This week we are joined by a real-life Stargirl, the writer Katie Roiphe, to discuss Mary McCarthy, one of the best and most controversial writers of the 20th century. We talk about the sharpness and brutality of her voice, her rejection of political movements in favor of a more intimate, material investigation of people's behavior, how her mass appeal violated the norms of her intellectual circle, and why she's been written out of certain feminist literary histories. Plus, Katie shares a handful of quotes about the myth of McCarthy's unnerving smile.

Discussed:

Stories in The Company She Keeps: A Cruel and Barbarous Treatment, The Genial Host, The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt