Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture

82:12

1057. Sam Tallent

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/10/06

Sam Tallent is the author of the novel Brut, a literary thriller available from Random House.Tallentis a comedian, novelist, and host of theChubby Behemothpodcast. For the last decade, he has performed more than forty-five weekends per year in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Sam has two comedy specials:Waiting For Death to Claim UsandThe Toad’s Morale.He also has a travel show,Wide World, on YouTube. He lives in Detroit and cooks dinner for his wife every night. *** ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Otherppl

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113:51

REPLAY: Robin McLean on Feminist Westerns, Cosmic...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/10/04

Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 748, my conversation with Robin McLean. We were talking about her debut novel Pity the Beast, available from And Other Stories.Air date: December 15, 2021. Robin McLean worked as a lawyer and then a potter in the woods of Alaska before turning to writing. Her debut novelPity the Beastwas chosen in multiple Best Books of 2021 lists in outlets such as theGuardian, Wall Street JournalandWhite Review, while the American Booksellers

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21:37

Excerpt from 'Sunrise,' by Téa Obreht

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/10/03

Téa Obrehtreads from her new novelSunrise, available from Random House. Obreht is the internationally bestselling author ofThe Tiger’s Wife,InlandandThe Morningside.Her novels have won the Orange Prize for Fiction, been a finalist for the National Book Award, won the Southwest Book Award, and won for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her work has appeared inThe Best American Short Stories, The New Yorker, The Atlantic,Harper’s, andZoetrope: All-Story,among many other publications. Originally from the former

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79:02

How to Write a Biography

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/10/01

A new Craftwork conversation with Brendan O'Meara, author ofthe biography The Front Runner: The Life of Steve Prefontaine, available from Mariner Books. The paperback edition will be available on November 2. O’Mearais the founder and host of theCreative Nonfictionpodcast. As a sportswriter, he’s covered a wide swath of events including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes, as well as several local and professional sports forTrail Runner Magazine,Bleacher Reportand the

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76:09

1056. Roshan Sethi

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/29

Roshan Sethi is the author of the debut novel The Simp, available from Simon & Schuster. Sethi is a writer, director, and practicing oncologist. He is the cocreator ofThe Resident, which ran for six seasons on Fox. His directorial debut,7 Days,won the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. He subsequently directedWorld’s Bestfor Disney+ and cowrote the abortion dramaCall Jane, which premiered at Sundance in 2022. His third film as a director,A Nice Indian Boy, recently premiered at SXSW

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71:37

REPLAY: Heidi Julavits on Book Reviews, Psychics, &...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/27

Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 62, my conversation with Heidi Julavits. We were talking about her novel The Vanishers (Doubleday), winner of the PEN New England Fiction Award.Air date: April 18, 2012. Heidi Julavits is the author of The Folded Clock: A Diary and four novels. She is an associate professor at Columbia University and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in New York City and

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23:42

Excerpt from 'The Simp,' by Roshan Sethi

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/26

⁠Roshan Sethi⁠reads from his debut novel⁠The Simp⁠, available from Simon & Schuster. Sethi is a writer, director, and practicing oncologist. He is the cocreator ofThe Resident, which ran for six seasons on Fox. His directorial debut,7 Days,won the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. He subsequently directedWorld’s Bestfor Disney+ and cowrote the abortion dramaCall Jane, which premiered at Sundance in 2022. His third film as a director,A Nice Indian Boy, recently premiered at SXSW to

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53:09

Angry Adam's Kafkaesque Prison

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/24

Volume 106 ofBrad & Mira For the Culture..Mira prepares for a return to the motherland...Mira's dad refuses to use soap...Brad's no good very bad terrible morning...Siri and Kaya weigh in on Spirit's penis...Ed Sheeran cries onstage...Orland Bloom and the Mara sisters have a threesome in the new Werner Herzog film...Is Channing Tatum running a burner account?...Detroit woman gets lost postmortem...Meryl Streep plays Jesus in Greta Gerwig's new Narnia movie... &

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73:55

1055. Emily St. John Mandel

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/22

Emily St. John Mandel is the author of the novel Exit Party, available from Knopf. Mandel is the author of six novels, most recentlySea of Tranquility,which has been translated into 25 languages and was selected by President Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2022. Her previous novels includeThe Glass Hotel,which was also on Obama’s list, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and has been translated into 26 languages; andStation Eleven, which was a finalist for a National Book

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69:55

REPLAY: Margaret Malone on the Portland Writing...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/20

Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 396, my conversation with Margaret Malone. We were talking about her debut story collection, People Like You (Atelier 26 Books). It was a finalist for the PEN / Hemingway Award for First Fiction, and it won the 2016 Balcones Fiction Prize. Air date: January 13, 2016. A recent MacDowell Fellow, Margaret's writing has appeared or is forthcoming fromBOMB,The Missouri Review,The Rumpus,Oregon Humanities,Paper Darts, The Masters

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27:06

Ben Loory Reads 'The Poet' & 'The Squid Who Fell in...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/19

Vol. 19 ofStory Time, featuring an author reading aloud from his/her/their work. In this episode, Ben Loory reads two stories. The first story is called 'The Poet,' from his debut collection entitled Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day. And the second story is called 'The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun,' from his second collection, Tales of Falling and Flying. Both books are available from Penguin. Loory’s fables and tales have appeared in over 100 magazines and journals, includingThe

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64:52

The Least Alive a Non-Dead Person Has Ever Looked

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/17

Volume 105 ofBrad & Mira For the Culture...Mira's mother-in-law texts her about a bloody dog penis whose penis was bloody...the podcast celebrates 15 years of quality podcasting...Brad accuses Mira of not showing enough support...Siri and Kaya send word from Australia...Bob Mackie RIP...Mira envies Mitch McConnell's drug cocktail...recapping the Emmy Awards...Brad's Fashion Corner...Macklemore opposes mass-slaughter of civilians, is booted from Ed Sheeran tour...Harry and Meghan's UK disaster is

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65:41

1054. Salman Rushdie & Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/15

Salman Rushdie and Rachel Eliza Griffiths join me to talk aboutKnife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, the new documentary directed by Academy Award–winning filmmaker Alex Gibney. Inspired by Rushdie’s 2024 memoirKnife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, the film revisits the August 2022 attack that nearly killed him and follows his physical and emotional recovery. At its center is intimate, never-before-seen footage shot by Griffiths—Rushdie’s wife—during the aftermath; she is also

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38:56

15 Years of Otherppl: What 1,000+ Conversations with...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/14

In this special anniversary episode, Brad reflects on 15 years ofOtherppl, more than 1,000 conversations with writers, and what the experience has taught him about writing, publishing, ambition, failure, persistence, and the creative life. He also looks back at how the show began, what it has become, and why long-form conversation still matters.*** ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Otherppl with Brad Listi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is a

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75:15

REPLAY: Chuck Klosterman on Journalism, Expertise, &...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/13

Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 423, my conversation with Chuck Klosterman. We were talking about his book But What If We’re Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (Blue Rider Press)Air date: July 20, 2016 Klosterman is the bestselling author of nine nonfiction books (including Football; X; The Nineties; and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs), two novels (Downtown Owl and The Visible Man), and the short story collection Raised in Captivity. He

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28:29

Poems from 'Elegy for Pangaea,' by Mark Leidner

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/12

Vol. 18 ofStory Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Mark Leidner reads from his new poetry collection, Elegy for Pangaea (Fonograf Editions). Leidner's previous poetry collections areReturning the Sword to the Stone(Fonograf Editions, 2021),Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me(Factory Hollow Press, 2011), andThe Angel in the Dream of Our Hangover(Sator/Two Dollar Radio, 2011). He also wrote the story collectionUnder the Sea(Tyrant Books, 2018), called

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68:02

Thanks for Not Talking

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/10

Volume 104 ofBrad & Mira For the Culture...Mira weighs in on the death of Gloria Steinem...Florida weather in LA...Mira professes her love for M. Night Shyamalan...is Brad obsessed with Phish?....Mira telephones three different McDonald's restaurants...Brad prepares for the 15th anniversary of his podcasting career...gets huge on Instagram by not talking...Increasingly-Angry Craig from East Tennessee makes his podcast debut..Angry Adam returns...the terrifying trailer for the new Elizabeth Holmes

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73:23

1053. Mark Leidner

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/08

Mark Leidner is the author of the poetry collection Elegy for Pangaea, available from Fonograf Editions. Leidner's previous poetry collections areReturning the Sword to the Stone(Fonograf Editions, 2021),Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me(Factory Hollow Press, 2011), andThe Angel in the Dream of Our Hangover(Sator/Two Dollar Radio, 2011). He also wrote the story collectionUnder the Sea(Tyrant Books, 2018), called "virtuosic" by the New York Times. One of the stories from that collection, "21

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72:02

Jonathan Franzen on Fame, Techno-Optimism, and David...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/06

Today on the program, a trip into the archive and a return to Episode 426, my conversation with Jonathan Franzen. We were talking about his novel Purity, available in trade paperback from Picador.Air date: August 10, 2016 Jonathan Franzenis the author of five novels, includingThe Corrections, Freedom, andCrossroads, and five works of nonfiction, includingFarther AwayandThe End of the End of the Earth, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He lives in Santa Cruz,

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18:34

Excerpt from 'All That Is Left of Life,' by Roberta...

Otherppl with Brad Listi: Books & Culture ·

2026/09/05

Vol. 17 ofStory Time, featuring an author reading aloud from her work. In this episode, Roberta Recchia reads from her bestselling debut novel All That Is Left of Life (Scribner).Born in Rome in 1972,Roberta Rossella Recchialived for a time in Lille, France, where she earned a master’s degree in international relations and cultures. She worked for ten years for a big company and then quit office work to devote herself to teaching. She currently teaches English in a high school in Rome. She is

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