Lit Up

This week, Angela welcomes back Lit Up’s first-ever (!) guest, author Catherine Lacey, and delve into the making and imagining of her brilliantly textured new book, Biography of X: a multilayered portrait of an inscrutable art and literary star as reported by her widow.Catherine shares the entry points into her chosen fictional biography form, reimagining American history through the writing process, centering queer people on the page without explanation, the mysterious forces that draw people into each other’s orbits, and the pleasure of reading in bed with coffee first thing in the morning. Pick up your copy of Biography of X at Bookshop or your favorite local indie bookstore. Plus, check out Catherine’s friend John Wray’s forthcoming book Gone to the Wolves.

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From La Rousse to Le Coucou, Michael Cecchi-Azzolina—Maitre d’ extraordinaire—has a birds eye view on some of New York City’s most historic, glamorous restaurants. After more than 35 years in the restaurant world, he’s sharing his behind the scenes tales in his delicious new memoir YOUR TABLE IS READY (Dec. 2022, pub: St. Martin's Press). This week, Michael tells Angie all about his early memories of the restaurant business, living through the AIDS epidemic, the singular magic of gathering around a dinner table, and his next exciting chapter: opening an NYC spot of his own. Plus, he shares his go-to comfort dish to cook at home.YOUR TABLE IS READY is available via Bookshop.org

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This week on Lit Up, Angela chats with author Reid Mitenbuler, whose new book, Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age (Mariner at HarperCollins) charts the true story of adventurer Peter Freuchen and his larger-than-life escapades. They talk about the origins of Freuchen’s adventurous spirit, the unexpected quirks you uncover when delving into someone’s life story, the importance of historical context, and Mitenbuler’s go-to narrative nonfiction writers.

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This week on the podcast, we're re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from 2022, when we talked to Elizabeth Day about her book Magpie. Next month, Elizabeth is releasing a new book called Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict, and seeing as she and Angie talked about friendship, we couldn't think of a better time to revisit this warm and fun conversation. Enjoy!

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This week, Angela chats with Kate Baer, the Pennsylvania-based poet and New York Times-bestselling author of the collections WHAT KIND OF WOMAN, I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL, & AND YET. They talk about Kate's path to sharing poems about motherhood, in all its complexity, with strangers on the internet; pushing back against misogynistic takes on her work; the poets whose words she keeps returning to; and the wisdom that accompanies getting older and embracing who you are.Plus, lucky us: Kate reads several of her poems throughout the episode.We recommend Jessica Bennett's profile on Kate.What Kind of WomanI Hope This Finds You WellAnd Yet

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This week on Lit Up, Angela speaks with Tarajia Morrell, writer, born-and-raised New Yorker, and creator of the food and travel blog, The Lovage. They discuss Tarajia’s impactful collaboration with the late boundary-breaking chef Fatima Ali on her 2022 posthumous memoir Savor: A Chef's Hunger for More (Ballantine Books), which features writing from Fatima during her last months and contributions by her mother, Farezeh. They also discuss Tarajia’s path into food writing as a way to talk about memorable characters, favorite cookbooks, and their preferred techniques for roasting a chicken.Savor: A Chef's Hunger for MoreTarajia’s blog, The Lovage

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For Lit Up’s final episode of 2022, Angie and Ruby (a brilliant colleague who works on the Sugar23 Books imprint, and spent a past life as a bookseller at New York City’s iconic Three Lives & Company), catch up about their year in great books, titles they’ve loved, what’s topping their list for winter break marathon reading sessions, and recommended book gifts for all the avid readers in your lives this holiday season.Books we talk about on this ep include:The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWittThe Midcoast by Adam WhiteLessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusAcne: A Memoir by Laura ChinnThe Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'FarrellRomantic Comedy by Curtis SittenfeldHeating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann FennellyJoyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell LeeFly Girl: A Memoir by Ann HoodBlood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle HamiltonKitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony BourdainThe World of Natural Wine: What It Is, Who Makes It, and Why It Matters by Aaron AyscoughCatch up on any episodes you missed this year at https://www.lituppodcast.com/ (or wherever you like to listen!).More to come in the shiny new year.

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This week, Angela chats with Jen Ortiz, Deputy Editor of New York Magazine’s The Cut. They talk about Jen’s trajectory through the media world, working with writers, life and abortion resources after Roe, newsletters and books she’s loving of late, and of course, this August’s Meghan Markle cover story.Jen's recs include:Alive at the End of the World by Saeed JonesBre Graham’s newsletter Just to Delight and book, Table for Two: Recipes for the Ones You Love The Old Place by Bobby FingerVegan chef and cookbook author Gaz Oakley’s (aka “the Avant-Garde Vegan”) YouTube channel

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This week, Angela speaks with writer and editor Nimarta Narang, who has worked as a journalist since she was 15 in Thailand and currently oversees Brown Girl Magazine’s literary vertical, commissioning and publishing original fiction from established and emerging South Asian writers. Brown Girl Magazine, a multimedia company created by and for South Asian womxn, believes in storytelling as a powerful tool for community building. Their team encompasses and welcomes women, femmes, men, gender non-conforming, queer, and transgender individuals living across the diaspora including the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Angela and Nimarta discuss the publication’s anthology “Untold: Defining Moments of the Uprooted,” (edited by Gabrielle Deonath and Kamini Ramdeen) which features over 30 deeply personal stories exploring South Asian experiences with specificity; coming of age and studying in cities around the world; her work to amplify expansive narratives through the BGM platform and advocate for more inclusive media and publishing industries; and a few contemporary writers currently inspiring her. Nimarta's podcast and book recs include:The Chaat Room, hosted by Keertana Sastry & Nikitha Menon — in partnership with Brown Girl Magazine — featuring interviews with South Asians in Hollywood, on and off the screen.The Namesake by Jhumpa LahiriBooks by Adiba JaigirdarErotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur JaswalKaikeyi by Vaishnavi PatelMissed Translations: Meeting the Immigrant Parents Who Raised Me by Sopan DebTaste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America by Mayukh Sen

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I’m changing things up a bit today and bringing you a preview of a new podcast I’m enjoying and think you will, too. Where There’s a Will: Finding Shakespeare searches for the surprising places Shakespeare shows up outside the theater. Host Barry Edelstein, artistic director at one of the country’s leading Shakespeare theaters, asks what is it about Shakespeare that’s given him a continuous afterlife in all sorts of unexpected ways? You’ll hear Shakespeare doing rehabilitative work in a maximum security prison, helping kids on the autism spectrum to communicate, in the mouths of U.S. presidents, and even at the center of a deadly riot in New York City. In this preview, Barry takes us into California’s Centinela State Prison for a one-of-a-kind production of Shakespeare’s English history plays performed by incarcerated individuals. Barry asks: What makes Shakespeare a force of transformation and transcendence behind bars? Hear more from Where There’s a Will: https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/wtaw?sid=litup.

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