PODCAST · arts
Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast
by 3PL Podcasts LLC
Third Person Limited is a podcast about books and culture with hosts, Nathan Pensky and Mason Stockstill, two writers living in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Join us for book reviews, author interviews, semi-insightful cultural analysis, snack discourse, complaining, very funny jokes, and also much less funny jokes.
Episodes
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Willy Vlautin and Dashiell Hammett
We were excited to have novelist and musician Willy Vlautin join us for a discussion about his career in both fields and his newest novel, The Left and the Lucky, which John Mulaney called “electric.” Willy covered his influences, why it was great to learn that some random lady hates him, and the...
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Episode 24: Deals with the Devil (with Ed Simon) and Firing Holden Caulfield
We’re going to Hell with literary man-about-town Ed Simon, founder of the Pittsburgh Review of Books (with which our podcast is affiliated) and author of Devil’s Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain. Ed helps us figure out why the legend of Faust still feels fresh in our world today…
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Episode 23: Alice Martin and Is Exposition Gendered?
Women everywhere have an indescribable urge to get up and go west. That would be weird if it was real; in the hands of Alice Martin, author of the novel Westward Women, it’s not only weird but an incredible conceit for a thoughtful work of literary fiction that’s among the best books we’ve read...
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Episode 22: Nina McConigley
We had a great time with Nina McConigley, author of the new novel How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder, which hits all the beats you want from a book where a character named Agatha Krishna says, “We blame the British.” Nina shared with us her thoughts on how colonialism divided not only countries...
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Episode 21: PEN/Bingham Prize winner Jared Lemus
We were fortunate to have Jared Lemus, author of the story collection Guatemalan Rhapsody, join us to discuss masculinity and empathy in fiction. Jared recently won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for debut story collection, and he was also once Nate’s co-worker. (Which is also a noteworthy...
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Episode 20: John Sayles
We’re excited to welcome filmmaker and author John Sayles to the show. John spoke with us about his most recent novel, Crucible, which focuses on the impact that an egocentric automobile magnate’s uninformed plans has on the economy and other populations. Sounds vaguely familiar. We also dove…
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Episode 19: Rejection is Good! And you never read alone
So your manuscript was rejected by another publisher. Will you revise your work to meet the shifting whims of the marketplace, or hold steady to your uncompromising vision, bragging all the while about the rejections you’ve accumulated like tumbleweeds tangled in a barbed wire fence? Meanwhile…
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Episode 18: Author Tom Ryan and Movies Being Too Literal
Will Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, or any of the other fictional teen sleuths ever grow up? We spoke with Tom Ryan, whose novel We Had a Hunch throws adult versions of kid detectives into several harrowing grown-up situations, from hunting a serial killer to the slow-dawning...
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Interpretation and Ecstasy
We have too many reviews and not enough interpretive criticism. At least, that’s what Nathan says, and it seems to hold water. A true critique engages your intellect and raises questions, while a review just says whether you should watch that movie/read that book/listen to that podcast. In our...
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Literature for Aliens, and How to Be Perfect
Our hosts have ideas about what sort of books should have been included on the Voyager spacecraft, to support its heartwarming mission of spreading humanity to the stars. Would you have just sent the aliens your favorite book? Because maybe they don’t have the context to understand what a “Da…
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Chris Hauty and gift books
Author and screenwriter Chris Hauty joined us to discuss his latest thriller, Dead Ringer, which imagines a conspiracy around the JFK assassination—and if you think you’ve heard it all before on this topic, we assure you this novel will take you somewhere you were not expecting. Chris shared his...
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We Don't Like End-of-Year Book Lists, Plus: Our End-of-Year Book List!
All those “best books of the year” lists are bogus marketing material that flattens the distinct reading experience that any individual brings to a book they interact with. We tore apart the very concept of those lists in this episode. Then we shared our own Best Books list! Hypocrisy, or nuanced...
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Short Stories We Love, Part 2
We’re back with more Short Stories We Love, after Nathan scoured the literary mags to find writers who deserve a closer look. Short stories aren’t just for The New Yorker! In this episode, Joey Hedger brings us a tale of cancer and terrible liqueur; Glenn Clifton joins from Canada with a story of...
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Episode 12: Amber Sparks and We Love You, Bunny
We had a great time welcoming writer Amber Sparks to the show and discussing her new novel Happy People Don’t Live Here, which features a girl detective, abusive men, ghosts, a mermaid, and what it means to keep your love for someone alive long after they — or you — are gone. Amber is conflicted...
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Jason Diamond and Book Blurbs
We sat down with Jason Diamond, bookish man about town and author of Kaplan’s Plot, a multigenerational Jewish gangster saga in bookstores now. He made a strong case for Chicago as a literary city and for not forgetting the immigrant experience in your ancestry. Then, we pull back the curtain on...
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Episode 10: Spooky Season with Kyle Winkler and Faust
We’re feeling spooky with horror author Kyle Winkler, back to discuss his latest novel, the creepy and horrifying Enter the Peerless, which starts with a private investigator trying to figure out what happened to a bunch of people who went into an abandoned trailer and never came out. Always a...
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Short Stories We Love
The first in an occasional series focusing on short stories we found in various journals, and interviews with those authors. Short stories don't get much love outside of The New Yorker or MFA workshops, but they should! Many of them are incredible. Our guests include writers Billy Irving, Kelly...
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Meta Stole our Writing to Feed its AI
We knew Zuck was a fan of the podcast. We didn’t know he would go so far as to dig up our old articles and use them, along with a million other books, to train Meta’s AI. Oh, you say he didn’t do it himself, and maybe it’s not stealing (legal opinions pending)? This may be true, or it may just be…
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Erin Lyndal Martin and Men in Literature
Writer Erin Lyndal Martin joins the show to inform us that Saddam Hussein wrote a romance novel, but only after we wondered if Joe Rogan could do it. Other topics include whether men should read more literature, which we think Yes! They should; and whether men doing so would make the world a…
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Paul Bradley Carr, Part 2
Bestselling author of The Confessions and bookstore owner Paul Bradley Carr returns for Part 2 of our conversation about artificial intelligence, the power of narratives, drinking blood, and whether vaping is cool (spoiler: it’s not). The AI chatbots kept trying to disrupt our Zoom session with...
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Kyle Winkler Part 1, Plus BLOB
Author Kyle Winkler joins this episode to talk about horror fiction and his novel Tone Bone. What's scarier: There's a Wocket in my Pocket or Goodnight Moon? Plus, we review BLOB by Maggie Su, and in the process, we enjoy saying "blob" over and over again. Try it!
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Paul Bradley Carr, Part 1
We invited former tech journalist and bestselling author Paul Bradley Carr for a rollicking discussion about his new novel, The Confessions. It features an all-knowing Artificial Intelligence that doesn’t want to destroy the world—because it was trained by reading fiction. He also shared his…
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Dan Eastman
We were joined by author and poet Dan Eastman for a discussion about confessional poetry, second-person POV, and the best memes. I ask you: should poems mention Facebook? Still waiting on our podcast name during this episode. Nice of Dan to not make fun of us for this.
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MFA Authors
Nate and Mason both have MFAs, but do they go around telling everyone and demanding book deals because of it? Well, yes, if you’re offering. But anyway, a social media firestorm about a take about Sally Rooney not having an MFA got us thinking: Are They Good and Should Anyone Care?
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Is Reading Good?
Our first episode, before we even had a name for this podcast. So, it's a big question, whether reading is good. Specifically, is reading fiction inherently good, as well as instrumentally good (meaning, it’s good for some other reason, like making you smarter)? We grapple with this, mostly by...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Third Person Limited is a podcast about books and culture with hosts, Nathan Pensky and Mason Stockstill, two writers living in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Join us for book reviews, author interviews, semi-insightful cultural analysis, snack discourse, complaining, very funny jokes, and also much less funny jokes.
HOSTED BY
3PL Podcasts LLC
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast have?
Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast currently has 31 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast about?
Third Person Limited is a podcast about books and culture with hosts, Nathan Pensky and Mason Stockstill, two writers living in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Join us for book reviews, author interviews, semi-insightful cultural analysis, snack discourse, complaining, very funny jokes, and also much...
How often does Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast release new episodes?
Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast has 31 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast?
You can listen to Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast 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 Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast?
Third Person Limited: A Books Podcast is created and hosted by 3PL Podcasts LLC.
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