Podcast appearances and mentions of Elif Batuman

Livros mencionados: O Jovem Törless, Robert Musil; A História Secreta, Donna Tart; As Vantagens de Ser Invisível, Stephen Chbosky; Practice, Rosalind Brown; Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fénix, J.K. Rowling; The Idiot, Elif Batuman; Stoner, John Williams.

Palestinian writer and journalist Yasmin Zaher's debut novel The Coin (Footnote Press) has been hailed as ‘already a masterpiece' (Slavoj Žižek), ‘a filthy, elegant book' (Raven Leilani) and ‘bonkers' (Elif Batuman). A young Palestinian woman, wealthy but stateless and with no access to her wealth, finds her life and sense of self unravelling as she teaches underprivileged children at a New York middle school, gets involved in a money-making scheme selling Birkin bags and becomes unhealthily obsessed with health and cleanliness.Zaher read from her novel, and was joined for discussion by poet and novelist Sheena Patel (I'm a Fan).Get the book: https://lrb.me/thecoinpodFind more events at the Bookshop: https://lrb.me/thecoinpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this premium episode, writer, editor, and friend of the pod Leigh Stein returns to talk about the state of book publishing, including the importance of promotion via digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Leigh may be the Jane Goodall of BookTok. She has spent countless hours in the wild, studying the platform's users and creators for insights into its addictive magic. As a book coach who helps authors sell their manuscripts to publishers and then (hopefully) sell lots of copies, she understands the changing landscape of publishing and sees endless potential and opportunity. Where many authors and editors feel only fear and dread, Leigh feels joy. Recently, she helped literary agent turned novelist Betsy Lerner become an unlikely TikTok star. Want in on more of Leigh's secrets? On November 14, The Unspeakeasy is offering a one-time webinar with Leigh called How To Get A Book Deal The Easy Way. It's open to everyone (not just ladies) and may change your life. And it's only $150! Visit the course page in The Unspeakeasy for more details and to sign up. GUEST BIO Leigh Stein is a writer exploring the impact of the internet on our identities, relationships, and politics. She has written five books, including the satirical novel Self Care (Penguin, 2020) and the poetry collection What to Miss When (Soft Skull Press, 2021). Her non-fiction work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Allure, ELLE, Poets & Writers, BuzzFeed, The Cut, Salon, and Slate. Leigh founded Out of the Binders/BinderCon, a feminist literary nonprofit organization that supported women and gender variant writers. BinderCon events in NYC and LA welcomed nearly 2,000 writers to hear speakers such as Lisa Kudrow, Anna Quindlen, Claudia Rankine, Jill Abramson, Elif Batuman, Effie Brown, Leslie Jamison, Suki Kim, and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. Leigh also moderated a Facebook community of 40,000 writers. She is no longer on Facebook. Leigh's website. Leigh's newsletter. Want to hear the whole conversation? Upgrade your subscription here. HOUSEKEEPING

Jo proselytizes about the marvelous medicinal powers of M.W. Craven's Washington Poe novels before Charlotte (10:30) classes up the episode with a recounting of the viral, ugly-cry-inducing Harry Potter fanfiction “Manacled” by SenLinYu. Then the accomplished Sarah Thankam Mathews (28:30) expounds on colonization, anger, Dumbo's opps, and the “short little knife” that is Tayeb Salih's Seasons of Migrations to the North. Also discussed in this episode: Othello, Elif Batuman's The Idiot, Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, W. Somerset Maughm's The Razor's EdgeSarah Thankam Mathews is the author of All This Could Be Different, which was shortlisted for the Discover Prize, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and 2022 National Book Award in Fiction. All This Could Be Different was also a New York Times Editor's Choice and named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Vogue, Vulture, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Slate, and Buzzfeed. Mathews grew up between Oman and India, immigrating to the United States at seventeen.Send questions, requests, recommendations, and your own thoughts about any of the books discussed today to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Charlotte is on Instagram and Twitter as @Charoshane. Her most recent book is An Honest Woman: A Memoir of Love and Sex Work. Learn more at charoshane.comJo co-edits The Stopgap and their writing lives at jolivingstone.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this month's edition of BBC World Book Club bestselling American writer Elif Batuman discusses her acclaimed debut novel. ‘The Idiot' follows Selin, a Turkish-American fresher at Harvard in the mid-1990s, delving into her experiences as she navigates the challenges of university life, grappling with identity, language, and the complexities of relationships, romantic and otherwise. Selin becomes infatuated with Ivan, an older Hungarian mathematics student, and their relationship unfolds primarily through a series of cryptic emails, highlighting the difficulties of virtual communication across cultures. As Selin travels to Europe for a summer teaching job, she continues to struggle with her sense of self, her obsession with Ivan, and the meaning of her experiences. The novel captures the disorienting, often absurd nature of early adulthood, where intellectual exploration meets the messiness of real life and its chaotic emotions. Infused with dry humour and philosophical musings, The Idiot is at heart a playful meditation on the limitation of language, and the gap between theoretical knowledge and lived experience.

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Pulitzer Prize Award winner, Andrew was such a nice man to talk to. It was a pleasure knowing him, both as a writer and a reader. Hope you enjoy this super nice and down to earth guest. The “funny books” Andrew chose: Moby Dick, Herman Melville; The Idiot, Elif Batuman; Love In A Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford; Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes. Other recommendations: Nancy Mitford: In The Pursuit of Love (À procura do amor) and The Blessing; The books Andrew wrote: How It Was for Me (short stories); The Path of Minor Planets: A Novel; The Confessions of Max Tivoli; The Story of a Marriage; The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells; Less: Pulitzer Prize 2018; Less Is Lost (In PT: Less perdeu-se). I recommended: In Memoriam, Alice Winn; Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. The book I offered: The most fun we ever had, Claire Lombardo. Online bookstore: www.wook.pt

In this episode, I'm joined by Katherine (@Katherout), a fellow podcaster & Seattle-based content creator, to talk about The Idiot by Elif Batuman. Katherine and I talk about the intimate and lifelike style of this novel and how it compares to novels like Sally Rooney's and movies like Ladybird. Katherine and I also discuss how we approached college, what we wish we'd done differently, and how we keep learning outside of school. Finally, we talk about the complexities and nuances of communication and how different mediums can make those communications more or less intimate (hot take - Snapchat is kind of peak intimacy?) Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please rate it 5 stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, click Follow so you're notified when new episodes come out, and share it with a friend! Would also love if you could write a review on Apple Podcasts! I'd love to hear about your experiences with this book or any themes that resonated with you. Share your thoughts on the episode, suggest books for future discussions, or let me know if you're interested in being a guest! Check out my Goodreads linked below to see if we've read any books in common :) Contact me: IG: https://www.instagram.com/anyonereadthis/ Email: anyonereadthispod@gmail.com Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/177410546-pratiksha-badola Find Katherine @Katherout on IG, YouTube & TikTok  Check out her podcast, REVELATORIUM: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ULhg040oj1jD4L1NYjHZa?si=133a4947b0f04f0f

This week Sapphire and Joseph deep dive into two new brilliant fiction releases: debut novel Piglet by British writer Lottie Hazell and The Vulnerables, the ninth novel from American writer Sigrid Nunez. Also this week Sapphire read Jillian by Halle Butler and Normal Women by Ainslie Hogarth. Joseph read Minor Detail by Adania Shibli and The Coming Bad Days by Sarah Bernstein. This week's listener recommendation request comes from Saniya who really enjoyed Elif Batuman's Either/Or and is looking for more great campus novels. Joseph recommends The Life of the Mind by Christine Smallwood and White Noise by Don DeLillo. Sapphire recommends My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and The Nix by Nathan Hill. Also mentioned in this episode:The Writer's Prize 2024 ShortlistThe Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli) Boy Swallows Universe How Do You Live? By Genzaburo YoshinoThe New Me by Halle ButlerThe Friend by Sigrid NunezSee the Novel Thoughts bookshop page for all books mentioned in this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In April of 2018, the writer Elif Batuman had an article published in The New Yorker, titled "Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry". It explored a cultural phenomenon in Japan, that of agencies where one could hire an actor to perform in a social interaction that would be otherwise awkward or impossible. It became such a popular and celebrated article that it would win the National Magazine Award for that year. Unfortunately, it was also based entirely on bullshit. Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page, and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: New Yorker: Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry  The New Republic: How the New Yorker Fell into the “Weird Japan” Trap  Wall Street Journal: New Yorker Re-Examines Article on Japanese Family Rental Service  AFAR: What it's Like to Rent a Friend in Tokyo  Wikipedia: Elif Batuman  Wikipedia: Rental Family Service 

Do not try to savethe whole worldor do anything grandiose.Instead, createa clearingin the dense forestof your lifeand wait therepatiently,until the songthat is your lifefalls into your own cupped handsand you recognize and greet it.Only then will you knowhow to give yourself to this worldso worthy of rescue.- Martha Postlethwaite, “The Clearing”Journalling was my first formal practice. At the age of seven, I opened a spiral notebook with a sunflower painted on the cover (I adored that notebook) and thereafter wrote into the headwinds of my growing years with inexplicable regularity. I smudged the creases along the pinkie line of my left hand through dozens of notebooks. Many of my most formative experiences spilled out over the page, and those that didn't felt passed by like landscapes framed through the window of a moving train.In retrospect, I see how writing was a kind of communion for me — a small clearing in the thicket of daily life where I could tend to my heart in private while cultivating the beginnings of the spiritual practice of paying attention. It taught me about ritual and rhythm, and also about vulnerability and meeting our creative edges with fortitude.My writing practice went dormant at the threshold of adulthood. At the time, if you'd asked, I would have pointed to a kind of transmigration from the written word to yoga and meditation as primary vehicles for inner inquiry. I still believe to every practice there is a season, but over the years I've also questioned if, subconsciously, I put my pencil down to distance myself from the unabashed loops and sweeps of my puerile penmanship.Elif Batuman recently published an essay entitled “I'm Done Worrying About Self-Plagiarism” in which she explores the concept of diachronic writing (as in, writing wherein the growth that is intrinsic to the process is actually reflected in the form rather than edited out): “what if we don't try to erase, from a given text, the fact that a writer was changed by/during the act of writing?” By understanding former iterations of our practice, our work, ourselves, as layers over time, we can recognize the presence of a trajectory, an evolution — and we can also study how those layers relate to each other (hello Internal Family Systems). Which is all to say: where are all your journals tucked away?Michelangelo was once asked how he would carve an elephant: “I would take a large piece of stone and take away everything that was not the elephant.” Perhaps this is the work of any practice (or sadhana, from the Sanskrit root meaning “to sit with truth”). We stay with our subject. We commit our attention and learn the craft of our practice — and, in time, a natural chiseling away of what isn't essential begins to occur as well as the emergence of what is.[For your consideration: Michelangelo began apprenticing at the age of 13. He carved David out of a piece of discarded marble. He was known to work tirelessly, often for 18 hours a day. He also said “faith in oneself is the best and safest course.” These details seem not insignificant.]Keeping company with a large stone is daunting, no doubt. Barack Obama said “nothing is more terrifying than the blank page” (likely a hyperbolic statement given his access to the nuclear codes, but nevertheless…). If we are choosing to expand as humans, our return to any creative edge will almost certainly stir the classical hindrances of insecurity, self-criticism, and doubt. I am not Michelangelo, we may state the obvious. What if I can't find my elephant?We are not the only ones. Here's Errol Morris, a 58-year-old giant of contemporary documentary filmmaking, as recently quoted by David Marchese in the New York Times:“I think my whole life has been dominated by feeling like I'm a fraud of some kind… How is my work different than painting by numbers? Is it that different? Thinking you're a fraud may be similar to thinking that you don't know what you're doing. I don't know, really, what I'm doing.”Working with self-doubt demands sincere courage. First, we have to grow very tired of avoidance as an alternative. We have to remember that the source of our perceived inadequacy is not our ostensible failures, nor is the solution in striving for perfection. Fear doesn't necessarily dissolve with time, but it can be recast. It can sharpen our sense of focus as we lean into and develop trust in our practice over time.Anne C. Klein, a professor and lama in the Nyingma tradition, frames the invitation like this: “To recognize all practices and experiences as backlit by the sun of their own great completeness is to find a horizon that never narrows.”I found myself not long ago unpacking a box of old journals on the floor of a new house. Holding them in my hands again, I was reminded of the significance of my earliest practice — the dignified instinct to create a clearing in the dense forest of my growing years. Blushing and messy as they were, and are, those entries contain small moments of coherence, of song, of light.The Guest House is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Guest House at shawnparell.substack.com/subscribe

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual's throwback advice helped them land a husband. Others thought it was retrograde hogwash that flew in the face of decades of feminist progress. The resulting brouhaha turned the book into a cultural phenomenon. In this episode, Slate's Heather Schwedel explores where The Rules came from, how it became so popular, and why its list of 35 commandments continue to be so sticky—whether we like it or not.  Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Willa Paskin. Derek John is executive producer. Joel Meyer is senior editor/producer. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. We'd like to to thank Benjamin Frisch, Rachel O'Neill, Penny Love, Heather Fain, Elif Batuman, Laura Banks, Marlene Velasquez-Sedito, Leigh Anderson, Caroline Smith. We also want to mention two sources that were really helpful: Labour of Love by Moira Weigel, a paper called Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts by Patricia McDaniel If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, we'd love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual's throwback advice helped them land a husband. Others thought it was retrograde hogwash that flew in the face of decades of feminist progress. The resulting brouhaha turned the book into a cultural phenomenon. In this episode, Slate's Heather Schwedel explores where The Rules came from, how it became so popular, and why its list of 35 commandments continue to be so sticky—whether we like it or not.  Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Willa Paskin. Derek John is executive producer. Joel Meyer is senior editor/producer. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. We'd like to to thank Benjamin Frisch, Rachel O'Neill, Penny Love, Heather Fain, Elif Batuman, Laura Banks, Marlene Velasquez-Sedito, Leigh Anderson, Caroline Smith. We also want to mention two sources that were really helpful: Labour of Love by Moira Weigel, a paper called Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts by Patricia McDaniel If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, we'd love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual's throwback advice helped them land a husband. Others thought it was retrograde hogwash that flew in the face of decades of feminist progress. The resulting brouhaha turned the book into a cultural phenomenon. In this episode, Slate's Heather Schwedel explores where The Rules came from, how it became so popular, and why its list of 35 commandments continue to be so sticky—whether we like it or not.  Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Willa Paskin. Derek John is executive producer. Joel Meyer is senior editor/producer. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. We'd like to to thank Benjamin Frisch, Rachel O'Neill, Penny Love, Heather Fain, Elif Batuman, Laura Banks, Marlene Velasquez-Sedito, Leigh Anderson, Caroline Smith. We also want to mention two sources that were really helpful: Labour of Love by Moira Weigel, a paper called Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts by Patricia McDaniel If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, we'd love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual's throwback advice helped them land a husband. Others thought it was retrograde hogwash that flew in the face of decades of feminist progress. The resulting brouhaha turned the book into a cultural phenomenon. In this episode, Slate's Heather Schwedel explores where The Rules came from, how it became so popular, and why its list of 35 commandments continue to be so sticky—whether we like it or not.  Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Willa Paskin. Derek John is executive producer. Joel Meyer is senior editor/producer. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. We'd like to to thank Benjamin Frisch, Rachel O'Neill, Penny Love, Heather Fain, Elif Batuman, Laura Banks, Marlene Velasquez-Sedito, Leigh Anderson, Caroline Smith. We also want to mention two sources that were really helpful: Labour of Love by Moira Weigel, a paper called Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts by Patricia McDaniel If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, we'd love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual's throwback advice helped them land a husband. Others thought it was retrograde hogwash that flew in the face of decades of feminist progress. The resulting brouhaha turned the book into a cultural phenomenon. In this episode, Slate's Heather Schwedel explores where The Rules came from, how it became so popular, and why its list of 35 commandments continue to be so sticky—whether we like it or not.  Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Willa Paskin. Derek John is executive producer. Joel Meyer is senior editor/producer. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. We'd like to to thank Benjamin Frisch, Rachel O'Neill, Penny Love, Heather Fain, Elif Batuman, Laura Banks, Marlene Velasquez-Sedito, Leigh Anderson, Caroline Smith. We also want to mention two sources that were really helpful: Labour of Love by Moira Weigel, a paper called Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts by Patricia McDaniel If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, we'd love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the moment it was released in 1995, The Rules was controversial.. Some people loved it—and swore that the dating manual's throwback advice helped them land a husband. Others thought it was retrograde hogwash that flew in the face of decades of feminist progress. The resulting brouhaha turned the book into a cultural phenomenon. In this episode, Slate's Heather Schwedel explores where The Rules came from, how it became so popular, and why its list of 35 commandments continue to be so sticky—whether we like it or not.  Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Willa Paskin. Derek John is executive producer. Joel Meyer is senior editor/producer. Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. We'd like to to thank Benjamin Frisch, Rachel O'Neill, Penny Love, Heather Fain, Elif Batuman, Laura Banks, Marlene Velasquez-Sedito, Leigh Anderson, Caroline Smith. We also want to mention two sources that were really helpful: Labour of Love by Moira Weigel, a paper called Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts by Patricia McDaniel If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, we'd love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With this sharp and witty debut collection, author Kate Doyle captures precisely that time of life when so many young women are caught in between, pre-occupied by nostalgia for past relationships--with friends, roommates, siblings--while trying to move forward into an uncertain future. In "That Is Shocking," a college student relates a darkly funny story of romantic humiliation, one that skirts the parallel story of a friend she betrayed. In others, young women long for friends who have moved away, or moved on. In "Cinnamon Baseball Coyote" and other linked stories about siblings Helen, Evan, and Grace, their years of inside jokes and brutal tensions simmer over as the three spend a holiday season in an amusing whirl of rivalry and mutual attachment, and a generational gulf widens between them and their parents. Throughout, in stories both lyrical and haunting, young women search for ways to break free from the expectations of others and find a way to be in the world. Written with crystalline prose and sly humor, the stories in I Meant It Once (Algonquin Books, 2023) build to complete a profoundly recognizable portrait of early adulthood and the ways in which seemingly incidental moments can come to define the stories we tell ourselves. For fans of Elif Batuman, Ottessa Moshfegh, Patricia Lockwood, and Melissa Bank, these stories about being young and adrift in today's world go down easy and pack a big punch. A former bookseller at Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, Kate Doyle has published her stories in No Tokens, Electric Literature, Split Lip, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. In 2021 she was selected from 1100 emerging writers as an A Public Space Writing Fellow, and she has received support for her work from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Hawthornden, the Adirondack Center for Writing, NYU Paris, and the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County. She currently lives in Amsterdam. Recommended Books: Cara Blue Adams, You Never Get It Back Alexandra Chang, Tomb Sweeping Stephanie Vaughn, Sweettalk  Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With this sharp and witty debut collection, author Kate Doyle captures precisely that time of life when so many young women are caught in between, pre-occupied by nostalgia for past relationships--with friends, roommates, siblings--while trying to move forward into an uncertain future. In "That Is Shocking," a college student relates a darkly funny story of romantic humiliation, one that skirts the parallel story of a friend she betrayed. In others, young women long for friends who have moved away, or moved on. In "Cinnamon Baseball Coyote" and other linked stories about siblings Helen, Evan, and Grace, their years of inside jokes and brutal tensions simmer over as the three spend a holiday season in an amusing whirl of rivalry and mutual attachment, and a generational gulf widens between them and their parents. Throughout, in stories both lyrical and haunting, young women search for ways to break free from the expectations of others and find a way to be in the world. Written with crystalline prose and sly humor, the stories in I Meant It Once (Algonquin Books, 2023) build to complete a profoundly recognizable portrait of early adulthood and the ways in which seemingly incidental moments can come to define the stories we tell ourselves. For fans of Elif Batuman, Ottessa Moshfegh, Patricia Lockwood, and Melissa Bank, these stories about being young and adrift in today's world go down easy and pack a big punch. A former bookseller at Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, Kate Doyle has published her stories in No Tokens, Electric Literature, Split Lip, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. In 2021 she was selected from 1100 emerging writers as an A Public Space Writing Fellow, and she has received support for her work from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Hawthornden, the Adirondack Center for Writing, NYU Paris, and the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County. She currently lives in Amsterdam. Recommended Books: Cara Blue Adams, You Never Get It Back Alexandra Chang, Tomb Sweeping Stephanie Vaughn, Sweettalk  Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

With this sharp and witty debut collection, author Kate Doyle captures precisely that time of life when so many young women are caught in between, pre-occupied by nostalgia for past relationships--with friends, roommates, siblings--while trying to move forward into an uncertain future. In "That Is Shocking," a college student relates a darkly funny story of romantic humiliation, one that skirts the parallel story of a friend she betrayed. In others, young women long for friends who have moved away, or moved on. In "Cinnamon Baseball Coyote" and other linked stories about siblings Helen, Evan, and Grace, their years of inside jokes and brutal tensions simmer over as the three spend a holiday season in an amusing whirl of rivalry and mutual attachment, and a generational gulf widens between them and their parents. Throughout, in stories both lyrical and haunting, young women search for ways to break free from the expectations of others and find a way to be in the world. Written with crystalline prose and sly humor, the stories in I Meant It Once (Algonquin Books, 2023) build to complete a profoundly recognizable portrait of early adulthood and the ways in which seemingly incidental moments can come to define the stories we tell ourselves. For fans of Elif Batuman, Ottessa Moshfegh, Patricia Lockwood, and Melissa Bank, these stories about being young and adrift in today's world go down easy and pack a big punch. A former bookseller at Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, Kate Doyle has published her stories in No Tokens, Electric Literature, Split Lip, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. In 2021 she was selected from 1100 emerging writers as an A Public Space Writing Fellow, and she has received support for her work from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Hawthornden, the Adirondack Center for Writing, NYU Paris, and the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County. She currently lives in Amsterdam. Recommended Books: Cara Blue Adams, You Never Get It Back Alexandra Chang, Tomb Sweeping Stephanie Vaughn, Sweettalk  Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Booker Prize Shortlisted author Paul Murray, author of THE BEE STING, THE MARK AND THE VOID, SKIPPY DIES and AN EVENING OF LONG GOODBYES.Paul chats about:The role Ali Smith and John Boyne played in his journey to becoming an authorHow he writes all his longhand and how a first draft is a stack of loose sheets of paperBeing careful about what you allow into your head when you are writingWhether he identifies as a writer of Family Sagas or State of The Nation novelsThe challenges and joys of writing multiperspective workGuest Author: Paul Murray Books: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, The Mark and The Void by Paul Murray, Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, An Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul MurrayHost: Kate Sawyer Twitter: @katesawyer IG: @mskatesawyer Books: The Stranding by Kate Sawyer & This FamilyPaul's recommendations:Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery, The Idiot by Elif Batuman, Either/Or by Elif Batuman, Soldier,Sailor by Claire Kilroy, Notes From An Apocalypse by Mark O'Connell, To Be A Machine by Mark O'Connell, A Thread of Violence by Mark O'ConnellNovel Experience with Kate Sawyer is recorded and produced by Kate Sawyer - GET IN TOUCHTo receive transcripts and news from Kate to your inbox please SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER or visit https://www.mskatesawyer.com/novelexperiencepodcast for more information.Thanks for listening!Kate x

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 506, my conversation with Elif Batuman. Elif Batuman's first novel, The Idiot, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK. She is also the author of a novel called Either/Or, published in 2022, as well as The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, which was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2010. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  YouTube TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, the writer Elizabeth Gilbert announced her next book. Readers who know her only as the author of “Eat, Pray, Love” might have been surprised by its subject: a group of Russians who hide in the Siberian wilderness as an act of resistance against the Soviet government. The announcement was met by harshly negative feedback from Ukrainian readers, who accused Gilbert of “glorifying” Russia, and she decided to halt the book's publication. Free-speech advocates lamented the decision, with some asking whether Tolstoy would be next.  In January, the New Yorker staff writer Elif Batuman published an essay about Ukraine's grievances against Tolstoy and his literary peers. In it, Batuman explores how great Russian novels have been used to justify military aggression in the Slavic world, and contends with the moral weight of loving these books. She joins Tyler Foggatt to talk about Gilbert's dilemma and to consider how imperialism should change our experience of art.

These two new novels ask a crucial question: who gets to tell our stories?  Keziah Weir's The Mythmakers follows one young journalist as she seeks answers within the unpublished manuscript of a recently dead author while her own life starts to crumble. Weir joins us to talk about likeable female characters, what makes the literary canon, AI storytelling and more. My Murder by Katie Williams is a fast-paced, inventive mystery where the victims of a serial killer are brought back to life to solve the case. Williams talks with us about how she came to write her book, including technology in her fiction, what she learns from teaching and more. This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.          New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app.         Featured Books (Episode):   The Mythmakers by Keziah Weir  My Murder by Katie Williams  The Guest by Emma Cline  The Idiot by Elif Batuman  American Pastoral by Philip Roth  Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley  The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson  The Wife by Meg Wolitzer   Delicious Foods by James Hannaham   Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams     Featured Books (TBR Topoff):   The Muse by Jessie Burton  The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes 

Either/Or, Elif Batuman's sequel to Pulitzer Prize finalist The Idiot, is the humorous and relatable ongoing story of a Turkish American surviving college in the 90s. Batuman joins us to talk about her approach to writing fiction, how her own life influences her work, analyzing literature and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.  This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).  Featured Books (Episode): The Idiot by Elif Batuman  Either/Or by Elif Batuman  Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy   Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin  Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert  The Possessed by Elif Batuman  In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust 

This week Lilah speaks with author Elif Batuman about rethinking Russian literature given Russia's war in Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, cultural institutions have grappled with what to do about Russian artists and works of art. Should they be banned if we want to support Ukraine? Elif talks us through the literary dimension of the debate. And she says go ahead, read the Russian classics. But learn about the history and culture of the time as you're doing it. Then, FT music critic Arwa Haider comes on to talk Lilah through recent trends in music: from the resurgence of pop punk to the loss of the superstar.--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We're on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Links and mentions from the episode: –Elif Batuman's essay on reading Russian literature in the shadow of the war in Ukraine: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/30/rereading-russian-classics-in-the-shadow-of-the-ukraine-war–Elif wrote the bestselling novels The Idiot and Either/Or. Here's our first conversation with her, about Either/Or: https://www.ft.com/content/703dcdbf-cf67-4c40-bd46-a97903a8d6c3–Mary Elise Sarotte on Putin's misuse of history: https://on.ft.com/3kVkfmd –An essay Elif recommends by Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko's on the same topic: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/russian-literature-bucha-massacre-essay-oksana-zabuzhko–You can find Arwa Haider's FT music reviews here: https://www.ft.com/stream/d52c64d7-bc56-3cae-bfb9-65bb15f69b9d –Arwa is on Twitter at @ArwaHaider—-------------Special offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Copyright for additional music this week: Geffen-Interscope Records; Warner Music Group; Saddle Creek Records; Sony Music Entertainment; Rimas EntertainmentRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're re-airing this episode which was first published 10/6/2022. Lale talks to two of her favorite authors about two cities that she's most connected with—Rebecca Meade about London and Elif Batuman on Istanbul—and asks the question: What do you learn about a city by walking around it instead of driving through it? "You want to knit yourself into the fabric of a place and see your story knitted into it," says Meade. Plus, listeners contribute their own walking stories about Budapest, Dubrovnik, and Malta—all solo travelers who had unforgettable experiences thanks to the decision to explore a new place by foot. For more from Women Who Travel, visit our website or subscribe to our email newsletter. Website link: https://www.cntraveler.com/women-who-travel?utm_source=Apple+Podcast&utm_medium=WWT+show+description&utm_id=WWT+Podcast Newsletter link: https://www.cntraveler.com/newsletter/whats-next-for-travel?utm_source=Apple+Podcast&utm_medium=WWT+nl+signup&utm_id=WWT+Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today Pip reviews Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires by Douglass Rushkoff, We are Made of Diamond Stuff by Isabel Waidner and Either/Or by Elif Batuman.

Ahu Terzi opened The Hound Books, named after her beagle mix pup, in Roscoe, New York, last fall. In this episode, she shares how she's managing to learn the ropes of the bookselling business while balancing the store with a full-time job and a commute from NYC. Books We Talk About: Upstream and Felicity by Mary Oliver, Hiking the Catskills by Randi Minetor and Stacey Freed, Upstate by Lisa Przystup, The Idiot and Either/Or by Elif Batuman, Nineteen Reservoirs by Lucy Sante, Body Work by Melissa Febos, Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk, Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, and Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegul Savas.All Business. No Boundaries.Welcome to All Business. No Boundaries, a collection of supply chain stories by DHL...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify The Brave MarketerBrands are navigating the new Web3 and marketing in the metaverseListen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

It's Bookshelf time here at The Book Club Review podcast, when we talk about the books we're reading outside of book club, the ones we get to pick and choose for ourselves. And so listen in to find out what Laura thought of The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd, a lesser-known backlist gem, A Place of Greater Safety, Booker-winner Hilary Mantel's immersive doorstop about the French revolution, and The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison's blend of court intrigue, goblins and steampunk. Meanwhile I'm reporting back on Babel by R.F. Kuang, the bestselling fantasy epic set in 19th-century England, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, part bruisingly tender love story, part nerve-clanging submarine thriller, and Either / Or by Elif Batuman, the follow-on from her first novel The Idiot. It's the continuing adventures of her protagonist, Harvard student Selin, and has been described as ‘a second year of love, sex, and books'. Whenever you listen to this episode if you have thoughts on it we'd love to hear them. Comment anytime on the episode page on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk, where you'll also find full shownotes, book recommendations and a transcript. Comments there go straight to our inboxes so drop us a line, we'd love to hear from you. You can also sign up for our bi-weekly-ish newsletter for extra reviews and recommendations. If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or get in touch at thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you're not already do subscribe to us and take a moment to rate and review the show in your podcatcher of choice – it helps other listeners to find us and is a great way to support us.

Elizabeth and Sir Walter give Anne a tour of the house in Bath. Mr. Elliot comes to visit and charms the whole family. Distant cousins of noble rank cause a stir in the Elliot household. Sir Walter's favorite hobby is people watching and counting how many beautiful faces he sees. What we're reading/watching/listening to: The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, Either/Or by Elif Batuman, When we Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut, Annie Ernaux, Sister Wives We have a twitter! We have a TikTok! Email us: Janeaustenculturenight@gmail.com Hosted by Laurel Nakai and Akina Cox Music and Production by Laurel Nakai Artwork by Akina Cox Music in Ad by JuliusH

THROWBACK! Originally released March 14, 2022. We'll be back with new episodes in February 2023! Get ready for some nostalgic talk about our favorite TV shows growing up! Also, Emily is sharing a date and time for her fan club book club discussion, Love In the Big City by Sang Young Park, so grab your copies soon. And stick around for the book talk, this week featuring your classic lineup of literary fiction, historical fiction, young adult romance, and a gut-punch of a contemporary novel from a character on death row. Thank you for listening!!! Grab your BATC merch here: https://www.booksandthecitypod.com/merch. Browse and shop all the books we've discussed on this episode and past episodes at https://www.bookshop.org/shop/booksandthecity. Subscribe to our newsletter on our website, and send us an email at booksandthecitypod@gmail.com-------------> Libby's pick: The Idiot by Elif Batuman (12:16-23:38) https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/314108/the-idiot-by-elif-batuman/ On Libby's TBR: Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho Becky's pick: The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers (23:39-34:46) https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-tobacco-wives-adele-myers?variant=39369364439074 On Becky's TBR: The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Emily's pick: Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi (34:47-46:46) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Permanent-Record/Mary-H-K-Choi/9781534445987 On Emily's TBR: Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi Kayla's pick: Notes On an Execution by Danya Kukafka (46:47-55:18) https://www.harpercollins.com/products/notes-on-an-execution-danya-kukafka?variant=39314561237026 On Kayla's TBR: The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout Music by EpidemicSound, logo art by @niczollos, all opinions are our own.

It's our best books of 2022, one of our favourite episodes to record as by this point we've done all the hard work of reading, now it's time to sit back and consider which, of all the books we read in 2022, were our very favourites. That might be a new release or it might be a backlist gem. We've also got the books that got us through difficult moments, the books that made us laugh or cry, and the ones we recommended and gave to friends. As we're nothing if not critical we've got some books that didn't quite live up to our expectations before we finally crown our top three books of 2022.  As snow falls gently around the shed, the fairy lights twinkle, the mulled wine is warm, and we discuss our favourite reads of 2022 with regular special guest, journalist Phil Chaffee. Books mentioned are listed below, but if you want to be surprised look away now. Book recommendations for Best Books of 2022 Favourite new release: Laura loved TRUST by Herman Diaz, Phil's favourite (with also-rans The Marriage Portraitby Maggie O'Farrell and Love Marriage by Monica Ali) was THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES by Deesha Philyaw, while Kate loved SEVEN STEEPLES by Sara Baume (with honorable mentions Housebreaking by Colleen Hubbard and Briefly: A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens) Favourite backlist title: Phil picked THE BETROTHED by Alessandro Manzoni (with also-rans The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toíbín, and Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig). Kate loved The Homemaker by Dorothy Canfield-Fisher but her favourite was O CALEDONIA by Elspeth Barker. Laura went for WIVES AND DAUGHTERS by Elizabeth Gaskell. Favourite non-fiction reads: For Kate it was THE PALACE PAPERS, Tina Brown's engaging examination of the British royal family and our collective fascination with (or indifference) to them. Kate's also-rans were Fall by John Preston (did Robert Maxwell fall or was he pushed?), 4,000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman (if we did but have the time to discuss it) and Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake (book everyone says is great turns out to be great). Laura only reads non-fiction when her book club forces her too, but luckily she did end up reading CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson, a book that changed her view of the world within the first fifty pages. Phil loved Putin's People by Catherine Belton and Not One Inch by M.E. Sarotte, but his overall favourite was THE RED PRINCE by Timothy Snyder. Favourite Book Club reads. Top of the pile for Laura was MICHEL THE GIANT by Tété-Michel Kpomassie while Phil preferred EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET by Hilary Mantel. Kate loved The Heart is a Lonely Hunterby Carson McCullers but her ultimate choice was LIGHT PERPETUAL by Francis Spufford Favourite comfort reads: For Phil it was EITHER/OR by Elif Batuman; he now only wants to read books narrated by her protagonist Selin. Laura escaped to a creepy Swiss hotel with THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse while Kate sank into the arms of old friend E.M. Delafield with THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY. A book that made us laugh or cry: For Kate it was A HEART THAT WORKS by Rob Delaney. Phil enjoyed THREE MEN IN A BOAT by Jerome K. Jerome (in audiobook form read by Hugh Laurie). Laura loved Small by Claire Lynch and The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, but her final choice was THE BREAD THE DEVIL KNEAD by Lisa Allen-Agostini A book we pressed on a friend: Runner-up for Phil was We Don't Know Ourselves by Fintan O'Toole but his favourite was THE FREE WORLD by Louis Menand. Laura's pick was THE SIXTEEN TREES OF THE SOMME by Lars Mytting Books we read that didn't quite live up to our expectations: THE ABSOLUTE BOOK by Elizabeth Knox promised much for Laura but ultimately didn't deliver. Phil really didn't get on with A LITTLE LIFE by Hanya Yanigahara (and has *really* thought about why) and for Kate LIBERATION DAY by George Saunders didn't quite meet the soaring heights of his other books. Overall Book of the Year: Laura's standout was THE TREES by Percival Everett. Kate loved After Sappho by Selby Wyn Schwartz and The Door by Magda Szabó but her overall favourite read was LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry. Phil meanwhile loved the Elena Ferrante Neopolitan quartet, but his overall book of the year is, as mentioned earlier, THE FREE WORLD by Louis Menand. A few other books we mention in passing: Golden Hill by Francis Spufford The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon Babel by R. F. Kuang A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt The Little Library Parties and The Little Library Christmas by Kate Young Find full shownotes and links to related podcast episodes at our website thebookclubreview.co.uk, where you'll also find a transcript and our comments forum. No matter when you listen to this episode you can always drop us a line there and let us know what you thought of it. Tell us your favourite reads of 2022, we'd love to hear about them. You can also sign up for our bi-weekly-ish newsletter and find out details of our new Patreon channel. To keep up with us between episodes follow us on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or email us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this episode please don't forget an easy way to give something back is to let people know about the show, whether through a quick rating on your podcast app, or letting people know via social media. We really appreciate it.

Lale talks to two of her favorite authors about two cities that she's most connected with—Rebecca Meade about London and Elif Batuman on Istanbul—and asks the question: What do you learn about a city by walking around it instead of driving through it? "You want to knit yourself into the fabric of a place and see your story knitted into it," says Meade. Plus, listeners contribute their own walking stories about Budapest, Dubrovnik, and Malta—all solo travelers who had unforgettable experiences thanks to the decision to explore a new place by foot. For more from Women Who Travel, visit our website or subscribe to our email newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's episode is special, the first Nicole's six-pack about a few books she ended up DNFing for several reasons. Listen to this short 15min episode to hear all the whys! As always you can find below the whole booklist they run through during the episode: A little life by Hanya Yanagihara | https://amzn.to/3SNUcsn (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780804172707 (Bookshop) The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs | https://amzn.to/3C0fRqg (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9781476731919 (Bookshop) Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown | https://amzn.to/3E4Kttq (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780812989489 (Bookshop) The Last Mrs. Parrish by LIV Constantine | https://amzn.to/3LWNDRY (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780062667588 (Bookshop) The Idiot by Elif Batuman | https://amzn.to/3E7sMto (Amazon) | https://bookshop.org/a/2143/9780143111061 (Bookshop)

Elif Batuman joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Truth and Fiction,” by Sylvia Townsend Warner, which was published in The New Yorker in 1961. Batuman is the author of one book of nonfiction, “The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them,” and two novels, “The Idiot” and “Either/Or,” which was published earlier this year. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2010.

This week, a guest episode from the London Review Bookshop Podcast, featuring Elif Batuman talking to Merve Emre about her latest book, Either/Or. The London Review Bookshop podcast comes out every week and has hundreds of events in its archive. Find it wherever you get your podcast.Some events from the London Review Bookshop are broadcast online as well as in person, so you can watch live from anywhere in the world. On Wednesday this week, you can watch food writers Rebecca May Johnson and Jonathan Nunn.Buy tickets here: https://lrb.me/eventspod Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we talk to the author Elif Batuman about her new novel ‘Either / Or'. The book is set in the 1990s, and follows Elif's fictionalised alter ego, Selin, as she navigates life as a Harvard student. Elif reflects on looking back at the '90s from a contemporary perspective and talks about what we've learnt since. Then, we hear about feedback from deputy FT Magazine editor Esther Bintliff. We live in a culture obsessed with feedback. But what kind of feedback is actually effective? --------------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. We're on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.--------------Links and mentions from the episode: – Either/Or by Elif Batuman is available in all good bookstores. – Esther's piece on feedback, https://www.ft.com/content/a681ac3c-73b8-459b-843c-0d796f15020e – Bradley Whitford describing the three-step reaction on WTF with Marc Maron http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-909-bradley-whitford– If you want to hear Kim Scott talking about Radical Candour at Inbound Bold Talks, 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj9GLeNCgm4 – Elif Batuman is on Twitter @BananaKarenina. Esther is on Twitter @estherbintliff. —-------------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcastWant to join us at the FT Weekend festival in London on September 3rd? Buy a ticket at ft.com/ftwf. And here's a special £20 off promo code, specifically for FT Weekend listeners: FTWFxPodcast22--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.Silicon Valley clip in this episode is courtesy of HBO. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we talk to the author Elif Batuman about her new novel ‘Either / Or'. The book is set in the 1990s, and follows Elif's fictionalised alter ego, Selin, as she navigates life as a Harvard student. Elif reflects on looking back at the '90s from a contemporary perspective and talks about what we've learnt since. Then, we hear about feedback from deputy FT Magazine editor Esther Bintliff. We live in a culture obsessed with feedback. But what kind of feedback is actually effective? --------------Want to stay in touch? We love hearing from you. We're on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.--------------Links and mentions from the episode: – Either/Or by Elif Batuman is available in all good bookstores. – Esther's piece on feedback, https://www.ft.com/content/a681ac3c-73b8-459b-843c-0d796f15020e – Bradley Whitford describing the three-step reaction on WTF with Marc Maron http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-909-bradley-whitford– If you want to hear Kim Scott talking about Radical Candour at Inbound Bold Talks, 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj9GLeNCgm4 – Elif Batuman is on Twitter @BananaKarenina. Esther is on Twitter @estherbintliff. —-------------Special offers for FT Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial can be found here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcastWant to join us at the FT Weekend festival in London on September 3rd? Buy a ticket at ft.com/ftwf. And here's a special £20 off promo code, specifically for FT Weekend listeners: FTWFxPodcast22--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.Silicon Valley clip courtesy of HBO. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is a conversation with Karen Cheung, author of the book "The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir." As you'll hear, we ended up finding a lot of things in common between our two cities and experiences. Support: Patreon.com/firethesetimes Substack: thefirethesetimes.substack.com Twitter: twitter.com/fireTheseTimes Instagram: instagram.com/firethesetimes TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirethesetimes Recommended Books: Hong Kong Without Us:A People's Poetry edited by The Bauhinia Project Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon Either/Or by Elif Batuman

This month we're bringing you an author special with Elif Batuman, who joined Carrie in cyberspace to talk about her hilarious and original second novel Either/Or. In this extended interview, they discussed what makes a novel political, snobberies about structure and storytelling, learning to be funny on Twitter, the allure of the '90s, and much more. Plus the usual book recommendations. We hope you enjoy! Recommendations: Elif: The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili, translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin Carrie: Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/june-2022-special-with-elif-batuman Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/litfriction Email us: litfriction@gmail.com Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Author Ottessa Moshfegh returns to speak to Kate Wolf about her latest novel Lapvona. The book is set in a medieval village of the same name; a place beset by violence and extreme cruelty. Its ruler is the loutish overlord Villiam, who engineers massacres of Lapvona's inhabitants whenever dissent grows and steals their water during a deadly drought. Villiam's distant relative is Jude, a shepherd who beats his son Marek and lies about the fate of Marek's supposedly deceased mother. Marek weathers his father's abuse through a devotion to God and the soothing of the village wet nurse, Ina, but his piety doesn't keep him from his own brutal acts. In a fatal twist, he ends up in the care of Villiam, on the hill above the suffering villagers, increasingly complicit in Lapvona's corruption, which is as germane today as a thousand years ago. Also, Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or, returns to recommend The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili.

Selin is back! The bright and curious heroine of Elif Batuman's acclaimed debut novel, The Idiot, is now in her second year at Harvard, still hungry for experience. From awkward sexual encounters to depression to ongoing questions of how to live and to become a writer – in Batuman's new novel, Either/Or, that quest leads Selin to some uncomfortable places, but also to self-discovery. Batuman's first book, The Possessed, traced her passion for all things Russian. Her novel, The Idiot, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and the Women's Prize for Fiction.

Johny Pitts talks to author of Either/Or, sequel to the 2017 bestseller The Idiot

John Dickerson talks with author Elif Batuman about coming of age as a college student in the 1990's, and the similarities between herself and her main character in Either/Or, the sequel to The Idiot.  Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Dickerson talks with author Elif Batuman about coming of age as a college student in the 1990's, and the similarities between herself and her main character in Either/Or, the sequel to The Idiot.  Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Dickerson talks with author Elif Batuman about coming of age as a college student in the 1990's, and the similarities between herself and her main character in Either/Or, the sequel to The Idiot.  Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Dickerson talks with author Elif Batuman about coming of age as a college student in the 1990's, and the similarities between herself and her main character in Either/Or, the sequel to The Idiot.  Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elif Batuman's first novel, The Idiot, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK. She is also the author of The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, which was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2010 and holds a PhD in comparative literature from Stanford University. Her second novel is called Either/Or. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elif Batuman reads her story “The Repugnant Conclusion,” from the April 25 & May 2, 2022, issue of the magazine. Batuman is the author of “The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them” and the novel “The Idiot,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. “The Repugnant Conclusion” was adapted from her second novel, “Either/Or,” which will be published in May.