The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

I’m a fan of podcasts and can’t enough of books so I thought other others might like a place to share their favorite podcasts.

I’ll start off with these two:
Across the Pond-BooksThe new podcast hosts by Galley Beggar’s Sam Jordison and Lori Feathers, an indie bookshop owner in Texas is good.

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: Natalie Haynes teaches us all about Ancient Greek history lessons in what is essentially a stand up comedy performance. The 2020 episodes she does in front of an audience and talks too fast, but the 2021 episodes she has slowed down and I find them easier to follow.

Unsound Methods - A literary fiction podcast hosted by authors Jaimie Batchan and Lochlan Bloom. "We talk to fellow writers of literary fiction about process, what makes fiction 'real' and the motivation to sit down in front of an empty page and make things up"

Their taste in authors is very much in tune with mine - wonderful guest list

There’s the backlisted podcast https://m.soundcloud.com/backlistedpod

I think most Brits know about the BBC Radio4 book podcasts, but might not know about Writers & Company from CBC radio in Canada. The host Eleanor Wachtel interviews and discusses more classics or high brow authors, musicians, and filmmakers.

My favorite podcast host is Harriet Gilbert. I discovered that I love the books she loves so if she recommends a book I make note of it, except for crime books. I’m not a fan of that genre like she is.

Wachtel is very good and tends to have a stellar line up of guests

Michael Silverblatt Bookworm series on KCRW has a similarly high quality, perhaps more so of, guests but I must admit to finding him rather grating to listen to, and his questions tend to be longer than the guests’ answers. That the official blurb from KCRW for his podcast reads “A man who converses on an equal plane with writers of fiction and poetry, often surprising them with his insights” says it all.

Serious question do any of the podcasts publish subsequent transcripts?

Not that I know of. That is one big advantage I agree of Ted Talks.

I feel about podcasts as you do about audiobooks I think.

Ted Talks (laying aside their frequent vacuousness) at least have the advantage of visuals and brevity.

Although an author chatting about their book with a well informed interviewer (but not one aiming to surprise the author with their insights) can be good. Although I would prefer a transcript.

Love the concept - hate the medium

I think even more so after 18 months of lockdown I would only be interested if it was in person

Paul wrote: "Wachtel is very good and tends to have a stellar line up of guests

Michael Silverblatt Bookworm series on KCRW has a similarly high quality, perhaps more so of, guests but I must admit to finding ..."

The Book Review podcast by NYT has transcripts. So does The Ezra Klien show, which is more politically inclined but has a decent amount of authors on.

I agree about Silverblatt, although when he was much younger his voice didn’t sound like as congested.
I used to listen to Slate, but the women have vocal fry, which I couldn’t bear,

I’m the opposite, GY, I don’t mind podcasts while doing repetitive spreadsheets because I’ve never heard anything so lovely or profound that I wanted to experience it again, and if my mind wanders a bit or I pause it to read something for work it doesn’t effect the listening experience. I couldn’t listen to an audio book while working.

Literary Friction last two guests were Deborah Levy and Rachel Kushner.

Thanks for letting us about Marlon and James Read Dead People, Nadine, it’s very funny!

I guess I find spreadsheets lovely and profound so have no need for Podcasts.

I actually really love Silverblatt, though can completely understand how he could be grating.

Another one that can be great, certainly in-depth, is Between The Covers.

They are not making it any more but the old episodes of Papertrail podcast are really good, writers talking about three books that have made an impression on them.

Then there's So Many Damn Books, which is very American but has some great writers on it - two guys enthusing about literature and cocktails.

Jonathan Pinnock's relatively new podcast is It's Lit But Is It Funny? which is about humorous writing. Still finding its feet but certainly covering some ground which I'm into.

I can't say that I listen to all of these episodes by any stretch, but dip in and out when someone I'm interested in is on or the description sounds interesting. I've certainly found a few books through some of these which I wouldn't otherwise have been that aware of.

Paul wrote: "That the official blurb from KCRW for his podcast reads “A man who converses on an equal plane with writers of fiction and poetry, often surprising them with his insights” says it all ..."

I haven't listened to Bookworm for a few years, but my impression of Silverblatt is that he's a pretty modest and unassuming guy, and although many of the authors he interviews mention their respect for him, it doesn't go to his head - but clearly KCRW's marketing people leaned on it in an annoying way.

I remember distinctly an interview with David Foster Wallace, where the author treated him with almost reverence. Not something I'd have expected from DFW.

Also, I seem to remember that Silverblatt doesn't interview the most popular writers, but the most literary ones.

I agree, Nadine. Silverblatt is a sweet guy and he does have interesting insights. I bet writers hope to go on his show because he is so enthusiastic about their books.

I listens more to Marlon and James today and I think it might be my favorite. Some podcasts are too chatty, but these guys are chatty about books.

I remember Between the Covers, but I think I exhausted the list.

I also like "Books on the Go" from Australia, where the hosts read and talk about their "book of the week". I like their book choices, and they they keep it short and sweet - a bit under 30 mins, I think.

I like 'Marlon and James' so much that I don't speed it up to 1.5, which I do for most podcasts.

Literary Friction mentioned by Wendy is good - I listened to their interview with Leone Ross. They have also featured two winners of the RoC Prize.

I just found This isn’t a Dream on Isabel Waidner’s Instagram account, “This isn’t a Dream is a fortnightly literary chat show presented by Isabel Waidner and hosted by the ICA via Instagram live. The 40 minute long live episodes will feature informal conversations between Waidner and various authors about writing and process.”

https://www.ica.art/live/this-isn-t-a...

We have seven episodes out now, with more done and ready to release per our schedule, so I'm comfortable that we are going to be able to sustain a new project long term. So I can let you all know!

Paul Wilson (long-time internet book buddy) and I have rebooted The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast. Today we released our Fall Reading episode (#7, and there is a giveaway of an Archipelago Book in there, so . . . ). You can find it on my site, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, you can get the RSS feed on Libsyn so you can add it manually to your podcatcher of choice.

Sorry . . . Goodreads now doesn't allow links in comments. Maybe if you can't find it DM me?

Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun with it! If you like our sort of bookish chatter, then please come along!

I just discovered Slightly Foxed: The Real Reader’s Quarterly

Recent episodes:

Decline and Fall: A Literary Guide in which they discuss classics starting with Edward Gibbons up through The Buried Giant to The Manningtree Witches.

Sybille Bedford’s Appetite for Life
The Golden Age of Crime Writing
Picnic at Hanging Rock and Other Stories
The Magic of Angela Carter

And so on…