Novelist Nicholson Baker joins Tom, Laurie, and Evan Kindley to discuss his new book, "Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids," the story of Baker's time as a substitute teacher in the Maine public school system. This morphs into a fascinating discussion of pedagogy in light of the everyday realities of contemporary American public schooling and the issues modern schoolteachers confront to teach children.

LARB Radio: Nicholson Baker, "Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids"

The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts.

The Los Angeles Review of Books magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics. The Los Angeles Review of Books seeks to revive and reinvent the book review for the internet age, and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.

Society & Culture

The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. The Los Angeles Review of Books magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics. The Los Angeles Review of Books seeks to revive and reinvent the book review for the internet age, and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.

Share LARB Radio: Nicholson Baker, "Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids"

Sign up to save your podcasts

LARB Radio: Nicholson Baker, "Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids"

LARB Radio: Nicholson Baker, "Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids"

More shows like LA Review of Books

The New Yorker: Fiction

The Book Review

Otherppl with Brad Listi

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

The LRB Podcast

New Books in Critical Theory

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

London Review Bookshop Podcast

The Shakespeare and Company Interview

The TLS Podcast

City Arts & Lectures

Poured Over

Close Readings

Ordinary Unhappiness

Critics at Large | The New Yorker