Happy To Be Here

This month’s book club selection is Idra Novey’s Take What You Need, a novel that centers around Jean, an older woman who welds giant sculptures in her rural Pennsylvania living room, and Leah, her estranged ex-stepdaughter.

We’re joined by two novelists who wrote books that came out in 2022: Cleyvis Natera, the author of Neruda on the Park, and Fellowship Point author Alice Elliott Dark for a reflection on the imperfections of love, the importance of art, and the narrative structure of the novel.

A warning: there are spoilers in this episode! If you have not read the book yet, you can go back and listen to our spoiler-free interview with Idra Novey first!

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Nerdette had the great privilege of hosting a live WBEZ event with Samantha Irby to celebrate the release of her newest book Quietly Hostile. Like her other books, it’s a collection of essays that span a huge variety of topics. She writes about lesbian nun porn fantasies, living with teenage stepkids, why her wife has SO many condiments in their fridge, and chronic illness. (If you’ve read Sam’s work before, you won’t be surprised to hear it includes a lot of diarrhea.)

In addition to her essays, Sam also writes for TV. She wrote for And Just Like That…, the new Sex and the City reboot, along with the cartoon Tuca & Bertie and the Hulu adaptation of Lindy West’s book Shrill.

We chatted about her relationship to fans who know intimate details about her life, why she hates New York, and her favorite toilet paper.

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This week, Greta is joined by host of City Cast Chicago Jacoby Cochran and WBEZ reporter Araceli Gómez-Aldana. We get into the newly announced sequel to Freaky Friday and whether Martha Stewart’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover is really breaking down barriers.

Then, NPR host-at-large Elise Hu tells us about her new book Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital. It’s about how South Korea is a leading influencer of beauty standards and trends worldwide, from multi-step skincare routines to lipstick colors to plastic surgery. Her book is heavily-reported, but it also offers up her own reflections on the intense pressure around women’s appearances and how Elise wants her own daughters to think about beauty.

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Tracie Hunte, correspondent and producer for WNYC studios, and Arionne Nettles, journalism lecturer at Northwestern University, join us to wade through some of the week’s most amusing stories, from the coronation to a study on how to properly call a cat.

Then, Tre’vell Anderson tells us about their beautiful new book We See Each Other: A Black Trans Journey Through TV and Film. It’s a look at the history of trans representation on screen, as well as an exploration of Tre’vell’s own journey of self discovery as a Black, trans entertainment journalist.

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Get ready to add a LOT of new titles to your TBR list this summer! Three of the best readers around came on to talk about the book they’re extra excited about: Liberty Hardy, senior contributing editor and podcast host at Book Riot, Lupita Aquino, who is on Instagram and Substack as Lupita Reads, and Traci Thomas, host of The Stacks podcast.

Head to our website for more info on the books mentioned in today's episode: https://trib.al/QhoRdF0

Here are the titles in order of appearance:

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