fiction/non/fiction

Writer Jennifer Maritza McCauley joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to analyze the fallout from Tony Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of garbage” comment at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. McCauley—whose mother is Puerto Rican—discusses the island’s history and her communities’ reactions. McCauley reads her mother’s self-assured response to Hinchcliffe’s racism and reflects on the country’s distinctive mix of African, Spanish, and Indigenous populations. She also discusses the rights Puerto Ricans have and are denied, given their unusual status as U.S. citizens of a territory rather than a state. She reads from the title story of her collection, When Trying to Return Home, which includes many depictions of Puerto Rican identity.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.Jennifer Maritza McCauley Kinds of Grace When Trying to Return Home Scar On/Scar Off Others: "Pennsylvania: anger among Puerto Ricans in key swing state after racist remarks" by José Olivares | The Guardian Tony Hinchcliffe “Trump’s Derision of Haitians Goes Back Years” by Michael D. Shear | The New York Times Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 52: “Myriam J.A. Chancy on Haitian American Communities” “Donald Trump is the First White President” by Ta-Nehisi Coates | The Atlantic | October 2017 Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton The Jones Act  “Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny, and Racism” by Shane Goldmacher, Maggie Haberman and Michael Gold | The New York Times X: “Bigot Coachella” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the lead-up to the presidential election, novelist Jess Walter returns to the show to revisit his previous comments about former president Donald Trump. Walter joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss Trump’s dangerous decisions and inflammatory rhetoric, as well as how reactions to him have changed since 2016. Walter talks about former Trump cronies who have abandoned the candidate and endorsed Kamala Harris, and reflects on the inaction that has made it possible for Trump, a felon, to run for the presidency once more. He hazards a prediction about the election results, and reads from his short story “Town and Country,” which appeared in his recent story collection Angel of Rome. 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.Jess Walter The Angel of Rome and Other Stories  The Cold Millions Beautiful Ruins Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1 Episode 6: "All the President's Shakespeare: Jess Walter and Kiki Petrosino"  Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 4 Episode 4: “Life After Trump: Jess Walter and Jerald Walker on the Aftermath of Election 2020” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 8 Episode 2: “Jeff Sharlet on ‘Sanewashing’ and Fascism” Anderson Cooper interviews Kamala Harris | CNN | October 24, 2024 The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party by Michael Tackett Liz Cheney Lindsey Graham Shark Tank Hopium Chronicles by Simon Rosenberg Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7 Episode 50: “Thomas Frank on How the Harris-Walz Ticket Can Win Red State Voters”  Veep Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, novelist Stephen Markley joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his novel The Deluge, which predicts and depicts the impact of climate change over the next couple of decades. Markley talks about researching and portraying the scale of catastrophic climate events, the role of the markets and other financial considerations in pushing world leaders to take the issue seriously, and which character in his novel was previously Kamala Harris. Markely also reflects on how in revision, he repeatedly had to scale up his fictional disasters to keep them ahead of actual events, the uncanny experience of forecasting disasters like Helene, and the movement leaders—including Bill McKibben, Al Gore, and James Hansen—he felt compelled to include in his novel. Markley reads from The Deluge.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 and Cheni Thein.Stephen Markley The Deluge  Ohio Only Murders in the Building Others: Matthew Salesses on the Possibilities of Climate Fiction | Literary Hub 1984 by George Orwell Ali Zaidi Weather Underground Climate Defiance The End of Nature by Bill McKibben The Stand by Stephen King The Inflation Reduction Act The Green New Deal  “Helene, Milton losses expected to surpass ‘truly historic’ $50 billion each”  - CBS News “Beyond Helene: Hurricane death toll tops 300 lives, with month left in season” - USA Today Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 4 Episode 15: Workshop Politics: Matthew Salesses on Centering the Marginalized Writer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linguist, writer, and professor Anne Curzan joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how language is constantly changing—and how that’s okay. Curzan talks about how, in her work as an English language historian, she’s learned that people have always been critical of usage changes; Ben Franklin, for instance, didn’t care for colonize as a verb. But, Curzan explains, as much as “grammandos” bemoan the evolution of language, it can’t be stopped—singular “they,” “funnest,” and “very unique” are here to stay. Curzan reads from her book, Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Language.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.Anne Curzan Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words “‘They’ has been a singular pronoun for centuries. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong.” | October 21, 2021 | The Washington Post Others: Grammando Declaration of Independence Dreyer’s English: And Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White Fiction/Non/Fiction Season: One Episode, 12: “C. Riley Snorton and T Fleischmann Talk Gender, Freedom, and Transitivity” Antonin Scalia  Will Shortz Maxine Hong Kingston The American Heritage Dictionary Urban Dictionary Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nonfiction writer Jeff Sharlet joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how mainstream media outlets sanitize Donald Trump’s rhetoric in their reporting rather than straightforwardly describing his words and behavior, an approach recently dubbed “sanewashing” by The New Republic’s Parker Molloy. Sharlet analyzes the term’s usefulness and also its limitations; talks about the need to describe fascism using the word itself; and reflects on who is now at the center of political discourse and who is at the fringe. He also considers whether popular new media influencers like the MeidasTouch Network and YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen are really filling the need to describe Trump as he is. He reads from his book, The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War.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.Jeff Sharlet The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers Sweet Heaven When I Die C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power Others: "This genius website captures Trump’s weirdest debate quotes," by Grace Snelling | Fast Company Lenny Bruce The White Album by Joan Didion The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton Rick Perlstein Brian Tyler Cohen MeidasTouch Network Jeffrey Ruoff Susan Faludi Lane Kirkland Dietrich Bonhoeffer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the housing crisis worsens and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris makes lowering housing prices a key part of her agenda, nonfiction writer Lola Milholland joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her experience with communal living. With traditional single-family homes economically out of reach for many Americans, Milholland talks about the social and financial benefits of living with others, including shared cooking and meals. She cautions that living with roommates will not solve the housing crisis and talks about the need for widespread and systemic change. She reads from her book, Group Living and Other Recipes.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.Lola Milholland Group Living and Other Recipes Umi Organic Living With Roommates Is Sorely Underrated |TIME Can a $9 Lunch Cure Loneliness? | Oprah Daily Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 33: “Brandy Jensen on the Mainstreaming of Polyamory” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 29: “Jen Silverman on Generational Divides in American Politics” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 52: “Myriam J.A. Chancy on Haitian American Communities” Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard  Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard: “Home Prices Far Outpace Incomes” The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World by Lewis Hyde Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s racist smears against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, author Myriam J.A. Chancy joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about Haitian history and independence; imperialism in Haiti; immigration to and from Haiti; the positive and negative impacts social media has on Haitian communities; and how the current discourse obscures both Haitian past and present. Chancy reflects on the importance of translating Haitian literature into English, recommends the work of several other writers, and discusses the Expo of ’49, which brought people from around the world to Haiti. She reads a related scene from Village Weavers. 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.Myriam J.A. Chancy  Village Weavers  What Storm, What Thunder  Spirit of Haiti Harvesting Haiti Others: Cléanthe Desgraves Valcin  Yanick Lahens Marie-Célie Agnant Valérie Bah Lyonel Trouillot Gary Victor     Mackenzy Orcel  Kettly Mars    “'It just exploded': Springfield woman claims she never meant to spark false rumors about Haitians” by Alicia Victoria Lozano | NBC News “Opinion | Trump Knows What He’s Doing in Springfield. So Does Vance.” by Jamelle Bouie| The New York Times “Marianne Williamson Defends Donald Trump’s Bizarre Haitian Pet-Eating Conspiracy” by Liam Archacki| Daily Beast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Vice President Kamala Harris's historic campaign for the presidency enters its final weeks, writer Ellen Emerson White joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her prescient 1984 novel The President's Daughter, which imagines the first woman president’s campaign and early days in the White House from the point of view of her teenage daughter. White reminisces about beginning the YA book when she was still a teenager herself and notes the uncanny similarities between a fictional presidential debate that appears in the book and the recent Trump-Harris showdown. White reflects on the qualities her character Katharine Powers shares with Kamala White—notably, a “likable, elegant swagger”—as well as how Powers’s cool bearing contrasts with Harris’s reputation for warmth. She talks about hitting pause on her current writing project following Harris’s entrance into the race, and reads from The President’s Daughter.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.Ellen Emerson White “The President’s Daughter” series A Season of Daring Greatly Webster: Tale of an Outlaw “The Echo Company” series Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7 Episode 50: “Thomas Frank on How the Harris-Walz Ticket Can Win Red State Voters”  The Apprentice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political and cultural critic Thomas Frank joins host Whitney Terrell to discuss how Democrats and Republicans courted voters from the Midwest and South at their respective conventions. Frank gives reports from the floors of both the Republican and Democratic national conventions, which he attended. He analyzes the efforts that the Trump-Vance and Harris-Walz tickets have made to attract union and working class, “red state” votes. He also reads a passage from his famed 2004 book What’s the Matter with Kansas on the origin of the terms “red state” and “blue state” and discusses the surprising staying power, and fundamental absurdity, of these categories.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.Thomas Frank The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-populism What’s the Matter With Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism Others: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 3, episode 22: “The Unpopular Tale of Populism: Thomas Frank on the Real History of an American Mass Movement” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5, episode 31: “What Do Dems Do Now? Thomas Frank on How the Left Can Counter a Rogue Supreme Court” David Brooks John Podhoretz Blake Hurst Hulk Hogan Kid Rock Ted Cruz Tucker Carlson “Acid, amnesty - and abortion: 1972 and all that” by Michael Cross | Law Society Gazette | May 4, 2022  George McGovern George Wallace The New Deal Robert Reich Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nonfiction writer Alissa Quart joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how the American obsession with “bootstrap narratives” led to the publishing industry championing Hillbilly Elegy, the bestselling and problematic memoir by J.D. Vance, who was subsequently elected to the Senate and is now the Republican vice presidential nominee. Quart talks about Vance’s failure to credit those who have contributed to his success and reflects on both the fetishization of poverty and the importance of authentic representation. She also explains the long tradition of self-made man narratives and their underlying queer romantic elements, and compares Vance’s work to that of writers like Laura Ingalls Wilder and Horatio Alger. She critiques Vance’s recent remarks about childless and professional women and suggests the need for a more nuanced and expansive understanding of community. Quart talks about the nonprofit she leads, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and reads from her book, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream.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.Alissa Quart Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream Thoughts and Prayers  Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America  Monetized  Republic of Outsiders: The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers, and Rebels  Economic Hardship Reporting Project   "JD Vance is the Toxic Byproduct of America’s Obsession with Bootstrap Narratives" | Literary Hub Others: Laura Ingalls Wilder Horatio Alger Barbara Ehrenreich Dorothy Allison Elizabeth Catte Alex Miller Bobbi Dempsey Ann Larson Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 32: “The East Palestine Train Derailment and Your Health: Kerri Arsenault on the Pervasive and Ongoing Risks of Dioxin”  “‘Dangerous and un-American’: new recording of JD Vance’s dark vision of women and immigration” by Jason Wilson | The Guardian Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Going for Broke with Ray Suarez | The Nation Going for Broke | NPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices