fiction/non/fiction

Writer and scholar Caroline Bicks, the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine, joins co-hosts Jennifer Maritza McCauley and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss her time in King’s archives, an experience which resulted in her new book Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King. Bicks talks about meeting King and exploring his early drafts, dramatic revisions, exchanges with readers and editors, and undergraduate columns. She situates five of King’s earliest novels in the context of his personal experiences and deepest fears and also considers how she understood the books as a younger reader, as well as what it was like to revisit them. She reflects on King’s writing process and his unique use of language, showcasing how King is not just the king of horror but also a master of craft. Bicks, McCauley, and Ganeshananthan discuss their experiences with King’s novels and the intimate and personal nature of horror writing. Bicks reads from Monsters in the Archives. 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 podcast is produced by Jennifer Maritza McCauley, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Caroline Bicks Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen KingCognition and Girlhood in Shakespeare's World: Rethinking Female Adolescence Other texts by Stephen King & screen adaptations based on his work The ShiningCarrie"IT: Welcome to Derry"On Writing: A Memoir of the CraftThe StandItSalem’s LotNight ShiftPet Sematary Others The Witch of Blackbird PondSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Retired astronaut and novelist Chris Hadfield joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss space exploration, geopolitics, and his new book, Final Orbit. Hadfield recalls watching the Apollo 11 Moon Landing as a child and considers how these historic missions capture public imagination. He explains the risks of reentry and splashdown for Artemis II as well as the scientific promise and political stakes of returning to the Moon in the future. Hadfield also reflects on the ethics of public versus private models of space travel and the possibility of future lunar settlement. Pivoting to fiction, he talks about using the real history of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Cold War tensions, and China’s early space ambitions to build the alternative-history world of Final Orbit. He describes his research process and how he tackles plot, reveals whether the Apollo Murders series will have another installment, and reads from Final Orbit. 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 podcast is produced by Jennifer Maritza McCauley, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Chris Hadfield The Apollo MurdersThe DefectorAn Astronaut’s Guide to Life on EarthYou Are HereThe Darkest Dark Others Artemis IIApollo-Soyuz Test ProjectStar TrekProject Hail MaryAstra Carta | Sustainable Markets Initiative "Coming Home May Be the Most Dangerous Part of Artemis II"The New York Times See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Psychologist, behavioral geneticist and writer Kathryn Paige Harden joins co-hosts Jennifer Maritza McCauley and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new book, Original Sin: On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of Forgiveness. Harden talks about the chemistry of human behavior, how society has shaped its views of different communities, the relationship between hereditability and perceived responsibility, and how those opinions shift as science unlocks more mysteries of the human genome. She also reflects on how her Christian upbringing has influenced her thinking and considers what influence new genetic information might have on our legal system. Harden reads from Original Sin. 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 podcast is produced by Jennifer Maritza McCauley, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Kathryn Paige Harden Original Sin: On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of ForgivenessThe Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality Others The Divine Comedy - Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso by Dante Alighieri“Criminal Complexity” - The American Scholar See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Writer Ana Gavrilovska joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about her recent article for Current Affairs, "Thomas Pynchon Saw American Fascism Coming." Gavrilovska reflects on Pynchon’s long career and his interest in writing about systems, how his time as a technical writer at Boeing informs his work, his classic novels Gravity’s Rainbow and The Crying of Lot 49, and his new novel, Shadow Ticket. She explains why Shadow Ticket’s fictional Airmont family seems like stand-ins for the Trumps and considers the significance of a food-stuffed film that cheese mogul Bruno Airmont watches with his daughter Daphne as many ordinary people go hungry. The three also discuss Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-winning movie One Battle After Another, which takes inspiration from Pynchon’s novel Vineland. Gavrilovska reads from Shadow Ticket. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Ana Gavrilovska "Thomas Pynchon Saw American Fascism Coming" | Current Affairs Thomas Pynchon Shadow TicketVinelandGravity’s RainbowThe Crying of Lot 49Inherent ViceV.Mason & DixonBleeding EdgeAgainst the Day Others One Battle After Another (2025)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author Ellie Roscher joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Jennifer Maritza McCauley to talk about her recent book, Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports, which explores the roadblocks transgender athletes face and the triumphs they achieve despite these challenges. Roscher discusses the harmful myths surrounding trans athletes and describes the current bans against their participation as a “solution in search of a problem.” Roscher, who interviewed 20 trans athletes for the book along with her co-author, Dr. Allie Baeth, interrogates the sex-segregation of the sports world and outlines how restrictions put in place to police the participation of trans athletes are rooted in patriarchy and tend to hurt cisgender participants as well. They consider trans athletes competing at the youth level and the negative impacts trans bans have on children who are searching for play and community. She also explains the importance of advocacy and how everyone wins when everyone is allowed to play. Roscher reads from Fair Game. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Ellie Roscher Fair Game (with Dr. Allie Baeth)The Embodied PathPlay Like a Girl Others Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 9, Episode 5: Max Delsohn on the Importance of Portraying Trans MenFiction/Non/Fiction Season 8, Episode 43: Gary Shteyngart on Vera, or Faith, and American Authoritarians See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Novelist Jeff Boyd joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about his new work of literary crime fiction, Hard Times, which is set in Chicago, where he lived previously. The hosts ask about the influence of police procedurals on the portrayal of the novel’s main character, a mixed-race cop named Curtis, and Boyd considers whether there is a gray area between “good cops” and “bad cops.” He also discusses the character of Curtis’s brother-in-law, a high school teacher named Buddy Mack, and reflects on how his own experience as a teacher informed his writing of Buddy as well as the portrayal of students. He explains how his own childhood as the son of a police officer gives him insight into that profession, and shares his experience of hearing feedback from his father. Boyd reads from Hard Times. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Jeff Boyd Hard TimesThe Weight Others Law & OrderThe WireChicago PDRomeo & Juliet by William ShakespeareSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Award-winning author Daisy Hernández joins co-hosts Jennifer Maritza McCauley and Whitney Terrell to talk about her new book, Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth. Hernández explains the history of the term “citizenship” and the damaging power it holds over a wide range of marginalized identities. She reflects on how educators can galvanize change around these issues in the classroom, as well as her own family’s relationship with immigration. Hernández reads from Citizenship. 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 podcast is produced by Jennifer Maritza McCauley and Whitney Terrell. Daisy Hernandez Citizenship: Notes on an American MythThe Kissing BugA Cup of Water Under My BedColonize This! (2002)Colonize This! (2019)Tricycle: The Buddhist Review Others Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria AnzaldúaSister Outsider by Audre LordeJames Baldwin EssaysThe Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of AIAmericans in WaitingBetween the World and MeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pop culture critic James Sullivan joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the history of American protest music. Sullivan, the author of the book Which Side Are You On?: 20th Century American History in 100 Protest Songs, talks about how music has been an important part of inspiring and supporting protest movements from anti-Vietnam War efforts to the Black Lives Matter Movement and present-day protests against ICE. Sullivan considers the importance of protest music to facilitate camaraderie, build morale, and change minds. He explains how the way a song is sung can transform it into protest, even if the lyrics don’t change; he comments on recent Super Bowl halftime shows and their political relevance. He also reflects on songs that not only protest, but also honor political martyrs. Sullivan reads from Which Side Are You On? 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. James Sullivan Which Side Are You On?: 20th Century American History in 100 Protest SongsIsland Cup: Two Teams, Twelve Miles of Ocean, and Fifty Years of Football Rivalry7 Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin Music “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier”“We Shall Overcome”“Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”“Which Side Are You On?”“Try That in a Small Town”“Man in Black”“Streets of Minneapolis”“American Obituary”“Mississippi Goddam”“You Don’t Own Me”“The Times They Are A-Changin’”“Blowin’ in the Wind”“This Land Is Your Land”“The Preacher and the Slave”“Casey Jones (The Union Scab)” Others ICE OUT SING-IN Resistance Songbook‘Streets of Minneapolis’: 32 protest songs inspired by the city's ICE resistanceAlfred HayesThe Man Who Never Died See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Novelist, essayist, and educator Brian Platzer joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss his new novel, The Optimists, which follows private school teacher Mr. Keating over three decades. Platzer reflects on the real-life inspiration for the book, his own mentor, Rod Keating, and the fleeting intensity of teacher-student relationships that nevertheless turn out to be formative. He explains how he came to decide that the fictional Keating, struggling to tell the story of his own life, would narrate the story of a remarkable student, Clara, alongside his own. Platzer also talks about the novel’s other central relationships, including Keating’s marriage to his wife, Caroline, and his connection to his ex’s son, Jacob. Platzer, himself a private school teacher, considers the novel’s private school setting, as well as the high cost of elite education and small classroom sizes in New York City, the competitive pressures placed on young people, and the broader impact of the gap between private institutions and public schools. Platzer reads from The Optimists. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Writer and editor Yi-Ling Liu joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and Jennifer Maritza McCauley to talk about state-controlled censorship. Liu, the author of a new book, The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet, explores what it means to build community through the internet while contending with surveillance and suppression. Liu, Terrell, and McCauley discuss the sale of TikTok to U.S. companies, the growing online surveillance and censorship in the United States, and how American citizens can learn from Chinese “netizens” about how to survive under censorship. Liu tells the stories of four people– a renowned feminist, a gay dating app entrepreneur, an aspiring rapper, and a famous science fiction writer—who all found ways to dance around The Great Firewall and earn success for themselves and for their communities online. Liu details the widespread impact of each of these “wall dancers” and reflects on the inspirations that led them to foster social change through online media. Liu explores the importance of cultural exchange and connection online and considers her own personal experience with living and creating under censorship. Liu reads from The Wall Dancers. 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 podcast is produced by Jennifer Maritza McCauley, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Yi-Ling Liu The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet Others “The Little Man at Chehaw Station” Ralph EllisonJourney to the Center of the Earth by Jules VerneWaste Tide by Chen Qiufan, trans. by Ken Liu The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, trans. by Ken LiuSale of TikTok to U.S. CompaniesTikTok Censorship InvestigationSale of NVIDIA Chips to ChinaThe Great FirewallLü Pin on Feminist VoicesThe Feminist FiveThe Mitu Movement in China See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Novelist Eleanor Shearer joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, Fireflies in Winter, which depicts the little-known history of how the Leeward Maroons of Jamaica—a free Black community descended from formerly enslaved Africans and indigenous people—came to Nova Scotia at the end of the 18th century. Shearer, who is British and has Caribbean ancestry, explains the genesis of her interest in the Maroons as an example of successful resistance to slavery, since they fought the British in Jamaica, but also a kind of collusion with it, as they captured and returned runaway slaves to plantations there. She reflects on the connections between her Black heroines’ precarious situation in historic Canada and the situation of immigrants in the U.S. and elsewhere today. She also considers her research process, depicting queer life in earlier periods, the importance of sensory and embodied detail in historical writing, and her choice to write about the past in the present tense. Shearer reads from Fireflies in Winter. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Eleanor Shearer Fireflies in WinterRiver Sing Me Home‘Rebranded plantations’: how empire shaped luxury Caribbean tourism | Slavery | The Guardian Others Anne of Green GablesDavos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, PM of Canada | World Economic ForumPrime Minister Carney delivers remarks at the World Economic Forum Annual MeetingBlack Loyalist Heritage Center, Nova ScotiaCarrefour Atlantic Emporium BookstoreFiction/Non/Fiction Season 8, Episode 22: Suzette Mayr and Kai Thomas on Canada Versus Trump See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Award-winning journalist, activist, poll worker, and former attorney Anjali Enjeti discusses her new book, Ballot, which considers the real and metaphorical role that ballots play in our democracy. Co-hosts Whitney Terrell and Jennifer Maritza McCauley (in her first episode joining the co-host rotation) talk to Enjeti about her childhood encounters with ballots, the history of ballots in America, and the problems she encountered with Republican-installed Dominion voting machines in Fulton County, Georgia, where she was an election worker during the 2020 presidential race. She debunks the false claims of election fraud in Fulton County during that election and discusses the Trump Administration’s recent seizure of 700 boxes of 2020 ballots from Fulton County, what those ballots represent, and whether or not the administration might try to alter them. She reads from Ballot. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Anjali Enjeti BallotThe Parted EarthSouthbound: Essays on Identity, Inheritance, and Social Change Others Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 2, Episode 8: Lacy Johnson and Anjali Enjeti on the State of Reproductive RightsFBI raid in Georgia has little legal basis – but serves Trump’s goal to weaken trust in election results | The GuardianFBI’s Search of Fulton County, Georgia, Election Center Is Unprecedented, Experts Say | ProPublicaTrump is trying to change how the midterm elections are conducted | The Washington PostMove to Seize Ballots Thrusts F.B.I. Into Trump’s Election Conspiracy Claim | The New York TimesTrump’s Mug Shot Is Released After Booking at Fulton County Jail | The New York TimesNickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara EhrenreichSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Award-winning nonfiction writer and former investigative journalist Joe Jackson joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about President Trump’s “Don-roe Doctrine” and his imperial ambitions in Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland, and beyond. Jackson, the author of a new book, Splendid Liberators: Heroism, Betrayal, Resistance, and The Birth of American Empire, explains how Trump’s plan relies on the template set by the Spanish-American War, through which the U.S. rose as a world power and ended Spanish rule in the Western Hemisphere. Jackson sheds light on the rhetoric that fueled the war, as well as the violent history of U.S. military interference in Cuba and the Philippines. Jackson takes us through iterations of the Monroe Doctrine and outlines the impact of that philosophy on Trump’s desire for imperial expansion as well as his authoritarian control domestically, in cities like Minneapolis. He discusses how the Spanish-American War served as a turning point for America’s soul, including writers of the time, and how it birthed a culture of war that has continued to impact the nation, its citizens, and the world ever since. Jackson reads from Splendid Liberators. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Joe Jackson The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of EmpireAtlantic Fever: Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the AtlanticBlack Elk: The Life of an American Visionary Other Books: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen CraneThe Winning of the West, Volumes 1-4, by Theodore RooseveltCarl SandburgMcTeague by Norris"The Storytellers of Empire" by Kamila Shamsie – GuernicaSeven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T.E. LawrenceJose Marti Reader: Writings on the AmericasNoli mi Tangere (Touch Me Not) by Jose RizalOn the Origin of Species by Charles DarwinCuba in Wartime by Richard Harding DavisThe Essential Frank Norris, incl. The OctopusWinesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson Other Links: Society of American HistoriansWestern Writers of AmericaTrue West MagazineMonroe Doctrine (1823archive.govRoosevelt Corollary (19o5, archive.gov)“Manifest Destiny” by John Fiske, March 1885 Harper’s Magazine Archives (subscription to read)Trump’s Manifest Destiny - Project SyndicateLibrary of Congress: “Remember the Maine!” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Interdisciplinary performance artist and Xicana feminist scholar Jessica Lopez Lyman joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about Minnesota’s history with state violence and local resistance to it, as well as ICE’s intensified presence in recent weeks. Lopez Lyman, the author of a new book, Place-Keepers: Latina/x Art, Performance, and Organizing in the Twin Cities, discusses immigration in Minnesota and how the increased ICE presence is affecting immigrant and BIPOC communities. Lopez Lyman speaks about the January 7 death of Renee Nicole Good, a white woman and legal observer who was shot and killed by an ICE officer, and compares the current situation to the time following police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder of George Floyd in 2020. She notes the pervasiveness of the harm wrought by ICE’s presence throughout Minnesota, a state with a romanticized, pastoral, and sometimes inaccurately homogenous image. She considers the importance of mutual aid, community care, and legal observers, and explains the term “movidas,” which refers to subversive knowledge and “small, hidden actions that are not public protests, that are really foundational for creating larger social movements.” She reads from Place-Keepers. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Jessica Lopez Lyman Place-Keepers: Latina/x Art, Performance, and Organizing in the Twin Cities Others: One State, Two Very Different Views of Minneapolis The New York TimesGloria AnzaldúaAudre LordeLittle House on the PrairieMaria Isa“Video shows woman dragged from car by ICE agents in Minneapolis as she tells them she's autistic” CBC News"Family of man killed by off-duty ICE agent in LA demands charges: ‘The ache will never go away’" The GuardianNYTPitchbot- Jan. 15, 2026"Native Americans are being swept up by ICE in Minneapolis, tribes say"- The Washington Post"The killing of Daunte Wright and trial of Kimberly Potter" 2021 MPR News"The murder of George Floyd" 2020 MPR News"The death of Philando Castile and the trial of Jeronimo Yanez" 2016 MPR News "Right-wing, anti-Islam protest draws large group of counter demonstrators" MPR News "The Miracle of Minneapolis" 2015 The Atlantic"AMERICAN SCENE: Minnesota: A State That Works" 1973 TIME See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Award-winning writers and longtime friends Vauhini Vara and Karan Mahajan join co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V. V. Ganeshananthan to discuss Vara’s recent New Yorker essay “What If Readers Like AI-Generated Fiction?” Vara explains recent research by scientist Tuhin Chakrabarty, who has attempted to fine-tune large language models to produce better writing by feeding them authors’ entire oeuvres. She considers what it means that when Chakrabarty ran the results by some creative writing graduate students, they preferred AI imitations of writers like Junot Diaz, Sigrid Nunez, and Tony Tulathimutte to the writers themselves, or could not tell the difference. She and Mahajan talk about their decades-long connection and familiarity with each other’s writing. They muse on what it means that, when Vara talked Chakrabarty into letting her compete with a large language model, even Mahajan could not separate her original work from what it produced. Mahajan and Vara debate ways in which this technology will and won’t change how literature is written and received, the importance of style, reading as a collective experience, and if there is anything AI will never be able to capture about writing. Vara reads from the essay. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Vauhini Vara “What If Readers Like A.I.-Generated Fiction?” | The New Yorker Searches: Selfhood in the Digital AgeThis Is SalvagedThe Immortal King Rao Karan Mahajan The ComplexThe Association of Small BombsFamily Planning Others: Pedro Paramo by Juan RulfoBeloved by Toni Morrison“In the Penal Colony” by Franz KafkaNgugi wa Thiong'o See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bestselling and award-winning writer Matthew Pearl joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss his new novel The Award. Pearl explores the relationship between cultural prizes and ideas of nationhood, as well as imposter syndrome and external validation, like MFAs, literary awards, and being seen writing in coffeeshops by and with other writers. He reflects on developing the character of David Trent, an aspiring young writer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Pearl himself formerly lived and participated in cafe culture. He talks about the ethical lines David is willing to cross to achieve success and how he rationalizes these choices to himself. He also explains the larger-than-life character of Silas Hale, the famous and mercurial novelist who lives downstairs from David, controls their shared thermostat, and has no interest in mentoring his young neighbor. Pearl considers how David’s life changes when he publishes a book and wins a prize. He reads from The Award. This podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Matthew Pearl ● The Award ● Save Our Souls: The True Story of a Castaway Family, Treachery, and Murder ● The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped America ● The Dante Chamber ● The Last Bookaneer ● The Technologists ● The Last Dickens ● The Poe Shadow ● The Dante Club Others: ● Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 19: Jacinda Townsend and James Bernard Short on American Fiction ● Erasure by Percival Everett ● Rabbit, Run by John Updike ● The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz ● The Wife by Meg Wolitzer ● Yellowface by R.F. Kuang ● The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris ● Young Lions Fiction Award | The New York Public Library See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Acclaimed fiction writer and long-time creative writing professor Elizabeth McCracken joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V. V. Ganeshananthan to discuss her ninth book and first volume about craft, A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction. McCracken reflects on her long-held reluctance to attempt such a project and the impossibility of creating absolute rules for writing. She explains why she doesn’t believe in “show don’t tell,” “write what you know,” “write every day,” and other classic canards of craft. McCracken talks about the importance of imagining characters’ physicality; well-executed present tense; how time can shape narrative; justifying flashbacks; and writing outside one’s own identity. She reads from A Long Game. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell. Elizabeth McCracken A Long Game: Notes on Writing FictionThe Hero of This BookThe Souvenir MuseumBowlawayThunderstruck & Other StoriesAn Exact Replica of a Figment of My ImaginationNiagara Falls All Over AgainThe Giant’s HouseHere's Your Hat What's Your Hurry? Others: Tinkers by Paul HardingThe Gates of the Alamo by Stephen HarriganAffliction by Russell BanksGilligan’s IslandAllan Gurganus See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2025 Maya Angelou Book Award winner Alison C. Rollins joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V. V. Ganeshananthan to discuss her 2024 poetry collection Black Bell. She explores the history and symbolism of a bell-laden iron device used to control and torture enslaved people and describes the replica she created after studying metalworking. She also recounts the story of Harriet Jacobs, who spent seven years hidden in her grandmother’s attic before escaping slavery. Rollins talks about how her poems engage in call and response with other texts, including the music of Sun Ra and Stevie Wonder and images connected to ornithology, anatomy, Afrofuturism, and the history of slavery. She reflects on who has historically been granted the title of “poet” in America and discusses the archival research behind her writing. Rollins rings a glass bell and reads several poems from Black Bell. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan, Whitney Terrell, Amelia Fisher, Victoria Freisner, Wil Lasater, and S E Walker. Alison C. Rollins Black BellLibrary of Small Catastrophes Others: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet JacobsThe Divine Comedy - Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso by Dante AlighieriThe Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. LewisThe Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienWu - Tang Clan - Enter The Wu - Tang (36 Chambers) [Full Album Mix] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Sven Beckert joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about his new book, Capitalism: A Global History. Beckert describes capitalism as an ongoing process comparable in significance to geological forces; he examines the way it shapes our interactions with the world and notes its presence in every aspect of daily life. He recounts how it has been influenced and defined for the past thousand years by people all over the world, ranging from merchants to CEOs to rebels resisting enslavement. He unpacks capitalism’s devastating global effects as well as its role in technological innovation and revolution. He explains that capitalism is a product of not only cities, but also the countryside. Finally, he addresses the idea that capitalism breeds inequality and argues for more nuance in understanding it as a human-made order that can be changed. He reads from Capitalism. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan, Whitney Terrell, MaryClaire Dunagan, Emani Guerin, and Sarah Feldmann. Sven Beckert Capitalism: A Global HistoryEmpire of Cotton: A Global HistoryAmerican Capitalism: New HistoriesGlobal History, Globally: Research and Practice Around the WorldThe American Bourgeoisie: Distinction and Identity in the Nineteenth CenturyThe Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850-1896 Others: Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas PynchonCapitalism named one of 100 NYT Notable Books for 2025 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Journalist Jacob Silverman joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about his new book, Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley. He discusses the rightward shift in ideology among leading tech giants and their companies, partially attributing the change to an interest in doing business with governments, including the U.S. and Israel. He speaks about the influence of Saudi Arabian wealth on the U.S. tech industry and how Saudi Arabia uses access to cutting-edge technology to remain in power and conduct mass surveillance on its people. Silverman addresses the calculated way today’s tech leaders have taken control of the idea economy as they increasingly interfere with what information the public sees, such as Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter (now X). He gives examples of imagined and attempted tech-utopias, discussing communities such as California Forever and Próspera and their impacts. Silverman also discusses the alliance between the tech right and discontented moderate Democrats in San Francisco, explaining their involvement in recall politics and the transactional nature of tech politics. He reads an excerpt from Gilded Rage. 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 podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan, Whitney Terrell, Emma Baxley, Elleanora Meman, Hope Wampler, and Brianna Wilson. Jacob Silverman Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley “How Shaun Maguire Became Silicon Valley's Most MAGA Firebrand,” Business Insider Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection Others: California Forever The Diversity Myth by Peter Thiel & David Sacks ‘Go home’: Honduran islanders fight against crypto colonialists| The Guardian Elon Musk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.