Mark Cecil
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My convo with debut bestseller Doug Westerbeke, author of A Short Walk Through A Wide World, about which The New York Times says, "Imagine The Life of Pi, The Alchemist, and The Midnight Library rolled into one fantastical fable.” We covered (1
Who could possibly step into Mark Cecil’s host shoes on The Thoughtful Bro on his pub day without skipping a beat and fire super intelligent and fun questions at him? A Mighty Blaze co-founder and best-selling author Jenna Blum, of course! The
With Boston literary citizen par excellence Hank Phillippi Ryan, discussing her latest suspense novel One Wrong Word. Hank has won scores of awards as a TV journalist and novelist (including 37 Emmys), and I dug into her storytelling habits, me
With one of the foremost Native American artists working today in any field, Tommy Orange, talking about his second novel, Wandering Stars. We discussed the struggle of America to both remember and forget its past; his generative friendship wit
With the inimitable, incorrigible, ingenious Steve Almond, discussing his new craft book, Truth Is The Arrow, Mercy Is The Bow: A DIY Manual For The Construction Of Stories. We covered: obsession as the engine for literature; the aims and impor
With ultra-fresh debut author Jonathan Escoffery, discussing his celebrated linked collection of stories about Jamaican immigrants, If I Survive You. Topics included: (1) the impossibility of answering the loaded race question "What are you?" (
With literary podcaster and author Brad Listi, discussing his first novel in 16 years, Be Brief And Tell Them Everything, a work of autofiction exploring the despair, terror, and glory which is the creative life. We covered: brevity as an aesth
Why do men turn to rage as a solution to their problems? "Because they feel stuck," says bestselling first-time memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald. We unpacked the underbelly of the two big "mass's,” masculinity and Massachusetts, as we discussed his r
With sleeper hit and absolute runaway debut sensation Shelby Van Pelt, discussing her hopeful, poignant, friendship-with-an-octopus book club novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures. We discussed finding the voice for her “gentleman philosopher” oct
Checking in with poetry slam champ Melissa Lozada-Oliva on her outrageous debut novel Candelaria, which one reviewer described as One Hundred Years Of Solitude meets "The Royal Tenenbaums" meets "Night of the Living Dead." Topics: (1) writing a
With Matt Bell, on his abundant, uncategorizable, epic novel Appleseed. This interview, like Bell’s sweeping book, is chock full of ideas that we crammed in the most exciting way into a rather limited space, including: the state of eco-fiction;
What does Shelley Parker-Chan want readers to feel at the end of her debut best-selling fantasy novel She Who Became The Sun? "A feeling of catharsis...the subtitle should be Revenge Of The Genderqueers." Also discussed: Wuxia, fate v. triumph
A probing convo on American imperialism as seen from abroad; the rich historical and economic complexity of Haiti; and being a creative late-bloomer; with the great Ben Fountain, discussing his new international thriller Devil Makes Three. A tr
With Oprah Book Club pick Nathan Hill, discussing his latest novel, Wellness, which NPR called "a masterpiece....beyond remarkable." We get into the dangers and benefits of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves; how to hook readers with
An insightful, wide-ranging and frankly rather zen talk with one of America's most raw, transgressive, and pot-stirring artists, Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk. While discussing his new novel, Not Forever, But For Now, we covered finding vit
With Silver Linings Playbook author Matthew Quick, discussing his new novel We Are The Light. We talked about how visions and fantasy can be a necessary part of the healing process and how storytelling itself is linked to managing trauma. We al
With white-hot debut novelist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Xochitl Gonzalez, discussing her wise, funny, politically-charged rom-com, Olga Dies Dreaming. We chatted about inspiring Latinx readership, what she learned at the Iowa Writers Workshop
With National Book Award winner Tess Gunty, discussing her sensational debut The Rabbit Hutch. We chatted re writing transcendent sex scenes that have meaning; a rebelliously positive, mystic take on Catholicism; and how to write as your book a
A bull-by-the-horns convo on the intersection of storytelling/racism with David Mura. His new book, The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself, is a urgent cri-de-coeur and a page-turning lay-of-the-land of where the race convo is at. Necessary and com
With New Yorker staff writer and #1 best-seller David Grann (Killers of the Flower Moon, The Lost City of Z, and The Wager). We covered: the worst shipwreck in history; writing as both a real and metaphorical quest; and how the chronicle of rea
With Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, one of the most lauded young writers in America. His short story collection Friday Black, and his new novel, Chain Gang All Stars, have garnered comparisons to no less than Chekhov, Orwell, and Atwood. We discusse
Former FBI Director James Comey is one of the most revered, controversial, and consequential figures in American law enforcement history. He’s also a great writer. We had an open, fascinating, and frankly quite entertaining conversation regardi
An (actually) uplifting and inspiring talk re racism and South Boston, with the master of Beantown's dark underbelly, Dennis Lehane. While discussing his new book Small Mercies, we covered (1) where he sees hope in the national race convo (2) w
With one of my true literary heroes, and a treasure to the world’s literary and spiritual communities, Karen Armstrong, on her new book Sacred Nature. We discussed the mythic self, natural ecstasy, and how saving the planet begins with the smal
One of my most hilarious Thoughtful Bros ever, with one of the funniest writers anywhere, former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins. Along with readings from his latest book, Musical Tables, we discussed finding your voice, how gratitude is a ke
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