The Greenlight Bookstore Podcast

In his highly anticipated US book launch,  beloved British writer Robert MacFarlane presents his latest exploration of the natural world, Underland, diving deep into both the landscape and the human heart in his conversation with acclaimed journalist Philip Gourevitch.  (Recorded at the Fort Greene store on June 10, 2019.)

Two former Brooklyn neighbors (and longtime friends) of Greenlight take the stage as Pulitzer finalist Nathan Englander discusses his novel kaddish.com with Colson Whitehead, in a conversation about family, faith, and the temptations of the internet. (Recorded at the Fort Greene store on March 26, 2019.) 

Transgressive auteur/icon John Waters serves it up raw in his memoir-cum-self-help-book Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. Fellow Baltimore native Rob Spillman, author of the memoir All Tomorrow's Parties, interviews Waters in an hour full of outrageous one-liners. (Recorded at St. Joseph's College on May 22, 2019.)

Award-winning writer and filmmaker Bridgett M. Davis offers an homage to an extraordinary parent in her memoir The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers.  She discusses the book (and complicated mothers) with James Hannaham, author of the novel Delicious Foods. (Recorded at the Fort Greene bookstore on February 26, 2019.)

Blythe Roberson, writer, comedian, and researcher at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, launches her debut book How to Date Men When You Hate Men, in conversation with New York Times bestselling author and comedian Phoebe Robinson who praises, “Thank sweet baby Jesus that Blythe Roberson’s How to Date Men When You Hate Men exists. Funny, sharp, and feminist fun in a way we’re led to believe isn’t possible.” (Recorded at our Fort Greene location on January 10, 2019.)

Experimental author Shelley Jackson discusses her new book, Riddance: Or The Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers and Hearing Mouth Children, with author Darcey Steinke. Together, they talk about 19th Century Spiritualism, how the neutral experience is a white fantasy, the fine line between genius and insanity, and how Jackson's childhood has an influence on her surreal novel.

Bestselling author Anne Lamott talks about her new book, Almost Everything, with author, playwright and CNN-Commentator Father Edward L. Beck. Together they discuss their faith, her struggle with addiction, how recovery works, the pleasures and pain of family, and Anne's "inner Trump."

Beloved, award-winning author Barbara Kingsolver talks about her new book Unsheltered with author Julie Orringer. Together they talk about writing and reading historical novels, how people deal with catastrophe, the literary art of editing, and why to be cautious with screen adaptations.

Social Worker, author, and Greenlight Bookstore staff alum Eleanor Kriseman discusses her debut novel, The Blurry Years, with author Julie Buntin. Together they talk about how novels grow out of short stories, the interior lives of children, working in publishing, and the struggles of female writers with being taken seriously.

Poet Justin Phillip Reed discusses his debut poetry collection, Indecency with Greenlight staff alums, poets Angel Nafis and Jayson Smith. Together, they read their poems, discus poetic construction, and talk about blackness and white supremacy.