Miriam Toews talks to Nicole Nelson about her new book ALL MY PUNY SORROWS. She talks about writing the hard stuff, gaining control over life through writing, and the importance of bleeding on the page. Then monologuist Josh Kornbluth talks about his influences, how he develops a show, and the comedic gold in failure. His current monologue-in-progress is Reports from the Zen Hospice: Improvs, which will run Thursdays at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Marsh through the end of December.

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(Broadcast date: December 3, 2014)

New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest young adult novel, Belzhar, her attraction to young adult fiction, Sylvia Plath, and what makes a compelling character.  Thrity Umrigar joins in the second half to discuss her latest novel, 
The Story Hour, and how the power of narrative has the ability to alter our world view.  

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(Broadcast date: October 15, 2014)

Alex Tizon, the author of Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He joins Nicole Nelson for a conversation about stereotypes in fiction and other art, journaling, and writing about identity. Then Carl Phillips, the author of The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination and a distinguished poet with awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Pushcart Prize, and the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Male Poetry, talks about intentional and unintentional daring, life as a form of revision, and why we read poetry. 


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(Broadcast date: August 13, 2014)