10-30-14 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 181: Paolo Baccigalupi, 'The Doubt Factory'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the one-hundred eighty-first episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the two-year mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning. This week, I seem to be on top opf the game, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to stay back up and stumbling.
Stumbling is obviously the key word here, but I am trying to keep up with projects in the future as well as catch up with projects in the past.
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 one-hundred eighty-first episode is a look at Paolo Baccigalupi and 'The Doubt Factory.'
"I have a lot reference materials on my desk..."
—Brian J. Showers
By all means, run, don’t walk and buy everything that Brian J. Showers touches. He's re-issued 'Old Albert: An Epilogue' and recently released 'Dreams of Smoke and Shadow,' an anthology of stories (co-edited with Jim Rockhill) dedicated to and inspired by J. S. LeFanu. He runs The Swan River Press, an outstanding publishing company with a spotless record of great material. And he edits a great weird journal, 'The Green Book,' with Issue 4 out now.
I traveled to Dublin, Ireland, and met up with Showers, an expatriate American who was a fantastic host, and proved to be a great guide to the city. We learned that the pub in the hotel we were staying in was a regular watering hole for Irish politicians, but that was as nothing compared to his literary tour of the places just around the corner; LeFanu's apartment, the Oscar Wilde park and birthplace; it was a joy to walk around with him and discover just how literary Dublin is even before the heavyweights showed up.
And, I must say, he found us a fantastic restaurant where I had the best bangers and mash I've ever eaten. Fortunately for me, he managed to help us walk them off beforehand.
I interviewed Showers in our hotel, where he and I talked about 'Old Albert,' his origins as a writer (even as a small child he was entranced by the supernatural), and his work with The Swan River Press. He praised his art director to the hilt (well-deserved), talked about future plans and, of course, J. S. LeFanu.
I apologize in advance for setting you up wit lots more titles. At least the books are rather small and super-easy-to read as well as beautiful. Get your chipped credit card to hand, as you'll be wanting it after following this link to the MP3 audio file of our interview.
New to the Agony Column
09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."
09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."
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
