Otherppl with Brad Listi

Colin Winnette is the guest. His new novel, Haints Stay, is available now from Two Dollar Radio. Had a great time talking with Colin. He came over and sat down across from me and we got into all kinds of things, among them drugs, which seems to be a recurring topic of conversation on the podcast. I'm confused, I suppose, about drugs, which would explain the interest/recurrence, and in today's monologue I talk about that confusion. What to make of drugs, finally? Good? Bad? Useful? Therapeutic? Spiritual? All of the above? Hallucinogens in particular seem to present real value and possibility. But of course there are the downsides. It's hard as a parent who wants to be an honest broker to know precisely how to feel and communicate about these things. So maybe the podcast is functioning as a kind of dress rehearsal. Eventually I'll figure out my lines, and then when my kids are, like, fifteen, I'll attempt to deliver them and my kids, in keeping with tradition, will ignore me. Anyway. A good talk with Colin Winnette. His novel, Haints Stay, is out there now from Two Dollar Radio.  Go get it. Oh—I also read some mail in the monologue. Haven't done that in a bit. Thanks, as always, for the letters. If you wanna send word, the address is letters [at] otherppl [dot] com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate Durbin is the guest. She is a writer, curator, and performance artist whose books include The Ravenous Audience and E! Entertainment. Kate also happens to be a huge fan of Disneyland.  We talk about that.  She grew up in Southern California.  Loves it.  Is unapologetic about loving it.  We talk about that, too.  What else?  We talk about our shared love of Gwen Stefani.  We talk about religion, family stuff, love, marriage, divorce.  We get into things. Monologue topics: airplanes.  Mostly I talk about my trip to Louisiana and my return flight home and I try to build a morality tale out of something that happened in the lavatory.  It's unnecessary.  Enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amelia Gray is the guest. Her short story collection Gutshot is available now from FSG Originals. Gutshot is the official May selection of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club. What does it mean to be a working writer? What do you say when The New Yorker sends you an email? In this interview with Amelia Gray, we'll talk work, life, anxiety, and the strange worlds of Gray's short fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sean H. Doyle is the guest. His new memoir is called This Must Be The Place, available now from Civil Coping Mechanisms. The Chicago Tribune says “Memoir depends on its teller for empathy and insight into its subject’s character. Angry, obliterated, yet, by turns, mournful and self-aware, Doyle lays himself bare. But he manages to do so without eliciting pity or scorn. In others’ hands, similar material — drug abuse, desperate sex, violence, suicidal thoughts — have often resulted in wallowing or descriptions of depravity for depravity’s sake. It is a testament to Doyle’s clear examination and probing of his past that when he drops us into one charged situation after another we neither sink nor are incredulous at the messes he finds himself in. His spare words rescue us from despair, while still communicating the profound pain of just being alive with pinprick precision.” And Juliet Escoria says “Reading This Must Be The Place is like getting mugged, and then once the mugger takes your wallet, they push you on the ground. And then once you’re on the ground, they kick you in the stomach, over and over and over again. And then when you think they’ve finally decided to leave you alone, they kick you once more in the teeth. The only difference is that when Sean H. Doyle is mugging you, the experience is cleansing, invigorating, something that tests your heart but also makes it glow, an experience you don’t want to ever stop. Otherwise, they’re basically identical.” Monologue topics: pregnancy update, David Letterman, Indiana, canoes, my dorm room, the elevated couch, retirement, going out on your own terms     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Tomlinson is the guest. Her new memoir, Good Girl, is available now from Gallery Books.  Jill Soloway says "Good Girl is a father-daughter story unlike any other I’ve read before. Tomlinson’s prose is vivid and compelling, bringing you right along with her as she travels from her rural hometown to the big city in search of fulfillment, clarity, and—hopefully—a sense of peace in her relationship with the man who made her who she is." And Edan Lepucki calls it "A forthright, sensitive, and compelling memoir about one woman's often fraught relationship with her father. I read it in a day and felt mournful when it was over. Tomlinson is a clear-eyed yet compassionate writer, and the emotional rigor that she brings to this book is both rare and beautiful." Monologue topics: Chicago, houseguests, broken bones, closed door paranoia.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Janaka Stucky is the guest. His new poetry collection, The Truth is We Are Perfect, is available now from Third Man Books. Bill Knott says "Stucky’s verse has the power of the best East European poets—some of his poems seem to be perfect, magnificent, and instantly anthologizable. He is a forceful, cogent, incisive phrase-maker." And Phantasmaphile says "Stucky has catapulted into the firmament of my favorite ecstatic writers alongside Diane di Prima, Bill Callahan, Hafiz, e.e. cummings, and Larkin Grimm." Monologue topics: LA Weekly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cate Dicharry is the guest. Her debut novel, The Fine Art of Fucking Up, is now available from Unnamed Press. Kirkus Reviews calls it "Funny and charmingly ridiculous."   And Jill Alexander Essbaum says   "Cate Dicharry’s comic timing is unimpeachable and though her characters are idiosyncratic and quirky, they are deeply dimensional and exceptionally real. A richly complicated and rewarding novel."   Monologue topics: Person of 2015, LA Weekly, my mom, mail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erika Krouse is the guest. Her new novel, Contenders, is available now from Rare Bird Books. It is the official April pick of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club. Bookslut says "Krouse...writes with a pulse-pounding and engaging ferocity that grabs at the reader...Contenders is heart-racingly original." And Steve Almond says "Contenders is a knockout! I've never read anything like it. The marvelous Erika Krouse has crafted one of the most unforgettable heroines in modern fiction. Nina Black is not the kind of woman you'd want to meet in a dark alley. But she's precisely the kind of character I always hope to encounter in fiction: a badass streetfighter forced by fate to confront her capacity for maternal tenderness, her need for love, and the anguished contents of her heart." Monologue topics: San Diego, roadtrips, carsickness, wipes, fatherhood, going to see a bluegrass band, catching up, the antisocial nature of live music.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heidi Pitlor is the guest. She is the editor of the Best American Short Stories anthologies and the author of the new novel The Daylight Marriage, available now from Algonquin Books. Stephen King calls it "Hypnotically readable--I absolutely couldn't put it down. The structure is brilliant, and I turned the pages with increasing dread. This book is terrific.” And Booklist, in a starred review, says “Pitlor brings forth the emotions that surge beneath the surface with the precision and power of a conductor . . . This powerful analysis of how dreams become nightmares will make readers want to hold their loved ones close.” Monologue topics: iTunes rating, pregnancy update, Dustin Hoffman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Nicole Prickett is the guest. She is the founder of Adult magazine and a contributing editor at The New Inquiry. Monologue topics: Ex Machina, artificial intelligence, hiking, nature, mountain lions.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices