Three Percent Podcast

This week's episode opens with 'Professor Post" poking a bit of fun at academics, then dives headfirst into the first 75 pages of 2666. Brian, Katie, and Chad talk about the representation of Liz Norton, of the voids that exist in 2666, the religious experience of becoming obsessed with an author, violence, made up books, the covers of the U.S., UK, and Spanish editions, "ennui" vs. "boredom," Rodrigo Fresán's appearance, and much much more.

Also, stay tuned for a bonus section in which Nick Buzanski of Books Are Magic talks about the hype surrounded 2666 from a bookseller's perspective. And click here if you want to see the videos he and Chad talk about.

This week's music is "Hug from a Dinosaur" by Torres.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation—and see Chad looking mighty uncomfortable in a tie—you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. And tune in next Thursday at 9am ET for the next episode, "El Cerdo."

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth. 

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Season 16 is here! At long last, Bolaño's 2666 takes center stage, and Chad and Brian are joined by translator and Bolaño enthusiast, Katie Whittemore. In this opening episode, they discuss the myth-making of Bolaño's biography, they talk about sudden fame, the grind of the artist, and of the way that everything is read as genius once someone is declared a genius. They talk about Last Words on Earth by Javier Serena and Katie Whittemore, and they preview 2666 talking about the "black holes" of the novel (which ties into Bolaño's "Infrarealist Manifesto") and discussing the not-quite-bestselling Caitlyn Reads 2666. 

This week's music is "Airplane Rider" by Air Miami.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions. And all of Katie's translations, especially Four by Four and Last Words on Earth. 

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Chad and Brian recap the wild end to Vernon Subutex, debate whether it was predictable or not, whether Despentes earned it or not, and what to make of the proto-history chapter that rounds out the trilogy. And, in classic TMR fashion, the episode ends abruptly when Chad's wifi suddenly dies. (Technical difficulties for the win.)

This week's music is a new cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Covering what's probably the most disturbing section of Vernon Subutex, this is an intense, fairly dark episode of the Two Month Review. They discuss how the most evil character is a manager/agent, about how men are everywhere, ready to ruin things, and much more. On the upside, Chad and Brian recorded early in the morning, so their voices have some extra depth . . .

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Wednesday, July 14th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Chad almost had to do this episode solo, but all of you were spared that catastrophe by Kaija Straumanis and David Smith (whose delay makes for some funny moments). The talk about what you would do for $100 million dollars, what most terrifies them, fear in general, Max as Lex Luthor, and much more.

This week's music is from the Velvet Underground and, ugh, Korn. Sorry.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, July 8th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Following up on last week's catastrophic technical difficulties, Brian recaps some of his conversation with Frank Wynne before he and Chad dive into volume three of Despentes's Vernon Subutex. They talk about hippies, Dan Deacon, cults, Cultish, Vernon's purity, and much more.

This week's music is "The Crystal Cat" by Dan Deacon. (Click here to see one of his "convergences.")

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, June 24th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Chad and Brian get into some fun and vengeful parts of Vernon Subutex 2 this week, talking about Gaëll, the proliferation of diereses in this section, getting revenge, Vernon's magical music, and more.

This week's music is "The Modern World" by The Jam.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, June 10th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Kaija Straumanis pinch hits this week to talk about Céleste, about spray painting insults, the best forms of revenge, how to upend a system, and whether of not a good dad can be an alcoholic. This episode is a great prelude to one of the major plot points of the trilogy, so listen to this and get ready for next week . . .

This week's music is "They'll Never" by Stef Chura.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, June 3rd, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

The large image associated with this post is copyrighted by Ittmust.

In this special episode, Chad talks with Rachel Cordasco about a new Three Percent project focusing on translators as curators. Over the course of the next month, we'll be posting a number of different types of posts—excerpts, profiles, readings, shorter podcasts, movie clips—using the five works of Italian science fiction Rachel selected as the starting point. 

In case it gets lost in the podcast, here are the five books in Rachel Cordasco's "Italian Science-Fiction Collection":

Cancerqueen by Tommaso Landolfi (tr Raymond Rosenthal)(1971) Storie naturali (1966, as by Damiano Malabaila) and Vizio di forma  (1971)

• selections from both in The Sixth Day and Other Tales (tr Raymond Rosenthal, 1990)
• full translations of these & all Levi titles in Complete Works of Primo Levi (2015), w/ the two collections above tr Jenny McPhee

Nexhuman by Francesco Verso (tr Sally McCorry) (2015) Creative Surgery by Clelia Farris (tr Rachel Cordasco and Jennifer Delare) (2020) Bug by Giacomo Sartori (tr Frederika Randall) (2021)

Stay tuned for more information about these titles and other related books. 

This episode's music is "Motherboard" by Daft Punk.

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Derek Maine returns for his second appearance this season to talk about Alex Bleach's tapes, Vodka Satana's death, how the system is rigged, horrible men, the complications of passing judgement, Motörhead, mushroom powder, and much more. This is a pretty key episode, as the trilogy veers into detective novel territory, and the conflict with Dopalet becomes more well defined.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can join us on Thursday, May 20th, ask questions, make comments, and correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

This week's music is "Eat the Rich" by Motörhead.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester