, a sequel to Dear Committee Members that focuses on university professor Jay Fitger leading a study abroad trip to England. She reflects on favorite travel narratives, how technology has changed the way we vacation, and the ethics of tourism in relation to colonialism and climate change. She reads from The English Experience. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Julie Schumacher The English Experience The Shakespeare Requirement Dear Committee Members "Was This Student Dangerous?"- The New York Times, June 18, 2014 Others: The Parent Trap (1961) Henry James The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton Voyage Around My Room by Xavier de Maistre  Baby-sitters on Board! by Ann M. Martin Little Women by Louisa May Alcott The British Museum Rich in Love by Josephine Humphreys A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid The 31 Places to Go in 2010 - The New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning journalist and professor Samuel G. Freedman joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about what progressives today can learn from an unexpected source: Democratic politician Hubert Humphrey. Freedman explains how today’s battles against far-right bigotry parallel the fight for civil rights Humphrey engaged in alongside Jewish and Black Americans in the 1940s. Freedman talks about the importance of progressive alliances and reads from his new book, Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights.To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Samuel G. Freedman Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights Breaking the Line Letters to a Young Journalist Others: Robert Caro Michael Shapiro A Campus Divided by Riv-Ellen Prell Sam Scheiner Cecil Newman Charles Lindbergh Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota The Call Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 6: “Nancy Pelosi’s Majority: Matthew Clark Davison’s San Francisco Take on a National Leader” “75 years ago, Hubert H. Humphrey called for Dems to ‘walk into the bright sunshine of human rights’” by Cathy Wurzer and Gretchen Brown | Minnesota Public Radio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling novelist Celeste Ng joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the wide range of GOP policies and initiatives hurting children. This includes recent news of Ron DeSantis pushing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that authorizes Florida to take emergency custody of trans children “threatened with” receiving gender-affirming care, and justifies the action by classing that care as “physical harm.” They discuss her novel, Our Missing Hearts, which features a young protagonist separated from his Chinese-American mother because of a troublesome fictional law called the Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act. Ng reads from her novel, newly out in paperback.  To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Celeste Ng Our Missing Hearts Little Fires Everywhere Everything I Never Told You Others: State Bill 254 “Judge Sides With Families Fighting Florida’s Ban on Gender Care for Minors,” by Rick Rojas and Azeen Ghorayshi, The New York Times “Florida Passes Bill Allowing Trans Kids to Be Taken From Their Families,” by Tori Otten, The New Republic “Florida Advanced a Bill That Could Separate Trans Kids From Affirming Parents,” by Samantha Riedel, Them “Parents seeking treatments for trans kids could lose custody of child under new Florida bill,” by Sam Sachs, WFLA “Nebraska Mom Helped Her Daughter Get an Abortion. Now Her Daughter Has Been Sentenced to Jail,” by Madison Pauly, Mother Jones “Houston's plan to convert some school libraries into discipline centers is criticized,” by Dominic Anthony Walsh, NPR Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 5, Episode 13: "Censoring the American Canon: Farah Jasmine Griffin on Book Bans Targeting Black Writers" Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 1, Episode 10: "Anti-Semitism and the Authoritarian Playbook" Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 5, Episode 12: "Intimate Contact: Garth Greenwell on Book Bans and Writing About Sex" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist and novelist Dawnie Walton joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about U.S. concert culture. Why are live concerts so popular this summer and why have they so often become violent? Walton discusses how recent examples of fan violence speak to racism and sexism in American culture, as well as the role social media plays in fandom. Finally, she reads from her 2021 novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, which focuses on the fictional partnership between a Black American woman, singer Opal Jewel, and a white British man, guitarist Neville Charles, and discusses her story’s connection to the infamous Altamont Free Concert in 1969.To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Lynn Snyder and Anne Kniggendorf.Dawnie WaltonThe Final Revival of Opal & NevOthers: “It's ‘Bey Day’ in ‘Swiftieapolis,’” by Tommy Wiita, Bring Me The News  “How Taylor Swift Broke Ticketmaster,” by Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, Nov. 18, 2022 “No report filed for alleged attack at Monica concert: Detroit police,” by Jakkar Aimery, The Detroit News “Bebe Rexha Hit in the Face by Thrown Cell Phone at NYC Concert,” by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone “Ava Max and Bebe Rexha were attacked by men on stage at their own concerts, why?” by Furvah Shah, Cosmopolitan Magazine “The Chaos of Altamont and the Murder of Meredith Hunter,” by Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker, Mar. 28, 2019 “Jason Aldean's 'Small Town' is part of a long legacy with a very dark side,” by Amanda Marie Martinez, National Public Radio “The traumatic story of Merry Clayton and The Rolling Stones,” by Arun Starkey, Far Out Magazine, Dec. 25, 2021 Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions, by Francesca T. Royster  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling novelist and former Twitter employee Robin Sloan joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about how Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter and the rise of new platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, and Meta’s Threads are shaping a new ecosystem of social media. The co-hosts and Sloan grapple with the unruliness of Twitter over time, political polarization on different platforms and the risks of disinformation, and what the end of Twitter—now rebranded as X—might look like. Sloan reflects on the role social media plays (or doesn’t) in authors’ careers, as well as his own decision to leave Twitter. Finally, he reads from his 2012 novel Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Amanda Trout and Anne Kniggendorf.Robin Sloan Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Sourdough “Conspiracy Museum” (The Atlantic) Others: “Robin Sloan leaves Twitter's Media Partnerships team,” The Next Web, November 11, 2011 “Bay Area author Robin Sloan dishes on 'Sourdough,' Twitter and books,” San Jose Mercury-News, May 18, 2019 “How to Write Science Fiction That Isn't 'Useful,'” Robin Sloan interviewed by Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, May 15, 2020 “The Age of Social Media Is Ending,” by Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, Nov. 10, 2022 “Threads users looking for 'genuine connection' as Twitter-like social media platform goes back to basics,” ABC News (Australia), July 14, 2023. “Social Media Is Dead,” by Edward Ongweso Jr., Vice, Nov. 8, 2022. “Social Media Died When It Stopped Being Social and Became About Making Money,” by Enrique Dans, Forbes, May 13, 2019 “With the rise of AI, social media platforms could face perfect storm of misinformation in 2024,” CNN Business, July 17, 2023 “Threads, Twitter, and the Future of Social Media,” by Sriram Krishnan, The New York Times (Opinion), July 15, 2023 “Zombie Twitter Has Arrived,” by Ian Bogost and Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, July 6, 2023 “The Weaponization of Social Media and Real World Consequences,” by Dave Davies, National Public Radio, October 9, 2018 “Conservative social networks like Gettr and Parler keep making the same mistake,” by Casey Newton, The Verge, Jul 6, 2021 “Tucker Carlson's show on Twitter makes ad deal with anti-ESG shopping app” by Brian Schwartz, CNBC, July 16, 2023 “Taylor Swift Gets Political On Social Media As Nashville Elections Start,” by Aimée Lutkin, Elle, July 15, 2023 “Despite cries of censorship, conservatives dominate social media,” by Mark Scott, POLITICO, Oct. 26, 2020 “Robin Sloan's 'Sourdough' Is a Fascinating Riddle” by Andy Newman, The Atlantic, Dec. 5, 2017 “Book Armageddon is a Myth: Interview with Robin Sloan” by Lex Berko, Vice, April 10, 2013 “More than eight-in-ten Americans get news from digital devices” Jan. 2021 Study by Elisa Shearer, Pew Research Center, Jan. 12, 2021 “Conservative Social Media— A New Norm?” by Kayla Morrison, Brown Political Review, Dec. 3, 2022 “Robin Sloan: Describing the emotions of life online,” by Josh Kramer, New Public, Mar. 13, 2022 “Computer Stories: A.I. Is Beginning to Assist Novelists—Robin Sloan” by David Streitfeld, The New York Times, Oct. 18, 2018 “The Infinite Deaths of Social Media” by Jason Parham, WIRED, May 4, 2022 “Social media is doomed to die” by Ellis Hamburger, The Verge, April 18, 2023 “The Future of Social Media Is a Lot Less Social” by Brian X. Chen, The New York Times, April 19, 2023 “Delhi Man Creates Device Which Allows You To Order Pizza With Your Mind,” by Anoushka Sharma, NDTV, July 21, 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poet Jaswinder Bolina joins co-host Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about how the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw the consideration of race in college admissions will affect MFA programs. The group reflects on why diversity is a crucial part of any writer’s education and the risk that this decision will change writing programs for the worse. Comparing the MFA admissions processes for their respective institutions, the three also discuss how everything from scholarships to the workshop environment may be affected, and Bolina speaks about the importance of diverse faculties. He reads from his essay “American, Indian” and Ganeshananthan reads a section of Supreme Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent—both examples of how it is impossible to think about American writing, or American history, without considering race.To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/This episode of the podcast was produced by Cheri Brisendine and Anne Kniggendorf.Jaswinder Bolina English as a Second Language and Other Poems (forthcoming October 2023) 44th of July Phantom Camera Carrier Waves The Tallest Building in America “American, Indian” - The Paris Review Others: Supreme Court Rejects Affirmative Action at Harvard and UNC - The New York Times 20-1199 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College “Creativity And Diversity: How Exposure To Different People Affects Our Thinking” by Shankar Vedantam, Jennifer Schmidt, Parth Shah, Tara Boyle, NPR Quiz Show directed by Robert Redford SCOTUS affirmative action ruling: Harvard and UNC students, alums react Here's what happened when affirmative action ended at California public colleges by Emma Bowman, NPR Michigan's ban on affirmative action upheld by Supreme Court | CNN 20-1199 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (06/29/2023) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a bill banning DEI initiatives in public colleges : NPR by Jaclyn Diaz James Tate Column: On affirmative action, Justice Jackson blasts her colleagues' 'let-them-eat-cake obliviousness' Affirmative action in college admissions and why military academies were exempted by the Supreme Court - CBS News by Caitlin Yilek and Kathryn Watson What Counts as Discrimination on a College Campus? By Kelly Field, The Chronicle of Higher Education Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino Jhumpa Lahiri Ernest Hemingway Zadie Smith Read the full text of the dissents in the Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling by Sotomayor and Jackson - CBS News Jim Crow Laws | American Experience | Official Site | PBS  Homestead Act (1862) | National Archives Will Essay Prompts Get Students in After the Affirmative Action Ruling? By Scott Jaschik Highlights of the Affirmative Action Opinions and Dissents by Charlie Savage, New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices