Charlotte and Jo revisit Rebecca Novack’s Murder Bimbo before taking a quick tour of the Russian Civil War and comrade crushes through Nikolai Ostrovsky’s How The Steel Was Tempered. They’re then joined by the scintillating Brittany Newell, who meditates on contemporary fiction, cities at night, and Samuel R. Delany's indelible Times Square Red, Times Square Blue. Also discussed in this episode: Emma Cline’s The Guest and Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection.

Brittany Newell is a writer and performer living in San Francisco. Her debut novel Oola was published in 2017 at the age of 21 in the US, UK, and Germany. You can find her written work in Granta, n+1, McSweeney's, The New York Times, and others. Her second novel Soft Core was published by FSG in February 2025 in the US, UK, and France. She is at work on a third novel about love addiction, emotional vampires, and cannibalism. 

Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com.

Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  

Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute. 

To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWriters

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Paris Marx is joined by James Vincent to discuss why we’re seeing humanoid robots everywhere, the motivations to pursue an all-purpose robot, how close we are to achieving that goal, and the social implications if we were to achieve it.

James Vincent is a UK-based journalist and author of Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants.

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Trump, facing the wave of popular opposition to pretty much everything he’s doing, is working to block Democrats from voting in the midterms, and “election protection” has become a key part of the preparations underway from blue state attorneys general and from voting rights groups like the Brennan Center and the ACLU. Harold Meyerson explains.

Also: A large proportion of slaves who escaped from slavery in the South escaped not on foot, but by boat. Marcus Rediker tells their story - his new book is Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea.

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Derek and Danny are joined by Bill Hartung and Ben Freeman to discuss the system that drives permanent war for the United States. They talk about the growth of the Pentagon budget and the bipartisan politics of defense spending; the U.S. dominating the global arms trade and the prevalence of U.S. weapons around the world; the rise of defense tech companies and the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon; the structure of defense lobbying, foreign government lobbying for arms sales, and how contractors benefit; think tank funding, Pentagon involvement in Hollywood and gaming; and public opinion, the national debt, and whether structural change is possible.

Read their book The Trillion Dollar War Machine.

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At last, the audio from December's Bookforum x Reading Writers live holiday event! The justly celebrated novelist Stephanie Wambugu joins Charlotte and Jo to talk about the controversial and inescapable Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico.

Stephanie Wambugu is the author of the novel Lonely Crowds. Her work has appeared in The Drift, The Nation, Granta, Frieze, Bookforum. She lives and works in New York. 

Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com.

Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  

Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute.

To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWriters

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Danny and Derek feel that their ice dance routine was strong, but ultimately respect the IOC judges. In this week’s news: the first round of indirect U.S.-Iran talks begin in Oman (0:31); new Israeli security cabinet measures move forward de facto annexation in the West Bank (4:26); Indonesia is prepared to send troops for a proposed Gaza stabilization force (7:23); Israel uses its 2023 law to revoke the citizenship of Palestinian Israelis for the first time (9:07); RSF forces launch drone strikes in Sudan’s Kordofan region and open a new offensive in Blue Nile state (11:08); fighting resumes around Uvira in the eastern DRC (14:43); elections are held in Bangladesh (17:57), Thailand (19:58), Japan (22:08), and Portugal (23:26); the new START deal with Russia expires (25:24); the Trump administration sets a June deadline to end the Ukraine war (27:47); Keir Starmer faces political fallout over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein (29:43); Haiti’s transitional council dissolves without organizing elections (31:52); Cuba approaches collapse as fuel shortages worsen (33:54); organizers prepare for the inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting (37:40); Trump orders the Pentagon to purchase coal-based electricity (39:17); and the FAA briefly shuts down airspace over El Paso after a misidentified party balloon (41:08).

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Paris Marx is joined by Thea Riofrancos to discuss the global struggle to move away from fossil fuels and the future of the green transition, including the limitations of existing supply chains, geopolitical tensions, and the tech industry's role in the growth of extractive industries.

Thea Riofrancos is the author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism. She is also Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College and Strategic Co-Director of the Climate and Community Institute.

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The size and scale of the resistance to ICE in Minneapolis is too vast to fully comprehend. John Nichols has our report – he’s The Nation’s executive editor, and he’s just spent several days talking to the city’s leaders and activists.

Also: Democrats could win a Senate seat in Texas this November. Texas is not so much a red state as it is a low-turnout state. Steve Phillips analyzes Jasmine Crockett’s campaign for the Democratic nomination, which relies on organizing non-voters and reluctant voters.

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Journalist Borzou Daragahi joins Danny and Derek to talk about the end of international journalism as we know it. They talk about how podcasting and alternative media both depend on and undermine legacy reporting, the economic pressures on foreign desks, the shift to commentary and “quick takes”, the limits of newsletters and Substack as newsroom replacements; the role of tech in accelerating these changes, and more.

Read Borzou’s piece “Your Podcast Leeches Off My News Outlet.”

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Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Kovensky has written an essay on the Trump

administration’s use of anti-terrorism law to target political groups it doesn’t like.

In that piece, Kovensky notes,

"Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine

prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his

political enemies.

It represents a dramatic departure from how the Justice Department has historically used the

federal material support for terrorism statute. For decades, counterterrorism prosecutors have

largely reserved the statute — 2339A — for the kinds of audacious plots that wreak real, lasting

damage or whose ambition forms the stuff of movie screenplays."

I spoke to Kovensky about his essay and the history and politics of this dangerous legal

innovation.

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