fiction/non/fiction

ProPublica reporter Joshua Kaplan joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his recent article on militia group American Patriots Three Percent, or AP3. Kaplan talks about group founder Scot Seddon, a former Army reservist, and how he created a movement whose members number gun control and the “LGBTQ agenda” among their grievances. Kaplan also reflects on AP3’s ties to law enforcement, the military, and elected officials, as well as their calculated attempts to brand themselves. He considers the recent history of militias in the U.S., including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and explains how that led to a loss of momentum for the movement, the subsequent rise of recruiting via Facebook, and the environment that allowed for the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Finally, he reflects on how Donald Trump fans the flames of extremist groups like AP3. Kaplan reads from his article.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.Joshua Kaplan"Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia"Others: Oklahoma City Bombing “Trump to Host ‘The J6 Awards Gala’ at His Bedminster Golf Club” by Owen Lavine | The Daily Beast BlacKkKlansman Mad Max Keith Kidwell Oath Keepers Southern Poverty Law Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following Elon Musk’s estranged daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson’s accusations of unethical behavior on the part of Musk’s authorized biographer, memoirist Kelly McMasters and biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about the ethics of biography. Dunkle, the author of Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb, talks about using archives to restore the history of Babb, the writer whose notes John Steinbeck used to research The Grapes of Wrath, and how women’s lives are often wrongly or incompletely depicted. McMasters, a memoirist whose recent book The Leaving Season: A Memoir portrays many people close to her, talks about the impossibility of writing honestly about her life without including her children, the two people with whom she spends the most time. Dunkle and McMasters discuss Wilson’s accusations against Walter Isaacson, whom she says did not directly contact her for comment for his recent book about her father, although much of his book refers to her life. The group also discusses recent revelations that Alice Munro failed to act when she learned that her second husband had abused her daughter, and how authorized biographies often omit full accounts of the truth. Dunkle and McMasters 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 Anne Kniggendorf.Iris Jamahl Dunkle  Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb  West: Fire: Archive Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer Finding Lost Voices | Substack Kelly McMasters The Leaving Season: A Memoir Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir From and Atomic Town This Is the Place: Women Writing About Home “The Ethics of Writing Hard Things in Family Memoir,” Literary Hub Others: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson “Musk’s Daughter Flames Dad’s Biographer: ‘You Threw Me to the Wolves’” by Dan Ladden-Hall | Daily Beast J.D. Salinger The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck “What do we Know about Alice Munro Now?” by Contance Grady | Vox La Belle Noiseuse The Hyacinth Girl: T.S. Eliot’s Hidden Muse by Lyndall Gordon Loving Sylvia Plath: A Reclamation by Emily Van Duyne Jackson Pollock “What Virginia Woolf’s ‘Dreadnought Hoax’ Tells Us About Ourselves” by Danell Jones | January 25, 2024 | Literary Hub Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 19: “The Lives of the Wives: Carmela Ciuraru on Marriage, Writing, and Equity” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Novelist Francine Prose joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new book, 1974: A Personal History. Prose talks about her relationship with Tony Russo, who in collaboration with Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, a whistleblowing act which revealed decades of government lies about U.S. involvement in Vietnam; how the politics and progressive activism of today compare to those of half a century ago; and why that year was politically pivotal. She also reflects on how in 1974, the idea of government dishonesty was shocking, whereas today it’s a given. Prose reads 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 Anne Kniggendorf.Francine Prose 1974: A Personal History A Changed Man Blue Angel Anne Frank: the Book, The Life, the Afterlife Others: The Heritage Foundation The Sixties: Big Ideas, Small Books by Jenny Diski Opus Dei J.D. Vance Patty Hearst RAND Corporation Daniel Ellsberg Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 46: “Samuel G. Freedman on What Hubert Humphrey’s Fight for Civil Rights Can Teach Us Today” Ground Truth | NPR Journey to Italy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Cato Institute Pentagon Papers Espionage Act Comstock Act Wag the Dog Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marine biologist Jasmin Graham joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new book, Sharks Don’t Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist, which is about the beauty and diversity of sharks and her career studying them inside and outside of academia. Graham, who left a doctoral program and subsequently founded the community-based organization Minorities in Shark Science to make the field more accessible and inclusive, unpacks how Jaws-inspired fears about sharks fail to understand the species. She also talks about seeing similarities in how sharks and Black people are misrepresented, misunderstood, brutalized, and threatened. Graham reads from Sharks Don’t Sink.  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.Jasmin Graham  Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist “How Japanese-American Scientist Eugenie Clark Spearheaded the Study of Sharks” | Literary Hub Others: "50 Years Ago, ‘Jaws’ Hit Bookstores, Capturing the Angst of a Generation" by Brian Raftery | The New York Times  Opinion | "What is Trump’s shark story really about?" by Eugene Robinson | The Washington Post  Opinion | "What is going on inside Trump’s mind?" by Eugene Robinson | The Washington Post Jaws by Peter Benchley  Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane  Finding Nemo Shark Tale Shark Week SharkFest Apocalypse Now Anthony Swofford Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 25: "Ivy Pochoda on Caitlin Clark and Women Athletes” Nyad “Donald Trump Mocked Over 'Bizarre Rant' About Sharks” | video | Newsweek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Romance novelists Elle Everhart and Ellie Palmer join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about the genre’s increasing popularity. Everhart, the London-based author of the new book Hot Summer, featuring a protagonist who joins the cast of a reality show only to realize she’s interested in a fellow contestant, discusses coming to romance writing as a fourth grader fascinated by kissing, and wonders why as sales boom, the U.S.—but not the U.K.—is seeing more romance-specific bookstores. Palmer, the author of the new book Four Weekends and a Funeral, whose main character is a carrier of the BRCA1 mutation, recalls falling in love with the genre as she prepared for her own preventative double mastectomy. She reflects on how the genre’s structure promises positive endings for those who need them at challenging moments, and how the language of romance gave her a way to think about her own body and sexuality. Everhart reads from Hot Summer and Palmer reads from Four Weekends and a Funeral. 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.Elle Everhart Hot Summer Wanderlust Ellie PalmerFour Weekends and a FuneralOthers "9 New Books We Recommend This Week" | May 4, 2023 | The New York Times  "Hot and Bothered: Four New Romance Novels" by Olivia Waite | August 7, 2020 | The New York Times Nora Ephron Nancy Meyers Mhairi McFarlane Beth O'Leary Talia Hibbert Bolu Babalola “A Romance Bookstore Boom” by Olivia Waite | The New York Times “Emily Henry is Proud to be Called a Romance Writer” by | The New York Times Olivia Waite Jodi Picoult Love Island Tropes & Trifles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Daily News columnist Harry Siegel joins co-host V.V. Ganeshananthan and guest co-host Matt Gallagher to talk about his recent piece about the Supreme Court’s decision to permit what he has dubbed “after-the-fact bribery.” Siegel, who has covered corruption for years, explains how the legality of accepting gratuities, tips, and gifts has become so nuanced that it’s now almost impossible to prosecute a politician who’s been bought off, and details why the newest version of the law is “fundamentally incoherent.” Siegel also talks about the language, literature, and history around ducking the rules, including the origin of the word “scofflaw,” and reads from a recent New York Daily News article.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.Harry Siegel “Supreme Court Legalizes After-the-Fact Bribery” New York Daily News | June 6, 2024 “Scofflaw Trump is a Defaming Menace to America” New York Daily News | January 27, 2024 The muckrackers and the gunslingers: What’s in the balance as the Supreme Court gets ready to take up a legal challenge to New York’s tough firearm laws” New York Daily News | February 1, 2019 Others: “English, loanword champion of the world” by Britt Peterson | The Boston Globe | June 29, 2014        Breaking Bad The Sopranos      Succession Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravations by Amman Shea Thomas Malthus Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis e.e. cummings Krazy Kat by George Harriman Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren The Last Hurrah by Edwin O’Connor Democracy by Joan Didion Democracy and American Novel by Henry Brooks Adams Primary Colors by Joe Klein Plunkitt of Tammany Hall by William R. Riordon The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan The Man in the Arena: Selected Writings of Theodore Roosevelt: A Reader by Theodore Roosevelt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Novelist Sally Franson and critic Emily Nussbaum join host V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about reality television. Franson, a recent reality TV show winner whose new novel, Big in Sweden, is from the point of view of a woman who joins the cast of a program in that country, reflects on transforming her real-life experience into fiction. Nussbaum, a staff writer at The New Yorker whose new nonfiction book, Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV, addresses the history of what she calls the “dirty documentary” genre, discusses the hundreds of interviews she conducted with reality show staff, as well as the form’s surprisingly early origins and the influence of The Apprentice on national politics. Nussbaum and Franson trade notes on how the relationships between people on camera and people behind the camera influence edited footage; the way race was and is handled on reality television; and what it’s like to be a contestant or producer. They also talk about poor labor conditions on sets and what that means to the genre. They 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 Anne Kniggendorf.Sally Franson  Big in Sweden A Lady's Guide to Selling Out Emily Nussbaum Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution “Is “Love Is Blind” a Toxic Workplace?” | The New Yorker Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 26: “Sally Franson on Fashion and Literature” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 33: “The Stakes of the Writers’ Strike: Benjamin Percy on the WGA Walkout, Streaming, and the Survival of Screenwriting” Allt för Sverige Big Brother The Real World Survivor Love is Blind An American Family The Amazing Race Heartburn by Nora Ephron Nora Ephron Carl Bernstein Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of the recent Trump-Biden debate, public relations operative Phil Elwood joins co-host V.V. Ganeshananthan and guest co-host Matt Gallagher to talk about his career spinning stories in favor of infamous international leaders. Elwood, whose clients previously included figures like Libya’s Gaddafi family and Syria’s al-Assads, recalls his strangest assignments, his biggest regret—helping Qatar to secure soccer’s World Cup—and his proudest accomplishments, including spotlighting the mental health treatment that has helped him. He reflects on how his career shifted when he was swept up in then-FBI Director Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and also explains tactics such as “detonating the bomb in a safe location,” which means giving an unavoidable, damaging story to a second-tier publication so that the “hit isn’t so bad.” Elwood reads from his new book, All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians.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.Phil ElwoodAll the Worst Humans: How I Made New for Dictators, Tycoons, and PoliticiansOthers: “Sri Lanka, Lobbyists and War Crimes” by Ken Silverstein | Harper’s Magazine | October 23, 2009 “Gunner Palace,” by Peter Travers | Rolling Stone | February 24, 2005 “Nothing seemed to treat their depression. Then they tried ketamine,” by Meryl Kornfield | The Washington Post | September 12, 2022 John Grisham Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election by Robert Mueller | U.S. Department of Justice | March 2019 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Literary Hub observes July 4, we return to our archives for a 2017 episode that remains relevant today. We will return with a new episode July 11.In episode 6, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell talk political betrayal past and present with novelist Jess Walter and poet Kiki Petrosino. Jess Walter once interviewed an ailing Mark Felt, aka "Deep Throat" of Watergate fame, and he gives us the skinny on the literary qualities of Nixon, Trump, Flynn, NY mobsters, and his 2005 novel Citizen Vince. Plus, would John Gotti have liked the president? On the eve of the release of her new book, Witch Wife, Kiki Petrosino talks to us about MacBeth's witches and how Shakespeare can help us decode our current age of political skulduggery. What Trump Administration officials would you cast in Macbeth? Readings: All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward; Citizen Vince by Jess Walter; Witch Wife by Kiki Petrosino; The Tragedy of Macbeth; The Tempest; The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.In the Stacks: J.J. Cantrell interviews Annie Philbrick of Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT and Savoy Bookshop & Cafe in Westerly, Rhode Island. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Novelist Maxim Loskutoff joins co-host V.V. Ganeshananthan and guest co-host Matt Gallagher to talk about his new novel, Old King, which is about Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, who moved to Montana to withdraw from society. Loskutoff, who grew up in Missoula, Montana, discusses the mythology that draws men like Kaczynski—who sought to be in nature, and to avoid technology and other people—to his home state; the gap between the imaginary American West and its reality; and how these connect to American settler colonialism. He also explains how he positioned the Kaczynski of his novel not as a hero or even an antihero, but as a symbol of this dark and unhealed facet of American society. Loskutoff reads from Old King.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.Maxim Loskutoff Old King Ruthie Fear Come West and See Opinion | The Unabomber and the Poisoned Dream of the American West - The New York Times Others William Kittredge Richard Hugo  Lewis and Clark  Billy the Kid  Jack Kerouac  “The Story of Jack and Neal: the friendship that made On the Road—and the Beat Generation—possible” by James Parker, The Atlantic, March 11, 2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices