With the help of KQED in San Francisco, I'm happily able to bring listeners even more Ian Shoales this week, in an effort to catch up and keep up with his entertainingly prolific output. I just hope he will be willing to let us run his stuff when he finally gets picked up by 60 Minutes, who clearly need him. 60 Minutes, the nation needs you!
02-25-12:SF in SF Panel discussion with Terry Bisson Moderating Ayize Jama-Everett and Ryan Boudinot, January 28, 2012
Click image for audio link.
"I'm always trying to find a place in-between."
—Ryan Boudinot
SF in SF started off with a bang for 2012, featuring, three incredibly talented authors of uncategorizable fiction; Ayize Jama-Everett, author of 'The Liminal People', Ryan Boudinot, author of 'Blueprints of the Afterlife,' and moderator Terry Bisson, who has a forthcoming novel of particular power titled 'Any Day Now.'
Put these three in front of a lively and engaged audience and you get a wide-ranging literary conversation that really goes anywhere with great ease. What's so interesting here is that all three writers are quite comfortable writing, reading and discussing genre fiction; but all three have written beyond simple genre fiction as well.
In general, when you think of SF in SF, you think of the science fiction genre, but in this discussion, you'll get to hear Ayize Jama-Everett talk about noir, which so informs 'The Liminal People,' while Ryan Boudinot talks about his literary roots. He is, after all, the author of 'Misconception' which plays an interesting literary take on perspective.
In my wanderings through the audio landscape, I've spent a fair amount of time at KQED in San Francisco, where I recently had the privilege of meeting the one and only Ian Shoales.
"Ignorance is an asset in the mind of the creative."
—Adrian Bejan
I went to interview Adrian Bejan for a very specific reason. Yes, I liked it 'Design in Nature,' and the constructal Law (which has its own website) seems legitimate. But the outwardly bound applications might seem to be a stretch, and by naming his law a law Bejan and his co-author are, by implication, making a grand claim. I wanted to sit down with Bejan and get the measure of the man.
When I did, I have to admit I was impressed. Bejan is neither the somber scientist who hides behind a lab coat nor is he the hairy-eyed extremist who puts the sales pressure on the moment you walk in the door. He is an affable, friendly guy.
But make no mistake about it; Bejan won't. He is all about the constructal law, and he's been about it for nearly 20 years now. He exudes a boyish enthusiasm to share his experiences, and does so well. Most importantly, Bejan exudes the kind of confidence that makes the difference between knowledge and belief abundantly clear. You can hear him talk about the constructal law by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
02-21-12 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 32: Thomas Frank, 'Pity the Billionaire'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the thirty-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 thirtyth episode is a look at Thomas Frank and his new book, 'Pity the Billionaire'.
"I like the idea of making the religious transaction more difficult."
—Ben Marcus
You almost expect Ben Marcus to show up with a stethoscope around his neck. Or that perhaps there will be a rack of beakers and flasks in his room, each containing fuzzy floating indistinct bits of organic matter. It's a relief that all you find is a carafe of coffee. But I stuck to my own bottled water.
When I sat down to speak with Marcus, I was struck by how open he was to his own writing process. His work before was highly experimental, and in comparison, 'The Flame Alphabet' seems positively normal. And it is suburban, arguably, in a way, the vivisected version and vision of a kitchen window epiphany novel. The question becomes, what's the antonym of "epiphany"? Since there doesn't seem to be one, I'm nominating "Flame Alphabet."
I'm pretty sure that in some level of literary hell, there is a version of this novel that reads like a slick thriller. That book is rotating on a spit above a bed of coals set precisely to Fahrenheit 450. Its smell wafts through 'The Flame Alphabet,' but it makes for a great conversation about writing the book. And I must admit that as an interviewer getting to ask Marcus about his own religious thoughts and his creation of the Forest Jews was just far too much fun.
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]
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..."
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 : 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
