Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a young Latina superstar novelist and poet whose debut novel recently appeared on a billboard in Times Square. Melissa and Gabe talk about why West Side Story is so relatable for lonely Latinas who obsess over mediocre white guys. Melissa explains why every single woman writer need a big yellow couch. And what happened when Melissa ordered a yellow couch from the internet?

Visit Melissa Lozada-Oliva's website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram

Buy Melissa's book Dreaming of You

Listen to Melissa on Say More

Watch Melissa on YouTube

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (NYT's bestselling author of Friday Black)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Tod Goldberg is the New York Times Bestselling author of over a dozen books and a beloved citizen of Literary Twitter. He is also the Director of the MFA program at the University of California, Riverside. Tod tells Gabe about what his grandfather, who just barely survived the pogroms in Ukraine, taught him about being Jewish. This interview is a portrait of the writer as a wild big-hearted force of nature.

Visit Tod's website and follow him on Twitter and Instagram

Buy Tod's novel Gangster Nation

Read Tod Goldberg in Los Angeles Times

Watch Tod on YouTube

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Rebecca Makkai (author of The Great Believers)

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Soraya Nadia McDonald is the senior cultural critic for Andscape (formerly known as The Undefeated). She won the George Jean Nathan Prize for dramatic criticism, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism. Soraya tells Gabe about her decision to go public with her cancer diagnosis and the bond she formed with her Twitter followers who are cancer survivors. Soraya also talks about Aretha Franklin's powerful artistry and how Aretha went from feeling like a revered celebrity to a family member.

Read Soraya Nadia McDonald on Andscape

Visit Soraya's website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram

Watch Soraya on YouTube

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (NYT's bestselling author of Friday Black)

Stephanie Land (NYT's bestselling author of Maid)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Diksha Basu is an award-winning novelist and journalist. Diksha generously cracks open her heart open so that she and Gabe can carefully examine the contents therein. And what they find is her fabulous grandmother as well as her squad of powerful and hilarious aunts: these women in Delhi have not just shaped who Diksha is but have armed her with invaluable tools to contend with the messiness of life.

Read Diksha Basu in New York Times

Follow Diksha on Twitter and Instagram

Buy Diksha's novel Destination Wedding

Watch Diksha on YouTube

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Elizabeth McCracken (author of The Hero of This Book)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Joe Hagan is cohost of Vanity Fair's podcast Inside the Hive the author of the culture defining book Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone. Joe is a special correspondent for Vanity Fair. He has written in depth about some of the most significant figures of our time, including Beto O’Rourke, Hillary Clinton, the Bush family, Karl Rove, Henry Kissinger, and Dan Rather. This episode has big Gen X energy like you wouldn't believe.

Read Joe Hagan at Vanity Fair

Listen to Joe on Inside the Hive

Visit Joe Hagan's website and follow him on Twitter and Instagram

Buy Joe Hagan's nonfiction book Sticky Fingers: the Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine

Watch Joe on CBS Mornings

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Rebecca Makkai (author of The Great Believers)

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Stephanie Land didn’t take the traditional path to writing a New York Times Bestselling memoir MAID: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. And she didn’t take the traditional path to having her memoir be adapted into a Netflix Emmy-nominated series MAID. Stephanie and Gabe talk about her struggles as a single mother living in public housing with two children and her determination to become a writer.

Visit Stephanie Land's website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram

Buy Stephanie's nonfiction book Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

Read about Stephanie in New York Times

Watch Stephanie on YouTube

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (NYT's bestselling author of Friday Black)

Rebecca Makkai (author of The Great Believers)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the award-winning author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He taught at Princeton University, and currently teaches at Columbia University. 

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Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is the young New York Times Bestselling author of the story collection Friday Black and Chain Gang All Stars. But what experiences have shaped the brilliant mind behind this cutting edge work of fiction? Nana and Gabe discuss what it was like for him to grow up Ghanian-American with his family in Spring Valley, Rockland County, NY. Nana & Gabe talk about his rapping, including his song Nabokov, which he does on the show and even breaks down his lyrics.

Visit Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's website and follow him on Twitter and Instagram

Buy Nana's story collection Friday Black

Read about Nana in New York Times

Watch Nana on YouTube

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Elizabeth McCracken (author of The Hero of This Book)

Rafia Zakaria (author of Against White Feminism)

Rebecca Makkai (author of The Great Believers)

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the award-winning author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Merve Emre is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, the author of many award-winning books, and a professor at the University of Oxford. Merve and Gabe chop it up about Merve’s journey from Turkey to Brooklyn as a young child. What was it like for her family to live in Park Slope in the early 90’s? How did she break her arm that one time as a kid, and how does that event inform who she is today?

Read Merve Emre at The New Yorker

Visit Merve's website and follow her on Twitter

Buy Merve's nonfiction book The Personality Brokers

Watch Merve on YouTube

Read about Merve at The New York Review of Books

More episode sources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (NYT's bestselling author of Friday Black)

Stephanie Land (NYT's bestselling author of Maid)

Joe Hagan (author of Sticky Fingers: the Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone)

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

About the Host Gabe Hudson:

Gabe Hudson is the author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Tressie McMillan Cottom is the author of Thick and Other Essays, a columnist for the New York Times, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a 2020 McArthur Fellow. Tressie talks to Gabe about the kind of freedom she wants for all Black women. And how her mother was a member of the Black Panther Party. We learn about Tressie's 18 stages of essay writing. And why are white audiences more comfortable thinking about Black people in a historical context?

Visit Tressie McMillan Cottom's website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram

Read Tressie's column in New York Times

Buy Tressie's nonfiction book Thick and Other Essays

Watch Tressie on The Daily Show

More episode resources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (NYT's bestselling author of Friday Black)

Stephanie Land (NYT's bestselling author of Maid)

Rebecca Makkai (author of The Great Believers)

About the Host:

Gabe Hudson is the award-winning author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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Molly Jong-Fast is a correspondent for Vanity Fair and host of the podcast Fast Politics. Molly sits down with Gabe to tell him what it felt like to do battle with Elon Musk out on the timeline. Molly explains why she loves Twitter and how she used it to sting Bill Maher. She gets into why a Tucker Carlson presidency is the ultimate doomsday scenario. And why does Molly think that Jon Stewart might be the only one who can stop Tucker Carlson?

Read Molly Jong-Fast at Vanity Fair

Listen to Molly's podcast Fast Politics

Follow Molly on Twitter and Instagram

Watch Molly on MSNBC

Read about Molly in New York Times

More episode sources and links

Email Gabe Hudson: [email protected]

Follow Gabe on Twitter and Instagram

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Tressie McMillan Cottom (NYT's columnist)

Merve Emre (contributing writer at The New Yorker)

Charles Yu (National Book Award Winner)

Elizabeth McCracken (author of The Hero of This Book)

About the Host Gabe Hudson:

Gabe Hudson is the award-winning author of 2 books published from Knopf. His honors include being named one of Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists,” PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the John Hawkes Prize in Fiction from Brown University, a fellowship from Humanities War & Peace Initiative at Columbia University, and Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His writing has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The Believer, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine. He was Editor-at-Large for McSweeney’s for 10+ years. He served in the Marine Corps. He teaches at Columbia University.  

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