fiction/non/fiction

Writers B.J. Best, Andrew Ervin, and Brittney Morris join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri to discuss the narrative realms of video games and the evolving space they inhabit. The group reminisces about their first experiences playing and talks about nostalgia, reflects on ludology vs narratology in game design, and analyzes the way video games include players in the storytelling. Ranging from the text-based games of early days to the AAA and blockbuster franchises like Red Dead Redemption and World of Warcraft, this episode considers the necessity of play after childhood. All three authors read from their work.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.B. J. Best Birds of Wisconsin State Sonnets But Our Princess is in Another Castle Interactive Fiction Andrew Ervin Burning Down George Orwell’s House Extraordinary Renditions Bit by Bit: How Video Games Transformed Our World Electric Lit Lit Hub Brittney Morris SLAY The Cost of Knowing The Jump Spider-Man 2 for the Playstation 5 Subnautica: Below Zero The Lost Legends of Redwall Others: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Video Game History Timeline The Evolution of the Video Game Controller What is Ekphrastic Poetry? The Starry Night by Anne Sexton The Playstation 5 Shortage is Over Ludology vs Narratology Teleology Play Doesn’t End With Childhood Josh Hawley Hates “Manipulative” Video Games Games: Madden NFL (gameplay) Super Mario 64 (gameplay) Alpiner (gameplay) Munch Man (gameplay) Super Mario Bros Red Dead Redemption (gameplay) Simulacra The Watson-Scott Test Cicada 3301 (4chan puzzles) The Last of Us (gameplay) Passage Doki Doki Literature Club! Cuphead (gameplay) Gris (gameplay) World of Warcraft (gameplay) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Visual artist and poet José Faus, journalist C.J. Janovy, and writer Desideria Mesa, join host Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, to discuss Kansas City’s literary legacy and its future. The group focuses on new book ban legislation, as well a white homeowner’s recent shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl, who mistakenly knocked on his door. Mesa reflects on the Mexican boxcar community and how that history is still relevant and present in the city today. Faus talks about the Latino Writers Collective and The Kansas City Defender, two prominent Kansas City literary forces. Janovy discusses recent legislation restricting the rights of transgender people in Kansas and Missouri and a vote by the Missouri House of Representatives to defund libraries. Each author reads a short section of their work.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 Rachel Layton and Anne Kniggendorf.José Faus The Life and Times of José Calderon “This Town Like That” C.J. JanovyNo Place Like HomeDesideria MesaBindle Punk BrujaOthers: Unbound Book Festival Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 5 Episode 12 - Intimate Contact: Garth Greenwell on Book Bans and Writing About Sex Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 5 Episode 13 - Censoring the American Canon: Farah Jasmine Griffin on Book Bans Targeting Black Writers “In Kansas City, Wrong Door Shooting Reopens Questions About Racism” - New York Times “Missouri House Republicans Want to Defund Libraries. Here’s Why” - PBS News Hour Latino Writers Collective Dan Jaffe Sharat Chandra Michelle Boisseau David Ray Ernest Hemingway Langston Hughes Gordon Parks Gwendolyn Brooks William Stafford Evan Connell Glenn North Hadara Bar-Nadav Anne Boyer The Kansas City Star Calvin Trillin The Kansas City Defender Emanuel Cleaver II Quinton Lucas Richard L. Berkeley Kansas City (Movie) Jay McShann William (Count) Basie Bennie Moten Charlie Parker Strawberry Hill “ACLU Sues Missouri Over Book Ban Law that Pushed School Libraries to Remove Hundreds of Titles” - KCUR “Racism and Fascism” by Toni Morrison “Kansas Bans Transgender Athletes from Women’s, Girls’ Sports” - Associated Press Westboro Baptist Church “Caitlyn Jenner: The Full Story” - Vanity Fair “Local Organizations Promote Understanding of Transgender Residents with Billboard” - The Collegian, Kansas State University Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, Romantic Comedy, which begins behind the scenes at a television show similar to Saturday Night Live, where a female comedy writer is gobsmacked that her schlubby straight male co-workers keep dating famous women seemingly out of their league. Sittenfeld discusses dating up, women in the workplace, and the similarities between SNL and the Iowa Writers Workshop. Sittenfeld and Ganeshananthan crack up while reading from Romantic Comedy, and Sittenfeld discusses the surprising turn in her heroine’s love life, the complications of writing sex scenes, and how she dealt with the pressure to be funny when describing comedians. 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 Ryan Reed and Anne Kniggendorf.Curtis Sittenfeld Romantic Comedy Rodham Eligible American Wife “Gender Studies,” from The New Yorker Others: Live from New York by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller Bossypants by Tina Fey Pete Davidson on Marc Maron's WTF Podcast Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen David Spade on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend Podcast How to Write a Sketch for SNL from the Working it Out Podcast Saturday Night: Documentary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fiction writer Jeff Boyd joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his debut novel, The Weight, a coming-of-age story about a young Black musician who struggles with romance, religion, and racism in predominantly white Portland. Boyd talks about his personal struggles with and admiration of faith, the difficulties of developing an identity, and his own experiences as a Black man living in Oregon. He reflects on the dynamics of bands, as well as his protagonist’s romantic relationships and ability to forgive. He reads an excerpt from the book. 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.Jeff BoydThe WeightOthers: Ghostbusters (1984) Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin In the Soup: Sean McDonald and Monica West on Publishing During, and After, a Pandemic Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 4, Episode 18 Revival Season by Monica West The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin “On Becoming an American Writer,” by James Alan McPherson from The Washington Post Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 20: “Remembering an American Writer: Anthony Walton on James Alan McPherson’s Essays and Legacy”  “A Region Not Home: Reflections From Exile,” by James Alan McPherson from Publisher’s Weekly Ralph Ellison Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Black Lives Matter The King of Kings County by Whitney Terrell “In 2021, 10 Hate Groups were Tracked in Oregon,” from the Southern Poverty Law Center  “Why Iowa Has Become Such a Heartbreaker for Democrats,” by Trip Gabriel from the New York Times Mutual Musicians Foundation Portlandia (2011-2018) “The Geometry of Love,” by John Cheever from Journal of Humanistic Mathematics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer Dina Nayeri joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new nonfiction book, Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn’t Enough, an examination of whose narratives are considered trustworthy and why, with a focus on refugees and asylum seekers. Nayeri, who was born in Iran and granted asylum to the U.S. when she was 10, talks about the case of a Sri Lankan Tamil man who sought asylum in the U.K. in 2011, and how British officials failed to believe his story of torture. She also describes her childhood feeling of performing a role in her new American home, as well as the origins of her own skepticism—and how a personal tragedy led her to reassess how much she could trust even herself. She reads from her new book.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 Thomas White and Anne Kniggendorf.Dina Nayeri Who Gets Believed The Ungrateful Refugee Refuge A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea Others: The Iranian Revolution at 40: Jasmin Darznik and Dina Nayeri On the Anniversary of the Republic Fiction/Non/Fiction Podcast The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka  Freedom from Torture Innocence Project Fiction/Non/Fiction, Season 1 Episode 23: Jasmin Darznik and Dina Nayeri on the 40th Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Will Sommer joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his new book Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America, a history of the rise of the cultish right-wing group. Sommer, a reporter for The Daily Beast, has covered QAnon since its inception and explains its origins, what—and who—drives it now, and how he handles interviewing people who believe the world is controlled by a satanic cabal of celebrity pedophiles. He also reads an excerpt from the book.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.Will Sommer Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America “Fever Dreams” (The Daily Beast) Others: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson “What is QAnon, the Viral, Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theory?” by Kevin Roose Thomas Pynchon George Soros T.S. Eliot The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Ezra Pound Wallace Stevens Q by Luther Blissett Bhagavad Gita Wu Ming Foundation “Who is Behind QAnon? Linguistic Detectives Find Fingerprints” by David D. Kirkpatrick Clerks Army of Darkness Franklin Leonard Slumdog Millionaire Ron Paul “The only guide to Gamergate you’ll ever need to read,” by Caitlin Dewey, The Washington Post David A. Fahrenthold at The Washington Post; David A. Fahrenthold at The New York Times Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fiction writer Victor LaValle joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his new novel Lone Women, which tells the suspenseful story of Adelaide Henry, a Black woman with a mysterious trunk who heads from California to Montana to become a solo homesteader in 1915. LaValle talks about the inspiration for the novel’s incendiary opening, how the story merges horror and history, and Adelaide’s unconventional baggage. He also reflects on the tradition of lone women homesteaders, considers the eclectic cast of characters that Adelaide meets, and reads an excerpt of the novel. 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 Rachel Layton and Anne Kniggendorf.Victor LaValle The Changeling The Ballad of Black Tom Eve Big Machine The Devil in Silver Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 3 Episode 3: “Creepy Stories (and More) from Victor LaValle and Benjamin Percy” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1 Episode 15: “Emily Raboteau and Omar El Akkad Tell a Different Kind of Climate Change Story” Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One’s Own by Sarah Carter The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older Mattie T. Cramer The Bear Paw Mountaineer The Color Purple (film) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prize-winning Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his new book A Stranger in Your Own City, which features Iraqi perspectives on the United States’ invasion and occupation of Iraq. Abdul-Ahad talks about what Western media missed and also considers the early stages of the war and how resentment built over time. He reflects on the fall of Saddam Hussein, the ensuing Iraqi civil conflict, Western misconceptions of the country, and how the U.S. occupation planted the seeds of the Islamic State. 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 Ryan Reed.Selected readings:Ghath Abdul-Ahad A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East’s Long War Unembedded: Four Photojournalists on the Iraq War “Baghdad Memories: what the first months of U.S. occupation felt like to an Iraqi” The Guardian The Battle for Syria, FRONTLINE (documentary) Others Hans Fallada “Bullshit Saviors: Helen Benedict and Nadia Hashimi on Depictions of the American Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 4, Episode 26  “The Legacy of ISIS: Dunya Mikhail on Yazidi Women Captives in Iraq,” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 12  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fiction writers Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the newly published essay collection Letters to a Writer of Color, which they co-edited. The book features 17 pieces by authors of color from all over the world reflecting on aspects of craft and the writing life. Anappara and Soomro talk about how experiences in their MFA program led them to collaborate on the book. Contributors include Kiese Laymon on the second person, Ingrid Rojas Contreras on trauma, Myriam Gurba on art and activism, Sharlene Teo on reception and resilience, Amitava Kumar on authenticity, Mohammed Hanif on political fiction, and Femi Kayode on crime fiction. Soomro reads from his essay about origin stories and Anappara reads from her essay on the ideal conditions for writing. They also discuss other themes in the book: isolation in the writing world, non-Western storytelling, questions of translation, ongoing violence against people of color, and literature as a mode of social education. 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.Selected Readings: Letters to a Writer of Color, co-edited by Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro Deepa Anappara Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line  Journalism Short Fiction Taymour Soomro Other Names for Love “Philosophy of the Foot” in The New Yorker Essays and stories Others Ninth Letter The Southern Review Eleanor Ferrante Monica Ali Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5 Episode 35: The Fall of Boris Johnson: Margot Livesey on British Politics, the Brexit Blunder, and the Prime Minister’s Lies Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy  Madeleine Thien  Amitava Kumar Tahmima Anam Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5 Episode 6: Nadifa Mohamed on Writing the Convoluted Terrains of Immigration Leila Aboulela Graham Greene  Flannery O’Connor  Myriam Gurba American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins “On ‘Oprah’s Book Club,’ ‘American Dirt’ Author Faces Criticism” by Concepción de León - New York Times (2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acclaimed fiction writer Ann Beattie joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her recent LitHub essay about Donald Barthelme’s short story “The Balloon” and the Chinese spy balloon. She also talks about her recently published first collection of essays, More to Say: Essays and Appreciations, in which she writes about the work of authors, photographers, and artists she admires, including Elmore Leonard, Sally Mann, John Loengard, and her own husband, visual artist Lincoln Perry. Beattie explains why as a nonfiction writer, she prefers close looking and reading; considers defamiliarization in the hands of Barthelme and Alice Munro; analyzes former visual artist John Updike’s depiction of the natural world; and reflects on developing increased comfort with writing about visual art. She also reads excerpts from both her LitHub piece and the essay collection.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 podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.Selected Readings:Ann Beattie More to Say (Moon Palace Books) More to Say (Godine) The State We’re In (Moon Palace Books) “Richard Rew's Sculpture,” by Ann Beattie | The New Yorker “John Updike’s Sense of Wonder,” by Ann Beattie “Ann Beattie Wonders What Donald Barthelme Would Have Made of the Spy Balloon” | Literary Hub  Others: “The Balloon,” by Donald Barthelme | The New Yorker  “On Not Knowing,” Not-Knowing, by Donald Barthelme “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage,” by Alice Munro “Couples,” by John Updike “Spring Rain,” by John Updike | The New Yorker “As I See It,” by John Loengard (ThriftBooks) “The Runaways,” by Elizabeth Spencer | Narrative Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices