PODCAST · arts
Litquake's Lit Cast
by Litquake
Litquake is San Francisco's nine-day literary festival for booklovers, complete with cutting-edge panel discussions, unique cross-media events, and hundreds of readings. Litquake's Lit Cast is our selection of live recordings from the "Epicenter", a monthly series which embraces a theater of ideas between writers and readers.
Episodes
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Dear Ferocious Dreamer: A Festival Finale in Verse
Recorded live at Litquake Festival 2025 "Dear ferocious dreamer. Dear maven of song and surveyor of every flung star. Dear meandering romantic, audacious witness, dear listener with the whole of your covetous heart." So begins Patricia Smith's invocation poem that grounded us on the penultimate...
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Kicking the Hornet's Nest: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East
Recorded live at Litquake Festival 2025 KALW's Sunni Khalid, NPR's former Cairo bureau chief, sat down with Daniel Zoughbie, UC Berkeley complex systems scientist and historian to explore how US presidents have shaped the Middle East, often unleashing instability and conflict along the way—and…
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Murder at the Museum
Recorded live at Litquake Festival 2025 We spent a special evening at the Counterculture Museum with 4 award-winning crime fiction writers, all spinning murderous tales starring dramatically different protagonists. In this episode of LitCast, you will hear the authors read from their books and…
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Queer Magic: A Charmed Evening with Charlie Jane Anders, Caitlin Starling, and Michelle Tea
Recorded live at The Lost Church in San Francisco during Litquake 2025 Three authors gathered to create imaginative spaces where queer magic defeats the forces of evil. You'll hear from Charlie Jane Anders on her novel Lessons in Magic and Disaster, Michelle Tea on her novel Little F, and Caitlin...
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Grateful Dead: Keep on Truckin'
Recorded live at Litquake Festival 2025 Shortly after the 60-year celebration of The Grateful Dead at Golden Gate Park, experts, intimates, and fans gathered at The Lost Church in San Francisco to continue spreading the love and sharing the memories. Litquake co-founder, journalist, and author…
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Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile
Recorded live at KALW during Litquake Festival 2025 Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon, co-authors of the book Life After Cars and hosts of "The War on Cars" podcast, discuss the idea of building infrastructure that isn't centered around the automobile. In conversation with KALW's Sunni Khalid, they...
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An Evening With Ada Limón: U.S. Poet Laureate
Recorded live during Litquake Festival 2025 A beautiful evening was had with U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón as she read and discussed Startlement, an essential collection spanning nearly twenty years of emphatic, fearlessly original poetry from one of America's most celebrated living writers. With…
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The Enduring Wild: A Journey into California's Public Lands
Recorded live at Litquake Festival 2025 Outdoor enthusiast Josh Jackson had never heard of "BLM land" before a casual recommendation from a friend led him to a free campsite in the desert—and the revelation that over 15 million acres of land in California are owned collectively by the people....
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Unbound Translations: A Listening Party with Cuentero Productions & Two Lines Press
Recorded live at Litquake 2025 What happens when a work becomes unbound by language, medium, and format? How does meaning and experience shift? These are the questions we explore in this recording from Litquake Festival 2025. Writer, editor, and voice director Camilo Garzón and special guests,...
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Sarah Schulman: The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity
Recorded live at Counterpulse in San Francisco during Litquake Festival 2025. Award-winning writer and cultural critic Sarah Schulman discusses the themes in her book, The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity. In conversation with 48 Hills' Mark Bieschke, she delves into the intricate and often...
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Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley
Recorded live at the Gray Area Theater during Litquake Festival 2025 With bylines in The Nation, the New Republic, and The Baffler, financial reporter Jacob Silverman has had his eyes on Silicon Valley for years. Now, in his deeply researched book, Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of...
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Porchlight Storytelling: Touched by an Angel (episode #156)
The Bay Area's long-running Porchlight storytelling series returned to Litquake once again for this special edition, featuring tales on the theme of Touched by an Angel: Stories of Mentors, Teachers, Guardians, and Influencers. Featuring off the cuff stories by Litquake co-founder Jack Boulware…
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Generation Women: Plot Twists (episode #155)
Generation Women returns to Litquake with a powerful night of live, multigenerational storytelling. Founded by author Georgia Clark in 2017, this series amplifies underheard voices and fosters intergenerational connection. In this special festival edition, one woman or non-binary storyteller from...
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Modern Magic with Michelle Tea (episode #154)
Recorded at The Lost Church during Litquake 2024, this magical evening features DIY witch and literary icon Michelle Tea in conversation with The Witching Year author Diana Helmuth, guided by writer and artist MK Chavez—plus a special onstage gathering in the second half. Interested in learning...
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How to Get Free Healing with Morgan Parker, Sam Sax, and Carvell Wallace (episode #153)
Three acclaimed writers—Morgan Parker, Carvell Wallace, and sam sax—offer bold, deeply personal takes on healing in a world that resists it. From mental health and identity to queerness and survival, their recent works reimagine what self-love can look like today. Interested in learning more…
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Atlas Obscura's Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Living Wonders (episode #152)
Recorded live at Litquake Festival 2024, this episode celebrates Wild Life, the latest from the minds behind Atlas Obscura. Editor Cara Giaimo, journalist Marissa Ortega-Welch, and Oakland Zoo's Amy Gotliffe share stories of Earth's most awe-inspiring creatures—and why they matter. Interested in...
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Mayor of the Tenderloin: Del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco (Episode #151)
Recorded during Litquake Festival 2024, journalist Alison Owings and Del Seymour—founder of Code Tenderloin and former unhoused advocate—share a powerful conversation about recovery, resilience, and community transformation. Featuring a special performance by Skywatchers! Interested in learning...
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Paola Ramos on her book Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right (Episode #150)
On the eve of the 2024 presidential election, journalist Paola Ramos joined us to discuss her urgent new book, Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right. In conversation with KALW's Angie Coiro, Ramos explores the complex forces—identity, race, disillusionment, and political trauma—driving a...
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How They Did It: Biographical Fiction: Episode #147
In the third of our "How They Did It" series from summer of 2024, we heard from four talented novelists who have blended fact with their fiction, with dazzling results. Novelist Jasmin Darznik moderated a wide-ranging conversation with novelists Karen Joy Fowler, Dawn Tripp, and Gail Tsukiyama.…
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Porchlight Storytelling 2023: Tricks Up My Sleeve: Lit Cast Episode #146
Another from the archives! A staple of Litquake for nearly two decades, the Bay Area's long-running Porchlight storytelling series returned once again to Litquake Festival 2023 for this special edition, featuring tales on the theme of Tricks Up My Sleeve: Invisible Magic. With authors Derrick...
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Grace Notes 2021: Lit Cast Episode: #145
Litquake Festival 2021 saw us return to San Francisco's gothic and gorgeous Grace Cathedral for the first time post-COVID. This event, which has now been going for almost 10 years is always a special evening. In 2021, Grace Notes featured Sandra Lim, Forrest Gander, Miguel Murphy, and Derrick...
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RO Kwon's Exhibit Book Launch: Lit Cast episode: #144
Together with Green Apple Books, we copresented the launch party celebrating R.O. Kwon's highly-anticipated second novel, EXHIBIT, the exhilarating, blazing-hot story of a woman caught between her desires and her life. On this night in May at San Francisco's historic Verdi Club, Kwon was in...
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How They Did It: High-Stakes Memoir: Litcast Episode #143
Writing anything for public consumption is an act of bravery, but writing memoir and autobiography requires next-level courage. How can you share a true story that demands to be told—even if it might harm relationships, revisit trauma, unearth secrets—and portray your own life honestly and...
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An Evening with the Institute of American Indians Arts: Litcast Episode #142
In early April, we celebrated IAIA with a reading from students, alumni, and faculty at Green Apple Books on the Park. You're gonna hear from Tracey Abeyta, a current Institute student pursuing a MFA in Fiction; alumna Jennifer Elise Foerster; recent IAIA graduate, Ibe Liebenberg; and Deborah...
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Rambling Reckless Hobo: A Woody Guthrie Tribute: Litcast Episode 141
We're going way back to Litquake Festival 2012. It was a Sunday evening early in the festival at Z Space, the same Sunday that Hardly Strictly Bluegrass wrapped. That night, Hardly Strictly lent us some special guests with My Morning Jacket's Jim James enjoying from the stands. On stage to...
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How They Did It: Publishing After 40: Lit Cast Episode 140
Sure, you might not have made the cut for "5 Under 35," but that certainly doesn't mean you need to give up on your dreams of writing and publishing a book! In the first installment of our ongoing "How They Did It" series, Litquake and LitCamp have brought together six authors who found their way...
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Straight, No Chaser: Writers at the Bar: Lit Cast Live Episode 139
Famed bohemian saloon Vesuvio Café welcomes Litquake for an edgy and hilarious North Beach reading celebrating 2020 authors (who didn't get to have any damn fun). Featuring Vanessa Hua, A.H. Kim, Roberto Lovato, Caitlin Myer, and Maggie Tokuda-Hall. Hosted by Alia Volz. A rare opportunity to...
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Word Jazz: Lit Cast Live Episode 138
Sponsored by Yerba Buena Community Benefit District Co-presented by Healdsburg Jazz Festival and Poets & Writers In the great tradition of San Francisco jazz and spoken-word basement readings first forged by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Rexroth, and Bob Kaufman, Litquake is proud to bring back...
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Raceless: Georgina Lawton in conversation with Jess Cole: Lit Cast Live Episode 137
Co-presented with MOAD. From The Guardian's Georgina Lawton, a moving examination of how racial identity is constructed—through the author's own journey grappling with secrets and stereotypes, having been raised by white parents with no explanation as to why she looked black. Raised in sleepy...
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Funeral Diva: Pamela Sneed with Tommy Pico: Lit Cast Live Episode 136
This event is now available to watch on our YouTube page, along with the rest of our 2020 festival programming. Co-presented by City Lights Booksellers & Publishers "This notable achievement...is a harrowing account of how Sneed transforms violence and pain into an artist's life." —Claudia…
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Good Things in Small Packages: Lit Cast Live Episode 135
Co-presented by The Ruby and Left Margin Lit The best short stories evoke a whole world in a small space. But how do they get written? Join Litquake as we hear five writers (and readers) of short stories discuss their different approaches to writing the form. They'll discuss their own methods,...
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Hurricane Season: Fernanda Melchor with Yuri Herrera: Lit Cast Live Episode 134
This event is now available to watch on our YouTube page, along with the rest of our 2020 festival programming. "Melchor's English-language debut is a furious vortex of voices that swirl around a murder in a provincial Mexican town. Forceful, frenzied, violent, and uncompromising, Melchor's...
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Foglifter Journal Volume 5 Issue 2 Launch: Lit Cast Live Episode 133
As part of Litquake Festival 2020 we will be launching our latest issue with readings from: Ching-In Chen Piper J. Daniels Chekwube Danladi Cyrée Jarelle Johnson J.S. Kuiken t. tran le Wryly T. McCutchen heidi andrea restrepo rhodes Zak Salih Mimi Tempestt Join Foglifter is as we celebrate...
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Every Day We Get More Illegal: Juan Felipe Herrera with Jericho Brown: Lit Cast Live Episode 132
This event is now available to watch on our YouTube page, alongside the rest of our 2020 festival programming. Co-presented by City Lights Booksellers & Publishers "From Basho to Mandela, Every Day We Get More Illegal takes us on an international tour for a lesson in the history of…
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An Evening with The Rumpus: Lit Cast Live Episode 131
The Rumpus proudly presents our San Francisco Lit Crawl 2020 event, An Evening with The Rumpus! With readings from Tongo Eisen-Martin, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and Monica Sok, and featuring comedy by Nato Green! Hosted by Christine Hyung-Oak Lee.
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The Other America: Finding Common Ground: Lit Cast Live Episode 130
"This is an unflinching book that illustrates the central, confounding American paradox—in a country that purports to root for the underdog, too often we exalt the rich and we punish the poor. With thorough reporting and extraordinary compassion, Kristof and WuDunn tell the stories of those who...
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Freemans Best New Writings on Love: Lit Cast Live Episode 129
Litquake and City Lights present John Freeman with Robin Coste Lewis, Tommy Orange, and Matt Summell. John Freeman celebrates the latest installment of the journal that is called "a powerful force in the literary world" (Los Angeles Times.) Freeman's turns to one of the greatest elevating forces…
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A Family Divided: Lit Cast Live Episode 128
Millions of families are separated today, by circumstances of the current pandemic, by draconian immigration policies, and by war. Family separation has long been used as an intentional political tool to pressure, frighten, and terrorize. Through the lens of fiction, we can understand the impact…
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Alexandra Petri and Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why: Lit Cast Live Episode 127
"One of the difficulties of being alive today, is that everything is absurd but fewer and fewer things are funny." In her new essay collection Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why, acclaimed Washington Post satirist Alexandra Petri offers perfectly logical, reassuring reasons for everything that has...
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Afrofuturism — Risen From a Poet's Sun: Lit Cast Live Episode 126
Afrofuturism: Risen From a Poet's Sun explores the intersection of technology, science, and the arts, as well as culture, of the African Diaspora. Featuring Bay Area poets James Cagney, Tongo-Eisen Martin, Thea Matthews, and Tureeda Mikell.
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You, Me, and Everyone In Quarantine: Lit Cast Live Episode 125
Cutting-edge poetry and visuals from both coasts, on the theme of "You, Me, and Everyone In Quarantine." From the depths of their shelter-in-place, these writers will perform their literary hearts out for you! With SevanKele Boult, Wo Chan, Katie Fricas, Irene McCalphin aka Magnoliah Black, and...
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Literary Page Turners: Lit Cast Live Episode 124
Page turners are usually associated with genre or popular fiction rather than literary fiction. In this discussion, Melanie Abrams, Laura Mazer, and Kate Milliken will talk about what readers, agents, and editors are looking for when it comes to plot. Our guest authors speak about marketability,...
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Alka Joshi and The Henna Artist: Lit Cast Live Episode 123
Please join us for this vivid and compelling evening with Alka Joshi, author of The Henna Artist, the May selection for Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine Book Club. Tune in and learn why Publishers Weekly calls this novel "eloquent and moving," while Christian Science Monitor highlights its...
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Ishmael Beah and Little Family: Lit Cast Live Episode 122
From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of the Sierra Leone child-soldier memoir, A LONG WAY GONE, comes this powerful new novel about young people living at the margins of society. LITTLE FAMILY portrays the lives of five youth who have improvised a household in an abandoned airplane,...
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Fiction Writing in a Time of Crisis: Lit Cast Live Episode 121
Fiction writers Nayomi Munaweera, R.O. Kwon, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and host Lauren Markham discuss both the challenges and urgency of fiction writing at this moment in time. How do we write during bleak times, and into the bleakness? How does the loss and grief of our current moment impact what...
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Bring the World into Your Home with World Editions: Lit Cast Live Episode 120
Let's connect our global literary community in a time of closed borders. Hear World Editions authors Adam Dalva, Esther Gerritsen, Adeline Dieudonné, Pierre Jarawan, Sisonke Msimang, and Amin Maalouf read from their works, discuss the current situation in their countries, and talk about what…
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DIY Flash with the Flash Fiction Collective: Lit Cast Live Episode 119
A reading of dozens of tiny stories from micro-fictionistas, including guest readers, plus a discussion of the Art of Flash and prompts—including visual prompts—to write and submit your own, with a selection to be published on the Flash Fiction Collective Facebook page. Author bios: Jane...
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ZYZZYVA 35th Anniversary Issue Release: Lit Cast Live Episode 118
Celebrate ZYZZYVA's 35th anniversary issue with contributors Dave Madden, Lysley Tenorio, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, and Kristen Iskandrian. Kristen Iskandrian is the author of the novel Motherest (Twelve). Her story "Good With Boys," which appeared in Issue No. 109, was included in Best American...
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William Gibson: Lit Cast Live Episode 117
Booksmith presents visionary novelist William Gibson reading from the sharply imagined sequel to his New York Times bestselling novel The Peripheral. He is in conversation with Mother Jones editor-in-chief, Clara Jeffery. This event was recorded January 23, 2020 at Public Works.
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Zora Neale Hurston: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance: Lit Cast Live Episode 116
Co-presented by Litquake and MoAD In honor of the post-mortem publication of Zora Neal-Hurston's short story anthology Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick: Stories From The Harlem Renaissance, we put together a reading at the Museum of African Diaspora here in San Francisco. After…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Litquake is San Francisco's nine-day literary festival for booklovers, complete with cutting-edge panel discussions, unique cross-media events, and hundreds of readings. Litquake's Lit Cast is our selection of live recordings from the "Epicenter", a monthly series which embraces a theater of ideas between writers and readers.
HOSTED BY
Litquake
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Litquake's Lit Cast have?
Litquake's Lit Cast currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Litquake's Lit Cast about?
Litquake is San Francisco's nine-day literary festival for booklovers, complete with cutting-edge panel discussions, unique cross-media events, and hundreds of readings. Litquake's Lit Cast is our selection of live recordings from the "Epicenter", a monthly series which embraces a theater of ideas...
How often does Litquake's Lit Cast release new episodes?
Litquake's Lit Cast has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Litquake's Lit Cast?
You can listen to Litquake's Lit Cast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Litquake's Lit Cast?
Litquake's Lit Cast is created and hosted by Litquake.
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