
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Since his bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous debuted in 2019, Ocean Vuong has become one of the most beloved writers of his generation. He first sat with Sam in 2021 amid the pandemic.
Today, Vuong returns to discuss the personal history within his latest novel, The Emperor of Gladness—a piece of fiction that draws from the contours of his own coming-of-age in East Hartford, Connecticut (5:43). We begin with the class dynamics at the heart of the book (9:27), the surrogate family he found working at Boston Market (21:22), and his formative college years in New York City (28:18).
On the back half, we walk through how Ocean’s work continues to honor the memory of his late mother (36:48), the devastating impact of the opioid crisis (41:40), and his own journey to sobriety (45:03). To close, Vuong reflects on the childlike wonder behind his poem “Dear Sara” from Time Is a Mother (1:04:52), why he still loves teaching creative writing (1:18:30), and how all of these experiences deliver him back to the page, each and every day (1:26:00).
Watch our conversation on YouTube. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
By Lemonada Media4.8
12961,296 ratings
Since his bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous debuted in 2019, Ocean Vuong has become one of the most beloved writers of his generation. He first sat with Sam in 2021 amid the pandemic.
Today, Vuong returns to discuss the personal history within his latest novel, The Emperor of Gladness—a piece of fiction that draws from the contours of his own coming-of-age in East Hartford, Connecticut (5:43). We begin with the class dynamics at the heart of the book (9:27), the surrogate family he found working at Boston Market (21:22), and his formative college years in New York City (28:18).
On the back half, we walk through how Ocean’s work continues to honor the memory of his late mother (36:48), the devastating impact of the opioid crisis (41:40), and his own journey to sobriety (45:03). To close, Vuong reflects on the childlike wonder behind his poem “Dear Sara” from Time Is a Mother (1:04:52), why he still loves teaching creative writing (1:18:30), and how all of these experiences deliver him back to the page, each and every day (1:26:00).
Watch our conversation on YouTube. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

38,469 Listeners

6,832 Listeners

29,089 Listeners

3,962 Listeners

611 Listeners

7,717 Listeners

112 Listeners

102 Listeners

1,079 Listeners

395 Listeners

319 Listeners

4,875 Listeners

5,122 Listeners

758 Listeners

597 Listeners

3,473 Listeners

388 Listeners

244 Listeners

88 Listeners

119 Listeners

1,589 Listeners

1,895 Listeners

11,382 Listeners

1,187 Listeners

622 Listeners

645 Listeners

87 Listeners

956 Listeners

447 Listeners

46 Listeners

149 Listeners

65 Listeners

22 Listeners

160 Listeners