Podcasts about kostya

Talmage Boston holds a live cross-examination style interview of Kostya Kennedy on his new book The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America. Kostya is a New York Times bestselling author of fantastic books on baseball greats Pete Rose, Jackie Robinson, and Joe DiMaggio.

On April 18, 1775, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and staunch anti-British political operative named Paul Revere set out on the most famous horse ride in American history. A century later it inspired the poem and legend of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." But the story is deeper and richer than we've all assumed. Acclaimed writer and editor Kostya Kennedy, through extraordinary and extensive research, has uncovered new and enlightening information on that amazing - including the women who were involved and African Americans in Boston - event presented now in his new book, THE RIDE: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America (St. Martin's Press, On Sale Date 3/25/25, $30.00). Revere was not the only rider on the night of April 18, 1775, but he was by far the most critical. The Patriots best and most trusted "express rider" he had already completed at least 18 previous rides throughout New England, disseminating intelligence about British movements. But this ride was like no other, and its consequences in the months and years following - as the American Revolution transitioned from isolated skirmishes to a full-fledged war - became one of our founding tales. In THE RIDE, Kostya Kennedy presents a dramatic new narrative of the events of Revere's ride, informed by fresh primary and secondary research into archives, family letters and diaries, contemporary accounts, and more. What he found are never before, or rarely, discussed events, before and after the ride, including: *On the night of the ride, Paul Revere was already the go-to rider for the revolution, called upon to make the most critical rides: in December 1773 he rode hundreds of miles south to New York and Philadelphia to deliver news of The Boston Tea Party.*Revere never said, "The British are coming!" during the ride.*On the night of the ride, Revere rode on a borrowed horse that was then taken from him by British officers; Revere never saw the horse again.*The "sea," in "one if by land, two if by sea," refers to the Charles River.*Revere intentionally did not carry his pistol on the night of the ride, which may have saved his life.*At the start of the ride, Revere was rowed quietly over the Charles River from Boston to Charlestown, along the way eluding lookouts stationed on a British warship.*Other riders galloped through the countryside that night carrying the alarm and nearly all of them were set in motion by Revere's alarm.*Only one other rider departed from Boston, William Dawes, who left over land across Boston Neck; as Dawes got past British guards he pretended he was a drunk country bumpkin. Kennedy's work shows the Revere ride to be vastly more complex than is usually portrayed. It was a coordinated ride of some 40 men that included near-disasters, capture by British forces, and ultimately success. While Paul Revere was central to the ride and its plotting, the author reveals the myriad other men - and women! - who proved crucial to the events that helped set in motion what would lead to America's independence. Thrillingly written in a dramatic heart-stopping narrative, THE RIDE re-tells the essential American story of our nation's awakening for a new generation of readers. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

Steve interviews Kostya Kennedy (00:22:02) the author of a new book about Paul Revere. Kennedy returns to the show to discuss his new book, The Ride. Kennedy explains the challenges of writing a book that takes place in the 18th century and why he wanted to write a book about someone from history instead of sports. Kennedy also talks about Revere's work as a dentist, his historic ride alerting people of the British coming, and his personal life as a father of sixteen children. Steve and Kostya also talk about Pete Rose and his chances at the Hall of Fame now that he has passed on, Alex Ovechkin chasing Wayne Gretzky's record for career goals, and what Kostya might want to write about for his next book. Steve starts the show with first things first. The 2025 Braves are in trouble, the Sabres need a goalie, and Italy has one reason for existing in 2025. The book club is loaded with four books. The show ends with one last thing about having Flu B. For more information follow the podcast on twitter @sports_casters Email: thesportscasters@gmail.com

In March, 2025, Author Kostya Kennedy released his book The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night that Saved America. Mr. Kennedy joined our American Revolution Roundtable to discuss Paul Revere and the importance of his famous Ride. Order the book The Ride, Paul Revere, and The Night That Saved America, by Kostya Kennedy Visit Kostya's website at https://kostyakennedy.com To receive invitations to future live events, join my mailing list, https://mailchi.mp/d3445a9cd244/american-revolution-podcast-by-michael-troy or become a member on Patreon.com: https://www.patreon.com/amrevpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join me for a fascinating conversation with acclaimed author Kostya Kennedy, as we dive into his newest book, The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America. Discover the untold stories behind Paul Revere's Midnight Ride, his role in the American Revolution, and why his legendary journey still matters today. We explore the man behind the myth, the historical impact of that pivotal night, and how Revere's legacy continues to shape America's founding narrative.Whether you're a history buff, a Revolutionary War enthusiast, a student of early American history, or just love a compelling story, this episode delivers fresh insights and powerful context.Order his book here!This interview was filmed, so if you want to watch the interview, visit our YouTube channel. The link is below.ALL links below are clickable within your podcast platform, so enjoy!________• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patriot Power Podcast Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• The Young Patriots Series - Books for Kids •⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠•⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email Me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠•⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok - Patriot Power Freedom Files⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠•⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ InstaGram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠•⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Meet your Host, Ron Kern⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• Call or Text: 413-FREEDOM_______________Please share this podcast with others and we would love for you to leave a review.Do you have a question, comment or suggestion?  Want to suggest a topic for an upcoming show?  I'd love to hear from you, so get in touch above.

225 Guest Mix I Progressive Tales with Kostya Outta Tracklist: 1. Fran Garay - Hadu (Original Mix) [Fractal Noise Records]) 2. Freedo Mosho - Paradise Lost (Mike Griego Remix) [Electronic Groove Records] 3. Michael A - Those Days (Original Mix) [Protagonist Recordings] 4. Patch Park - Control (Original Mix) [Meanwhile] 5. Kamilo Sanclemente - Gamma (Original Mix) [Freegrant Music] 6. Kebin van Reeken - Capsule (Original Mix) [Kitchen Recordings] 7. Alfonso Padilla & Gux Jimenez - AI Evolutio (Original Mix) [Univack] 8. Gai Barone & Berni Turletti - Amethyst (Original Mix) [Plaisirs Sonores Records] 9. Tomas Briski - Paradise Again (Agustin Pietrocola Remix) [Nightcolours Recordings] 10. Dmitry Molosh - Chills (Original Mix) [Free DL] 11. Kostya Outta - Awakening (Original Mix) [Mango Alley] • Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kostyaoutta • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kostyaoutta • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kostyaouttamusic ___ • Visit our website: www.progresivnasuza.com • Follow us for the latest updates: linktr.ee/progresivnasuza • More info for you: office@progresivnasuza.com • Send us your demo: records@progresivnasuza.com • Elevation Series Inquiry: podcast@progresivnasuza.com

The sensei debate Kostya's controversial claim that all major chess tournaments should switch to rapid, exploring its potential impact on classical chess, player improvement, tournament structure, and fan engagement, ultimately leaving Jesse and David unconvinced. Get ChessDojo's first book, How to Analyze Your Games, here: https://amzn.to/3Ds5r78 Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo  Join the Training Program - https://chessdojo.club  Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo  Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop  Want to support the channel? Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip  Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you. Website: https://chessdojo.club  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo  Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chessdojo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chessdojo  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com  TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips  #chess #chesstraining  Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction – Discussion on Kostya's controversial quote about switching major tournaments to rapid. 01:16 – Context of the Quote – Explanation that it was a short Q&A answer, not a detailed proposal. 03:18 – Future of Classical Chess – Kostya argues that classical chess may become obsolete over time. 04:06 – Online Growth vs. OTB Decline – Discussion on why rapid and Blitz are growing online but not in classical tournaments. 06:06 – Opening Preparation Issues – Classical chess demands extensive opening prep, making it less enjoyable for some players. 10:25 – Classical for Beginners, Rapid for Pros? – Kostya suggests longer time controls are useful for improvement but not ideal for elite events. 12:07 – Rapid Chess Popularity – Historical attempts to promote rapid chess and why it hasn't taken over. 22:49 – World Championship & Classical Chess – Arguments for why classical chess remains the gold standard for top-level competition. 30:55 – Quality of Games in Different Formats – Whether faster time controls lead to better or worse chess quality. 41:23 – Closing Thoughts – Debate recap with Jesse and David still unconvinced by Kostya's stance on rapid chess.

El actor se subirá a las tablas del Teatro del Barrio con ‘Kostya', un particular homenaje teatral a Chejov en el que se pregunta: ¿y si el protagonista de La Gaviota hubiese sobrevivido al suicidio?Con este montaje, Ochandiano se imagina que Konstantin Gavrilovich, veinte años después, es un escritor de mediana edad que reflexiona acerca de su vocación, el arte y los fantasmas que habitan su existencia. También sirve “para reflexionar acerca de todo aquello que me inquieta en el funcionamiento del arte, el funcionamiento del teatro, la muerte, el dolor, el suicidio. Cómo existimos a ojos de las otras personas. Cómo a veces es difícil escapar de la imagen que otras personas tienen de mí”, como señala el propio artista.

GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, and IM Kostya Kavutskiy rank the top five greatest chess authors of all time in today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo podcast! Get ChessDojo's first book, How to Analyze Your Games, here: https://amzn.to/3Ds5r78 Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo  Join the Training Program - https://chessdojo.club  Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo  Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop  Want to support the channel? Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip  Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you. Website: https://chessdojo.club  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo  Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chessdojo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chessdojo  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com  TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips  #chess #chesstraining  CHAPTERS 0:00 Ranking The 5 Greatest Chess Authors of All Time 3:45 Categories of Chess Authors 6:08 Jesse's No. 5 Pick 7:05 David's No. 5 Pick 11:24 Kostya's No. 5 Pick 12:47 Kostya's No. 4 Pick 13:50 David's No. 4 Pick 15:39 Jesse's No. 4 Pick 17:17 Jesse's No. 3 Pick 18:07 David's No. 3 Pick 20:55 Kostya's No. 3 Pick 23:43 Greatest Course Makers Episode? 25:55 Kostya's No. 2 Pick 28:04 David's No. 2 Pick 29:34 Jesse's No. 2 Pick 31:19 Jesse's No. 1 Pick 34:03 David's No. 1 Pick 38:04 Kostya's No. 1 Pick  41:01 ChessDojo's Greatest 5 Chess Authors of All Time 43:15 Magnus Carlsen's Output 47:21 Follow ChessDojo

Jesse, David, and Kostya discuss the controversy around "DenimGate," involving Magnus Carlsen's disqualification from the World Rapid Tournament due to dress code violations, with broader implications for tensions between Carlsen, FIDE, and Freestyle chess organizers. Get ChessDojo's first book, How to Analyze Your Games, here: https://amzn.to/3Ds5r78 Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo  Join the Training Program - https://chessdojo.club  Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo  Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop  Want to support the channel? Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip  Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you. Website: https://chessdojo.club  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo  Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chessdojo  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chessdojo  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com  TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips  #chess #chesstraining  00:05 - Introduction to "DenimGate," the controversy involving Magnus Carlsen, jeans, and dress code violations during the World Blitz Championship. 00:46 - Context about prior conflicts and drama between Magnus, FIDE, and freestyle chess. 01:48 - Explanation of the tension between freestyle chess organizers and FIDE over the rights to world championships in alternate formats like Fischer Random. 03:04 - Analysis of Magnus Carlsen's career stage and his challenges finding motivation as his dominance wanes. 05:01 - Magnus's focus on rapid and blitz chess over classical formats and his struggle with recent tournament results. 07:14 - Freestyle chess's plans to run a championship tour with significant funding and high-profile players. 09:10 - Discussion of the jeans controversy and whether it was an isolated incident or part of broader disputes. 11:50 - Broader historical parallels between past chess legends and their conflicts with FIDE. 14:52 - The complexities of dress code enforcement and Magnus's refusal to change, leading to forfeiture. 20:09 - Insights into Magnus's frustration with FIDE and his vision for the future of chess. 26:24 - Speculation about the impact of Fischer Random Chess and Magnus's endorsement of it as a potential future for elite chess. 31:08 - Challenges of introducing Fischer Random Chess to mainstream audiences and players' resistance. 40:46 - Psychological attachment of players to traditional chess formats and its impact on the acceptance of variants. 45:57 - Connection to Magnus's involvement in an esports event backed by Saudi funding, and the potential geopolitical implications. 50:54 - Discussion about the appropriateness and enforcement of dress codes in professional chess. 56:46 - Conclusion and look ahead to the World Blitz Championship and Magnus's chances of making a comeback.  

Who else in literature today could be more interesting to interview than Brandon Taylor, the author of Real Life, Filthy Animals, and The Late Americans, as well as the author of popular reviews and the sweater weather Substack? We talked about so much, including: Chopin and who plays him best; why there isn't more tennis in fiction; writing fiction on a lab bench; being a scientific critic; what he has learned working as a publisher; negative reviews; boring novels; Jane Austen. You'll also get Brandon's quick takes on Iris Murdoch, Jonathan Franzen, Lionel Trilling, György Lukács, and a few others; the modern critics he likes reading; and the dead critics he likes reading.Brandon also talked about how his new novel is going to be different from his previous novels. He told me:I no longer really want to be starting my books, quote unquote, in media res. I want my books to feel like books. I don't want my books to feel like movies. And I don't want them to feel like treatments for film. And so I want to sort of bring back all of what a novel can do in terms of its structure and in terms of its form and stuff like that. And so it means starting books, you know, with this sort of Dickensian voice of God speaking from on high, sort of summing up an era. And I think also sort of allowing the narrators in my work to dare to sum up, allowing characters in my work to have ideologies and to argue about those ideologies. I feel like that is a thing that was sort of denuded from the American novel for a lot of millennials and just sort of like trying to put back some of that old fashioned machinery that was like stripped out of the novel. And seeing what of it can still function, seeing, trying to figure out if there's any juice left in these modes of representation.I have enjoyed Brandon's fiction (several people I recommend him to have loved Real Life) and I think he's one of the best critics working today. I was delighted to interview him.Oh, and he's a Dickens fan!Transcript (AI produced, lightly formatted by me)Henry: Today I am talking to Brandon Taylor, the author of Real Life, Filthy Animals, and The Late Americans. Brandon is also a notable book reviewer and of course he writes a sub stack called Sweater Weather. Brandon, welcome.Brandon: Yeah, thanks for having me.Henry: What did you think of the newly discovered Chopin waltz?Brandon: Um, I thought, I mean, I remember very vividly waking up that day and there being a new waltz, but it was played by Lang Lang, which I did not. I don't know that, like, he's my go-to Chopin interpreter. But I don't know, I was, I was excited by it. Um, I don't know, it was in a world sort of dominated by this ethos of like nothing new under the sun. It felt wonderfully novel. I don't know that it's like one of Chopin's like major, I don't know that it's like major. Um, it's sort of definitively like middle of the road, middle tier Chopin, I think. But I enjoyed it. I played it like 20 times in a row.Henry: I like those moments because I like, I like it when people get surprised into realizing that like, it's not fixed what we know about the world and you can even actually get new Chopin, right?Brandon: I mean, it felt a little bit like when Beyonce did her first big surprise drop. It was like new Chopin just dropped. Oh my God. All my sort of classical music nerd group texts were buzzing. It felt like a real moment, actually.Henry: And I think it gives people a sense of what art was like in the past. You can go, oh my God, new Chopin. Like, yes, those feelings are not just about modern culture, right? That used to happen with like, oh my God, a new Jane Austen book is here.Brandon: Oh, I know. Well, I mean, I was like reading a lot of Emile Zola up until I guess late last year. And at some point I discovered that he was like an avid amateur photographer. And in like the French Ministry of Culture is like digitized a lot of his glass plate negatives. And one of them is like a picture that Zola has taken of Manet's portrait of him. And it's just like on a floor somewhere. Like he's like sort of taken this like very rickety early camera machinery to this place where this portrait is and like taken a picture of it. It's like, wow. Like you can imagine that like Manet's like, here's this painting I did of you. And Zola's like, ah, yes, I'm going to take a picture to commemorate it. And so I sort of love that.Henry: What other of his photos do you like?Brandon: Well, there's one of him on a bike riding toward the camera. That's really delightful to me because it like that impulse is so recognizable to me. There are all these photos that he took of his mistress that were also just like, you can like, there are also photographs of his children and of his family. And again, those feel so like recognizable to me. He's not even like a very good photographer. It's just that he was taking pictures of his like daily life, except for his kind of stunt photos where he's riding the bike. And it's like, ah, yes, Zola, he would have been great with an iPhone camera.Henry: Which pianists do you like for Chopin?Brandon: Which pianists do I love for Chopin? I like Pollini a lot. Pollini is amazing. Pollini the elder, not Pollini the younger. The younger is not my favorite. And he died recently, Maurizio Pollini. He died very recently. Maybe he's my favorite. I love, I love Horowitz. Horowitz is wonderful at Chopin. But it's obviously it's like not his, you know, you don't sort of go to Horowitz for Chopin, I guess. But I love his Chopin. And sometimes Trifonov. Trifonov has a couple Chopin recordings that I really, really like. I tend not to love Trifonov as much.Henry: Really?Brandon: I know it's controversial. It's very controversial. I know. Tell me why. I, I don't know. He's just a bit of a banger to me. Like, like he's sort of, I don't know, his playing is so flashy. And he feels a bit like a, like a, like a keyboard basher to me sometimes.Henry: But like, do you like his Bach?Brandon: You know, I haven't done a deep dive. Maybe I should do a sort of more rigorous engagement with Trifonov. But yeah, I don't, he's just not, he doesn't make my heart sing. I think he's very good at Bach.Henry: What about a Martha Argerich?Brandon: Oh, I mean, she's incredible. She's incredible. I bought that sort of big orange box out of like all of her, her sort of like masterwork recordings. And she's incredible. She has such feel for Chopin. But she doesn't, I think sometimes people can make Chopin feel a little like, like treacly, like, like a little too sweet. And she has this perfect understanding of his like rhythm and his like inner nuances and like the crispness in his compositions. Like she really pulls all of that out. And I love her. She has such, obviously great dexterity, but like a real sort of exquisite sensitivity to the rhythmic structures of Chopin.Henry: You listen on CD?Brandon: No, I listen on vinyl and I listen on streaming, but mostly vinyl. Mostly vinyl? Yeah, mostly vinyl. I know it's very annoying. No, no, no, no, no.Henry: Which, what are the good speakers?Brandon: I forget where I bought these speakers from, but I sort of did some Googling during the pandemic of like best speakers to use. I have a U-Turn Audio, U-Turn Orbital record player. And so I was just looking for good speakers that were compatible and like wouldn't take up a ton of space in my apartment because I was moving to New York and had a very tiny, tiny apartment. So they're just from sort of standard, I forget the brand, but they've served me well these past few years.Henry: And do you like Ólafsson? He's done some Chopin.Brandon: Who?Henry: Víkingur Ólafsson. He did the Goldbergs this year, but he's done some Chopin before. I think he's quite good.Brandon: Oh, that Icelandic guy?Henry: Yeah, yeah, yeah. With the glasses? That's right. And the very neat hair.Brandon: Yes. Oh, he's so chic. He's so chic. I don't know his Chopin. I know his, there's another series that he did somewhat recently that I'm more familiar with. But he is really good. He has good Beethoven, Víkingur.Henry: Yeah.Brandon: And normally I don't love Beethoven, but like—Henry: Really? Why? Why? What's wrong with Beethoven? All these controversial opinions about music.Brandon: I'm not trying to have controversial opinions. I think I'm, well, I'm such a, I'm such, I mean, I'm just like a dumb person. And so like, I don't, I don't have a really, I feel like I don't have the robust understanding to like fully appreciate Beethoven and all of his sort of like majesty. And so maybe I've just not heard good Beethoven and I need to sort of go back and sort of get a real understanding of it. But I just tend not to like it. It feels like, I don't know, like grandma's living room music to me sometimes.Henry: What other composers do you enjoy?Brandon: Oh, of course.Henry: Or other music generally, right?Brandon: Rachmaninoff is so amazing to me. There was, of course, Bach. Brahms. Oh, I love Brahms, but like specifically the intermezzi. I love the intermezzi. I recently fell in love with, oh, his name is escaping me now, but he, I went to a concert and they sort of did a Brahms intermezzi. And they also played this, I think he was an Austrian composer. And his music was like, it wasn't experimental, but it was like quite, I had a lot of dissonance in it. And I found it like really interesting and like really moving actually. And so I did a sort of listening to that constantly. Oh, I forget his name. But Brahms, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, love Rachmaninoff. I have a friend who says that Rachmaninoff writes Negro spirituals. And I love that theory that Rachmaninoff's music is like the music of the slaves. It just, I don't know. I really, that really resonates with me spiritually. Which pieces, which Rachmaninoff symphonies, concertos? Yeah, the concertos. But like specifically, like I have a friend who said that Rach II sounded to her like the sort of spiritual cry of like the slaves. And we were at like a hangout with like mostly Black people. And she like stopped playing like Juvenile, like the rapper. And she put on Rach II. And we just like sat there and listened. And it did feel like something powerful had entered the room. Yeah, but he's my guy. I secretly really, really love him. I like Liszt, but like it really depends on the day and the time for him. He makes good folk music, Liszt. I love his folky, his folk era.Henry: What is it that you enjoy about tennis?Brandon: What do I enjoy about tennis? I love the, I love not thinking. I love being able to hit the ball for hours on end and like not think. And like, it's the one part of my life. It's the one time in my life where my experience is like totally unstructured. And so like this morning, I went to a 7am drill and play class where you do drills for an hour. Then you play doubles for an hour. And during that first hour of drills, I was just like hitting the ball. I was at the mercy of the guy feeding us the ball. And I didn't have a single thought about books or literature or like the status of my soul or like the nature of American democracy. It was just like, did I hit that ball? Well, did I hit it kind of off center? Were there tingles in my wrist? Yes or no. Like it was just very, very grounding in the moment. And I think that is what I love about it. Do you like to watch tennis? Oh, yeah, constantly. Sometimes when I'm in a work meeting, the Zoom is here and the tennis is like playing in the background. Love tennis, love to watch, love to play, love to think about, to ponder. Who are the best players for you? Oh, well, the best players, my favorite players are Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Stanislas Wawrinka, love Wawrinka. And I was a really big Davydenko head back in the day. Nikolai Davydenko was this Russian player who had, he was like a metronome. He just like would not miss. Yeah, those are my favorites. Right now, the guy I'm sort of rooting for who's still active is Kasper Rud, who's this Norwegian guy. And I love him because he just looks like some guy. Like he just looks like he should be in a seminary somewhere. I love it. I love, I love his normalness. He just looks like an NPC. And I'm drawn to that in a tennis player.Henry: It's hard to think of tennis in novels. Why is that?Brandon: Well, I think a lot of people don't, well, I think part of it is a lot of novelists. Part of it is a lot of novelists don't play sports. I think that they, at least Americans, I can't speak for other parts of the world, but in America, a lot of novelists are not doing sports. So that's one. And I think two, like, you know, like with anything, I think that tennis has not been subjected to the same schemes of narrativization that like other things are. And so like it's, a lot of novelists just like don't see a sort of readily dramatizable thing in tennis. Even though if you like watch tennis and like listen to tennis commentary, they are always erecting narratives. They're like, oh yeah, she's been on a 19 match losing streak. Is this where she turns it around? And to me, tennis is like a very literary sport because tennis is one of those sports where it's all about the matchup. It's like your forehand to my backhand, like no matter how well I play against everyone else, like it's you and me locked in the struggle. And like that to me feels incredibly literary. And it is so tied to your individual psychology as well. Like, I don't know, I endlessly am fascinated by it. And indeed, I got an idea for a tennis novel the other day that I'm hopefully going to write in three to five years. We'll see.Henry: Very good. How did working in a lab influence your writing?Brandon: Well, somewhat directly and materially in the case of my first book, because I wrote it while I was working in the lab and it gave me weirdly like time and structure to do that work where I would be pipetting. And then while I was waiting for an assay or a experiment to run or finish, I would have 30 minutes to sit down and write.Henry: So you were writing like at the lab bench?Brandon: Oh, yeah, absolutely. One thousand percent. I would like put on Philip Glass's score for the hours and then just like type while my while the centrifuge was running or whatever. And and so like there's that impression sort of baked into the first couple books. And then I think more, I guess, like spiritually or broadly, it influenced my work because it taught me how to think and how to organize time and how to organize thoughts and how to sort of pursue long term, open ended projects whose results may or may not, you know, fail because of something that you did or maybe you didn't do. And that's just the nature of things. Who knows? But yeah, I think also just like discipline, the discipline to sort of clock in every day. And to sort of go to the coalface and do the work. And that's not a thing that is, you know. That you just get by working in a lab, but it's certainly something that I acquired working in a lab.Henry: Do you think it's affected your interest in criticism? Because there's there are certain types of critic who seem to come from a scientific background like Helen Vendler. And there's something something about the sort of the precision and, you know, that certain critics will refuse to use critical waffle, like the human condition. And they won't make these big, vague gestures to like how this can change the way we view society. They're like, give me real details. Give me real like empirical criticism. Do you think this is — are you one of these people?Brandon: Yeah, yeah, I think I'm, you know, I'm all about what's on the page. I'm all about the I'm not gonna go rooting in your biography for not gonna go. I'm not I'm not doing that. It's like what you brought to me on the page is what you've brought to me. And that is what I will be sort of coming over. I mean, I think so. I mean, very often when critics write about my work, or when people respond to my work, they sort of describe it as being put under a microscope. And I do think like, that is how I approach literature. It's how I approach life. If there's ever a problem or a question put to me, I just sort of dissect it and try to get down to its core bits and its core parts. And and so yeah, I mean, if that is a scientific way of doing things, that's certainly how I but also I don't know any other way to think like that's sort of that's sort of how I was trained to think about stuff. You've been to London. I have. What did you think of it? The first time I didn't love it. The second and third times I had a good time, but I felt like London didn't love me back. London is the only place on earth I've ever been where people have had a hard time understanding me like I like it's the only place where I've like attempted to order food or a drink or something in a store or a cafe or a restaurant. And the waiters like turned to my like British hosts and asked them to translate. And that is an entirely foreign experience for me. And so London and I have like a very contentious relationship, I would say.Henry: Now, you've just published four classic novels.Brandon: Yes.Henry: George Gissing, Edith Wharton, Victor Hugo and Sarah Orne Jewett. Why did you choose those four writers, those four titles?Brandon: Oh, well, once we decided that we were going to do a classics imprint, you know, then it's like, well, what are we going to do? And I'm a big Edith Wharton fan. And there are all of these Edith Wharton novels that Americans don't really know about. They know Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence. And if they are an English major, they maybe know her for The House of Mirth. Or like maybe they know her for The Custom of the Country if they're like really into reading. But then they sort of think of her as a novelist of the 19th century. And she's writing all of these books set in the 1920s and about the 1920s. And so it felt important to show people like, oh, this is a writer who died a lot later than you think that she did. And whose creative output was, you know, pretty, who was like a contemporary of F. Scott Fitzgerald in a lot of ways. Like, these books are being published around the same time as The Great Gatsby. And to sort of, you know, bring attention to a part of her over that, like, people don't know about. And like, that's really exciting to me. And Sarah Orne Jewett, I mean, I just really love The Country of the Pointed Furs. I love that book. And I found it in like in a 10 cents bin at a flea market one time. And it's a book that people have tried to bring back. And there have been editions of it. But it just felt like if we could get two people who are really cool to talk about why they love that book, we could sort of have like a real moment. And Sarah Orne Jewett was like a pretty big American writer. Like she was a pretty significant writer. And she was like really plugged in and she's not really read or thought about now. And so that felt like a cool opportunity as well to sort of create a very handsome edition of this book and to sort of talk about a bit why she matters. And the guessing of it all is we were going to do New Grub Street. And then my co-editor thought, well, The Odd Women, I think, is perhaps more relevant to our current moment than New Grub Street necessarily. And it would sort of differentiate us from the people, from the presses that are doing reissues of New Grub Street, because there's just been a new edition of that book. And nobody in America really knows The Odd Women. And it's a really wonderful novel. It's both funny and also like really biting in its satire and commentary. So we thought, oh, it'll be fun to bring this writer to Americans who they've never heard of in a way that will speak to them in a lot of ways. And the Victor Hugo, I mean, you know, there are Hugos that people know all about. And then there are Hugos that no one knows about. And Toilers of the Sea was a passion project for my co-editor. She'd read it in Guernsey. That's where she first discovered that book. And it really meant a lot to her. And I read it and really loved it. I mean, it was like Hugo at his most Hugo. Like, it's a very, it's a very, like, it's a very abundant book. And it's so wild and strange and changeful. And so I was like, oh, that seems cool. Let's do it. Let's put out Toilers of the Sea. So that's a bit of why we picked each one.Henry: And what have you learned from being on the other side of things now that you're the publisher?Brandon: So much. I've learned so much. And indeed, I just, I was just asked by my editor to do the author questionnaire for the novel that I have coming out next. And I thought, yes, I will do this. And I will do it immediately. Because now I know, I know how important these are. And I know how early and how far in advance these things need to be locked in to make everyone's life easier. I think I've learned a bit about the sometimes panicked scramble that happens to get a book published. I've learned about how hard it is to wrangle blurbs. And so I think I'm a little more forgiving of my publishers. But they've always been really great to me. But now I'm like, oh, my gosh, what can I do for you? How can I help you make this publication more of a success?Henry: Do you think that among literary people generally, there's a lack of appreciation of what business really involves in some of the senses you're talking about? I feel like I see a lot of either indifferent or hostile attitudes towards business or commerce or capitalism, late stage capitalism or whatever. And I sometimes look at it and I'm like, I don't think you guys really know what it takes to just like get stuff done. You know what I mean? Like, it's a lot of grind. I don't think it's a big nasty thing. It's just a lot of hard work, right?Brandon: Yeah, I mean, 1000%. Or if it's not a sort of misunderstanding, but a sort of like disinterest in like, right, like a sort of high minded, like, oh, that's just the sort of petty grimy commerce of it all. I care about the beauty and the art. And it's just like, friend, we need booksellers to like, sell this. I mean, to me, the part of it that is most to me, like the most illustrative example of this in my own life is that when I first heard how my editor was going to be describing my book, I was like, that's disgusting. That's horrible. Why are you talking about my race? Why are you talking about like my sexuality? Like, this is horrible. Why can't you just like talk about the plot of the book? Like, what is the matter with you? And then I had, you know, I acquired and edited this book called Henry Henry, which is a queer contemporary retelling of the Henry ad. And it's a wonderful novel. It's so delightful. And I had to go into our sales conference where we are talking to the people whose job it is to sell that book into bookstores to get bookstores to take that book up. And I had to write this incredibly craven description of this novel. And as I was writing it, I was like, I hope Alan, the author, I hope Alan never sees this. He never needs to hear how I'm talking about this book. And as I was doing it, I was like, I will never hold it against my editor again for writing this like, cheesy, cringy copy. Because it's like you, like, you so believe in the art of that book, so much that you want it to give it every fighting chance in the marketplace. And you need to arm your sales team with every weapon of commerce they need to get that book to succeed so that when readers pick it up, they can appreciate all of the beautiful and glorious art of it. And I do think that people, you know, like, people don't really kind of, people don't really understand that. And I do think that part of that is publishing's fault, because they are, they've been rather quick to elide the distinctions between art and commerce. And so like publishing has done a not great job of sort of giving people a lot of faith in its understanding that there's a difference between art and commerce. But yeah, I think, I think there's a lot of misapprehension out there about like, what goes into getting bookstores to acquire that book.Henry: What are the virtues of negative book reviews?Brandon: I was just on a panel about this. I mean, I mean, hopefully a negative book review, like a positive review, or like any review, will allow a reader or the audience to understand the book in a new way, or to create a desire in the reader to pick up the book and see if they agree or disagree or that they, that they have something to argue with or push against as they're reading. You know, when I'm writing a negative review, when I'm writing a review that I feel is trending toward negative, I should say, I always try to like, I don't know, I try to always remember that like, this is just me presenting my experience of the book and my take of the book. And hopefully that will be productive or useful for whoever reads the review. And hopefully that my review won't be the only thing that they read and that they will in fact, go pick up the book and see if they agree or disagree. It's hopefully it creates interesting and potentially divergent dialogues or discourses around the text. And fundamentally, I think not every critic feels this way. Not every piece of criticism is like this. But the criticism I write, I'm trying to create the conditions that will refer the reader always back to the text, be it through quotation, be it through, they're so incensed by my argument that they're going to go read the book themselves and then like, yell at me. Like, I think that that's wonderful, but like, always keeping the book at the center. But I think a negative review can, you know, it can start a conversation. It can get people talking about books, which in this culture, this phase of history feels like a win. And hopefully it can sort of be a corrective sometimes to less genuine or perceived less genuine discourses that are existing around the book.Henry: I think even whether or not it's a question of genuine, it's for me, it's just a question of if you tell people this book is good and they give up their time and money and they discover that it's trash, you've done a really bad thing to that person. And like, there might be dozens of them compared to this one author who you've been impolite to or whatever. And it's just a question of don't lie in book, right?Brandon: Well, yeah. I mean, hopefully people are honest, but I do feel sometimes that there is, there's like a lack of honesty. And look, I think that being like, well, I mean, maybe you'll love this. I don't love it, you know, but at least present your opinion in that way. At least be like, you know, there are many interpretations of this thing. Here's my interpretation. Maybe you'll feel differently or something like that. But I do think that people feel that there have been a great number of dishonest book reviews. Maybe there have been, maybe there have not been. I certainly have read some reviews I felt were dishonest about books that I have read. And I think that the negative book review does feel a bit like a corrective in a lot of ways, both, you know, justified or unjustified. People are like, finally, someone's being honest about this thing. But yeah, I think it's interesting. I think it's all really, I think it's all fascinating. I do think that there are some reviews though, that are negative and that are trying to be about the book, but are really about the author. There are some reviews that I have read that have been ostensibly about reviewing a text, but which have really been about, you don't like that person and you have decided to sort of like take an axe to them. And that to me feels not super productive. I wouldn't do it, but other people find it useful.Henry: As in, you can tell that from the review or you know that from background information?Brandon: I mean, this is all projection, of course, but like there have been some reviews where I've read, like, for example, some of the Lauren Oyler reviews, I think some of the Lauren Oyler reviews were negative and were exclusively about the text. And they sort of took the text apart and sort of dissected it and came to conclusions, some of which I agreed with, some of which I didn't agree with, but they were fundamentally about the text. And like all the criticisms referred back to the text. And then there were some that were like projecting attitudes onto the author that were more about creating this sort of vaporous shape of Lauren Oyler and then sort of poking holes in her literary celebrity or her stature as a critic or what have you. And that to me felt less productive as like a book review.Henry: Yes. Who are your favorite reviewers?Brandon: Ooh, my favorite reviewers. I really love Christian Lawrence. And he does my, of the critics who try to do the sort of like mini historiography of like a thing. He's my favorite because he teaches me a lot. He sort of is so good at summing up an era or summing up a phase of literary production without being like so cringe or so socialist about it. I really love, I love it when he sort of distills and dissects an era. I really like Hermione Hobie. I think she's really interesting. And she writes about books with a lot of feeling and a lot of energy. And I really love her mind. And of course, like Patricia Lockwood, of course, everyone, perhaps not everyone, but I enjoy Patricia Lockwood's criticism. You don't?Henry: Not really.Brandon: Oh, is it because it's too chatty? Is it too, is it too selfie?Henry: A little bit. I think, I think that kind of criticism can work really well. But I think, I think it's too much. I think basically she's very, she's a very stylized writer and a lot of her judgments get, it gets to the point where it's like, this is the logical conclusion of what you're trying to do stylistically. And there are some zingers in here and some great lines and whatever, but we're no longer, this is no longer really a book review.Brandon: Yeah.Henry: Like by the, by the end of the paragraph, this, like, we didn't want to let the style go. We didn't want to lose the opportunity to cap that off. And it leads her into, I think, glibness a lot of the time.Brandon: Yeah. I could see that. I mean, I mean, I enjoy reading her pieces, but do I understand like what's important to her at a sort of literary level? I don't know. I don't, and in that sense, like, are they, is it criticism or is it closer to like personal essay, humorous essay? I don't know. Maybe that's true. I enjoy reading them, but I get why people are like, this is a very, very strong flavor for sure.Henry: Now you've been reading a lot of literary criticism.Brandon: Oh yeah.Henry: Not of the LRB variety, but of the, the old books in libraries variety. Yes. How did that start? How did, how did you come to this?Brandon: Somewhat like ham-fistedly. I, in 2021, I had a really bad case of writer's block and I thought maybe part of the reason I had writer's block was that I didn't know anything about writing or I didn't know anything about like literature or like writing. I'd been writing, I'd published a novel. I was working on another novel. I'd published a book of stories, but like, I just like truly didn't know anything about literature really. And I thought I need some big boy ideas. I need, I need to find out what adults think about literature. And so I went to my buddy, Christian Lorenzen, and I was like, you write criticism. What is it? And what should I read? And he gave me a sort of starter list of criticism. And it was like the liberal imagination by Lionel Trilling and Guy Davenport and Alfred Kazin who wrote On Native Grounds, which is this great book on the American literary tradition and Leslie Fiedler's Love and Death in the American Novel. And I, and then Edmund Wilson's Axel's Castle. And I read all of those. And then as each one would sort of refer to a different text or person, I sort of like followed the footnotes down into this rabbit hole of like literary criticism. And now it's been a sort of ongoing project of the last few years of like reading. I always try to have a book of criticism on the go. And then earlier this year, I read Jameson's The Antimonies of Realism. And he kept talking about this Georg Lukács guy. And I was like, I guess I should go read Lukács. And so then I started reading Lukács so that I could get back to Jameson. And I've been reading Lukács ever since. I am like deep down the Lukács rabbit hole. But I'm not reading any of the socialism stuff. I told myself that I wouldn't read any of the socialism stuff and I would only read the literary criticism stuff, which makes me very different from a lot of the socialist literary critics I really enjoy because they're like Lukács, don't read in that literary criticism stuff, just read his socialism stuff. So I'm reading all the wrong stuff from Lukács, but I really, I really love it. But yeah, it sort of started because I thought I needed grown up ideas about literature. And it's been, I don't know, I've really enjoyed it. I really, really enjoy it. It's given me perhaps terrible ideas about what novels should be or do. But, you know, that's one of the side effects to reading.Henry: Has it made, like, what specific ways has it changed how you've written since you've acquired a set of critical principles or ideas?Brandon: Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is, part of it has to do with Lukács' idea of the totality. And, you know, I think that the sort of most direct way that it shows up in a sort of really practical way in my novel writing is that I no longer really want to be starting my books, quote unquote, in media res. Like, I don't want, I want my books to feel like books. I don't want my books to feel like movies. And I don't want them to feel like treatments for film. And so I want to sort of bring back all of what a novel can do in terms of its structure and in terms of its form and stuff like that. And so it means starting books, you know, with this sort of Dickensian voice of God speaking from on high, sort of summing up an era. And I think also sort of allowing the narrators in my work to dare to sum up, allowing characters in my work to have ideologies and to argue about those ideologies. I feel like that is a thing that was sort of denuded from the American novel for a lot of millennials and just sort of like trying to put back some of that old fashioned machinery that was like stripped out of the novel. And seeing what of it can still function, seeing, trying to figure out if there's any juice left in these modes of representation and stuff like that. And so like that, that's sort of, that's sort of abstract, but like in a concrete way, like what I'm kind of trying to resolve in my novel writing these days.Henry: You mentioned Dickens.Brandon: Oh, yes.Henry: Which Dickens novels do you like?Brandon: Now I'm afraid I'm going to say something else controversial. We love controversial. Which Dickens? I love Bleak House. I love Bleak House. I love Tale of Two Cities. It is one of the best openings ever, ever, ever, ever in the sweep of that book at once personal and universal anyway. Bleak House, Tale of Two Cities. And I also, I read Great Expectations as like a high school student and didn't like it, hated it. It was so boring. But now coming back to it, I think it, honestly, it might be the novel of our time. I think it might accidentally be a novel. I mean, it's a novel of scammers, a novel of like, interpersonal beef taken to the level of like, spiritual conflict, like it's about thieves and class, like it just feels like like that novel could have been written today about people today, like that book just feels so alive to today's concerns, which perhaps, I don't know, says something really evil about this cultural stagnation under capitalism, perhaps, but I don't know, love, love Great Expectations now.Henry: Why are so many modern novels boring?Brandon: Well, depends on what you mean by boring, Henry, what do you mean? Why?Henry: I mean, you said this.Brandon: Oh.Henry: I mean, I happen to agree, but this is, I'm quoting you.Brandon: Oh, yes. I remember that. I remember that review.Henry: I mean, I can tell you why I think they're boring.Brandon: Oh, yes, please.Henry: So I think, I think what you said before is true. They all read like movies. And I think I very often I go in, I pick up six or seven books on the new book table. And I'm like, these openings are all just the same. You're all thinking you can all see Netflix in your head. This is not really a novel. And so the dialogue is really boring, because you kind of you can hear some actor or actress saying it. But I can't hear that because I'm the idiot stuck in the bookshop reading your Netflix script. Whereas, you know, I think you're right that a lot of those traditional forms of storytelling, they like pull you in to the to the novel. And they and they like by the end of the first few pages, you sort of feel like I'm in this funny place now. And to do in media res, like, someone needs to get shot, or something, something weird needs to be said, like, you can't just do another, another standard opening. So I think that's a big, that's a big point.Brandon: Well, as Lukasz tells us, bourgeois realism has a, an unholy fondness for the, the average, the merely average, as opposed to the typical. And I think, yeah, a lot of it, a lot of why I think it's boring echoes you, I think that for me, what I find boring, and a lot of them is that it feels like novelists have abandoned any desire to, to have their characters or the novels themselves integrate the sort of disparate experiences within the novel into any kind of meaningful hole. And so there isn't this like sense of like things advancing toward a grander understanding. And I think a lot of it is because they've, they are writing under the assumption that like the question of why can never be answered. There can never be like a why, there can never be a sort of significance to anything. And so everything is sort of like evacuated of significance or meaning. And so you have what I've taken to calling like reality TV fiction, where the characters are just like going places and doing things, and there are no thoughts, there are no thoughts about their lives, or no thoughts about the things that they are doing, there are no thoughts about their experiences. And it's just a lot of like, like lowercase e events in their lives, but like no attempt to organize those events into any sort of meaningful hole. And I think also just like, what leads to a lot of dead writing is writers who are deeply aware that they're writing about themes, they're writing about themes instead of people. And they're working from generalities instead of particularities and specificities. And they have no understanding of the relationship between the universal and the particular. And so like, everything is just like, like beans in a can that they're shaking around. And I think that that's really boring. I think it's really tedious. Like, like, sure, we can we can find something really profound in the mundane, but like, you have to be really smart to do that. So like the average novelist is like better off like, starting with a gunshot or something like do something big.Henry: If you're not Virginia Woolf, it is in fact just mundane.Brandon: Indeed. Yeah.Henry: Is there too much emphasis on craft? In the way, in the way, in like what's valued among writers, in the way writers are taught, I feel like everything I see is about craft. And I'm like, craft is good, but that can just be like how you make a table rather than like how you make a house. Craft is not the guarantor of anything. And I see a lot of books where I think this person knows some craft. But as you say, they don't really have an application for it. And they don't. No one actually said to them, all style has a moral purpose, whether you're aware of it or not. And so they default to this like pointless use of the craft. And someone should say to them, like, you need to know history. You need to know tennis. You need to know business. You need to know like whatever, you know. And I feel like the novels I don't like are reflections of the discourse bubble that the novelist lives in. And I feel like it's often the continuation of Twitter by other means. So in the Rachel Kong novel that I think it came out this year, there's a character, a billionaire character who comes in near the end. And everything that he says or that is said about him is literally just meme. It's online billionaire meme because billionaires are bad because of all the things we all know from being on Twitter. And I was like, so you just we literally have him a character as meme. And this is the most representative thing to me, because that's maybe there's craft in that. Right. But what you've chosen to craft is like 28 tweets. That's pointless.Brandon: 28 tweets be a great title for a book, though, you have to admit, I would buy that book off the new book table. 28 tweets. I would. I would buy that. Yeah, I do think. Well, I think it goes both ways. I think it goes both ways. I somewhat famously said this about Sally Rooney that like she her books have no craft. The craft is bad. And I do think like there are writers who only have craft, who are able to sort of create these wonderfully structured books and to sort of deploy these beautiful techniques. And those books are absolutely dead. There's just like nothing in them because they have nothing to say. There's just like nothing to be said about any of that. And on the other hand, you have these books that are full of feelings that like would be better had someone taught that person about structure or form or had they sort of had like a rigorous thing. And I would say that like both of those are probably bad, like depending on who you are, you find one more like, like easier to deal with than the other. I do think that like part of why there's such an emphasis on craft is because not to sort of bring capitalism back in but you can monetize craft, you know what I mean? Like, craft is one of those things that is like readily monetizable. Like, if I'm a writer, and I would like to make money, and I can't sell a novel, I can tell people like, oh, how to craft a perfect opening, how to create a novel opening that will make agents pick it up and that will make editors say yes, but like what the sort of promise of craft is that you can finish a thing, but not that it is good, as you say, there's no guarantor. Whereas you know, like it's harder to monetize someone's soul, or like, it's harder to monetize like the sort of random happenstance of just like a writer's voice sort of emerging from from whatever, like you can't turn that into profit. But you can turn into profit, let me help you craft your voice. So it's very grind set, I think craft has a tendency to sort of skew toward the grind set and toward people trying to make money from, from writing when they can't sell a book, you know. Henry: Let's play a game. Brandon: Oh dear.Henry: I say the name of a writer. You give us like the 30 second Brandon Taylor opinion of that writer.Brandon: Okay. Yeah.Henry: Jonathan Franzen.Brandon: Thomas Mann, but like, slightly more boring, I think.Henry: Iris Murdoch.Brandon: A friend of mine calls her a modern calls her the sort of pre Sally Rooney, Sally Rooney. And I agree with that.Henry: When I'm at parties, I try and sell her to people where I say she's post-war Sally Rooney.Brandon: Yes, yes. And like, and like all that that entails, and so many delightful, I read all these like incredible sort of mid century reviews of her novels, and like the men, the male critics, like the Bernard Breganzis of the world being like, why is there so much sex in this book? It's amazing. Please go look up those like mid-century reviews of Iris Murdoch. They were losing their minds. Henry: Chekhov.Brandon: Perfect, iconic, baby girl, angel, legend. Can't get enough. 10 out of 10.Henry: Evelyn Waugh.Brandon: So Catholic, real Catholic vibes. But like, scabrously funny. And like, perhaps the last writer to write about life as though it had meaning. Hot take, but I'll, I stand by it.Henry: Yeah, well, him and Murdoch. But yeah, no, I think I think there's a lot in that. C.V. Wedgwood.Brandon: Oh, my gosh. The best, a titan, a master of history. Like, oh, my God. I would not be the same without Wedgwood.Henry: Tell us which one we should read.Brandon: Oh, the 30 Years War. What are you talking about?Henry: Well, I think her books on the English Civil War… I'm a parochial Brit.Brandon: Oh, see, I don't, not that I don't, I will go read those. But her book on the 30 Years War is so incredible. It's, it's amazing. It's second to like, Froissart's Chronicles for like, sort of history, history books for me.Henry: Northrop Frye.Brandon: My father. I, Northrop Frye taught me so much about how to see and how to think. Just amazing, a true thinker in a mind. Henry: Which book? Brandon: Oh, Anatomy of Criticism is fantastic. But Fearful Symmetry is just, it will blow your head off. Just amazing. But if you're looking for like, to have your, your mind gently remapped, then Anatomy of Criticism.Henry: Emma Cline.Brandon: A throwback. I think she's, I think she's Anne Beattie meets John Cheever for a new era. And I think she's amazing. She's perfect. Don't love her first novel. I think her stories are better. She's a short story writer. And she should stay that way.Henry: Okay, now I want you to rank Jane Austen's novels.Brandon: Wait, okay. So like, by my preference, or by like, what I think is the best?Henry: You can do both.Brandon: Okay. So in terms, my favorite, Persuasion. Then Mansfield Park. Sense and Sensibility. Pride and Prejudice. And then Emma, then Northanger Abbey. Okay.Henry: Now, how about for which ones are the best?Brandon: Persuasion. Pride and Prejudice. Mansfield Park. Emma,.Sense and Sensibility. Northanger Abbey.Henry: Why do people not like Fanny Price? And what is wrong with them?Brandon: Fanny Price is perfect. Fanny Price, I was just talking to someone about this last night at dinner. Fanny Price, she's perfect. First of all, she is, I don't know why people don't like her. She's like a chronically ill girl who's hot for her cousin and like, has deep thoughts. It seems like she would be the icon of literary Twitter for like a certain kind of person, you know? And I don't know why they don't like her. I think I'm, I am becoming the loudest Mansfield Park apologist on the internet. I think that people don't like Fanny because she's less vivacious than Mary Crawford. And I think that people are afraid to see themselves in Fanny because she seems like she's unfun or whatever. But what they don't realize is that like Fanny Price, Fanny Price has like a moral intelligence and like a moral consciousness. And like Fanny Price is one of the few Austen characters who actually argues directly and literally about the way the world is. Like with multiple people, like the whole, the whole novel is her sort of arguing about, well, cities are this and the country is this. And like, we need Parsons as much as we need party boys. Like, like she's arguing not just about, not just about these things like through the lens of like marriage or like the sort of marriage economy, but like in literal terms, I mean, she is so, she's like a moral philosopher. I love Fanny Price and she's so smart and so sensitive and so, and I guess like maybe it's just that people don't like a character who's kind of at the mercy of others and they view her as passive. When in fact, like a young woman arguing about the way the world should be, like Mary Crawford's, Mary Crawford's like kind of doing the above, not really, not like Fanny. But yeah, I love her. She's amazing. I love Fanny Price. And I also think that people love Margaret Hale from North and South. And I think that when people are saying they hate Fanny Price, what they're picturing is actually how Margaret Hale is. Margaret Hale is one of the worst heroines of a novel. She's so insufferable. She's so rude. She's so condescending. And like, she does get her comeuppance and like Gaskell does sort of bring about a transformation where she's actually able to sort of like see poor people as people first and not like subjects of sympathy. But Margaret is what people imagine Fanny is, I think. And we should, we should start a Fanny Price, like booster club. Henry, should we? Let's do it. It begins here. I just feel so strongly about her. I feel, I love, I love Fanny.Henry: She's my favorite of Austen's characters. And I think she is the most representative Austen character. She's the most Austen of all of them, right?Brandon: Yeah, I mean, that makes great deal of sense to me. She's just so wonderful. Like she's so funny and so observant. And she's like this quiet little girl who's like kind of sickly and people don't really like her. And she's kind of maybe I'm just like, maybe I just like see myself in her. And I don't mind being a sort of annoying little person who's going around the world.Henry: What are some good principles for naming literary characters?Brandon: Ooh, I have a lot of strong feelings about this. I think that names should be memorable. They should have like, like an aura of sort of literariness about them. I don't mean, I mean, taken to like hilarious extremes. It's like Henry James. Catherine Goodwood, Isabelle Archer, Ralph Touchett, like, you know, Henry had a stack pole. So like, not like that. But I mean, that could be fun in a modern way. But I think there's like an aura of like, it's a name that you might hear in real life, but it sort of add or remove, it's sort of charged and elevated, sort of like with dialogue. And that it's like a memorable thing that sort of like, you know, it's like, you know, memorable thing that sort of sticks in the reader's mind. It is both a name, a literary, a good literary name is both a part of this world and not of this world, I think. And, yeah, and I love that. I think like, don't give your character a name like you hear all the time. Like, Tyler is a terrible literary name. Like, no novel has ever, no good novel has ever had a really important character named Tyler in it. It just hasn't. Ryan? What makes a good sentence? Well, my sort of like, live and let live answer is that a good sentence is a sentence that is perfectly suited to the purpose it has. But I don't know, I like a clear sentence, regardless of length or lyric intensity, but just like a clear sentence that articulates something. I like a sentence with motion, a sense of rhythm, a sense of feel without any bad words in it. And I don't mean like curse words, I mean like words that shouldn't be in literature. Like, there's some words that just like don't belong in novels.Henry: Like what?Brandon: Squelch. Like, I don't think the word squelch should be in a novel. That's a gross word and it doesn't sound literary to me. I don't want to see it.Henry: I wouldn't be surprised if it was in Ulysses.Brandon: Well, yes.Henry: I have no idea, but I'm sure, I'm sure.Brandon: But so few of us are James Joyce. And that novel is like a thousand bodily functions per page. But don't love it. Don't love it.Henry: You don't love Ulysses?Brandon: No, I don't… Listen, I don't have a strong opinion, but you're not going to get me cancelled about Ulysses. I'm not Virginia Woolf.Henry: We're happy to have opinions of that nature here. That's fine.Brandon: You know, I don't have a strong feeling about it, actually. Some parts of it that I've read are really wonderful. And some parts of it that I have read are really dense and confusing to me. I haven't sort of given it the time it needs or deserves. What did you learn from reading Toni Morris? What did I learn? I think I learned a lot about the moral force of melodrama. I think that she shows us a lot about the uses of melodrama and how it isn't just like a lesion of realism, that it isn't just a sort of malfunctioning realism, but that there are certain experiences and certain lives and certain things that require and necessitate melodrama. And when deployed, it's not tacky or distasteful that it actually is like deeply necessary. And also just like the joy of access and language, like the sort of... Her language is so towering. I don't know, whenever I'm being really shy about a sentence being too vivid or too much, I'm like, well, Toni Morrison would just go for it. And I am not Toni Morrison, but she has given me the courage to try.Henry: What did you like about the Annette Benning film of The Seagull?Brandon: The moment when Annette Benning sings Dark Eyes is so good. It's so good. I think about it all the time. And indeed, I stole that moment for a short story that I wrote. And I liked that part of it. I liked the set design. I think also Saoirse Ronan, when she gives that speech as Nina, where she's like, you know, where the guy's like, what do you want from, you know, what do you want? Why do you want to be an actress? And she's like, I want fame. You know, like, I want to be totally adored. And I'm just like, yeah, that's so real. That's so, that is so real. Like Chekhov has understood something so deep, so deep about the nature of commerce and art there. And I think Saoirse is really wonderful in that movie. It's a not, it's not a good movie. It's maybe not even a good adaptation of The Seagull. But I really enjoyed it. I saw it like five times in a theater in Iowa City.Henry: I don't know if it's a bad adaptation of The Seagull, because it's one of the, it's one of the Chekhov's I've seen that actually understands that, like, the tragic and the and the comic are not meant to be easily distinguishable in his work. And it does have all this lightheartedness. And it is quite funny. And I was like, well, at least someone's doing that because I'm so sick of, like, gloomy Chekhov. You know what I mean? Like, oh, the clouds and the misery. Like, no, he wants you, he wants you to laugh and then be like, I shouldn't laugh because it's kind of tragic, but it's also just funny.Brandon: Yeah. Yes, I mean, all the moments were like, like Annette Bening's characters, like endless stories, like she's just like constantly unfurling a story and a story and a story and a story. Every scene kind of was like, she's in the middle of telling another interminable anecdote. And of course, the sort of big tragic turn at the end is like, where like, Kostya kills himself. And she's like, in the middle of like, another really long anecdote while they're in the other room playing cards. Like, it's so, it's so good. So I love that. I enjoy watching that movie. I still think it's maybe not. It's a little wooden, like as a movie, like it's a little, it's a little rickety.Henry: Oh, sure, sure, sure, sure. But for someone looking to like, get a handle on Chekhov, it's actually a good place to go. What is the best make of Fountain Pen?Brandon: That's a really good, that's a really, really, really good question. Like, what's your Desert Island Fountain Pen? My Desert Island Fountain Pen. Right now, it's an Esterbrook Estee with a needlepoint nib. It's like, so, I can use that pen for hours and hours and hours and hours. I think my favorite Fountain Pen, though, is probably the Pilot Custom 743. It's a really good pen, not too big, not too small. It can hold a ton of ink, really wonderful. I use, I think, like a Soft Fine nib, incredible nib, so smooth. Like, I, you could cap it and then uncap it a month later, and it just like starts immediately. It's amazing. And it's not too expensive.Henry: Brandon Taylor, thank you very much.Brandon: Thanks for having me. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk/subscribe

Kostya Outta, originally from Belarus and now based in Poland, has been plying his trade in progressive house for over a decade. His groovy melodic sound, first established with tracks like High Flyers and Silence, set the stage for his rise, earning him future support from top-tier DJs like Eelke Kleijn, Hernan Cattaneo, and Nick Warren. To date, two of his releases cracked the Top 10 of Beatport's Progressive House chart, with one landing at #4 (‘Falcon') - even becoming one of the platform's Best Sellers of 2022.

 Known for dynamic performances, Kostya has played at major festivals across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, sharing stages with artists like Sander van Doorn and Aly & Fila. With a unique sound he describes as "outta space," Kostya continues to impress with a dependable sound that is hard to deny. 

 On this Balance Selections mix he showcases that trained ear for highly contagious melodies and super tight programming. Featuring tracks and remixes from Dmitry Molosh, Digital Mess, Fuenka and a generous selection of Kostya's own productions, this is a top notch progressive outing from one of Poland's best @kostyaoutta

This week's returning guest is ChessDojo co-founder, IM Kostya Kavutskiy. Kostya joined me after returning from a busy summer of chess travel in Europe. Kostya has recently redoubled his efforts to earn the Grandmaster title, and has been competing OTB frequently. He also attended the Olympiad and gave a fascinating first-hand perspective of what it was like to be in Budapest. Kostya has been writing about both his GM quest and the Olympiad on his recently launched blog, Kostya goes for GM. As an experienced trainer, and Chessable Author, Kostya is always insightful on the challenges of chess improvement, both his own, and that of the Chess Dojo members across the rating spectrum. With that in mind, we began the conversation by discussing the challenges Kostya is facing, as well as those from some podcast listeners.  After 30+ minutes of chess improvement talk we discussed the Olympiad, what is new with the ChessDojo, and even a forthcoming book. As always, timestamps of topics discussed are below.  0:00-  Thanks to our sponsors, Chessable.com.  Check out their new offerings including GM Garry Kasparov's much anticipated Chessable debut! If you sign up for Chessable Pro, please use the following link to help support Perpetual Chess: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 02:00- Why did Kostya decide to redouble his efforts to earn the GM title and start a blog about it? Mentioned: Kostya goes for GM Kostya's interview with Chessbase India: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihXw3q8UMdM 06:00- Are the changes in the FIDE rating system noticeable yet?  11:00- Kostya recently played a few tournaments in Europe. What did he learn from them? 18:00- Patreon mailbag question: Is there a correlation between solving easy puzzles quickly and solving more challenging ones?  21:00- What is new with the Chessdojo?  26:00- Patreon mailbag question:  Is there still room for classic chess books like The Art of Attack in Chess.  Chessable-  https://www.chessable.com/the-art-of-attack-in-chess/course/24575/ Amazon- https://www.amazon.com/Art-Attack-Chess-Ladimir-Vukovic/dp/1857444000 29:00- Is Kostya taking inspiration from Levy's GM quest?  36:00- Kostya shares some reflections from visiting the Olympiad.  Mentioned:  Kostya's blog post about the Olympiad: https://hellokostya.substack.com/p/12-things-i-learned-from-the-budapest 52:00- Kostya discusses a forthcoming Chess Dojo book.  54:00- Thanks as always to Kostya for joining, you can find him via Chessdojo as well as his own social media accounts.  https://www.chessdojo.club/ Twitter/X-  https://x.com/hellokostya?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/hellokostya/ ChessDojo YouTube-  https://www.youtube.com/c/ChessDojo If  you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, you can do so here:  https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join the training program - https://chessdojo.club  Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojolive  Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, and IM Kostya Kavutskiy discuss and rate the most influential chess books in today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo podcast! CHAPTERS 0:00 Ranking the 5 Most Influential Chess Books 3:38 Jesse's No. 5 Pick 8:20 David's No. 5 Pick 13:24 Kostya's No.5 Pick 17:08 Kostya's No. 4 Pick 22:40 David's No. 4 Pick 25:37 Jesse's No. 4 Pick 26:50 Jesse's No. 3 Pick 29:43 David's No. 3 Pick 32:00 Kostya's No. 3 Pick 35:03 Kostya's No. 2 Pick 39:16 David's No. 2 Pick 44:14 Jesse's No. 2 Pick 48:39 Jesse's No. 1 Pick 51:45 David's No. 1 Pick 57:57 Kostya's No. 1 Pick 1:00:01 Reflecting on the List 1:02:10 Honorable Mentions 1:09:14 Final Rankings   Want to support the channel? Find all of our chess book recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo (Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.) Follow ChessDojo here:  Website: https://chessdojo.club  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/  TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips #chess #chessbook 

Join the training program - https://chessdojo.club  Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojolive  Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop IM Kostya Kavutskiy, IM David Pruess, and GM Jesse Kraai recap the 2024 Chess Olympiad in today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo Podcast! CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro to the 2024 Budapest Olympiad 0:35 Joys and Challenges of Going In Person 3:23 India, Uzbekistan, and Gukesh D  19:29 Kostya's Experience with a Press Pass 24:46 Ding Liren's Wellbeing 28:25 If Hikaru Nakamura Had Played 34:56 Money in the Olympiad  40:21 Chess Politics at the Olympiad 45:22 Is the Magnus Carlsen Era Over? 51:31 Magnus Carlsen vs Gukesh D 52:58 Which Country Will Dominate Chess?   Want to support the channel? Find all of our chess book recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo (Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.) Follow ChessDojo here:  Website: https://chessdojo.club  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/  TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips #chess

Kostya Kennedy, journalist and author. He is an editorial director at Dotdash Meredith, and a former senior writer and assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated. He's also the author of the book “Pete Rose: An American Dilemma” Topic: Pete Rose death Book: https://www.amazon.com/Pete-Rose-American-Kostya-Kennedy/dp/1618930966 Bio: https://www.kostyakennedy.com/ Social media:  https://x.com/kostyakennedy https://www.facebook.com/p/Kostya-Kennedy-100063657212747/?locale=en_GB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve interviews Kostya Kennedy (00:22:32) former senior writer for Sports Illustrated. Kostya joins us to talk about his book, 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports. Kostya makes his debut to talk about Joe DiMaggio, the Italian-American experience, DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak and his life after baseball. Kostya explains his attitude later in his like and the impact his divorce with Marilyn Monroe had on it. Also, the pressure of the hit streak, hoe close it was to being 73 not 56, and the alleged abandoned trade of DiMaggio to the Red Sox for Ted Williams. Kennedy also previews his upcoming book on Paul Revere, talks about his favorite work from his time at SI, and discusses what SI means to him. Also, Giles Richards debuts (01:12:57) to discuss his new book about Formula One racing. Giles explains his love for Formula One, the reason he chose to focus his book on the people behind the scenes that make F1 go, and other insights and stories fro the F1 beat. Steve and Giles also have some fun ribbing about the then upcoming Euros. This interview was recored in June before the hiatus. Apologies to Giles for not getting it posted sooner. Besides a few minutes of Euros banter the interview is evergreen content. Steve starts the show with First Things First and covers the Azzurri disappointing at the Euros, the Braves and their outlook post-trade deadline, and the first week of the Olympics. The book club has a retuning friend for his annual contribution to the club. The show ends with one last thing about the revenue for the four major sports leagues in North America and how that money is earned. For more information follow the podcast on twitter @sports_casters Email: thesportscasters@gmail.com

On this episode of Ruff Talk VR we are joined by Serg, Julia, and Kostya of CM Games, the studio behind Into the Radius 1 and 2! Into the Radius 2 is one of the most anticipated upcoming VR games, and for good reason! Having just launched in early access on PCVR, it is already so much fun! Listen as we get to know these 3, learn more about Into the Radius and the sequel, and more!Big thank you to all of our Patreon supporters! Become a supporter of the show today at  https://www.patreon.com/rufftalkvrUse code RUFFSLAYER-8904FC for 10% off Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire on the Meta Quest!Store Link:https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/5353670608005479/?utm_source=rufftalk&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=rufftalk&utm_id=silentslayer&utm_term=summer&utm_content=promocodePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/rufftalkvrRuff Talk VR Discord: https://discord.gg/9JTdCccucSIf you enjoy the podcast be sure to rate us 5 stars and subscribe! Join our official subreddit at https://www.reddit.com/r/RuffTalkVR/Into the Radius 2 Store Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2307350/Into_the_Radius_2/Send us a text to the Ruff Talk VR fan mail line! Use code RUFFSLAYER-8904FC for 10% off Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire on the Meta Quest!Support the Show.

Zab Judah is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2019. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF and WBO junior welterweight titles between 2000 and 2004; the undisputed welterweight title in 2005, which included a reign as the lineal champion from 2005 to 2006; and the IBF junior welterweight title again in 2011. Judah's career ended in 2019 when he was hospitalized after suffering a brain bleed in a stoppage loss to Cletus Seldin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Renowned chess coach and co-founder of the Chess Dojo, IM Kostya Kavutskiy, returns to the podcast! Previously, we talked mostly about how to read annotated game books (Episode 17).This time, we cover a wide variety of topics. Including:What new insights the Chess Dojo has learned on helping adult improvers from running their online membership, called “Training Program.”Kostya's recent OTB tournament experiences and how he chooses which ones to attend.His improvement approach for his personal chess goals, including earning the GM title.Whether the 2024 Candidates tournament had a fair qualifying process (and Kostya's predictions for who might win.)Improvements questions from my Twitter followers.Where To Find More of Kostya/Chess Dojo's Content: Training Program by Chess DojoChess Dojo - TwitchChess Dojo - YouTubeChess Dojo - TwitterChess Dojo - WebsiteKostya on TwitterKostya's Endgames courseKostya's Book

Tonight we will hear a blessed sermon from our dear Elder brother and preacher Kostya Rybak on a great and powerful topic from the bible. So please tune in to listen more !

Neal Bruce of #chesspunks fame has been diligently studying and pursuing chess as an adult improver. The ChessDojo sensei GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, and IM Kostya Kavutskiy discuss whether Neal Bruce will be able to make his goal of National Master (NM) in today's episode of the DojoTalks Podcast. 0:00 David vs Coffee 0:18 Chess Rating Gains as an Adult 9:37 Making Predictions About Goals 13:57 Poll Results: Can Adult Improvers Make NM? 20:24 Chess Training as an Adult 34:39 Rating Baselines, Age, and Improvement 51:41 Value of Playing OTB Chess Games 53:23 Kostya's GM Quest 54:12 How Many OTB Games per Year? 56:21 Can You Prove Jesse Wrong? 1:01:05 New in the Dojo Training Program Want to support the channel? Patreon -    / chessdojo   Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojol... Find all of our chess book recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo (Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.) Website: https://chessdojo.club Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/ Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/  

Kostya Kimlat, also known as The Business Magician, joins the podcast today and puts on a show. Kostya has been featured on Penn & Teller's TV show, Fool Us! which he succeeds in doing. He is also a motivational speaker, having spoken for dozens of the largest Fortune 500 companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Disney. During the pandemic, Kostya found great success in hosting virtual magic shows for companies to help foster joy and connection. He also continues to do in-person magic shows across the globe. Listen in and experience this magical episode.  Links: Kostya's Website: https://www.kostyakimlat.com/  

In this episode, we kickstart our 3rd Annual Audio New Play Festival with return playwright, Frazer Shepherdson, to talk through his audio play, Firespeak.Frazer (he/him) is an actor and theatre-maker who has trained with multiple, internationally recognized institutions including the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the Victorian College of the Arts. Frazer has garnered many performance credits across screen and stage. Most recently he played Kostya in La Mama Theatre's production of 'The Seagull' (dir. Bagryana Popov). He has written, directed, and produced two original audioplays; ‘Whale Song' and ‘Firespeak', for the Theatre of Others audio-play festival. Both works received artistic grants. "Frazer has a very organic and considered approach to his work. He is an excellent team player exhibiting a capacity and sensitivity to tune into the work of the ensemble and bigger picture storytelling." - Daniella Farinacci, 2021Support the showPlease help us send BRIGHT LIGHT BURNING to COP28 in Dubai. Support us on our GoFundMe FundraiserIf you enjoyed this week´s podcast, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. To submit a question: Voice- http://www.speakpipe.com/theatreofothers Email- podcast@theatreofothers.com Support the Theatre of Others - Check out our Merch!Show Credits Co-Hosts: Adam Marple & Budi MillerProducer: Jack BurmeisterMusic: https://www.purple-planet.comAdditional compositions by @jack_burmeister

Stanislavsky, the early days. If you set out to raise a child who would grow to become a great actor, director, and theatrical guru, this is how you would go about it: expose him to all the arts, build him his own theater, and make sure he has plenty of money to pursue his hobbies. Just don't be surprised when he abandons the family business and goes pro. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/storyofacting/message

We interview Kostya Kimlat, a magician who has helped refocus and reenergize the sales and customer service staff at dozens of well-known companies, including Balfour Beatty, Walt Disney World, Morgan Stanley, and Siemens. (You may know him as the guest who stumped Penn and Teller on their show Penn & Teller: Fool Us.) His ability to translate “thinking like a magician” and managing “perceptual transactions” to creating your desired effect in clients is not only unique but also incredibly insightful and useful. When you listen, you'll learn a genius strategy to dramatically increase access to more prospects instantaneously and without depleting your resources, tips for how to read a room and know what each person needs to stay engaged and satisfied, and four simple steps to create interest and build trust with any audience in any situation. Be sure to check out our show notes at staypaidpodcast.com for more in-depth information and added details not included in the episode. Connect | Resources ·      Website: thebusinessmagician.com ·      Watch Kostya's performance on Penn & Teller: Fool Us ·      Hocus Pocus Practice Focus: The Making of a Magician by Amy Kimlat We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for ReminderMedia to earn a small fee by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. 0:00     Introduction 1:06     Kostya's backstory 1:57     Businesses should “think like a magician” 3:24     Customers prefer magicians to jugglers 4:33     Focus on perceptual management 5:42     From magician to motivational speaker 8:31     Thoughts on marketing 10:39   Fast growth vs slow and steady 13:25   Optimizing his opportunity with Penn & Teller 15:32   Getting into your audience's heads [Golden Nugget] 18:59   Reading visual cues | Paying attention 23:16   Ways to connect with different needs of your audience 29:27   The illusion of reading minds 30:32   Being shaped by adversity 34:41   Kostya fools Luke and Josh 40:04   Action Item   Want Josh and Luke to help you with your marketing? Visit https://remindermedia.com/StayPaidMarketing/ Want to request a free sample of our magazine? Visit: https://remindermedia.com/staypaidnewagent/

Vincent speaks with Raul and Kostya about the development of novel oral polio vaccine from the Sabin type 2 strain, its deployment in over 600 million children, and whether it can lead to eradication of poliomyelitis. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guests: Raul Andino and Kostya Chumakov Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server MicrobeTV store at Cafepress Research assistant position in Rosenfeld Lab CBER/FDA (pdf) Engineering OPV (Cell Host Microbe) Poliopolis (Lancet) nOPV2 (Polioeradication.org) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

What does GM Jesse Kraai need to do to win the U.S. Senior Chess Championship? How can he use the Dojo Program? The Dojo sensei GM Jesse Kraai, IM Kostya Kavutskiy, and IM David Pruess talk about the details of what prep Jesse needs to do to win. Check out the full video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/6v7CYCHfrKg  Interested in improving? Welcome to the Dojo! A structured plan to hold yourself accountable to and a group to do it with. - https://chessdojo.club/training  Chess is more than a game, it's a lifestyle. Live it with ChessDojo gear: https://www.chessdojo.club/shop  Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive  Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.club Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/ Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/ 0:00 If Jesse Wins... 0:14 Intro 5:21 Chess and Getting Older 14:30 Kostya and Jesse Need to Do The Program 22:36 What Jesse Needs to Work On 27:09 Jesse's Dojo Pie Chart 36:49 Sam Shankland's Advice to Jesse 38:22 Calculation and System 2 Thinking 40:27 Jesse's Big Decision 44:52 Jesse's Weaknesses 50:55 Healthy Cohort Competition 52:15 Betting on FIDE Rating 56:55 Dojo Training Program Tournaments

Building successful investment models is a multifaceted endeavor, where allocation, security selection, selecting the right model provider, rebalance, and trading best practices can make all the difference. By understanding the key concepts behind building investment models, investment firms can navigate the complexities of the financial markets with confidence. Ultimately, this will provide their clients with optimal investment outcomes and create lasting value for all stakeholders involved. In this episode, Rusty and Robyn talk with Konstantin "Kostya" Etus, Chief Investment Officer at Dynamic Advisor Solutions. In his role, Kostya is responsible for leading Dynamic's Investment Management team and overseeing all investment operations, including investment people, philosophy, process, portfolios, and performance. Kostya's experience includes managing mutual funds, ETF strategies, and 529 plans and evaluating investment strategies through a robust due diligence framework, including SMAs, model portfolios, and individual funds. With specialized experience in asset allocation and security selection of various ETF and mutual fund portfolios, Kostya talks about what goes into building successful investment models, how to choose the best model provider, and what sets investment firms apart. A self-proclaimed movie buff, Kostya also shares a list of recommended summer movies worth watching. Key Takeaways [04:07] - An interesting story about Kostya's personal and professional life. [07:54] - What Dynamic Advisor Solutions does. [10:02] - A walkthrough of Dynamic's Berkshire Hathaway weekend blog. [16:06] - The five key concepts to building investment models. [22:07] - How advisors can choose the best investment model. [26:24] - What sets investment firms apart? [29:57] - The role culture plays in choosing the right partnership. [32:04] - The must-see summer movies of the year. [48:01] - Kostya's favorite investment idea.  [49:55] - How Kostya maintains a high energy level to perform at his best. [51:51] - The people Kostya is thankful for on a professional level. [55:03] - Kostya's recommendations for content. Quotes [26:06] - "When choosing the right manager, you need to partner with somebody you believe will be best for your clients and who you believe your personal philosophy as an advisor aligns best with that investment manager." ~ Kostya Etus [26:48] - "Everyone has their unique philosophy and investment process — people, philosophy, process. The first P has consistently been the driving differentiator amongst investment firms." ~ Kostya Etus [31:36] - "Culture has to be absorbed in this idea of compliance and doing the right thing. Everybody needs to take care of the clients and do everything in the best interest of the clients. That leads to taking care of your employees, taking care of your partners, and your relationships." ~ Kostya Etus Links  Konstantin "Kostya" Etus on LinkedIn Konstantin "Kostya" Etus on Twitter Dynamic Advisor Solutions Why Can't We Be Friends You've Got a Friend in Me Jim Cannon Salesforce Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett Q2 2023 Investing Insights: Top 3 Lessons from Warren Buffett In 2023 Oriental Trading Todd Clark Everything Everywhere All at Once Sisu The Fast and The Furious The Little Mermaid Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse The Flash Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Asteroid City Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Barbie Oppenheimer How Do You Live? Killers of the Flower Moon Last Voyage of the Demeter Strays The Eight Mountains Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 Josh Jenkins Lutz  Grant Engelbart Michael Hadden Jeovany Zelaya Ludacka Wealth Partners Nick Codola Joe Smith Parti Pris Investment Partners Intelligent Investor Connect with our hosts Rusty Vanneman Robyn Murray Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts 1455-OPS-5/26/2023

The Silent Unseen by Amanda McCrinaMaria is trying to make it home to her parents in Poland. Kostya is trying to make it home to save his mother and sister from a vengeful cousin. Neither of them has much hope of surviving the journey home, but they have to try. Neither of them knows they will meet each other, and how their lives will become entangled and neither knows if they can actually trust the other one. Recommended for 8th grade and up due to the complexities of the story. 

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with IM Kostya Kavutskiy. We focused on three main topics: his chess improvement journey, endgame studies, and the Chess Dojo. It was refreshing to hear Kostya's journey sounds so similar to other adult improvers that I've talked to. Wrestling with time and many holes to fill is such a challenge even for an IM. We talked a lot about the value of Endgame Studies and the contribution of his work Chess Studies 101.  Be sure to check out Kostya's amazing Chessable Course -  Endgame Studies 101 https://www.chessable.com/endgame-studies-101/course/81472/ Be sure to check out the Chess Journeys Merch Store! You can support the show and look amazing in the process. https://chess-journeys.creator-spring.com/ I've been streaming somewhat regularly on https://www.twitch.tv/drskull_tinygrimes If you would like to be a guest on Chess Journeys, contact me on Twitter or fill out the following Google Form:  https://forms.gle/gSnvmUnvpykkgT1y5 As always you can support the show at https://www.patreon.com/ChessJourneys.  Also, be sure to check out my Chessable page at www.chessable.com/chessjourneys   If you are considering using Aimchess, please use the code drscull30.

What Kostya said to Tim Tszyu when he won the world title!Subscribe on LiSTNR: https://play.listnr.com/podcast/hughesy-ed-and-erinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3/12/23 New @FightNetRadio HI! My name is? Who? Not Kostya! #boxing #boxingnews #boxingtraining @LeeHonishIO @fightfiendmiggs7473 @AndrewLapachet www.BoxingTonight.io @facebook @instagram

This week we interview journalist Kostya Kennedy, author of True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson, published by St. Martin's Press, in April 2022. Kennedy is an editorial director at […]

In this episode of dojotalks, Jesse, David and Kostya discuss sponsorships and how they are perceived within the chess community. 00:00 intro 04:45 Sponsored Events & Crypto 16:10 Crypto & NFTs 29:24 Can we have large events with "Clean" money? 35:57 Should someone promote something they don't believe in? 43:02 How far should we separate the player from their beliefs and actions? Interested in improving? Check out the all-new Dojo Training Program - https://chessdojo.shop/training  Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive  Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.shop  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive  Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/ 

Kostya, David and Jesse discuss their top 10 favorite strategy games with a heated debate in this all new episode of Dojo Talks! 00:00 Intro 01:54 Number 10 06:01 Number 09 10:45 Number 08 14:28 Number 07 24:16 Number 06 31:46 Number 05 34:56 Number 04 39:30 Number 03 42:35 Number 02 46:53 Number 01 52:22 David Ragequits 56:41 Final rankings Interested in improving? Check out the all-new Dojo Training Program - https://chessdojo.shop/training  Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive  Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.shop  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive  Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/ 

Jesse Kraai, David Pruess and Kostya Kavutskiy talk about Chesscoms potential monopoly and the consequences of it. 00:00 Intro 00:56 Summary 02:37 Kostya on chesscom buying play magnus 08:00 "Bad Practices" 12:52 Individual vs. Collective 20:12 Is Chesscom Trying to Kill OTB? 36:39 Behavior in an expanding Market 39:57 The Competitors 48:25 Tribalism 51:18 The Consequences Of The Play Magnus Acquisition Interested in improving? Check out the all-new Dojo Training Program - https://chessdojo.shop/training  Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive  Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.shop  Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive  Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD  Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo  Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/  Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/ 

Jesse, David and Kostya discuss the feedback given from the members of the program and what their decisions are! 0:00 intro 1:25 "Regimentation" 20:35 Time Controls 41:34 Scheduling 44:14 When Helping Others 51:31 Cumulative Learning   Check out the all-new Dojo Training Program - https://chessdojo.shop/training Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.shop Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/ Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/

Jesse, David and Kostya discuss their initial hopes with the program, what went differently than expected and what they are hoping to do with the program in the future. 0:00 Intro 3:13 Surprises and Expectations 12:11 Past Predictions 27:53 Sparring 30:03 Features of the Program/Hopes for the future 41:29 Experiences in the Program   Check out the all-new Dojo Training Program - https://chessdojo.shop/training Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.shop Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/ Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/

Taylor hosts while Krishna, Kevin Ferrigan, & Kostya Medvedovsky compare their win projections. -They discuses the difficulty of minutes projections, and how they affect their overall win totals. -How tanking complicates projections -Kostya's Darko model loves the Kings over -Kevin Ferrigan is down on the Blazers

In this episode of Dojo Talks, Jesse, Kostya and David Discuss how to effectively learn chess openings!   Check out the all-new Dojo Training Program - https://chessdojo.shop/training Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.shop Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/ Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/  

Kostya interviews Dr. Benjamin Portheault, a performance coach who worked with the English Chess Federation during the 2022 Chennai Olympiad.   Check out the all-new Dojo Training Program - https://chessdojo.shop/training Want to support the channel? Donate here - https://streamlabs.com/chessdojolive Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.shop Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/ Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/  

Jackie Robinson's #42 is the only number retired across Major League Baseball, as his contributions to baseball and to American society can hardly be calculated. As Kostya Kennedy describes in his book, "True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson," he became a hero to generations of Americans thanks to his stoic, determined and thoughtful approach to dealing with the horrors of racial injustice. Kostya chose four key "seasons" that defined Robinson's life both on the field and off, and describes them in vivid detail. Kostya also describes his encounters with Rachel Robinson, who has survived Jackie by five decades. For baseball fans, there are detailed analysis' of Jackie's swing, of the area around Ebbet's FIeld, and of some of the biggest plays in his career. For those who want to understand how one man can change so much, this episode is for you.Kostya Kennedy's website can be found at: http://www.kostyakennedy.com/He is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kostyakennedyMore information about his book can be found at https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250274052/truethefourseasonsofjackierobinsonSupport our show at https://patreon.com/axelbankhistory**A portion of every contribution is given to a charity for children's literacy** "Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistory https://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory

We discuss being full time chess professionals, traveling to China together, how ChessDojo was formed, and many other subjects.

Kostya Medvedovsky joins the show to discuss DARKO, a well respected NBA player projection system. He begins with how a lawyer developed the data and math skills to develop DARKO. Then Kostya describes the two predictive systems that form the basis of DARKO, one of which was initially used in rocket science. Then he talks about how machine learning techniques combine these two factors. He uses Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans as an example of how the system works. Finally, Kostya discusses the applications of DARKO to sports betting.

Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart speaks with Kostya Kennedy about his new book “True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson” and the legendary player's enduring legacy as the 50th anniversary of Robinson's passing approaches.

As the 75th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball was celebrated..it also became time to think about the 50th Anniversary of his passing. Kostya Kennedy has written an EXCELLENT book.. TRUE: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson. An original way to look back at Jackie's life and career..and the impact of both. Here's my conversation with the author. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NC State All-American OT Ikem Ekwonu tells Rich how he's preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft, reveals how his musical theatre background could help him out when it's time for the rookie talent show in training camp this summer, and drops some hints about his draft night wardrobe that will be inspired by his Nigerian heritage. Bestselling author and baseball historian Kostya Kennedy and Rich discuss his new Jackie Robinson biography ‘True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson,' reflects on Robinson's lasting legacy on baseball, sports and the cultural landscape, and reacts to Clayton Kershaw being pulled from his perfect game bid and the proliferation of analytics in baseball. In his weekly ‘Big-Ass Grab Bag' TJ lists the top 5 TV shows he wishes he could wipe from his memory so he could watch them from the beginning again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On feeling compelled to write about Jackie Robinson; on dissecting the details from long-ago newspaper articles; on the joy of the deep dig; on pissing off an NHL player and living to tell.

Josh Lloyd chats to Kostya Medvedovsky about dynasty fantasy basketball and looks at six players who may be surprises for fantasy basketball in the year 2026, utilising Kostya's DARKO metric, including Anthony Edwards, Deandre Ayton, and Isaiah Stewart. The Locked On Fantasy Basketball Podcast is brought to you by Basketball Monster.Join a new league hereJoin the Discord hereSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!SweatBlockGet it today for 20% off at SweatBlock.com with promo code LockedOn, or at Amazon and CVS.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15” and you'll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.StatHeroStatHero, the FIRST Ever Daily Fantasy Sportsbook that gives the PLAYER the ADVANTAGE. Go to StatHero.com/LockedOn for 300% back on your first play.Intro Music by Ben LloydInstagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices