Everything Good

This week we have a guest essay, a chapter from Will Heinrich’s novel The Pearls.

The book follows Henry Corn, a soda jerk and occasional pickpocket in 1920s New York City, as he bounces between two love interests: Dot Cohen, a no-nonsense Coney Island barmaid, and Marion Hammer, the daughter of fabulously wealthy banker Felix Hammer. In this chapter ("The Color of the Sky"), which takes place shortly after an extreme night out, Felix invites Henry to the Hammer Building for the first time.

Will Heinrich was born in New York and spent his early childhood in Japan. His novel The King's Evil, published by Scribner in 2003, won a PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship in 2004; his most recent novel, The Pearls, was published by Elective Affinity in 2019. He has been an art critic for the New Yorker, the New York Observer, Hyperallergic, Art in America and, since 2017, the New York Times.

The Pearls is only available as a signed and numbered limited edition directly from Elective Affinity. An audiobook of the Pearls is available now on Apple Music.

Excerpts of the song Smoke by Ruka were played in this podcast

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Episode 21: The Naked Truth by Johanna Gohmann

Some thoughts on nudes, and not having any.

Johanna Gohmann is a humor writer, essayist, and children’s book author. She has written for numerous outlets, including The New Yorker, McSweeneys, The Cut, Jezebel, and Bust. Her essays appear in several anthologies, most notably A Moveable Feast - Life-Changing Food Adventures Around the World, Every Father's Daughter – 24 Women Writers Remember Their Fathers, and The Best Women’s Travel Writing. She is also the author of 28 middle grade and Young Adult books for ABDO Publishing, including a series about a tween girl who finds a portal into another dimension after eating a rotten hot dog. She makes her home in Brooklyn with her husband and son.

This essay was originally published by Romper.

Excerpts of the song The Black Cat by Flashinmusic were played in this podcast.

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Episode 20: My Father the Teenager

I’d heard of old people becoming babies but not of them becoming teenagers en route.

"His living room was like a teenager’s bedroom – hectic and chaotic – if that teenager loved Ronald Reagan and glossy golf magazines. As my gaze scanned the room, I noticed the confused stylistic touches of a young person: my grandmother’s vase lay upside down on the kitchen table, and he layered a glass armoire with every keepsake he had ever been given, transforming it into a cabinet of kitsch."

Story notes by Rosamund Lannin.

Excerpts of the song Lavish by Yigit Atilla were played in this podcast.

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Episode 19: Midwestern Witch

My greatest childhood fear followed me into adulthood.

“Leaning against off-white wall plaster, I caught glimpses of the only woman in my family who looked like me, until my sister shouted from the living room, ‘It’s doing something weird!’”

Story notes by Rosamund Lannin.

Excerpts of the song Liberty Girl by Heifervescent were played in this podcast.

This story won the Audience Award at Story Club Chicago North Side in October 2018.

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A young woman is so removed from society that she becomes haunted by her past.

"I wasn’t going to quit the Sac Bar. I’d quit too many jobs to land in a not much better or flat-out worse replacement. I’d just be a different person – I wouldn’t make jokes or talk about movies, books, or comedy. I’d pour brown liquid to the red line on the shot glass and wear the dead rattail extension of another woman."

Excerpts of the song Little Liar by Roller Genoa were played in this podcast.

Story notes by Rosamund Lannin and Aaron Murtagh.

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Episode 17: The Tooth and Nail of Dreams

What happens when your childhood dream grows up?

“O-kay, I said and I hung up. I had just agreed to bring the perverse mischief of my low-budget ramshackle of a movie into the home of my father’s childhood dream."

Story notes by Sarah Smith, Rosamund Lannin, and Aaron Murtagh.

This story was originally read at The Line Break Series in Queens in July 2018.

Excerpts of the song Upbeat Soul Groove by Nilly Nell were played in this podcast.

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Episode 16: A La Fin du Monde, with Cows

I decided I'd rather be alone than with someone who yelled at me for no reason. That is, I'd rather be alone with the cows at the end of the world.

“Another pamphlet portrayed a simple red and white passenger ferry. It did not show people on its cover, but it featured Patagonia’s otherworldly fjords. I shrugged and said to Max, It looks relaxing.”

Story notes by Sara Mannheimer and Aaron Murtagh.

Excerpts of the song Lofi Chillout Hip Hop Beat by Joystock were played in this podcast.

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Episode 15: Family Planning

What to do when Dad comes to town?

"My husband Aaron had met my father and he’d heard the stories, but he couldn’t reconcile the two. Like a good husband, he pretended to believe me, but he nursed doubt. In a way, I understood. Without witnessing my father’s episodes, they were difficult to explain.”

Story notes by Sara Mannheimer


Excerpts of the song Tropical Island by MarbleSound were played in this podcast.

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This week we have a guest essay, a satirical letter titled Re: Cloud Engineer by Lynn Maleh.

In our troubled times, a hopeful young woman applies to the job of cloud engineer.

Called "up-and-coming" by the LA Times, Lynn Maleh is a Syrian-American writer and standup comedian whose last name means salty, which she is. She's written for Act Your Age on Bounce TV, The Onion, Reductress, and McSweeney’s and has performed on Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen, Don't Tell Comedy, The Second City Diversity Festival, The Westside Comedy Festival, and a few times in Brad Pitt’s old backyard. She co-created and co-produces Hilarious Habibis, the first ever Middle Eastern-only standup showcase at The Hollywood Improv. Follow her on IG @heylynnmolly

Excerpts of the song Redlight Blues by Christian Petermann were played in this podcast.


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We're on a two week break!! New episode 8/31!

This week we have a guest essay, Spanish Lessons by Trish DiFranco.

This is a story about puppy love and the pile of poo you find when you try to chase it.

Trish DiFranco is a writer and marketer in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. You can read more of her work at trish.substack.com

Excerpts of the song Passion Tango by The Piano Lady Lena Orsa were played in this podcast