The Back of the Book

Writer Lionel Shriver joins Chris to discuss her provocative new novel, A Better Life. They touch on the novel’s relation to Lionel’s broader thematic interests, the challenges of navigating political controversy in literature, and the worrying decline of literacy and readership.

 Show notes: 
Lionel's new novel, A Better Life
Lionel on cultural appropriation
Lionel on American Dirt
Time stamps:
 
3:15 – A Better Life
17:29 – Gen Z and the population apocalypse
26:08 – Political controversy, literary representation, and the “vibe shift”
40:41 – The decline of reading & the case for literature

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Produced by Sean Doolan.

Sunil Iyengar, editor of an outstanding new poetry anthology, joins the podcast to discuss all things narrative verse: its origins, its virtues, and its place in contemporary poetry. He and Chris also take turns reading some memorable narrative poems, including some of their own.

 Show notes:
Sunil's new anthology, The Colosseum Book of Contemporary Narrative Verse
Andy Ferguson on John McCain and Robert Service's “The Cremation of Sam McGee"
Sunil's poem “The Omission” (New Verse Review)
Chris's poem “Singing Along to Billy Joel at My Roommate’s First Wedding” (New Verse Review) 
Time stamps:
5:00 – Why narrative poetry?
17:09 – The Colosseum Book of Contemporary Narrative Verse
36:05 – Memorable narrative poems
57:06 – Poems by Sunil and Chris

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Produced by Sean Doolan.

Literary critic Brooke Allen drops by to talk about her new essay collection, Good Bones: Glorious Relics from the Age of Reading. She and Chris also discuss Brooke’s idiosyncratic career path (including her time writing for Divorce Court), the emergence of a post-literate culture, and the future of criticism.

Show notes:
Brooke’s new collection, Good Bones
Brooke’s New Yorker essay on Bennington's Prison Education Initiative
Brooke’s essays for The New Criterion
Adam Kirsch on the decline of book reviews
David Brent (Ricky Gervais) analyzes the poetry of Sir John Betjeman
Time stamps:
1:58 – Good bones: Updike, Betjeman, Nash, and Hunt
26:02 – The art of the literary biography
32:20 – Brooke’s career
40:23 – “Post-literacy” & the future of criticism

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Produced by Sean Doolan

Joseph Loconte drops by to talk about his new book, The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945. He and Chris discuss the friendship between Tolkien and Lewis, the impact of both world wars on their literary lives, and how they influenced each other's most celebrated works.

Show notes:
Joseph's new book, The War for Middle-earth
The Rivendell Center
Learn more about J.R.R. Tolkien
Learn more about C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters

Time stamps:

1:48 – A "beachhead of resistance" against Modernism
19:58 – The Inklings amid the gathering storm
34:52 – World War II, Mere Christianity, and the Lord of the Rings
59:04 – Friendship and the Rivendell Center

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Produced by Sean Doolan.

Poet and critic James Matthew Wilson drops by to share a few poems, discuss his writing process, and consider the re-emergence of form in contemporary poetry. Chris and James also discuss efforts to foster literary excellence in the culture more broadly. The episode includes its federally mandated Seinfeld reference, but this time it’s James who brings it up.

Show notes: ·        
James’s most recent poetry collection, Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds      
The Colosseum Institute       
University of St. Thomas’s MFA program         
“Quarantine Notebook” – Part XI         
Adrienne Rich reads “At a Bach Concert”

Time stamps: 
4:11 – Formalism and narrative poetry
18:17 – Publishers, literary journals, and MFA programs
29:06 – Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds
43:05 – “Quarantine Notebook”

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist. 

Produced by Sean Doolan.