Write On! Radio

We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope This week, Molly sits down with the editors of We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope, just out from Saga Press. Bringing organizers and activists together with genre luminaries and exciting new voices in fiction, We Will Rise Again is an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer inspiration for the social justice movements of tomorrow. You can read a story from the book online! “Where Memory Meets the Sea” by Laia Asieo Odo was previewed at Electric Literature. Air Date: December […]

This week, Emma sits down with Debra J. Stone to discuss The House on Rondo, just out from University Of Minnesota Press. In this coming-of-age story, a young girl reckons with the demolition of a Black Saint Paul neighborhood to make way for the Interstate in the early 1960s. As Zenobia gradually learns about what’s planned for the Rondo neighborhood and what this means for everyone who lives there, she discovers how her story is intertwined with the history of her family, all the way back to Great Grandma Zenobia. The House on Rondo is available now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962834492 Air Date: November […]

This week, Josh sits down with Gary Porter to discuss Little Rex: A Night at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, a heartfelt prequel to Duffy: The Tale of a Terrier.  Told from the afterlife, Little Rex follows a small Boston Terrier on an extraordinary journey through Concord, Massachusetts, where the ghosts of Concord’s greatest writers return for a single night. We get into: How a street dog became an unlikely witness to literary history What Alcott, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Emerson can still teach young readers The challenge of writing for both young readers and adults Turning historic landmarks into magical spaces of […]

This week, Emma sits down with Joseph Whitson about his debut book, Marketing the Wilderness: Outdoor Recreation, Indigenous Activism, and the Battle over Public Lands, which is an analysis of how outdoor recreation companies market public land as wilderness instead of land stolen from Indigenous people. In this interview, Emma and Joseph Whitson discuss how the myth of outdoor recreation as a pure good ignores the history and current politics of public land.

This week, Josh Weber speaks to Leif Weatherby, founding director of the Digital Theory Lab at New York University, about his new monograph ‘Language Machines: Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism’. The monograph discusses how what is currently described as AI is not displaying cognition, but instead revealing culture. In this interview, Josh and Leif discuss what AI is being marketed as, what AI is capable of, and how it can be used in the future.

This week Ian Graham Leask speaks with author Peter Geye about his new novel, A Lesser Light, a story about selfhood and determinism on the rocky shores of Lake Superior. They discuss writing styles, storytelling, and how the process of revision changes the story being told.

This week, Liz Olds speaks to Andrea Gilats, author of Radical Endurance: Growing Old in an Age of Longevity, about her new book. They discuss what it means to reach old age, prolonged grief disorder, and how to live in our ageist culture.

This week, Josh sits down with Agustina Paglayan to discuss her book Raised to Obey: The Rise And Spread of Mass Education. Raised to Obey is about how the expansion of primary education in the West emerged not from democratic ideals but from the state’s desire to control it’s subjects.  Raised to Obey is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/069126127X/

This week, Josh sits down with Vince Beiser, to discuss his book, Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future. Power Metal is about how the move to green energy relies on specific metals that are causing ecological and economic damage today, and how we can improve this situation. Power Metal is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593541707/

This week Josh talks with George W. Crocker, Executive Director of the North American Water Office, about his new book; About Power: How to Democratize Electricity Now. They discuss decentralized power generation, the history of centralized power generation, and the changes that need to happen to move from one to the other. About Power is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962834212

This week Josh talks with with Cass Dalglish about his new novel; Ring of Lions, a story centered around the mysteries of the Alhambra. They discuss how to connect storylines separated by decades and centuries. Ring of Lions is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962834344

This week, Josh sits down with Katherine Goertz to discuss her new book An American Outpost: The Minnesota Art Scene, 1840-1989. They discuss the desire of Midwestern cities to prove their art scenes as legitimate, art collection as a basis for legitimacy for art, and how the art scene in Minneapolis and Saint Paul grew. An American Outpost is available to purchase here: https://aftonpress.com/product/an-american-outpost/

This week, Josh speaks with Newell Searle about his newest novel, In Adverse Possession, a book about rural issues – and how the land is fundamentally connected with the people who work it. They discuss legalities, rural Minnesota, and the conflict between people with different dreams of the future. Adverse Possession is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962834263/

This week, Josh speaks with paleontologist and popular science writer Neil Shubin about his new book, Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and Our Futures. Neil Shubin discusses the amazing discoveries hidden under the ice in the polar regions, as well as what cooperation means to humanity in the face of isolation. Ends of the Earth is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593186524

This week, Erik sits down with Twin Cities author W.D. Foster-Graham to discuss both the local literary scene and the Black History of the Twin Cities.

This episode was recorded by Josh Weber and played on the program on December 17th, 2024. In this hour-long discussion, Josh speaks to Cheryl Bailey and Anna Farro Henderson about their respective books; Poised and Core Samples. They discuss the intersection of science, healthcare, and government, as well as their experiences with writing and sexism in their fields. Poised is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962834158/ Core Samples is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1517916046/

This week, Erik sits down with web serial novelist David Verburg about his two series; A Practical Guide to Evil and Pale Lights. They discuss the differences in format between a traditional novel and a serial novel, the challenges of work schedules, and the difficulties involved in deconstructing a genre.

This week, Liz will be sitting down with Craig R. Evans, to talk about his new book Old Time Conversations: Finding Health, Happiness, and Community Through Traditional Music. In this interview, Liz and Evans discuss creativity, health, and community, as well as the joy people can find in music and art.

This week, Josh sits down with author John Brandon, to discuss his new novel Penalties of June, an exciting thriller about ex-con Pratt. In this book, Brandon uses his feel for the underbelly of his home state of Florida to give the genre of noir a sweltering southern twist. Penalties of June is available to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/196327007X/

This week, Josh talks to Audrey Borowski about her new book, Leibniz in His World. Drawing on extensive correspondence by Leibniz and many leading figures of the age, Audrey Borowski paints a nuanced portrait of Leibniz in the 1670s, during his “Paris sojourn” as a young diplomat and in Germany at the court of Duke Johann Friedrich of Hanover. She challenges the image of Leibniz as an isolated genius, revealing instead a man of multiple identities whose thought was shaped by a deep engagement with the social and intellectual milieus of his time. Leibniz in His World is available to […]

Josh sits down with Naomi Cohn to talk about her new book The Braille Encyclopedia: Brief Essays on Altered Sight. Told in the form of imagined alphabetical encyclopedia entries, this meditation on progressive vision loss examines and illuminates Cohn’s at first halting then avid embrace of braille as part of relearning to read and write as an adult.

This episode, Josh sits down with author Scott Dominic Carpenter about his new book, Paris Lost and Found: A Memoir of Love. They discuss travel, loss, and the romanticization and reality of the city of Paris.

Liz Olds sits down with spiritual author and teacher Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew to talk about her new book, The Release: Creativity and Freedom After the Writing is Done. They discuss how the idea of the ‘gift economy’ (as opposed to the market economy) can allow for greater creativity and health after the creation of art.

Erik sits down with Blue Delliquanti, creator of the webcomic O Human Star, to discuss comics, androids, and being a professional cartoonist.

Josh sits down with Peter Godfrey-Smith to talk about his new book, Living on Earth: Forests, Corals, Consciousness, and the Making of the World. In this book, Godfrey-Smith discusses how other living beings have shaped the world that we as humans have come to think of as natural.