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Erika Meitner joins Kevin Young to read “What Work Is,” by Philip Levine, and her own poem “To Gather Together.” Meitner’s books include “Useful Junk” and “Holy Moly Carry Me,” which won the 2018 National Jewish Book Award in Poetry. She is currently a Mandel Institute Cultural Leadership Program Fellow, and she’s the director of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

‘The Church​ needs to change; the Church cannot afford to change,’ Colm Tóibín wrote recently in the LRB. In this episode of the podcast, he joins Tom to discuss how the new pope will have to navigate this paradox. He also looks back at the Francis papacy, and the way that Francis behind his smile ran the Vatican with an iron first; at relations between the Vatican and the Trump administration; and at Francis’s motives for bringing the future Pope Leo XIV to Rome in 2023: ‘the reason, in my view, is the same reason that Francis began to smile.’

Read Colm Tóibín on Pope Leo: https://lrb.me/toibinpopepod

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Discover audiobooks, Close Readings and more from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiolrbpod

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Jonathan Schooler is an American psychologist and Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who researches various topics that intersect aspects of both cognitive psychology and philosophy such as: Belief in free will, meta-awareness, mindfulness, mind-Wandering, memory, creativity, and emotion. Schooler is also known for his sometimes controversial research on topics such as Anomalous Cognition and the decline effect.

This interview was made possible by MindFest 2025: "Sentience, Autonomy, and the Future of Human-AI Interaction", a two-day event led by Dr. Susan Schneider and the Center for the Future Mind at Florida Atlantic University. To learn more about groundbreaking innovation in AI, neuroscience, and the study of consciousness, visit the Center for the Future Mind website and subscribe to their newsletter.

The bestselling Irish author grew up on a farm set on “50 acres on the side of a hill”. Growing up, she witnessed a harsh, misogynistic country that convinced her she would never marry. Claire shares what she has learned about writing from a litter of newborn piglets.

Her works Small Things Like These and Foster have both been made into movies.

Claire's stories often take place in the landscape where she grew up — the farms and small towns of Wexford in Southeast Ireland.

Claire was the youngest of six children, and when she was born their farmhouse had no running water and few books.

Instead, Claire fell in love with horses.

As a small child she would go to the wood with her brother, who was a lumberjack.

Amongst the chainsaws and workmen, little Claire would drive a harnessed horse from behind, to the roadside, to help clear the heavy trees. 

And as she grew older, she developed a fierce determination to live life on her own terms.

This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. Presented by Sarah Kanowski.

This episode of Conversations touches on marriage, Magdalene laundries, contraception, Ireland, Catholicism, big Irish families, horsemanship, starting brumbies, skewbald Connemara pony, New Orleans, writing, literary prizes, farms, personal stories, epic life stories, family dynamics, Cillian Murphy and modern history.

Further information

Listen to Sarah's interview with Queensland horseman, Ken Faulkner.

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

A dear friend of Transom and all creative audio producers passed way last month -- Larry Massett. This episode of Sound School joins the chorus of voices on Transom marking Larry's passing. Rob presents "A Trip to the Dentist,"  a legendary story Larry made in 1977 for NPR. Easily one of the most hallucinogenic stories aired on the network. You'll want your headphones on for this episode. 

Are all fires inherently bad? In episode 130 of Overthink, David and Ellie launch a four-part series on the elements, starting off hot with fire. They look at the role of fire in Greek mythology (focusing on the myth of Prometheus), the evolution of humans’ relationship with fire, and fire’s role as the universal metaphor. Why did Prometheus steal fire from the Olympians and give it  to humans? Why does Bachelard believe that fire is “the” philosophical element par excellence? How did Western culture turn fire from friend to foe? And what would a non-antagonistic relationship to fire look like? In the bonus, your hosts give their fiery takes on arson and pyromania.

Works Discussed: 

Gaston Bachelard, The Psychoanalysis of Fire
Stephen J. Pyne, The Pyrocene
Stephen J. Pyne, “Fire in the mind: changing understandings of fire in Western civilization.”

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Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast
Website | overthinkpodcast.com
Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod
Email | [email protected]
YouTube | Overthink podcast

Psychologist Zorana Ivcevic Pringle says creativity isn't a trait. It's a choice, something you can foster and prioritize. In this episode of Life Kit, in collaboration with NPR's science podcast, Short Wave, Ivcevic Pringle explains how to bring creativity into your everyday life, overcome creative blocks and stick with creative ideas and projects.

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The Beach Boys’ SMiLE was abandoned by Brian Wilson in 1967 and eventually performed at an emotional gathering of the faithful in London 37 years later. For writer and lecturer David Leaf it became an obsession. He made a documentary about it in 2004 and has just published ‘SMiLE: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Brian Wilson’ drawn from detailed conversations with the people involved. He talks to us here about his discoveries, which include …

... the Rolling Stone story that kick-started his obsession.

… “a bicycle ride from Plymouth Rock to Hawaii” and other early plans for the album.

… how Leonard Bernstein, the Beatles and Derek Taylor racked up the pressure in the studio.

… why the other Beach Boys – and Capitol and Murry Wilson - felt the new music was a threat to their livelihood.

… how Brian composed the “teenage symphony for God” that became an albatross around his neck.

... “Ray Davies needed a deadline”: the perils of endless recording time.

… the magnetism of Van Dyke Parks, a man who “talks in paragraphs”.

... the imagined impact on the world and the band’s career if SMiLE had come out in 1967.

… the birth of “art rock” versus the strictures of the music business.

… the value of the SMiLE myth in the eventual rebirth of the Beach Boys.

… the reaction to its long-awaited performance at the Festival Hall in 2004.

... why Brian thought shelving the album would save the group yet “they went from a No 1 single to an act nobody cared about in under a year”.

... and the greatest Beach Boys record of all time.

Order SMiLE: the Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson here: https://omnibuspress.com/products/smile-the-rise-fall-and-resurrection-of-brian-wilson-published-10th-october-2024?_pos=1&_psq=smile&_ss=e&_v=1.0

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Richey was, beautiful says Cummins, a natural icon and a gift to photograph. He also believes his writing has been overshadowed by the fact of his disappearance in 1995. "I think nobody has looked beyond that for quite a long time.”

Manic Street Preachers biographer, Simon Price, also knew Richey Edwards and says he was "the most intelligent rock star I've ever met".

This programme covers alcoholism, anorexia, and self-harm, but it also celebrates Richey’s sensitivity and, as Price says, the fact that he is one of those "icons of alienation" like Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain who will " always be there for people to discover the genius of his work".

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios by Ellie Richold.