Book Talk

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Rebecca Makkai about what constitutes cultural appropriation and how to "write across difference," the dangers of "leading with meaning" and why writers should trust their subconscious, and why she had to kill off Cyd's favorite character; guest readers Jessica Sager and Annie Thoms join Oppenheimer to discuss mistakes, responsibility, and guilt; striving for safety while living in danger; and what happens -- to us and to others -- when our stories unravel.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Caeli Wolfson Widger about "morning" sickness and parenting, leaning in and pushing through, and what it means to write a feminist novel; guest readers Tui Sutherland and Brian Slattery join Oppenheimer to discuss false choices and the patriarchy , strong women and toxic masculinity, and the ways Brian does and doesn't resemble Tessa's husband Peter.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Heather Abel about idealism and disillusionment, booms and busts, and why stories matter; guest readers Kristopher Jansma and Brad Ridky join Oppenheimer to discuss power and privilege, masculinity and mythmaking, and the invention of identity.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Chelsey Johnson about being a rock'n'roll flutist, learning to love plot, and how to write an ending; guest readers Emily Moore and Jennifer Eng join Oppenheimer to discuss records and oceans, mothers and daughters, and strays and strayings.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Leah Stewart about her "thematic preoccupation" with identity and gender, writing at the border of genre and literary fiction, and the influences of the 17th-century novel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer on this novel; guest readers Tui Sutherland, Brian Slattery, and Alfie Guy join Oppenheimer to discuss love, fame, and the hero's quest.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Rebecca Kauffman about change and the passage of time, the infinite complexity of the human heart, and the importance of allowing ourselves to be seen and to be known; guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss wood frogs and grackles, quicksand and bridges, blindness and seeing.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Kim Fu about Lord of the Flies, girls and their friendships, and unhappy endings; guest readers Yael Shinar and Alice Baumgartner join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers, daughters, and chickens, and what it means to be lost and then found.

author Melissa Albert about the draw of YA literature ("it's the power of the new, the power of the now"), about what makes her want to write ("it's the same thing that makes me want to read: the draw to know what happens next"), and about Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and (of all things) Little House on the Prairie; guest readers Brian Slattery and Tui Sutherland join Oppenheimer to discuss the draw of the Hinterland, doomed princesses, and girls who make decisions. Plus, they offer Melissa Albert multiple ideas for sequels.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Naima Coster about "the kinds of distance and intimacy that can exist between people across lines of class and race," "figuring out how to find freedom without running away," and "not wanting to write a book in which nobody raised their voices;" guest readers Emily Moore and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss object studies, returning home, and what it means to be the woman in the attic.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Chloe Benjamin about unreliable narrators ("To me, every narrator is unreliable"), about allowing herself to write characters whose lived experience differs from her own ("research and empathy are the best way I've found to give myself that permission"), and choosing to end not with death but with healing;

guest readers Annie Thoms and Jessica Sager join Oppenheimer to discuss the journeys of oppressed peoples, the stories that we tell ourselves, and what it means to believe in transformation.