Wild Precious Life

Saeed Jones is a Pushcart Prize-winning writer whose first collection of poetry, PRELUDE TO BRUISE, was a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His 2019 memoir, HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES, won the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction. And his second poetry collection, ALIVE AT THE END OF THE WORLD, is a 2023 winner of an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the only national juried prize for literature that confronts racism and explores diversity. In this episode, Annmarie and Saeed talk about weaving both joy and sadness into poetry and what it means to speak each other’s language in grief.

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Heather Drago is the Founder and Chief Strategist of Clever Girl Marketing and the host of the That’s a Hard No podcast. A recent cancer survivor, Heather has been on a journey lately of turning down situations, experiences, and people who do not serve her. On today’s bonus episode, Annmarie and Heather discuss how to set healthy boundaries, saying NO, and what might be possible when we make a little more room for ourselves in these busy and hectic days.

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In both fiction and memoir, William Dameron writes about coming out as a gay man, and what it might look like to start again with a great love affair in the second half of life. Dameron is the award-winning author of THE LIE, A MEMOIR OF TWO MARRIAGES, CATFISHING & COMING OUT. His most recent project, THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE, is a novel, and it’s out now. In this episode, Bill and Annmarie talk about second-chance love, the various delights of both fiction and nonfiction, and why Annmarie needs to stop using idunno1234 for all her passwords.

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At the end of the Vietnam War, when Beth Nguyen was eight months old, she and her family fled Saigon for America, but Beth’s mother stayed behind. In this episode, Annmarie and Beth discuss OWNER OF A LONELY HEART, Beth’s recent memoir. They talk about the uncertainty of growing up without a strong tie to your biological mother, and the way other people can step in to fill that void.

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Edan Lepucki is the author of three novels, including CALIFORNIA, WOMAN NO. 17, and her newest book, TIME’S MOUTH. In this week’s episode, Annmarie and Edan grapple with fleetingness and nostalgia. What if we could go back in time? What might be better? What might be worse? They also discuss parenting and how much raising children is itself a form of time-travel.

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justin a. reynolds always knew he wanted to be a writer, he even created his own book jacket when he was a kid. Fast forward and justin is an accomplished author whose debut novel, Opposite of Always, was a 2019 best seller. His most recent novel, House Party, is a novel in stories, written by ten different authors. In this episode, justin and Annamarie talk about wrangling authors, making the move with Marvel, and the best cereals of our childhood.

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As a journalist, Ruchira Gupta stumbled upon a disturbing story: girls were disappearing from villages and being sold into prostitution in the city. Determined, Ruchira set about dismantling sex trafficking across her home country of India and around the world. She testified before Indian Parliament and lobbied the United Nations. She kept asking questions, kept sitting down with families, and kept fighting. Ruchira started with a single story and now leads a global movement. In this episode, Annmarie and Ruchira talk about her nonprofit Apne Aap, her debut novel I KICK AND I FLY, and what it would take to create a world where no child is ever bought or sold again.

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Virginia Sole-Smith’s latest book, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture, investigates how the “war on childhood obesity” has caused kids of all ages to absorb a daily onslaught of body shame from peers, school, diet culture, and parents themselves — and her book offers research-based strategies to help. In this episode, Annmarie and Virginia talk about how to navigate anti-fat bias in schools, doctor’s offices, and around our dinner tables and how to learn to love the way our bodies come in all shapes and sizes.

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Uzma Jalaluddin is having a banner year. She has two books coming out in 2023: Much Ado About Nada and Three Holidays and a Wedding (coauthored with Marissa Stapley). She wrote her first play, The Rishta, which was performed in Montreal this past spring. And her second novel, Hana Khan Carries On, is currently in development for film with Mindy Kaling. In this episode, Uzma and Annmarie talk about writing, rom-coms, and representation, and how important it is to read widely and wisely to learn the multitudes contained in one another’s stories. 

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Laura Cathcart Robbins is the co-host of The Only One in the Room podcast and the best-selling author of the memoir Stash: My Life In Hiding. Laura had everything going for her: a beautiful home, great kids, a Hollywood marriage, but she still found herself trapped inside self-doubt, secrecy, and addiction. In this episode, Laura and Annmarie talk about Laura’s journey through addiction to sobriety and how she found her way back to her most authentic and vulnerable self.

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