In the second episode of What Rough Beast, we speak with Patrick Radden Keefe, whose nonfiction account of the Irish Republican Army, Say Nothing, was adapted last year into a Hulu series. Virginia Heffernan speaks with the acclaimed author of Empire of Pain about the parallels between those Irish radicals and Luigi Mangione.

Thanks for reading Magic + Loss! This post is public so feel free to share it.

In our inaugural episode of WHAT ROUGH BEAST, Stephen Metcalf and I discuss the election, with a refresher on who won and who lost. We take an inventory of our despair and gallows humor and blind hope. Richard Rorty comes up. And stuff that happened to us in high school. In short: What’s to become of America?

In this preview of our podcast “What Rough Beast,” Stephen Metcalf and I discuss what this podcast is, why it matters now, and what the deal is with our NAME.

Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for episode 1.