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01-28-13 UPDATE: Podcast Update:Time to Read Episode 82: Tracy Kidder 'Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction'

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Here's the eighty-second episode of my new series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format. If you want to run them on your show or podcast, let me know.

My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.

The eighty-second episode is a look at Tracy Kidder, 'Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction'.

Here's a link to the MP3 audio file of Time to Read, Episode 82: Tracy Kidder 'Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction'.




01-23-13: Thomas Frank From The Easy Chair

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"...they should be running a much larger deficit..."

—Thomas Frank

For a young guy, Thomas Frank has been there so long that he's beyond déja vu. With books like 'What's the Matter with Kansas?,' 'The Wrecking Crew' and 'Pity the Billionaire' he has vivisected the rotting corpse of "politics as usual" so finely, so discretely, with such intelligence and style that he's quite frankly coming to an end-game.

It's always a pleasure to read his writing, and last month's entry in his column for Harper's Magazine, "Second Chance" is a great demonstration of how political prose can be elegant, beautiful to read and entertaining as well edgy and incendiary. Too often good prose is the first victim of strong political beliefs, but Thomas Frank always pays attention to the nuances of the language of those whose work he is examining.

Frank is also a great conversationalist, and I look forward to our conversations, which with some luck, I shall be able to keep on a monthly basis. This time around we talked about the prospect for Barack Obama's second term, and in particular, Frank's vision of what Obama hopes to accomplish. Do no expect a simple batch of happy hope, served up with a side dish of uncritical thinking. Expect instead the magnifying glass of history applied to the present day, in much the manner that boys with science sets focus the sun's rays on small bits of paper that they burn to a crispin.

The background to our current dilemma is, Frank says, a thirty-year shift to the hard right engineered by an increasingly ossified Republican party. And the unfortunate lesson that we have yet to learn is that what has not worked in the past is unlikely to work in the future. Frank and I discussed some of the economic myths that are currently being propagated to pacify those who would benefit most from them.

In 'Pity the Billionaire,' Frank make the point that those who brought about the financial crisis of 2008 that quite nearly plunged the world into an inescapable depression (and still might do so) have escaped blame for the actions that were only immoral and escaped punishment for the actions that were certainly illegal. Now those same people are suggesting an economic course that will be worse for most of us in the long run, while they profit handsomely in the near- and long-term.

All of this could be quite depressing without Frank's ever-engaging sense of humor. Frank is part political and cultural analyst and part standup comedian. Get ready to laugh until you cry, or the reverse, by following this link to the MP3 audio file.




01-21-13: A 2013 Interview with Jojo Moyes

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"...it would not have been true to his character..."

— Jojo Moyes

Not every interview takes place in a studio. I spoke with Jojo Moyes about her novel, 'Me Before You' in the "Alumni Room" at the Claremont Hotel in Oakland. When I heard the name, and the location, I envisioned an urban tower. What I drove up to was more like a mountain chalet.

Inside, the appointments of the hotel were beyond luxurious, which I found heartening. Moyes deserves the best for this novel, which is outstanding in every way, especially given that at first glance, it's not the sort of book I'd be inclined to read. But when I read about the author, and then read the book, I discovered that this was exactly the sort of book I'm inclined to read; well-written, compelling, page-turning and filled with the stuff of life.

I met Jojo Moyes in the enormous lobby for the Claremont, and we set up in the Alumni Room, which proved to be a meeting room with a table and chairs and glass doors just off the lobby. She told me she'd been ill; that two hours before she had no voice. But she sounded fine at the moment, and was game to talk. I really appreciated her energy, her willingness to sit down with me. I felt honored — and glad that I'd brought the bottled water. I set up the recorder, broke out the water, and we sat down to talk about her book.

Given my review, I trust that readers can understand it was something of a challenge. How do you talk about a book when you don't want to give away anything that happens? It's possible, but difficult. Readers will learn more about the book from our conversation than then will from the review, at least with regards to subject and plot. But I think all in all, we did a fine job of having a substantive conversation about the book while keeping the best parts hidden.

And in retrospect, I have to say that this is largely because no matter what we said about the book, one could easily and quite enjoyably read 'Me Before You' simply because the quality of the writing is so high. Moyes offered lots of insights into the at-home inspirations and the real-life background that informs the novel. We talked about how she crafted this book as opposed to the way she wrote her others, comparing her experiences writing the mostly first-person narration here with her work in other novels.

For Jojo Moyes, 'Me, Without You' was a work of true inspiration. You can hear it when she talks about crafting the voice of Louisa Clark, and the dialogue that she shares with Will Traynor. You can hear my dialogue with Jojo Moyes by following this link to the MP3 audio file.



New to the Agony Column

09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."

09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 213: Susan Casey : Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins

08-24-15: Commentary : Felicia Day Knows 'You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)' : Transformative Technology

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Felicia Day : "I think you have to be attention curators for audience in every way."

08-22-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 212: Felicia Day : You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]

Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]

08-10-15:Agony Column Podcast News Report : In Memory of Alan Cheuse : Thank you Alan, and Your Family, for Everything

07-11-15: Commentary : Robert Repino Morphs 'Mort(e)' : Housecat to Harbinger of the Apocalypse

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Robert Repino : "...an even bigger threat. which is us, the humans..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Robert Repino : Mort(e)

07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Michael Gazzaniga : Tales from Both Sides of the Brain: A Life in Neuroscience

06-26-15: Commentary : Neal Stephenson Crafts an Eden for 'Seveneves' : Blow It Up and Start All Over Again

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Neal Stephenson : "...and know that you're never going to se a tree again..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 207: Neal Stephenson : Seveneves

06-03-15: Commentary : Dan Simmons Opens 'The Fifth Heart' : Having it Every Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Dan Simmons : "...yes, they really did bring those bombs..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 206: Dan Simmons : The Fifth Heart

05-23-15: Commentary : John Waters Gets 'Carsick' : Going His Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with John Waters : "...you change how you would be in real life...”

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 205: John Waters : Carsick

05-09-15: Commentary : Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD and 'Shrinks' : A Most Fashionable Take on the Human Mind

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : "..its influence to be as hegemonic as it was..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 204: Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry

04-29-15: Commentary : Barney Frank is 'Frank' : Interpersonally Ours

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Barney Frank : "...while you're trying to change it, don't ignore it..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 203: Barney Frank : Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage

04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 202: Kazuo Ishiguro : The Buried Giant

04-17-15: Commentary : Erik Larson Follows a 'Dead Wake' : Countdown to Destiny

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Erik Larson : "...said to have been found in the arms of a dead German sailor..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 201: Erik Larson : Dead Wake

04-15-15: Commentary : Peter Bell Reflects 'A Certain Slant of Light' : Strange Stories of Modern Scholars

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Peter Bell : "...I looked up some of the old books..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 200: Peter Bell : Strange Epiphanies and A Certain Slant of Light

03-14-15: Commentary : Marc Goodman Foresees 'Future Crimes' : Exponential Potential

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It

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