Concavity Show

By Matt Bucher & Dave LairdArts

Concavity Show episodes

October 12, 2023 Episode 74 - David Lipsky, author of The Parrot and the Igloo
In this episode with speak with bestselling writer and journalist David Lipsky. To David Foster Wallace fans, Lipsky is, of course, familiar as the author of Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself which was the basis of the 2015 film The End of the Tour.
David Lipsky is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Magazine Writing, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, and many others. He contributes to NPR's All Things Considered, and is the recipient of a Lambert Fellowship, a Media Award from GLAAD, and a National Magazine Award. He's the author of the novel The Art Fair; a collection, Three Thousand Dollars; and the bestselling nonfiction book Absolutely American, which was a Time magazine Best Book of the Year.
His new book, The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial is out now from Norton. The book examines the roots of climate change in popular thought, reaching back to the invention of electricity and the global impacts of technology. Lipsky profiles the scientists and characters who have taken up climate science and those who work to deny the effects of carbon and warming.
The New York Times described the book, saying Lipsky "spins top-flight climate literature into cliffhanger entertainment."
The extensive notes to the book, which he mentions in this episode, can be found at https://www.theparrotandtheigloo.com/
2 hr 15 min
July 14, 2023 BONUS: DFW vs Martin Amis: Every Tennis Match is a Ghost Story
In this bonus episode, we have a special audio production from British literary scholar Saul Leslie and American writer Wendy Liu.

What do you think David Foster Wallace was really like in a tennis match? You are invited to listen to a tennis commentary of a fictional match played between David Foster Wallace and Martin Amis. This audio piece was part of DFW2023, held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was written and presented by Saul Leslie, and features commentary by fictional Wimbledon champion and writer Elsa Canetti (voiced by Wendy Liu), and a guest 'courtside' appearance from literary academic Beci Carver. Hopefully this gives you a sense of what it would be like if Amis and Wallace really did play against one another. As for who is ultimately triumphant, you’ll have to listen to find out!

Be sure to check out this pamphlet for more details about the tennis match and the audio production.

Follow Saul:
Email - [email protected].
Twitter - @postpost_its

Follow Wendy:
Twitter - @dellsystem
Website - https://dellsystem.me/

47 min
June 21, 2023 Episode 73 - Matt Bucher, author of The Belan Deck
In Episode 73, Dave welcomes special guest Matt Bucher on the show to discuss his debut novel, The Belan Deck.
Buy Matt's book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-belan-deck-matt-bucher/19943822?ean=9798888623428
Biblioklept review: https://biblioklept.org/2023/06/02/matt-buchers-the-belan-deck-is-an-unexpectedly-moving-argument-for-humanity-and-serious-triviality/
The Belan Deck on Goodreads (featuring reviews by many of our amazing listeners, like Phillip Freedenberg, Jack Waters, and Richie Speiser): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128126023-the-belan-deck
Erick Eckel review: https://erikeckel.com/2023/06/18/the-belan-deck-hints-of-microserfs-in-an-ai-age/
Jay Innis Murray review/interview: https://www.thevisionarycompany.net/blog/the-afterlife-of-anecdotes-a-review-of-the-belan-deck-by-matt-bucher

Contact Dave & Matt:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/
1 hr 25 min
April 21, 2023 Episode 72 - Sheila Liming, author of Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time
In Episode 72, we welcome friend of the show, Edith Wharton scholar, accordion/bagpiper extraordinaire, and prolific writer, Sheila Liming on to talk about her new book Hanging Out, delving into the myriad ways that unstructured hang time is a radical, life-affirming act that resists capitalist commodification.
The New York Times article on Sheila and the book: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/style/sheila-liming-hanging-out-interview.html
Sheila on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/seeshespeak
Buy the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717263/hanging-out-by-sheila-liming/ and here https://bookshop.org/p/books/hanging-out-the-radical-power-of-killing-time-sheila-liming/18462992?ean=9781685890056

Information about the 2023 DFW Conference in Gettysburg, June 22-24: https://dfwsociety.org/conference/

Contact Matt and Dave:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/
1 hr 23 min
January 23, 2023 Episode 71 - Year in Review 2022 with Evan Stephens Hall of Pinegrove
In this episode, we talk with prolific reader and accomplished musician Evan Stephens Hall from the band Pinegrove. We discuss his top books of the year and go through a few of our own favorite reading experiences from 2022.

Here is the David Foster Wallace & Richard Powers Q&A we mention.

And here is the reading poriton of that event that begins with DFW talking about the “brick” in his pocket.

The Pinegrove songs featured in this episode are Alaska and Habitat.
Thank you to Rough Trade Records, Pinegrove and Evan Stephens Hall for permission.

Here are our Concavity Show Best Songs of 2022 playlists:

iTunes: https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/best-of-2022/pl.u-EdAVv5dCaMJB7j

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1BwuTDJq2LoU8ZzdSDXSK5?si=052f5d25ed514b43

Evan, top books mentioned:
A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines (Gaines stamp!)
Morality Play by Barry Unsworth
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Public Library by Ali Smith (and Autumn!)
Breaking and Entering by Joy WIlliams
Leave Society by Tao Lin

Dave, top books mentioned:
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyaasi
Intimacies by Katie Kitamura
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Autoportrait by Jesse Ball
Liberation Day by George Saunders

Matt, top books read this year:
Robert Crews by Thomas Berger
Literary Alchemist by Steve Paul
We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper
Airport Music by Mark Tardi
Zol by REYoung

Evan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evanstephenshall/
Pinegrove website: https://pinegroveband.com/

Contact Dave & Matt:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

1 hr 51 min
November 29, 2022 Episode 70 - Peyton Thomas, author of Both Sides Now
In episode 70, we talk to our friend Peyton Thomas, a DFW, Louisa May Alcott, and American Girl doll enthusiast. His recent YA novel, Both Sides Now, was published in 2021, and his writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, Pitchfork, and Billboard, and many other places.
Peyton is currently at work on his second novel, a contemporary interpretation of Little Women. You can read more about this forthcoming book in Oprah Daily. Peyton also hosts a podcast about Little Women called Jo's Boys.
Peyton's website - https://peytonthomas.ca/
Buy Both Sides Now - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652876/both-sides-now-by-peyton-thomas/
Jo's Boys Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jos-boys-a-little-women-podcast/id1610742792
Peyton's Pitchfork reviews - https://pitchfork.com/staff/peyton-thomas/albumreviews/
Peyton on Twitter - https://twitter.com/peytonology
Infinite Jest Fanfiction on Archive of Our Own - https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Infinite%20Jest%20-%20David%20Foster%20Wallace/works

Contact Dave & Matt:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

2 hr 17 min
November 01, 2022 Episode 69 - Michael O’Connell, editor of Conversations with George Saunders
In Episode 69, we talk to our friend Mike O'Connell about his recent collection from University of Mississippi Press, Conversations with George Saunders, and discuss Mike's background, the origins of the collection, particulars of the interviews in the book, the trajectory and flavor of Saunders' literary career, and where it all might go.

Buy the Conversations book here - https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/C/Conversations-with-George-Saunders
Buy George's brand new book, Liberation Day here - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564990/liberation-day-by-george-saunders/

You can find Michael online in these places:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/moc
Academia.edu - https://sienaheights.academia.edu/MichaelOConnell
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/books_in_2022/

Contact Dave & Matt:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

1 hr 29 min
August 04, 2022 Episode 68 - Adam Levin, author of Mount Chicago
In Adam's second appearance on the show, we discuss his brand new novel, Mount Chicago, which follows a handful of characters living in the shadow of a "terrestrial anomaly" that befalls Chicago's downtown. Both hilarious and tragic, the book shows off Levin's great versatility as a storyteller, metafictionist, humorist, and, maybe to some extent, autobiographer. We also talk about birds (again).
Buy Adam's new book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/695826/mount-chicago-by-adam-levin/ or here: https://bookshop.org/books/mount-chicago/9780385548243
Adam's website: https://www.adamlevinadamlevin.com/
Seminary Co-op Virtual Event on August 10th (registration required) - https://www.semcoop.com/event/adam-levin-mount-chicago
"A Lot of Things Have Happened" by Adam Levin - The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/27/a-lot-of-things-have-happened
Recent New York Times piece on Mount Chicago - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/21/books/summer-books-writers.html

Contact Dave & Matt:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

1 hr 26 min
July 10, 2022 Episode 67 - Christian TeBordo, author of The Apology (and DFW22 Conference Recap)
In Episode 67, we welcome Christian TeBordo back to the show to discuss his new novel, The Apology, as well as get a rundown of the recent David Foster Wallace conference in Austin, with overall reflections from Matt.
Christian on Twitter - https://twitter.com/xtebordo
Buy The Apology here - https://www.astrophilpress.com/the-apology

Contact Dave & Matt:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/
1 hr 43 min
March 23, 2022 Episode 66 - Dario Diofebi, author of Paradise, Nevada
In Episode 66, we welcome Dario Diofebi, the mind behind one of our favorite books of 2021, Paradise, Nevada, from Bloomsbury Publishing.
You can buy the book here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/paradise-nevada-9781635576207/
Stay tuned for the bonus episode, dropping about two weeks from this launch. Check out our Patreon for access details: https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Contact Matt and Dave:
Email - [email protected]
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/concavityshow/
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow
Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/
1 hr 44 min