MashReads Podcast

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we talk to Arvin Ahmadi about his debut novel 'Down and Across.' The book follows Scott Ferdowsi, who is on a guest to find his purpose and become gritty. When he runs away from his home in Philadelphia to D.C. for the summer, he meets Fiora, a crossword puzzle enthusiast struggling to define her own life as well.

"You hear sometimes, and this is a cliche, that life is like a crossword puzzle. But Fiora’s perspective is a bit different," explains Ahmadi. "[She believes] that life is like constructing a crossword puzzle. Where you’re given the grid, you’re given the constraints of your life, but it’s up to you to actually fill in the squares."

Join us as we talk about grit, crossword puzzles, writing diverse characters, and more.

And, as always, we close the episode with recommendations:

Arvin recommends two books: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. “It’s crazy, it’s this multi-universe story but at the same time, it’s a story full of heart and interpersonal relations." And The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. He also recommends Jordan Peele's Get Out. “You watch it and you think about it every day.” (MJ piggybacked off of that and also recommends reading Wesley Morris’ profile of Jordan Peele for the New York Times Magazine.)

Arvin also shouts out Abstract, a design series on Netflix that talks to artists and designers in a variety of creative industries.

MJ recommends the New York Times’ copy edit quiz called "Copy Edit This." “It is by far the most complicated relationship I have in my life because you will feel highs and lows of your own competence. It’s hard but it’s fun, and you always learn something new.” He also recommends “Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you’ve never noticed” a TED talk by Roman Mars, host of the design podcast 99% Invisible.

This week, we chat with Neal Shusterman, author of the new Arc of the Scythe series, the 2015 National Book Award-winning young adult novel 'Challenger Deep,' and more.

Join us as we chat about utopia vs. dystopia, writing about mental health, and advice for young writers.

Neal recommends 'Black Mirror.' "For TV, I just finished the new season of 'Black Mirror' which is my favorite TV show. That series hits me where I live." He also recommends 'Dear Evan Hansen.' "I saw 'Dear Evan Hansen' back in September and I can't stop listening to it." And finally, he recommends the 'Tron: Legacy' soundtrack by for writing. "It really, really sets the mood for any science fiction story."

MJ recommends diving into the archives of The Awl, in light of the news that the website is shutting down. He especially suggests you check out the site's "weather reviews" series, which provides literary inspired reviews of the previous days weather. He also recommends Jia Tolentino's ode to The Awl, "The end of The Awl and the vanishing of freedom and fun from the internet."

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we catch up with James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner series to chat about the movie adaptation of his novel The Death Cure, dystopian novels vs. post-apocalyptic novels, and what's its like to write blockbuster books.

Then, as always, we close the show with recommendations:

James recommends Leonard da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. "It is fantastic. Leonardo da Vinci had a fascinating life, and I really enjoyed [this book]."

Peter recommends Reality Is Not What It Seems by Carlo Rovelli.

MJ recommends "'Call Me By Your Name' is the rare case where you should watch the movie before reading the book," an essay by Mashable's entertainment editor (and frequent MashReads quest) Proma Khosla. He also recommends "The Self In Self-Help," a 2013 essay by Kathryn Schultz.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we read and discuss Joe Hill's novella "Snapshot," which choronicles the plight of a boy who discovers a man who steals memories with mysterious polaroid camera. Then, inspired by the book, we chat about books that scared us as kids.

Also during the episode, MJ urged people interested in the plot of "Snapshot" to check out the lauded short story by George Saunders "Victory Lap."

During the podcast, we also learned of the very sad death of author Ursula K. Le Guin, author of the The Earthsea Trilogy and The Left Hand of Darkness. We discussed her tremendous two-page short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" early last year on this podcast. Her talent will be very missed and we are lucky to have the impactful books she left behind

Martha says she's "obsessed" with a new song by Troye Sivan called "My My My!"and has been listening to Tinashe's "No Drama." Her recommendation unfortunately sparked a debate over whether Tinashe can put out "bangers." MJ is unconvinced that she can. You be the judge.

Peter recommends a new band that he's discovered and can't think of anyone to recommend it to. Their name is Super Whatevr and they have a new album released last week called Never Nothing. It's really good, but you probably won't listen to it.

MJ recommends Ólafur Arnalds' recent Facebook post about the composer's favorite cue from his score for Philip K. Dick's "Electric Dreams." MJ also gushed over Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet's throwback high school rap video about statistics. On top of that, we all continue to recommend that you see Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we celebrate our 100th episode!

Join us as we look back on some of our favorite moments, from book discussions we loved to guests we can't believe we got to interview.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we chat with Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, about her new memoir When They Call You A Terrorist.

The story documents both Patrisse's own life as well as the founding of Black Lives Matter.

"The story of Black Lives Matter starts before Black Lives Matter. The story of Black Lives Matter, for me, starts with my childhood."

And as always we close the show with recommendatiosn:

Patrisse recommends “Anything by Octavia Butler, especially her last book Fledgling, which is about racist vampires. Amazing.” She also recommends Marge Piercy “She mixes sci-fi and political issues together.” And she also recommends the upcoming books Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittany Cooper, No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America by Darnell Moore, and Unapologetic: A Black, Queer and Feminist Mandate for Our Movement by Charlene Carruthers. "It’s the year of Black Lives books."

Matt recommends 13th, the Ava Duvernay documentary. “It’s an hour and a half long but it took me three hours to watch because I kept pausing it, and I took 5 pages of notes throughout the entire thing. It’s incredible and if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s not too late.” He also recommends Into Each Room We Enter Without Knowing by Charif Shanahan.

Martha recommends drinking water and meal planning. “It’s changed my life in the past two weeks. It’s made me a lot more frugal and that’s my recommendation.”

MJ recommends Nic Stone’s YA novel Dear Martin. “It is so good. It broke my heart in so many ways.” He also recommends reading Martin Luther King’s ‘Letter From A Birmingham Jail.”

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we read and discuss Michael Wolff's new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.And as always, we close the show with recommendations:

Peter recommends The Mighty Boosh, a BBC Three comedy. "It's just the weirdest and most surreal show, that's slightly problematic sometimes. All that said, though, it's a delightful show because it has my two favorite comedians: Rich Fulture and Matt Berry. It's fun. It's on Hulu.

Heather recommends The Liars Club by Mary Karr. "Mary Karr is perfect, she's never made a mistake much like Michael Wolff. This published this in '96 or '97, and it kicked off the era of memoir writing. This was like the original good memoir."

MJ recommends author Matt De La Peña's essay for Time "Why We Shouldn't Shield Children From Darkness." "The essay is just so movign about how we need to support children through darkness and the incredible, heartbreaking moments that he's expereicend when he's gotten to see a child expressing true emotion and grappling with that." He also recommends RnB singer Jessie Reyez. "Her songs just got me all up in my feelings."

The MashReads Podcast is back!

This week, we reunite in the New Year and talk about what we read over the holiday and we set some 2018 reading goals.

Then, as always, we close the show with recommendations:

Martha recommends watching Lovesick, season 3, on Netflix. "It's a beautiful story of friendship and love. And it's just so good. The acting is fantastic. I'm just the biggest fan of this." Martha has also been working on a movie project: "I have been watching every Jake Gyllenhaal movie ever."

Peter recommends a bunch of movies including The Square. "It has one of the most intense scenes that I've experienced all year, and that's incredible in a year where mother! came out." 

MJ recommends DJ Detweiler's remix of Miley Cyrus' song "Wrecking Ball,"  (h/t Mashable's senior editor Foster Kamer). "It takes this song and makes it even more absurd, and it just keeps building. The more you listen to it, the funnier it gets."

2017 is coming to an end! This week on the MashReads Podcast, we chat about what we read in 2017, including our favorite new book released in 2017, the most unexpected thing we love, books we wished got more attention, most challenging book, and our favorite things we read (new or old) in 2017.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we read and discuss 'Cat Person' by Kristen Roupenian. Then, we move on and discuss books and stories that we extremely related to.And as always, we close the show with recommendations:

Chloe recommends 'Difficult Women' by Roxane Gay. "It's great. I assume that if you're listening to this podcast, you'd be into very interior female protagonists. It's full of them. It's great."

Nicole recommends 'A Life Apart' by Neel Mukherjee. She also recommends 'Voyeur,' a documentary on Netflix about Gay Talese's 'New Yorker' article "The Voyeur's Motel." "It is fascinating. It made me think about who we are as people and what's okay and what's not okay, and it's very nuanced. And it was also great to see Gay Talese talking about being a writer, and to get a peek into his life as well."

Peter recommends 'Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made' by Jason Schreier, a news editor at Kotaku. "It is fascinating to me because it's an industry with no parallel in the world."

MJ recommends The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy. "What I love about the book is: she observes the world in such a specific, unique way, and she writes about it so well." He also recommends listening to Into Strangers, a mashup of Ariana Grande's "Into You" with the Stranger Things theme song.Also mentioned on this show:

Kristen Roupenian's interview about writing 'Cat Person' with Deborah Treisman for the New Yorker.

The Twitter account Men React to Cat Person.