Etienne Van Heerdon tells Steve Paulson that many of his fellow writers are obsessed with his country’s history and that they could always say things in fiction that they could never get away with in journalism.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Ben Greenman is the author of a book called “Superbad: Stories and Pieces.” One of the stories it contains is called “Blurbs” which is nothing but a collection of blurbs.
Brian Turner was an average young American who volunteered for military service in Iraq. At night he wrote poetry by flashlight.
Carlos Eire has written a memoir about the Cuba he remembers. Castro came to power when Carlos was eight. Eire tells Jim Fleming about his childhood in Cuba and after he was air-lifted to the U.S. His memoir is called “Waiting for Snow in Havana.”
American spiritual teacher Antoinette Varner - also known as Gangaji - says it's possible to transcend our stories about ourselves. She tells Steve Paulson that to truly know yourself, just drop who you think you are, and pay attention to the "I". You can also hear the UNCUT version of this interview here.
Dominique Lapierre talks about “Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster.” He says thousands of people died because they fled in the wrong direction.
Avital Ronell has been called “the foremost thinker of the repressed conditions of knowledge.” She gives Jim Fleming an inspired take on stupidity.
John Cheever wrote hundreds of short stories and kept an extensive private journal, fabricated his accent and was primarily gay despite siring three children and remaining in a long marriage. We hear about his life from Blake Bailey, who wrote a biography on the great author.
Pages
