semi-prose

In the final episode of semi-prose, Kai Cheng Thom joins us to assure us we can survive hard conversations (2:50); the performance of virtue in Chinese Christian, SJW, and queer communities (6:00); on the ethics of mentorship (14:15); our boundaries do not hurt other people (21:45); seasons in the sun, gender-queer magic gem stones, and holy wild (47:00).

Indigenous food for the future (6:10); Saskatoon berries, rose hips, stinging nettles (18:55); on the generosity of Indigenous communities (27:45); check out a round dance, check out a pow wow (31:00); New Moon, Red Chef Revival, The Sous Chef (32:40)

A special live episode from this year's Toronto International Festival of Authors, featuring: Storytelling as survival (12:49); the qualities of Hot Jesus (17:55); what happens when colonization comes for our gods (22:40); on showing the absolute joy of Indigenous love (28:30); put a comma after cock (30:20); tips on surviving the Rogarou(36:40); Jeremy Dutcher, the southern wild, and Half-Breed (41:55)

when seeming good gets in the way of actually being good (4:15); that time Jia was in 'Cats' (19:30); magazines that tell girls that their entire purpose is improving themselves (20:30); the 'side hustle', aka capitalism tilling every last inch of your selfhood (24:00); melancholia, the rainbow, and how to do nothing (39:30)

When life gives us dress rehearsals for, you know, death (2:20); it's the impermanence that gives us joy (9:45); California for the possibility, Japan for the reality (11:30); some writing advice from the Dalai Lama (23:55); the perfect foreigner, Leonard Cohen, and a quiet Lear (35:00).

Emily Nussbaum joins Evan and Kristina to discuss her book I Like to Watch and how Buffy the Vampire Slayer changes lives (2:00); when black sitcoms were gentrified off the air (13:02); Game of Thrones was not that interesting, True Detective was fake philosophical (24:20); a show can be flawed and be worth talking about (30:30); Fleabag and her compulsiveness to seduce (33:50)

Allie, Kristina, Evan, and Max discuss Shut Up, You're Pretty by Téa Mutonji and whether you're more defined by your good sex or your bad sex (11:30); Fleabag and Lynda Barry (15:40); getting to have formative sexual experiences that are positive is just luck (16:40); Téa Mutonji joins the conversation (18:01); on working with Vivek Shraya and getting more fearless (26:50); SZA, Thirteen, and 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss Night of Power by Anar Ali and that one girl in high school who could quote Rumi (10:22); trauma doesn't just go away (13:07); Anar joins the conversation (15:37); they fuck you up, your mum and dad (15:59); the economics of prayer (19:47); on how Dolly Parton is Bollywood (30:00)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss their childhood Ikea awakenings (4:42); 5AM breakfast stampedes (5:49); why why why Delilah (9:23); Derek Mascarenhas joins the conversation (17:07); what's Goa on (18:24); Neighborhood #1, Mara Wilson, and Small Things (27:38)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss the things they have done to get a kiss (6:26); brown female anger (10:52); SK Ali joins the conversation (16:48); on being both devout and desirous (17:38); you're beautiful, good, valued, and wanted (25:36); CCR, Hailee Steinfeld, and a disreputable history (33:09)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss bad experiences versus life experiences (3:04); that whole idea of being down (10:06); Yasuko Thanh joins the conversation (13:56); a list can be a dramatic thing (20:26); some bad portraits of sex workers (25:53); Beloved, The Pogues, and 600 pounds (28:46)

Allie, Evan, Kristina and Max explain the differences between Smutty Sunday and Smut Salon (4:39); the fantasy of the half-formed man (6:30); that time in undergrad when Evan escaped a cult (11:34); Mona Awad joins the conversation (16:40); bunnies because they're androgynous (17:00); you look so good I just want to kill you (20:50); 'The Noise Made by People', 'Carrie', and Rebecca Godfrey (28:20)

Allie, Kristina, Evan and Max discuss those fumes from past relationships (1:50); the shame that motivates (7:40); whatever fucked up things you get from your parents (13:01); Sonya Lalli joins the conversation (15:57); how finding the right partner is like finding the right career (18:21); Allie, Max, and Sonya talk about the Dev's in their own pasts (23:17); Katy Perry, Julia Roberts, and Ayesha At Last (28:52)

Allie, Kristina, Evan, and Max discuss what makes for a good ghost story (7:50); telling a ghost story is an intimate thing (12:51); the most frightening hauntings are your exes (14:58); Leanne Shapton joins the conversation (17:02); it's photography that's sinister (20:24); when you smell someone, you kind of know (22:10); Edith Wharton bringing the scary (27:21)

Allie, Kristina, and Max discuss the novel's stickiest sex scenes (1:14); how telling stories is different than giving advice (5:38); the narrator as sex worker, the reader as client (12:18); Joshua Whitehead joins the conversation (14:07); stories do everything (16:00); a humility is just a humiliation you love so much (23:15); doing bear sex better than Marian Engel did (26:59)

Welcome to Season 2 of semi-prose! Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss 'A Mind Spread Out on the Ground' by Alicia Elliott and how Kristina used to hate on all your selfies, but no longer(6:12); explanation or excuse? (9:00); seeing mental illness in Kanye, Britney, and Jean Grey (12:00); Alicia joins the conversation (13:30); another semi-prose related story of theft (21:40); to love someone who you sometimes don't know who they are (25:45); to love someone who's an abuser (27:00)

Allie, Evan, Kristina and Max discuss 'The Beauty of the Moment' by Tanaz Bhathena and being cheated on (4:40); on finally seeing your parent as a shitty person (8:23); if you wait for that, you're going to be waiting for a long time (15:11); Tanaz joins the conversation (15:20); why not Mississauga? (16:30); there's hope in YA (24:58); Coldplay, Drew Barrymore, and 'The Sun is also a Star' (27:20)

Allie, Evan, Kristina and Max discuss ‘Original Prin' by Randy Boyagoda and feeling guilty about being attracted to your ex (3:24); Catholic residue and the hypest hymns (11:24); it's my cross(fit) to bear (15:11); Randy joins the conversation (16:04); it ain't that hard being a Catholic today (18:15); Allie asks her heavy question about women (22:00); I Can't Feel My Face when I'm with Thee (28:20)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss 'Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race' by Naben Ruthnum and how Gordon Ramsay brought the realness (0:33); Harold and Kumar, trailblazers (8:38); defending Fieri and mourning Bourdain (12:37); Naben Ruthnum joins the conversation (16:07); white girlfriends, longing for home, authenticity through food (17:04); curious, intelligent, and non-prescriptive (25:33)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max, discuss Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson and how the supernatural ain't no thang (8:00); calming chaos through cooking (9:20); Eden Robinson joins the conversation (17:40); let's call it screwball gothic (19:40); a staunch defense of Nickelback (20:20); the everydayness of AA (21:15); Long Hair, Don't Care (29:08)

Allie, Evan, Max, and Kristina discuss the Scotiabank Giller Prize winning Washington Black with Esi Edugyan. On white saviors (3:54); this is the dawning of the age of aquariums (8:49); getting closure at 22-years-old (13:34); Esi Edugyan joins the conversation (14:54); a series of farewells and returns (17:24); dancing about architecture (25:21); that one Bjork album about break-ups (22:53)

Allie, Evan, Max, and Kristina discuss The Boat People by Sharon Bala and how Max dated a Priya (2:36); how to pronounce “Gigovaz” (3:57); Kumi as Jiminy Cricket (9:10); Sharon Bala joins the conversation (15:01); hearkening back to the “good ol' days” (27:07); the Refugee Law Text Book, Orange Is the New Black, and “Paper Planes.” (31:52)

Allie, Evan, Max, and Kristina discuss Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez and dancing to Whitney (3:17); Filipino signposts (4:28); clear eyes, hard lives, can't lose (10:31); Catherine Hernandez joins the conversation (16:49); on keeping that lipstick neat for church (19:28); Bonnie Raitt, ballroom dancing, and Little Criminals (31:52).

Allie, Evan, Kristina and Max discuss Floating City by Kerri Sakamoto and the parallels to one Charles Foster Kane (1:20); how feeling entitled whilst having a chip on your shoulder is the worst combo (7:30); Evan is the podcast's Macklemore (13:19); Kerri Sakamoto joins the conversation (17:09); when victims of racism don't end up being the nicest of people (19:29); the most wondrous building in Toronto (26:24); ‘Stardust', Wong Kar-Wai, and a brilliant friend (29:26)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss That Time I Loved You by Carrianne Leung, and the many musical artists – Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Billy Joel, Donna Summer – referenced within (0:47); how all basement parties are important (5:05); Nelly's Nellyville and Kristina's Air Force Ones (9:51); Po Po as a good ally for Nav (13:38); Carrianne Leung joins the conversation (18:05); putting Scarborough on the literary map (21:13); one spicy Po Po (27:53); the importance of volleyball in Chinatowns (30:10); a slow dance with a Flying Tiger (35:04)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss I'm Afraid of Men and what's up, exactly, with masculinity (0:46); the myth of the good man (6:01); it's not like people are not dating incels because they're not ripped, they're not dating incels because they hate women (12:30); Cruise, Swayze, Keanu (14:10); Vivek Shraya joins the conversation (17:56); being enlisted into and resisting masculinity (19:15); good is a nebulous standard (22:52); on the bus with the communicative jock (27:48); you had me at hello (36:33)

A special preview episode featuring outtakes from our episode with Vivek Shraya (I'm Afraid of Men). “I'm afraid of men …” (1:26); Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss the canon of toxic masculinity (3:21); Still Processing, Donald Glover, SZA, and Infinite Jest (3:59); spitting on the Dufferin bus (4:44); Kristina is very throw-able (7:50); reading your horoscope (10:57); best-dressed author Vivek Shraya talks about her fashion journey (11:50); an empty onion bag as a hat (12:58); women's clothes are more expensive and shoddily made (15:35); “Can a girl get a flower in this plus-size section?” (16:27)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss An Ocean of Minutes and time travel as nostalgia (2:33); “Drop It Like It's Hot”, Stadium Arcadium, “Me & U” by Cassie (5:03); time travelling to avoid breaking up with someone (11:40); Thea Lim joins the conversation (13:12); WG Sebald and The Rings of Saturn (15:27); What's done is done (16:28); Kazuo Ishiguro, Rashida Jones, Rhye (25:12)

Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss the novel Brother and Scarborough food-culture (3:59); Otis Redding, DJ Kool, and Toots and the Maytals(7:23); Kristina's first trip back to Jamaica (10:11); author David Chariandy joins the conversation (15:01); writing through his stomach and his love of cookbooks (20:03); new writing on the Canadian suburb by Carrianne Leung and Catherine Hernandez (22:05); Dionne Brand, Moonlight, Maestro Fresh Wes, and Frank Ocean (29:59)

Scaachi Koul joins us to discuss her book One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter. Allie, Evan, Kristina, and Max discuss the difference between the memoir and the essay collection (:32); about that friend who drinks too much (2:35); eating fried chicken at weddings in India (8:11); being friends with your mom, aka Gilmore Girls (15:39); author Scaachi Koul joins the conversation (18:11); Indian traditions whilst having a white boyfriend (21:14); watching Dr. Phil whilst writing (28:32); just listen to Courtney Love (31:46)

Here's a first listen of our upcoming podcast semi-prose.