Podcast appearances and mentions of Miranda July

How do you build a creative life that spans music, writing, film, and spiritual practice? Alicia Jo Rabins talks about weaving multiple creative strands into a sustainable career and why the best advice for any creator might simply be: just make the thing. In the intro, backlist promotion strategy [Written Word Media]; Successful author business [Novel Marketing Podcast]; Alliance of Independent Authors Indie Author Bookstore; Bones of the Deep – J.F. Penn This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Alicia Jo Rabins is an award-winning writer, musician, performer, as well as a Torah teacher and ritualist. She's the creator of Girls In Trouble, a feminist indie-folk song cycle about biblical women, and the award-winning film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff. Her latest book is a memoir, When We Are Born We Forget Everything. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Building a sustainable multi-disciplinary creative career through teaching, performance, grants, and donations Trusting instinct in the early generative stages of creativity and separating generation from editing Adapting and reimagining religious and cultural source material through music, writing, and performance The challenges of transitioning from poetry to long-form prose memoir, including choosing a lens for your story Making an independent film on a shoestring budget without waiting for Hollywood's permission Finding your creative voice and building confidence by leaning into vulnerability and returning to the practice of making You can find Alicia at AliciaJo.com. Transcript of the interview with Alicia Jo Rabins Joanna: Alicia Jo Rabins is an award-winning writer, musician, performer, as well as a Torah teacher and ritualist. She's the creator of Girls In Trouble, a feminist indie-folk song cycle about biblical women, and the award-winning film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff. Her latest book is a memoir, When We Are Born We Forget Everything. So welcome to the show, Alicia. Alicia: Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here. Joanna: There is so much we could talk about. But first up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you've woven so many strands of creativity into your life and career. Alicia: Yes, well, I am a maximalist. What happened in terms of my early life is that I started writing on my own, just extremely young. I'm one of those people who always loved writing, always processed the world and managed my emotions and came to understand myself through writing. So from a very young age, I felt really committed to writing. Then I had the good fortune that my mother saw a talk show about the Suzuki method of learning violin—when you start really young and learn by ear, which is modelled after language learning. It's so much less intellectual and much more instinctual, learning by copying. She was like, that looks like a cool thing. I was three years old at the time and she found out that there was a little local branch of our music conservatory that had a Suzuki violin programme. So when I was three and a half, getting close to four, she took me down and I started playing an extremely tiny violin. Joanna: Oh, cute! Alicia: Yes, and because it was part of this conservatory that was downtown, and we were just starting at the suburban branch where we lived, there was this path that I was able to follow. As I got more and more interested in violin, I could continue basically up through the conservatory level during high school. So I had a really fantastic music education without any pressure, without any expectations or professional goals. I just kept taking these classes and one thing led to another. I grew up being very immersed in both creative writing and music, and I think just having the gift of those two parts of my brain trained and stimulated and delighted so young really changed my brain in some ways. I'll always see the world through this creative lens, which I think I'm also just set up to do personally. Then the last step of my multi-practice career is that in college I got very interested in Jewish spirituality. I'm Jewish, but I didn't grow up very religious. I didn't grow up in a Jewish community really. So I knew some basics, but not a ton. In college I started to study it and also informally learned from other people I met. I ended up going on a pretty intense spiritual quest, going to Jerusalem and immersing myself after college for two years in traditional Jewish study and practice. So that became the third strand of the braid that had already been started with music and writing. Torah study, spiritual study, and teaching became the third, and they all interweave. The last thing I'll say is that because I work in both words and music, and naturally performance because of music, it began to branch a little bit into plays, theatre, and film, just because that's where the intersection of words, performance, and music is. So that's really what brought me into that, as opposed to any specific desire to work in film. It all happened very organically. Joanna: I love this. This is so cool. We are going to circle back to a lot of this, but I have to ask you— What about work for money at any point? How did this turn into more than just hobbies and lifestyle? Alicia: Yes, absolutely. Well, I'm very fortunate that I did not graduate college with loans because my parents were able to pay for college. That was a big privilege that I just want to name, because in the States that's often not the case. So that allowed me to need to support myself, but not also pay loans, which was a real gift. What happened was I went straight from college to that school in Jerusalem, and there I was on loans and scholarship, so I didn't have to worry yet about supporting myself. Then when I came back to the States, I actually found on Craigslist a job teaching remedial Hebrew. It was essentially teaching kids at a Jewish elementary school who either had learning differences or had just entered the school late and needed to be in a different Hebrew class than the other kids in their grade. That was my first experience of really teaching, and I just absolutely fell in love with it. Although in the end, my passion is much more for teaching the text and rituals and the wrestling with the concepts, as opposed to teaching language. So all these years, while doing performance and writing and all these things, I have been teaching Jewish studies. That has essentially supported me, I would say, between 50 and 70 per cent. Then the rest has been paid gigs as a musician, whether as a front person leading a project or as what we call a sideman, playing in someone else's band. Sometimes doing theatre performances, sometimes teaching workshops. That's how I've cobbled it together. I have not had a full-time job all these years and I have supported myself through both earned income and also grants and donations. I've really tried to cultivate a little bit of a donor base, and I took some workshops early on about how to welcome donations. So I definitely try to always welcome that as well. Joanna: That is so interesting that you took a workshop on how to welcome donations. Way back in, I think 2013, I said on this show, I just don't know if I can accept people giving to support the show. Then someone on the podcast challenged me and said, but people want to support creatives. That's when I started Patreon in 2014. It was when The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer came out and— It was this realisation that people do want to support people. So I love that you said that. Alicia: It's not easy. It's still not easy for me, and I have to grit my teeth every time I even put in my end-of-year newsletter. I just say, just a reminder that part of what makes this possible is your generous donations, and I'm so grateful to you. It's not easy. I think some people enjoy fundraising. I certainly don't instinctively enjoy it, but I have learned to think of it exactly the way that you're saying. I mean, I love donating to support other people's projects. Sometimes it's the highlight of my day. If I'm having a bad day and someone asks for help, either to feed a family or to complete a creative project, I just feel like, okay, at least I can give $36 or $25 and feel like I did something positive in the last hour, even if my project is going terribly and I'm in a fight with my kid or something. So I have to keep in mind that it is actually a privilege to give as well as a privilege to receive. Joanna: Absolutely. So let's get back into your various creative projects. The first thing I wanted to ask you, because you do have so many different formats and forms of your creativity—how do you know when an idea that comes to you should be a song, or something you want to do as a performance, or written, or a film? Tell us a bit about your creative process. Because a lot of your projects are also longer-term. Alicia: Yes. It's funny, I love planning and in some ways I'm an extreme planner. I really drive people in my family bonkers with planning, like family vacations a year in advance. In terms of my creativity, I'm very planful towards goals, but in that early generative state, I am actually pure instinct. I don't think I ever sit down and say, “I have this idea, which genre would it match with?” It's more like I sit on my bed and pick up my guitar, which is where I love to do songwriting, just sitting on my bed cross-legged, and I pick up my guitar and something starts coming out. Then I just work with that kernel. So it's very nebulous at first, very innate, and I just follow that creative spirit. Often I don't even know what a project is, sometimes if it's a larger project, until a year or two in. Once things emerge and take shape, then my planning brain and my strategy brain can jump on it and say, “Okay, we need three more songs to fill out the album, and we need to plan the fundraising and the scheduling.” Then I might take more of an outside-in approach. At the beginning it's just all instinct. Joanna: So if you pick up your guitar, does that mean it always starts in music and then goes into writing? Or is that you only pick up a guitar if it's going to be musical? Alicia: I think I'm responding to what's inside me. It's almost like a need, as opposed to, “I'm going to sit down and work.” I mean, obviously I sit down and work a lot, but I think in that early stage of anything, it's more like my fingers are itching to play something, and so I sit down and pick up my guitar. Sometimes nothing comes out and sometimes the kernel of a song comes out. Or I'm at a café, and I often like to write when I'm feeling a little bit discombobulated, just to go into the complexity of things or use challenging emotions as fuel. I really do use it as a—I don't know if therapeutic is the word, but I think it maybe is. I write often, as I always have, as I said before, to understand what I'm thinking. Like Joan Didion said—to process difficult emotions, to let go of stuck places. So I think I create almost more out of a sense of just what I need in the moment. Sometimes it's just for fun. Sometimes picking up a guitar, I just have a moment so I sit down and mess around. Sometimes it's to help me struggle with something. It doesn't always start in music. That was a random example. I might sit down to write because I have an hour and I think, I haven't written in a while. Or I do have an informal daily writing thing where I'll try to generate one loose draft of something a day, even if it's only ten pages. I mean, sorry, ten words. Joanna: I was going to say! Alicia: No, no. Ten words. I'm sorry. It's often poetry, so it feels like a lot when it's ten words. I'll just sit down with no pressure, no goal, no intention to make anything specific. Just open the floodgates and see what comes out. That's where every single project of mine has started. Joanna: Yes, I do love that. Obviously, I'm a discovery writer and intuitive, same as you. I think very much this idea of, especially when you said you feel discombobulated, that's when you write. I almost feel like I need that. I'm not someone who writes every day. I don't do ten lines or whatever. It's that I'll feel that sense of pressure building up into “this is going to be something.” I will really only write or journal when that spills over into— “I now need to write and figure out what this is.” Alicia: Yes. It's almost a form of hunger. It feels to me similar to when you eat a great meal and then you're good for a while. You're not really thinking of it, and then it builds up, like you said, and then there's a need—at least the first half of creativity. I really separate my generation and my editing. So my generative practice is all openness, no critique, just this maybe therapeutic, maybe curious, wandering and seeing what happens. Then once I have a draft, my incisive editing mind is welcome back in, which has been shut out from that early process. So that's a really different experience. Those early stages of creativity are almost out of need more than obligation. Joanna: Well, just staying with that generative practice. Obviously you've mentioned your study of and practice of Jewish tradition and Jewish spirituality. Steven Pressfield in his books has talked about his prayer to the muse, and I've got on my wall here—I don't talk about this very often, actually — I have a muse picture, a painting of what I think of as a muse spirit in some form. So do you have any spiritual practices around your generative practice and that phase of coming up with ideas? Alicia: I love that question, and I wish I had a beautiful, intentional answer. My answer is no. I think I experience creativity as its own spiritual practice itself. I do love individual prayer and meditation and things like that, but for me those are more to address my specifically spiritual health and happiness and connectedness. I'm just a dive-in kind of person. As a musician, I have friends who have elaborate backstage rituals. I have to do certain things to take care of my voice, but even that, it's mostly vocal rest as opposed to actively doing things. There's a bit of an on/off switch for me. Joanna: That's interesting. Well, I do want to ask you about one of your projects, this collaboration with a high school on a musical performance, I Was a Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs, and also your Girls in Trouble songs about women in the Torah. On your website, I had a look at the school, the high school, and the musical performance. It was extraordinary. I was watching you in the school there and it's just such extraordinary work. It very much inspired me—not to do it myself, but it was just so wonderful. I do urge people to go to your website and just watch a few minutes of it. I'm inspired by elements of religion, Christian and Jewish, but I wondered if you've come up against any issues with adaptation—respecting your heritage but also reinventing it. How has this gone for you. Any advice for people who want to incorporate aspects of religion they love but are worried about responses? Alicia: Well, I have to say, coming from the Jewish tradition, that is a core practice of Judaism—reinterpreting our texts and traditions, wrestling with them, arguing with them, reimagining them. I don't know if you're familiar with Midrash, but just in case some of your listeners aren't sure I'll explain it. There's essentially an ancient form of fanfic called Midrash, which was the ancient rabbis, and we still do it today, taking a biblical story that seems to have some kind of gap or inconsistency or question in it and writing a story to fill that gap or recast the story in an interestingly different light. So we have this whole body of literature over thousands of years that are these alternate or added-on adventures, side quests of the biblical characters. What I'm doing from a Jewish perspective is very much in line with a traditional way of interacting with text. I've certainly never gotten any pushback, especially as I work in progressive Jewish communities. I think if I were in an extremely fundamentalist community, there would be a lot of different issues around gender and things like that. The interpretive process, even in those communities, is part of how we show respect for the text. When I was working with the high school—and I just want to call out the choir director, Ethan Chen, who has an incredible project where he brings in a different artist every two years to work with the choir, and they tend to have a different cultural focus each time. He invited me specifically to integrate my songwriting about biblical women with his amazing high school choir. I was really worried at first because most of them are not Jewish—very few of them, if any. I wanted to respect their spiritual paths and their religious heritages and not impose mine on them. So I spent a lot of time at the beginning saying, this project has religious source material, but essentially it is a creative reinterpretive project. I am not coming to you to bring the religious material to you. I'm coming to take the shared Hebrew Bible myths and then reinterpret those myths through a lens of how they might reflect our own personal struggles, because that's always my approach to these ancient stories. I wanted to really make that clear to the students. It was such a joy to work with them. Joanna: It's such an interesting project. Also, I find with musicians in general this idea of performance. You've written this thing—or this thing specifically with the school—and it doesn't exist again, right? You're not selling CDs of that, I presume. Whereas compared to a book, when we write a book, we can sell it forever. It doesn't exist as a performance generally for an author of a memoir or a novel. It carries on existing. So how does that feel, the performance idea versus the longer-lasting thing? I mean, I guess the video's there, but the performance itself happened. Alicia: I do know what you mean. Absolutely. We did, for that reason, record it professionally. We had the sound person record it and mix it, so it is available to stream. I'm not selling CDs, but it's out there on all the streaming services, if people want to listen. I do also have the scores, so if a choir wanted to sing it. The main point that you're making is so true. I think there's actually something very sacred about live performance—that we're all in the moment together and then the moment is over. I love the artefacts of the writing life. I love writing books. I love buying and reading books and having them around, and there's piles of them everywhere in this room I'm standing in. I feel like being on stage, or even teaching, is a very spiritual practice for me, because it's in some ways the most in-the-moment I ever am. The only thing that matters is what's happening right then in that room. It's fleeting as it goes. I'm working with the energy in the room while we're there. It's different every time because I'm different, the atmosphere is different, the people are different. There's no way to plan it. The kind of micro precision that we all try to bring to our editing—you can't do that. You can practice all you want and you should, but in the moment, who knows? A string breaks or there's loud sound coming from the other room. It is just one of those things. I love being reminded over and over again of the truth that we really don't control what happens. The best that we can do is ride it, surf it, be in it, appreciate it, and then let it go. Joanna: I think maybe I get a glimpse of that when I speak professionally, but I'm far more in control in that situation than I guess you were with—I don't know how many—was it a hundred kids in that choir? It looked pretty big. Alicia: It was amazing. It was 130 kids. Yes. Joanna: 130 kids! I mean, it was magic listening to it. And yes, of course, showing my age there with buying a CD, aren't I? Alicia: Well, I do still sell some CDs of Girls in Trouble on tour, because I have a bunch of them and people still buy them. I'm always so grateful because it was an easier life for touring musicians when we could just bring CDs. Now we have to be very creative about our merch. Joanna: Yes, that's a good point because people are like, “Oh yes, I'll scan your QR code and stream it,” but you might not get the money for that for ages, and it might just be five cents or whatever. Alicia: Streaming is terrible for live musicians. I mean, I don't know if you know the site Bandcamp, but it's essentially self-publishing for musicians. Bandcamp is a great way around that, and a lot of independent musicians use it because that's a place you can upload your music and people can pay $8 for an album. They can stream it on there if they want, or they can download it and have it. But, yes, it's hard out there for touring musicians. Joanna: Yes, for sure. Well, let's come to the book then. Your memoir, When We Are Born We Forget Everything. Tell us about some of the challenges of a book as opposed to these other types of performances. Alicia: Well, I come out of poetry, so that was my first love. That's what I majored in in college. That's what my MFA is in. Poetry is famously short, and I'm not one of those long-form poets. I have been trained for many years to think in terms of a one-page arc, if at all. Arc isn't even really a word that we use in poetry. So to write a full-length prose book was really an incredible education. Writing it basically took ten years from writing to publication, so probably seven years of writing and editing. I felt like there was an MFA-equivalent process in the number of classes I took, books I read, and work that went into it. So that was one of my main joys and challenges, really learning on the job to write long-form prose coming out of poetry. How to keep the engine going, how to think about ending one chapter in a way that leaves you with some torque or momentum so that you want to go into the next chapter. How many characters is too many? Who gets names and who doesn't? Some of these things that are probably pretty basic for fiction writers were all very new to me. That was a big part of my process. Then, of course, poets don't usually have agents. So once it was done, I began to query agents. It was the normal sort of 39 rejections and then one agent who really understood what I was trying to do. She's incredible, and she was able to sell the book. The longevity of just working on something for that long—I have a lot of joy in that longevity—but it does sometimes feel like, is this ever going to happen, or am I on a fool's errand? Joanna: I guess, again, the difference with performance is you have a date for the performance and it's done then. I suppose once you get a contract, then for sure it has to be done. But memoir in particular, you do have to set boundaries, because of course your life continues, doesn't it? So what were the challenges in curating what went into the book? Because many people listening know memoir is very challenging in terms of how personal it can be. Alicia: Yes, and one thing I think is so fascinating about memoir is choosing which lens to put on your story, on your own story. I heard early on that the difference between autobiography and memoir is that autobiography tries to give a really comprehensive view of a life, and memoir is choosing one lens and telling the story of a life through that lens, which is such a beautiful creative concept. I knew early on that I wanted this to be primarily a spiritual memoir, and also somewhat of an artistic memoir, because my creativity and my spirituality are so intertwined. It started off being spiritual, and also about my musical life, and also about my writing life. In the end, I edited out the part about my writing life, because writing about writing was just too navel-gazing. So there's nothing in there about me coming of age as a writer, which used to be in there, but that whole thing got taken out. Now it's spiritual and musical. For me, it really helped to start with those focuses, because I knew there may be things that were hugely important in my life, absolutely foundational, that were not really going to be either mentioned or gone deeply into in the book. For example, my husband teases me a lot about how few pages and words he gets. He's very important in my life, but I actually met him when I was 29, and this book really mainly takes place in the years leading up to that. There's a little bit of winding down in the first few years of my thirties, but this is not a book about my life with him. He is mentioned in it. That story is in there. Having those kinds of limitations around the canvas—there's a quote, I forget if it was Miranda July, but somebody said something like, basically when you put a limitation on your project, that's when it starts to be a work of art. Whatever it is, if you say, “I'm taking this canvas and I'm using these colours,” that's when it really begins, that initial limitation. That was very helpful. Joanna: It's also the beauty of memoir, because of course you can write different memoirs at different times. You can write something about your writing life. You can write something else about your marriage and your family later on. That doesn't all have to be in one book. I think that's actually something I found interesting. And I would also say in my memoir, Pilgrimage, my husband is barely mentioned either. Alicia: Does he tease you too? Joanna: No, I think he's grateful. He is grateful for the privacy. Alicia: That's why I keep saying, you should be grateful! Joanna: Yes. You really should. Like, maybe stop talking now. Alicia: Yes, exactly. I know. Marriage, memoir—those words should strike fear into his heart. Joanna: They definitely should. But let's just come back. When I look at your career— You just seem such an independent creative, and so I wondered why you decided to work with a traditional publisher instead of being an independent. How are you finding it as someone who's not in charge of everything? Alicia: It's a great question. The origin story for this memoir is that I was actually reading poetry at a writing conference called Bread Loaf in the States. This was 16 years ago or something. I was giving a poetry reading and afterwards an agent, not my agent, came up to me and said, you know, you have a voice. You should try writing nonfiction because you could probably sell it. Back to your question about how I support myself, I am always really hustling to make a living. It's not like I have some separate well-paying job and the writing has no pressure on it. So my ears kind of perked up. I thought, wait, getting paid for writing? Because poetry is literally not in the world. It's just not a concept for poets. That's not why we write and it's not a possibility. So a little light turned on in my brain. I thought, wow, that could be a really interesting element to add to my income stream, and it would be flexible and it would be meaningful. For a few years I thought, what nonfiction could I write? And I came up with the idea of writing a book about biblical women from a more scholarly perspective, because I teach that material and I've studied it. I went to speak to another agent and she said, well, you could do that, but if you actually want to sell a book, it's going to have to be more of a trade book. So if you don't want an academic press, which wouldn't pay very much, you would have to have some kind of memoir-like stories in there to just sweeten it so it doesn't feel academic. So then I began writing a little bit of spiritual memoir. I thought, okay, well, I'll write about a few moments. Then once I started writing, I couldn't stop. The floodgates really opened. That's how it ended up being a spiritual memoir with interwoven stories of biblical women. It became a hybrid in that sense. I knew from the beginning that this project—for all my saying earlier that I never plan anything and only work on instinct, I was thinking as I said that, that cannot be true. This time, I actually thought, what if, instead of coming from this pure, heart-focused place of poetry, I began writing with the intention of potentially selling a book? The way my fiction writer friends talked about selling their books. So that was always in my mind. I knew I would continue writing poetry, continue publishing with small presses, continue putting my own music out there independently, but this was a bit of an experiment. What if I try to interface with the publishing world, in part for financial sustainability? And because I had a full draft before I queried, I never felt like anyone was telling me what to write. I can't imagine personally selling a book on proposal, because I do need that full capacity to just swerve, change directions, be responsive to what the project is teaching me. I can't imagine promising that I'll write something, because I never know what I'll write. But writing at least a very solid draft first, I'm always delighted to get notes and make polish and rewrite and make things better. I took care of that freedom in the first seven years of writing and then I interfaced with the agent and publisher. Joanna: I was going to say, given that it's taken you seven to ten years to do this and I can't imagine that you're suddenly a multimillionaire from this book. It probably hasn't fulfilled the hourly rate that perhaps you were thinking of in terms of being paid for your work. I think some people think that everyone's going to end up with the massive book deal that pays for the rest of their life. I guess this book does just fit into the rest of your portfolio career. Alicia: Yes. One of the benefits of these long arcs that I like to work on is, one of them—and probably the primary one—is that the project gets to unfold on its own time. I don't think I could have rushed it if I wanted. The other is that it never really stopped me from doing any of my other work. Joanna: Mm-hmm. Alicia: So it's not like, oh, I gave up months of my life and all I got was this advance or something. It's like, I was living my life and then when I had a little bit of writing time—and I will say, it impacted my poetry. I haven't written as much poetry because I was working on this. So it wasn't like I just added it on top of everything I was already doing, but it was a pleasure to just switch to prose for a while. It was just woven into my life. I appreciated having this side project where no one was waiting for it. There were no deadlines, there was no stress around it, because I always have performances to promote and due dates for all kinds of work. It was just this really lovely arena of slow growth and play. When I wanted a reader, I could do a swap with a writer friend, but no one was ever waiting for it on deadline. So there's actually a lot of pleasure in that. Then I will say, I think I've made more from selling this than my poetry. Probably close to ten times more than I've ever made from any of my poetry. So on a poetry scale, it's certainly not going to pay for my life, but it actually does make a true financial difference in a way that much of my other work is a little more bit by bit by bit. It's actually a different scale. Joanna: Well, that's really good. I'm glad to hear that. I also want to ask you, because you've done so many things, and— I'm fascinated by your independent film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff. I have only watched the trailer. You are in it, you wrote it, directed it, and it's also obviously got other people in, and it's fascinating. It's about this particular point in history. I've written quite a lot of screenplay adaptations of my novels, and I've had some various amounts of interest, but the whole film industry to me is just a complete nightmare, far bigger nightmare than the book industry. So I wonder if you could maybe talk about this, because it just seems like you made a film, which is so cool. Alicia: Oh yes, thank you. Joanna: And it won awards, yes, we should say. Alicia: Did we win awards? Yes. It really, for an extremely low-budget indie film, went far further than my team and I could ever have imagined. I will say I never intended to make a film. Like most of the best things in my life, it really happened by accident. When I was living in New York— I lived there for many years—the 2008 financial collapse happened and I happened to have an arts grant that gave a bunch of artists workspace, studio space, in essentially an abandoned building in the financial district. It was an empty floor of a building. The floor had been left by the previous tenant, and there's a nonprofit that takes unused real estate in the financial district and lets artists work in it for a while. So I was on Wall Street, which was very rare for me, but for this year I was working on Wall Street. Even though I was working on poems, the financial collapse happened around me, and I did get inspired by that to create a one-woman show, which was more of a theatre show. That was already a huge leap for me because I had no real theatre experience, but it was experimental and growing out of my poetry practice and my music. It was a musical one-woman show about the financial collapse from a spiritual perspective, apparently. So I performed that. I documented it, and then a friend who lives in Portland, Oregon, where I now live, said, “I'm a theatre producer, I'd like to produce it here.” So then I rewrote it and did a run here in Portland of that show. Essentially, I started to tour it a little bit, but I got tired of it. It was too much work and it never really paid very much, and I thought, this is impacting my life negatively. I just want to do a really good documentation of the show. So I wanted to hire a theatre documentarian to just document the show so that it didn't disappear, like you were saying before about live performance. But one of the people I talked to actually ended up being an artistic filmmaker, as opposed to a documentarian. She watched the archival footage, just a single camera of the show, and said, “I don't think you should do this again and film it with three cameras. I think you should make it into a feature film. And in fact, I think maybe I should direct it, because there's all this music in it and I also direct music videos.” We had this kind of mind meld. Joanna: Mm. Alicia: I never intended to make a film, but she is a visionary director and I had this piece of IP essentially, and all the music and the writing. We adapted it together. We did it here in Portland. We did all the fundraising ourselves. We did not interface with Hollywood really. I think that would be, I just can't imagine. I love Hollywood, but I'm not really connected, and I can't imagine waiting for someone to give us permission or a green light to make this. It was experimental and indie, so we just really did it on the cheap. We had an amazing producer who helped us figure out how to do it with the budget that we had. We worked really hard fundraising, crowdfunding, asking for donations, having parties to raise money, and then we just did it and put it out there. I think my main advice—and I hear this a lot on screenwriting podcasts—is just make the thing. Make something, as opposed to trying to get permission to make something. Because unless you're already in that system, it's going to be really hard to get permission to make it. Once you make something, that leads to something else, which leads to something else. So even if it's a very short thing, or even if it's filmed on your phone, just actually make the thing. That turned out to be the right thing for us. Joanna: Yes, I mean, I feel like that is what underpins us as independent creatives in general. As an independent author, I feel the same way. I'm never asking permission to put a book in the world. No, thank you. Alicia: Exactly. We have a vision and we do it. It's harder in some ways, but that liberation of being able to really fully create our vision without having to compromise it or wait for permission, I think it's such a beautiful thing. Joanna: Well, we're almost out of time, but I do want to ask you about creative confidence. Alicia: Hmm. Joanna: I feel I'm getting a lot of sense about this at the moment, with all the AI stuff that's happening. When you've been creating a long time, like you and I have, we know our voice and we can lean into our voice. We are creatively confident. We'll fail a lot, but we'll just push on and try things and see what happens. Newer creators are struggling with this kind of confidence. How do I know what is my voice? How do I know what I like? How do I lean into this? So give us some thoughts about how to find your voice and how to find that creative confidence if you don't feel you have it. Alicia: I love that. One thing I will say is that I always think whatever is arising is powerful material to create from. So if a lack of confidence is arising, that's a really powerful feeling to directly explore and not just try to ignore. Although sometimes one has to just ignore those feelings. But to actually explore that feeling, because AI can't have that, right? AI can't really feel a crisis of confidence, and humans can. So that's a gift that we have, those kinds of sensitivities. I think to go really deep into whatever is arising, including the sense that we don't have the right to be creating, or we're not good enough, or whatever it is. Then I always do come back to a quote. I think it might have been John Berryman, but I'm forgetting which poet said it. A younger poet said, “How will I ever know if I'm any good?” And this famous poet said something like—I'm paraphrasing—”You'll never know if you're any good. If you have to know, don't write.” That has been really liberating to me, actually. It sounds a little harsh, but it's been really liberating to just let go of a sense of “good enough.” There is no good enough. The great writers never know if they're good enough. Coming back to this idea of just making without permission—the practice of doing the thing is being a writer. Caring and trying to improve our craft, that's the best that we can have. There's never going to be a moment where we're like, yes, I've nailed this. I am truly a hundred per cent a writer and I have found my voice. Everything's always changing anyway. I would say, either go into those feelings or let those feelings be there. Give them a little tea. Tell them, okay, you're welcome to be here, but you don't get to drive the boat. And then return to the practice of making. Joanna: Absolutely. Great. So where can people find you and your books and everything you do online? Alicia: Everything is on my website, which is AliciaJo.com, and also on Instagram at @ohaliciajo. I'd love to say hello to anyone who's interested in similar topics. Joanna: Brilliant. Well, thanks so much for your time, Alicia. That was great. Alicia: Thank you. I love your podcast. I'm so grateful for all that you've given the writing world, Jo.The post Creative Confidence, Portfolio Careers, And Making Without Permission with Alicia Jo Rabins first appeared on The Creative Penn.

This episode is a conversation with my dear friend Catherine Zack, which we initially recorded for her podcast "The 40 Portal". Catherine is the owner of Village Yoga in Kinderhook, NY, an executive coach, speaker, writer and collector of women's wisdom. This past summer, on her own 40th birthday - only 2 days apart to my own - she invited a group of close female friends to participate in what she calls The 40 Portal, a book in which everyone of 40 and under was invited to write a question, and everyone of over 40 was invited to share their wisdom. This book turned into the podcast The 40 Portal, on which Catherine invites 40 women to have conversations around their path towards 40, and beyond.In this conversation, Catherine and I discuss midlife and what it brings up for us to move into our 40s. I talk about what this portal means to me, and how I'm experiencing this non-linear space of self discovery. We discuss the liberation that can be found in midlife and a sense of shedding the pressure of the societal gaze. We share about embracing a sense of invisibility, the reclaiming of personal magic, erotic awakenings, re-villaging and being seen by the people we actually want to be seen by.Resources + LinksCath's ‘The 40s Portal Project'Cath's podcast ‘The 40 Portal'We mention these books: Terry Tempest Williams, “When Women Were Birds” and Miranda July, “All Fours”Sign up for my newsletter, How We Come BackMy book, Root and Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the SelfConnect with me on Instagram @beccapiastrelliTimestamps[00:00] Introducing Catherine & her project ‘The 40 Portal' [08:25] The start of our friendship and the origin of the 40 Portal project [12:16] The personal definition and visual of portal and midlife [16:10] Exploration of identity through name, life phases and self definition [21:41] The myths and blessings of midlife [29:34] Seeking examples of women in their femininity and agency as a mother and as a daughter [34:47] Feeling seen, safe and at home in spaces with other women [38:23] Erotic awakening in midlife [46:29] Releasing patterns and self discovery in your 40s and beyond [50:00] Disappearing from the aggressive societal gaze and feeling seen in the community we knit [54:54] Life as a portfolio with many projects of many seasons and receiving your life's assignment

Becky, Holly, Jakob, and Austin talk about books of the 2020s, trends in reading and publishing, our hopes for the future, and a couple of predictions for the next big thing. This reading data: https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2024/federal-data-reading-pleasure-all-signs-show-slump Books mentioned include: Spillover by David Quammen, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, The Plague by Albert Camus, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez,  These Precious Days and Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez, The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, There is a Door in This Darkness by Kristin Cash ore, All Fours by Miranda July, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, What Were We Thinking by Carlos Lozada, Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen, Just Us by Claudia Rankine, The Trees by Percival Everett, Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette, Intimacies and A Separation by Katie Kitamura, Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, Ducks by Kate Beaton, The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty, The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, The Most by Jessica Anthony, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, Autocracy Inc by Anne Applebaum, Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, Doppleganger by Naomi Klein, Detransition, Baby by Torry Peters, Woodworking by Emily St. James, Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan, Diary of a Misfit by Casey Parks, Jesus Wept by Philip Shenon, Romney by McKay Coppins, Motherland by Julia Ioffe, The Gales of November by John U. Bacon, Murderland by Caroline Fraser, King of Kings by Scott Anderson, All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilberty, Challenger by Adam Higginbotham, More Everything Forever by Adam Becker, Red White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca, The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, Wanderhome by Jay Dragon, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, The House in the Cerulean sea by TJ Klune, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, The Women by Kristin Hannah, Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey,  The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, Alchemised by SenLinYu, Convent Wisdom by Ana Garriga and Carment Urbita, The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo, We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, Berry Song by Michaela Goade, Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, The Tragedy of True Crime by John J. Lennon, The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne,  We Tell Ourselves Stories by Alissa Wilkinson, Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik, Enshittification by Cory Doctorow, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Back After This by Linda Holmes, The Caretaker by Ron Rash And authors Patricia Lockwood,  Claire Keegan, Rachel Kushner, Timothy Snyder, Helen Garner, Casey Plett, Mr Beast/James Patterson, Stephen Graham Jones, Silvia Moreno Garcia, and more!

Mumot, André www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Fazit

Endlich wieder eine kleine Bücherfolge! Wir geben heute ein Leseupdate und erzählen euch, welche Bücher wir in den letzten Monaten gelesen haben. Was habt ihr so gelesen?Miranda July „auf allen Vieren“ Genevieve Novak „No Hard Feelings“ Genevieve Novak „Crushing“ Sophie White „Hot Mess“T.J. Klune:- Mr. Parnassus Heim für magische Begabte- Jenseits des Ozeans- Aus Sternen und Staub- Das unglaubliche Leben des Wallace Price- Die unerhörte Reise der Familie WallaceMatt Haig - Die Unmöglichkeit des LebensTrude Teige - Als Großmutter im Regen tanzteSchreibt uns gerne an hi@fettundgluecklich.de

Greg Belfrage shows the diffrences between the AI platforms and how some of them give different answers depending on how woke they are. Elon Musk, Miranda July, Katie Miller, and Donald Trump, all give warnings about woke AISee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Behrendt, Barbara www.deutschlandfunk.de, Kultur heute

In The Last Word, Greg Belfrage gives his final thoughts on the news of the day including Pam Bondi's warning to Tim Walz, Greg's agreement with Todd Starnes "what are we waiting for" statement and Trump and the DOJ should just declare an insurrection act on Minnesota. Greg also talks about Jonathan Turley's reponse to Tim Walz feeding the anger of the protesters, and Miranda July pointing out how the democrats are using the same playbook as the 2020 George Floyd protests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of Female Gaze: The Film Club, Morgan is joined by returning guest, Tina Kakadelis, critic from Beyond the Cinerama Dome and host of the podcast Movies with My Dad. Tina is back on the podcast to discuss Miranda July's 2020 film, "Kajillionaire." Tina and Morgan dive into the prickly family dynamics of the film, the schemes of Old Dolio, and how the film interrogates the desire for connection. You can find Beyond the Cinerama DomeWebsiteYou can follow TinaLetterboxdInstagramYou can follow Female Gaze: The Film ClubInstagramBlueSkyWebsite

Staffers Sarah, Desirae and Brynne talk about the best books they read the past year. Books mentioned: A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko; The Möbius Book by Catherine Lacey; The Wrong Daughter, One Small Mistake, The Perfect Match and The Wedding Vow by Dandy Smith; All Fours by Miranda July; The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo; and Love, Mom by Iliana Xander.Also mentioned: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson; Wild by Cheryl Strayed; The Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim by Pete McBride; the documentary Into the Canyon; Biography of X by Catherine Lacey; The Last Word by Taylor Adams; author Freida McFadden; Ninth House, Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo; Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke; and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.Check out books, TV shows and movies at countycat.mcfls.org, wplc.overdrive.com, hoopladigital.com and kanopy.com/en/westallis. For more about WAPL, visit westallislibrary.org.Music: Tim Moor via Pixabay

Jen and Christina are back via land and sea, with a MINOR spoiler alert over Miranda July's “All Fours.” This is a super fun episode if we do say so ourselves. Also do you put your suitcase on the bed when you pack? Don't forget to follow us on Substack too. Christina never writes but Jen does

Vad var mest omvälvande mellan pärmarna i år? P1 Kulturs programledare Lisa Bergström sammanfattar litteraturåret 2025 tillsammans med Expressens kulturchef Victor Malm och Sveriges Radios litteraturredaktör Lina Kalmteg. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radios app. Men vilka var då årets bästa böcker?Expressens kulturchef Victor Malm utser Christian Krachts ”Air” till årets bästa roman och Klas Östergrens ”Klenoden” till årets bästa svenska roman.Sveriges Radios litteraturredaktör Lina Kalmteg utser ”Ljusspel” av Daniel Kehlman till årets bästa roman och Monika Fagerholms "Döda trakten/Kvinnor i revolt" till årets bästa svenska roman.Andra böcker från 2025 som lyfts fram i programmet är ”Alla fyra” av Miranda July, ”Fars rygg” av Niels Fredrik Dahl, ”Liken vi begravde” av Lina Wolff, ”Arendal” av Karl Ove Knausgård , ”Artens överlevnad” av Lydia Sandgren, ”17 juni” av Alex Schulman, ”Du er hjemme nå” av Per Petterson, ”Schlager om sommaren” av Ester Berg och ”Inringning” av Carl Frode Tiller.

Vad var mest omvälvande mellan pärmarna i år? P1 Kulturs programledare Lisa Bergström sammanfattar litteraturåret 2025 tillsammans med Expressens kulturchef Victor Malm och Sveriges Radios litteraturredaktör Lina Kalmteg. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radios app. HÄR ÄR ÅRETS BÖCKER – ENLIGT VÅRA EXPERTERExpressens kulturchef Victor Malm utser Christian Krachts ”Air” till årets bästa roman och Klas Östergrens ”Klenoden” till årets bästa svenska roman.Sveriges Radios litteraturredaktör Lina Kalmteg utser ”Ljusspel” av Daniel Kehlman till årets bästa roman och Monika Fagerholms "Döda trakten/Kvinnor i revolt" till årets bästa svenska roman.Andra böcker som lyfts fram i programmet är ”Alla fyra” av Miranda July, ”Fars rygg” av Niels Fredrik Dahl, ”Liken vi begravde” av Lina Wolff, ”Arendal” av Karl Ove Knausgård , ”Artens överlevnad” av Lydia Sandgren, ”17 juni” av Alex Schulman, ”Du er hjemme nå” av Per Petterson, ”Schlager om sommaren” av Ester Berg och ”Inringning” av Carl Frode Tiller.ÄLSKADE ROMANKARAKTÄREN JANA KIPPO KLIVER IN I TV-RUTANI julhelgen blir Karin Smirnoffs älskade roman ”Jag for ner till Bror” tv-serie i SVT. I huvudrollen som Jana Kippo syns Amanda Jansson, som tidigare gjort samma roll i Teater Västernorrlands uppsättning av boken. Hur är det att ta sig an en älskad romanfigur, som många redan har en bild av i sina huvuden? Vår reporter Rebecka Sehéler har träffat teamet bakom nya serien.ESSÄ: VAD ÄR SKILLNADEN PÅ LIV OCH LITTERATUR?Vad är skillnaden på saker som hänt och sådant man drömt? På liv och litteratur? I dagens essä ser Maria Küchen gränserna upplösas hos Göran Tunström.Programledare: Lisa BergströmProducent: Henrik Arvidsson

Hva er likheten mellom Lily Allens snakkisalbum West End Girl og Sigrid Undset, Sylvia Plath, Miranda July og Mary Shelley?Den britiske popartisten Lily Allens skilsmissealbum West End Girl har skapt storm siden det kom i oktober, så til de grader at vi nå befinner oss i en såkalt «West End Girl Winter».De fjorten sangene forteller om eksmannen og Stranger Things-skuespilleren David Harbours svik og parets påfølgende skilsmisse, i et brutalt og selvransakende oppgjør med tiden de hadde sammen og med samfunnets forestillinger om den moderne kvinnen. I musikkens verden er oppbruddsplater en lang tradisjon, og Allen selv har omtalt albumet som autofiksjon – fiksjon tett knyttet til egne erfaringer.Forfatter og litteraturprofessor Janne Stigen Drangsholt mener derimot at albumet ikke enkelt kan leses som et stykke virkeligheteslitteratur, og vil i dette foredraget heller trekke linjer mellom Allen og forfattere som Mary Shelley, Virginia Woolf, Sigrid Undset, Sylvia Plath og popmusikkens Taylor Swift. Hva har alle disse til felles? Finnes egentlig den moderne kvinnen?Litteraturliste fra foredraget:W. H. Auden – «Letter to Lord Byron» (1937)Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice (1813) Zygmunt Bauman – Liquid Modernity (2000)Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre (1847)Emily BrontëSabrina CarpenterCharles DarwinFriedrich EngelsWilliam Godwin Ted HughesMiranda July – All Fours (2024)Immanuel KantKarl MarxJohn Stuart Mill – The Subjection of Women (1869)Toril Moi – «Kjærlighetstortur. Torborg Nedreaas' Av måneskinn gror det ingenting. Kultur og liv på 1950-tallet» (2020)William MorrisMaggie NelsonSylvia Plath – “Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone” (1962)Sylvia Plath – The Journals of Sylvia Plath (1982)Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar (1963)Jean-Jacques RousseauAnne SextonMary ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyTaylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl (2025)Sigrid Undset Mary Wollstonecraft – A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)Virginia Woolf – To the Lighthouse (1927)Virginia Woolf – A Room of One's Own (Women & Fiction) (1929) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Agony Aunties episode of Therapy Works, Julia, Emily and Sophie respond to a deeply moving letter from a listener questioning whether her long, emotionally disconnected marriage can be saved. They explore the complex layers of love, duty, financial dependence, neurodivergence, resentment, and midlife awakening - offering thoughtful reflections on grief, desire, the cost of staying, and the cost of leaving. With compassion and clarity, they discuss how therapy, imagining possible futures, practical planning, and understanding neurodivergent dynamics can help illuminate a way forward. They also share book and podcast recommendations, discuss the emotional impact on both partners, and remind listeners that meaningful change - whatever form it takes - doesn't have to be rushed. Links & Resources Mentioned • Email your questions: jsamuelpod@gmail.com • DM Julia on Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe • The Honesty Box by Lucy Brazier • Therapy Works episode with Lucy Brazier • The Four Minds by Miranda July (book referenced in the discussion) is called All Fours: https://mirandajuly.com/all-fours/ • Esther Perel x Miranda July conversation (podcast interview) • Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women by Oona Metz (guest mentioned as upcoming interview) If you need help finding a therapist, visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Samuel Therapy Practice⁠⁠⁠ This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/therapyworks and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about people inserting themselves into the lives of others—in their own best interests. In Simon Rich's “Relapse,” friends rally 'round when one of their numbers heeds the call of the muse. It's read by Ophira Eisenberg. In Langston Hughes' “Thank You, M'am,” read by Pauletta Washington, a fierce old lady sets a young man straight. And a young woman finds an ingenious way to cheer up retirees—and herself—in Miranda July's “The Swim Team,” read by Parker Posey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s hot and everyone’s slightly unhinged, so what better time to kick off the Mamamia Out Loud Summer Book Club than with the only novel bold enough to ask: What if you left your family for a road trip and reinvented yourself... in a motel off the freeway? In the first of our Summer Book Club episodes, Em, Jessie and Holly dive into Miranda July’s All Fours, a book that is part midlife crisis, part erotic fever dream and part existential stand-up comedy routine. Em, Jessie and Holly discuss female desire, boredom, creativity and how it’s somehow both deeply relatable and utterly chaotic to want to start afresh on a whim. If you’ve ever: Sat in your car for an five extra minutes just to avoid your family Fantasised about a new life in a different country Or simply wondered, 'What if?' Then yes, this episode of Summer Book Club is for you.Summer Book Club Episode 2 drops December 28 when we'll be discussing the Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Support independent women's media What To Listen To Next: Listen to our latest episode: All The Things We Didn’t Need To Know About The Sex Scandal Of The Year Listen: So, Are You Rude With Money? Listen: The Women Quietly Quitting Their Husbands & Your High School Ghost Listen: The 5 Days You Should Schedule Every Month Listen: The Most Telling Detail In That Meghan Sussex Profile Listen: ‘I Was An Ugly Child’ & The 5-Second Underthinking Rule Listen: Everything That Shouldn't Be Embarrassing But Absolutely Is Listen: So That's The Reason I Feel Bad About… My Eyelids? Listen: Big Brother Australia, The Golden Bachelor & The TV ‘Algorithm Theory’ Listen to MID with Monique van Tulder: The Gap Year That Saved A Marriage Connect your subscription to Apple Podcasts Discover more Mamamia Podcasts here including the very latest episode of Parenting Out Loud, the parenting podcast for people who don't listen to... parenting podcasts. Watch Mamamia Out Loud: Mamamia Out Loud on YouTube What to read: 'I’m obsessed with audiobooks, here are 10 of the best I’ve ever heard.' 11 of the very best beach reads to lose yourself in this summer. If you loved A Court of Thorns and Roses, here are 6 romantasy books to read next. The 8 best spicy reads that aren't all-out smutty. The 22 best books Reese Witherspoon has recommended. THE END BITS: Check out our merch at MamamiaOutLoud.com GET IN TOUCH: Feedback? We’re listening. Send us an email at outloud@mamamia.com.au Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message. Join our Facebook group Mamamia Outlouders to talk about the show. Follow us on Instagram @mamamiaoutloud and on Tiktok @mamamiaoutloudBecome a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rīgas Tehniskās universitātes (RTU) Studentu pilsētiņā notiek eksperiments - ar 4000 bezvadu sensoru palīdzību tiek ievākti dati par iekštelpu gaisa kvalitāti, energoefektivitāti un daudz ko citu. Kā lietu internets var palīdzēt mums justies labāk ēkās, kurās dzīvojam, un ko šādi datu mākoņi mums sniedz? Par augstskolā notiekošo eksperimetu stāsta RTU Datorzinātnes, informācijas tehnoloģijas un enerģētikas fakultātes dekāns, profesors Agris Ņikitenko un RTU Datorzinātnes, informācijas tehnoloģijas un enerģētikas fakultātes Industriālās elektronikas, elektrotehnikas un enerģētikas institūta vadošais pētnieks Kārlis Baltputnis. Uzmanība tiek vērsta datu drošai iegūšanai, uzkrāšanai un analīzei, kā arī prognozējošu modeļu attīstīšanai. Tāpat tiks pētīts, kā sensoru tehnoloģija darbojas vidē ar blīvu sensoru izvietojumu un kā reāllaika dati var uzlabot energoefektivitāti, iekštelpu klimatu un studentu mācību procesu. Sensori ir uzstādīt RTU ēkās dažādās vietās, kā arī dienesta viesnīcā Ķīpsalā katrā studentu istabiņā. --   Iepazīstinām ar atklājumiem un izgudrojumiem, kas saņēmuši Eiropas izgudrotāju balvu. -- Šajā nedēļā par kādu grāmatu stāsta sociālantropoloģe Diāna Kiščenko.  Viņa atzīst,  lai arī ikdienā vairāk ir jālasa zinātniskā literatūra un studentu darbi, jau kādu laiku Diāna Kiščenko ir kāda sieviešu grāmatu kluba dalībniece, kurā katru mēnesi izvēlas vienu grāmatu, kuru lasīt un apspriest. Viena no pēdējā laika grāmatām, kas lasīta un apspriesta, ir Mirandas Džulijas (Miranda July) romāns "All fours", ko latviski varētu tulkot "Uz visām četrām", kas izdots ASV 2024. gadā. Grāmatas centrā ir stāsts par sievieti perimenopauzē, kas šobrīd ir aktuāla tēma arī Latvijas kontekstā.    

El desig, fil conductor del Festival Cl

Greg Belfrage goes over Miranda July's article on Thomas Crooks and his failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 80th episode of Bomb Squad Matinee, Sydney, Tanner, Joe V, and Tim discuss Miranda July's 2020 indie dramedy Kajillionaire. Is this one of the best films of 2020? Are Old Dolio's parents the worst parents in movie history? What moments from the film made the gang the most emotional? Tune in to find out!

We beginnen meteen met een flink statement van Aaf: Aperol smaakt gewoon naar medicijnen. Daar kunnen we kort over zijn. Net als over foto’s die door anderen zijn gemaakt en die je toch zelf post. In dezelfde categorie vallen knakworstbenen, voetfoto’s en poezen. We zijn onverbiddelijk vandaag. Nog een aankondiging van Aaf gaat over stoppen op de kunstacademie, maar wel op de beste manier en met een hele doos aan nieuw houtskool en penselen. Lies zoekt nog steeds naar het moment waarop de vakantie echt begint. Waarop je je stierlijk verveelt en leeft van ijsje naar ijsje en dat is dan oké. We scrollen deze aflevering door de online wereld van pubers én die van onszelf en stellen ons de vraag: is er wel een oplossing voor die telefoon in onze hand? We kunnen niet eeuwig als smoes tegen onze kinderen zeggen dat we de belastingaangifte aan het doen zijn. Ook kijken we even naar de speeltuinen van Nederland waar we iPhone-vaders vinden en bakfietsen vol digitale entertainment.En dan is daar eindelijk Miranda July. Die vreemd genoeg nog nooit was verkozen tot goeroe. Voor iedereen die zich wel eens onder de zware hoef van een paard bevindt. Je wíl wel iets doen, maar het lukt niet. Parts therapy helpt. Of in elk geval: even geen scherm. Veel ouders weten nauwelijks wat hun kind online doet, terwijl jongeren wél willen praten als ze zich begrepen voelen. KPN helpt die kloof dichten met één simpele vraag: Hoe was je dag online? Bekijk de 31 hulpvragen op kpn.com/beterinternet.

El dibujante José Luis Munuera nos acerca a Su olor después de la lluvia, editado por Astiberri. Se trata de la adaptación de la novela francesa homónima de Cédric Sapin-Defour que fue el libro de no ficción más vendido de 2023.Con Laura Fernández hacemos un recorrido por las novelas de viajes en carretera con la biografía de Carolyn Cassady, Fuera de la carretera; Héroes de la frontera, de Dave Eggers, publicada por Random House, y A cuatro patas, de Miranda July, editada por Random House.De la mano de Ángela Núñez entramos al Museo del Traje, que en su centenario recupera en la colección permanente algunas de las piezas más icónicas.Cerramos acercándonos al Festival Sierra Sonora en La Rioja. Un encuentro que busca a través de la cultura dinamizar la España vaciada y que este año cumple su quinto aniversario como explica su fundador, Álvaro Sainz.Escuchar audio

It's National Orgasm Day on July 31st, so Fearne is listening back to Happy Place conversations about female sexuality, fantasy, and – obviously – orgasms, so that we can reclaim our bodies and desires as our own...In this episode – - Crystal Hefner describes what it was like living as a sexualised woman at the Playboy House-Emily Ratajkowski unpacks how we can remove our sexuality from the male gaze-Dita Von Teese gives her take on nudity and building confidence in your body-Gillian Anderson chats about what she learnt from collecting essays on women's fantasies-Miranda July explains why she included a particularly taboo fantasy in her novel All Fours-Florence Bark talks through how to get to know your own anatomy better, so you can properly lean into all that pleasure your body is capable ofListen to the full episodes here – Crystal HefnerEmily RatajkowskiDita Von TeeseGillian AndersonMiranda JulyFlorence Bark Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

durée : 00:10:17 - "À quatre pattes" de Miranda July Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

durée : 00:51:05 - Le Masque et la Plume - par : Rebecca Manzoni - Un roadtrip inattendu qui bouscule le destin d'une femme ; quand la musique péruvienne devient un espoir pour sauver un pays ; un serial killer se venge de la société en ciblant les femmes de toutes classes ; 33 nouvelles sur la robotisation et l'humain… - invités : Blandine Rinkel, Elisabeth Philippe, Arnaud Viviant, Jean-Marc Proust - Blandine Rinkel : Écrivaine et musicienne, Elisabeth Philippe : Critique littéraire (L'Obs), Arnaud Viviant : Critique littéraire (Revue Regards), Jean-Marc Proust : Auteur et critique (Slate) - réalisé par : Guillaume Girault Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les autres épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France.

Ett gratisavsnitt om den massiva kvinnliga erfarenheten av att ha det jättebra i sin familj och plötsligt bli invaderad av en obeskrivlig energi som leder till förändringar i paritet med tonårens turbulens. Om medelålder, ego, moderskap och åtrå i Miranda July's senaste roman All Fours. Hur långt har jämställdheten kommit?

durée : 00:03:31 - Le Regard culturel - par : Lucile Commeaux - Le dernier roman de Miranda July, qui paraît chez Flammarion dans une traduction de Nathalie Bru, aborde avec un humour incisif et une crudité pleine de fantaisie la crise existentielle d'une femme qui lui ressemble.

It's been almost a year since Miranda July released her hit novel, “All Fours.” The novel features a woman in her mid-40s who heads out on a solo road trip across the country, only to stop at a roadside motel 30 minutes from her home. She winds up staying there for three weeks, exploring and questioning what she actually wants and needs out of midlife, things she can't really focus on when she's busy being a wife, a mom and a working artist. In the motel, she redecorates the room, designs her days the way she wants to and gets in touch with her changing desires.In the past year, this book has become a touchstone for how our culture addresses women in perimenopause. It's expanded beyond the page to a kind of movement. Soon after the book's release, women started writing to July with their own stories. She started a Substack to keep those conversations going. People organized discussion groups all over the world called All Fours Group Chats. Hats were made. “All Fours” was shortlisted for the National Book Award, and it's currently being adapted into a limited TV series. The paperback version of the novel will be released May 13.In this week's episode of Modern Love, July talks about the anger and desire that shaped the writing of “All Fours.” And she reflects on why this novel is inspiring to some, and threatening to others, in this cultural moment. Listener Callout:How did your dad express his feelings? Tell us your story in a voice memo, and you might hear yourself in a future episode. For Father's Day, the Modern Love team is looking at different ways dads show their feelings, and we want to know about a moment when your dad opened up to you. Where were you? What did he do or say? How did you react? Did it have a lasting impact on you? And if you're a dad, how do you think about showing emotion or vulnerability when you're with your kids? Is it something you do intentionally? Does it feel easy? Hard? The deadline is May 15. Submission instructions are here.Here's how to submit a Modern Love essay to The New York Times.Here's how to submit a Tiny Love Story. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

It's conversation day!This week, we're discussing All Fours by Miranda July, so just to flag, this episode will contain spoilers, so if you're planning on reading the book and don't want to know what happens, maybe bank this episode for a future listen.Despite a great critical reception, the novel has certainly been divisive among readers, and most definitely in our DMs.The novel follows a 45-year-old perimenopausal woman who, after having an extramarital affair during a road trip, has a sexual awakening. It covers themes that we often love to discuss on the podcast, such as relationships, motherhood, aging, mortality, desire, intimacy, identity and ultimately, the meaning of life.We hope you enjoy this special book club episode - please do slide into our dms with any other books you'd love us to feature + talk about.We'll see you on Friday for the main ep,O, R, B xWe will see you Friday :) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few weeks back, Grant suggested Write-minded dedicate a whole episode to All Fours, by Miranda July—and we decided to do it. This week Brooke and Grant explore All Fours as a novel of a generation, and talk about who Miranda July is, why the book has hit such a zeitgeist moment, and whether publishers can anticipate or make these kinds of successes. Brooke has suggested that All Fours is the Fear of Flying of this generation, and we're diving into why the book matters, some of its controversies and uncomfortable moments, and why we think you should read it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A few weeks back, Grant suggested Write-minded dedicate a whole episode to All Fours, by Miranda July—and we decided to do it. This week Brooke and Grant explore All Fours as a novel of a generation, and talk about who Miranda July is, why the book has hit such a zeitgeist moment, and whether publishers can anticipate or make these kinds of successes. Brooke has suggested that All Fours is the Fear of Flying of this generation, and we're diving into why the book matters, some of its controversies and uncomfortable moments, and why we think you should read it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if the ultimate freedom—sexual, creative, personal—doesn't actually lead to...

Another day, another grab bag! This time, books for dolls and/or anxious people, kitchen timers, TikTok decorum, and Miranda July's mesmerizing Substack.    Meditations for Mortals makes a great case for pleasure reading.   Two of our current top Substacks: Miranda July's and Heavies by Chris Gayomali.    Shoutout to Caroline Lusk on TikTok. We will be downloading your videos and sharing them with our pals for the foreseeable future.    Double shoutout to Nasirin's Kitchen, Erica's near–Carnegie Hall restaurant of choice.   If you're looking for a low-tech kitchen timer, wind up Dusen Dusen's Everybody Kitchen Timer and Frieling's Magnetic Retro Kitchen Timer.    We have many questions about what happened during the 100 years of NY NOW.    Finally, is the anxiety bookshelf the Jibbitz of reading? Please share your intel at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or in our Geneva.   Learn from the best (and most charming) with MasterClass and an additional 15% off any annual membership when you use our link. Lean into spring with Fast Growing Trees. Get 15% off your first purchase with the code ATHINGORTWO. Promote a balanced gut microbiome with Ritual's Synbiotic+ and get 25% off your first month with our link. Start your store on Shopify and get a $1-a-month trial with our link. YAY.

Host Jason Blitman talks to Nancy Johnson (People of Means) about race, class, and civil rights, offering a multi-layered perspective on life issues both timeless and timely. They touch on intriguing parent-child relationships, the omnipresent "they," and more. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader, musical artist McKenna Michels, who shares her unique blend of storytelling through song, music video, and graphic novel. A native of Chicago's South Side, Nancy Johnson worked for more than a decade as an Emmy-nominated, award-winning television journalist at CBS and ABC affiliates nationwide. A graduate of Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she lives in downtown Chicago and manages brand communications for a large nonprofit. Her first book, The Kindest Lie, was a Book of the Month Club selection and a Target Book Club pick.Hailing from the vibrant city of Austin, where creativity lives on every corner, McKenna Michels is a singer-songwriter whose melodies and lyrics resonate deep within the soul. Her heart-driven songs give voice not only to the traumas she endured, but to countless nameless survivors who have faced similar challenges in their own lives. https://www.mckennamichelsmusic.com/Miranda July story as mentioned in the Valentine's Day episode:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/09/18/something-that-needs-nothingBOOK CLUB!Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply.http://aardvarkbookclub.comWATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanCONTACT!hello@gaysreading.com

In Ep. 187, Kathleen Schmidt, author of the popular Substack newsletter, Publishing Confidential, joins Sarah to dissect and discuss the State of the Publishing Industry in 2024. Between a high-level look back, talk about the top sales and book trends, to what Kathleen sees on the horizon for 2025 in the book world, this episode is packed with info. Also, Kathleen shares her favorite books of 2024! This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog. Highlights 2024 bookish news and publishing trends overview. Kathleen grades last year's crop of books with an overall B+. How the middle-aged woman / menopause stories might shake out to be the next buzzy books. The ways the full book market is oversaturated. The impact TikTok still has on the book world. Kathleen breaks down the side-eye publishing attracts from other industries with its oddball business model.  Taylor Swift remains a hot topic in publishing with The Eras Tour Book. Did Spotify's entrance into audiobooks make a noticeable impact? The secret struggle of memoirs. Anticipating 2025's potential bookish trends. State of the Publishing Industry in 2024 High-Level Overview [2:02] All Fours by Miranda July (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [6:12] Sandwich by Catherine Newman (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [6:27] The New Menopause by Mary Claire Haver (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [6:58]   2024 Book Sales and Trends [9:35]  Leaving by Roxana Robinson (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [30:11]  Splinters by Leslie Jamison (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [30:14]  Liars by Sarah Manguso (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [30:16]  Crush by Ada Calhoun (Feb 25, 2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [30:17]  Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros | Amazon | Bookshop.org [31:39] Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (Jan 14, 2025) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[31:41]  Big Book Stories of 2024 [34:18] The Official Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book (Target Exclusive)(2024) [38:21]  2025 Publishing Predictions [42:48] Kathleen's 3 Favorites Books of 2024 [46:41] Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:01]  Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:23] Foster by Claire Keegan (2010) | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [47:54]  Other Links Publishing Confidential • Substack | What Book Publishing Needs to Consider in 2025

After Trevor Noah started anchoring The Daily Show in 2015, he brought on Ronny Chieng as a field correspondent who could offer a global perspective. Now Chieng is one of the show's anchors. He's third generation Chinese Malaysian, and grew up in Malaysia, Singapore and the U.S. He has a new Netflix comedy special. Also, filmmaker and writer Miranda July talks about her novel, All Fours. It's about a 45-year-old married woman, her erotic affair with no actual sex, perimenopause, and the related fears of losing her libido and getting older.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Filmmaker and writer Miranda July, whose novel All Fours is on many best books of the year lists, and was described in the New York Times as "the year's literary conversation piece." July spoke with Terry Gross about issues in the novel, like separating from a spouse you're growing distant from, perimenopause, and having an affair. And jazz historian Kevin Whitehead reviews a newly released recording of a concert he attended in 1978, by pianist Sun Ra and his Arkestra.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this Bonus Episode, Liz and Sarah share their 2024 Gift Guide! They recommend everything from a cute tape measure to personalized pencils to a Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit Game. Need a gift for a dog lover? Choose the Nambe Pet Collection Dog Treat Jar. Looking for something to wear? Sarah suggests Mismatched Socks from Solmate. They also have books on the list — including the super buzzy novel All Fours by Miranda July. And if you want to splurge on yourself, get an Oura Ring! Plus so much more… Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/ LINKS: ODDS & ENDS: Milkshake Bath Soak - Hydrating & Moisturizing for Dry Skin Amazon.com: 3m/120" Tape Measure Body Measuring Tape for Body Cloth Tape Measure for Sewing Fabric Tailors Medical Measurements Tape Dual Sided Leather Tape Measure Retractable (Black, 1 Pack) Amazon.com: USAOPOLY Trivial Pursuit World of Harry Potter Ultimate Edition | Trivia Board Game Based On Harry Potter Films | Officially Licensed : Toys & Games Amazon.com: Surprise Gift Box Explosion for Money, Unique Folding Bouncing Red Envelope Gift Box with Confetti, Cash Explosion Luxury Gift Box for Birthday Anniversary Valentine Proposal (15 Bounces) (Pink Heart) Amazon.com: Clipa Bag Hanger - Matte Black PVD - The Ring That Opens Into a Hook and Hangs In Just 1/2" of Space, Holds 33 lbs., 3 yr. Warranty https://www.etsy.com/shop/MadronaPencils Amazon.com : L'ANGE HAIR Le Volume 2-in-1 Titanium Blow Dryer Brush | Hot Air Brush in One with Oval Barrel | Hair Styler for Smooth, Frizz-Free Results for All Hair Types (Black - 75 mm) : Beauty & Personal Care https://www.awaytravel.com/accessories/tech-case?color=jet_black https://cercanaojai.com/alpaca-blankets/ The Body Retinol. Retinol Repair Serum + Retinol Body Lotion In One. Crepey Skin Treatment. Wrinkle + Line Prevention. 0.1% Pure Retinol + 10% AHA. 5.1 oz PETS: https://www.barkbox.com/ https://www.neimanmarcus.com/p/nambe-pet-collection-dog-treat-jar-prod243220179?childItemId=NMHEANS_&msid=4102431&position=3 TO WEAR: Amazon.com: Solmate Socks - Mismatched Crew Socks; Made in USA https://shop.lululemon.com/p/womens-t-shirts/Swiftly-Tech-SS-2/_/prod9750519?color=4780 BOOKS: Audible Books & Originals - The Women: A Novel All Fours: A Novel: July, Miranda: 9780593190265: Amazon.com: Books Lovely One: A Memoir: Jackson, Ketanji Brown - Books The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA: Mundy, Liza: 9780593238172: Amazon.com: Books FOR FOODIES: https://www.topsyspopcorn.com/ https://nuts.com/chocolatessweets/gummies/gummy-bears/milk-gummy-bears/1lb.html https://nomnompaleo.com/post/105333542218/magic-mushroom-powder-diy-holiday-gift https://ojaioliveoil.com/collections/shop-all Amazon.com: Aromaster Burr Coffee Grinder, Coffee Bean Grinder,Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder Electric,24 Grind Settings, Espresso/Pour Over/Cold Brew/French Press Coffee Maker Stanley The Camp Pour Over Set Amazon.com: Nature Made Vitamin D3 2000 IU (50 mcg), Dietary Supplement for Bone, Teeth, Muscle and Immune Health Support, 220 Tablets, 220 Day Supply From Happier with Gretchen Rubin: https://the-happiness-project.com/collections/journals/products/design-your-year-guide https://the-happiness-project.com/collections/journals/products/i-want-you-to-know https://the-happiness-project.com/collections/journals/products/one-sentence-journal GIFTS FOR YOURSELF: Smart Ring - Size First with Oura Ring Gen3 Sizing Kit - Sleep Tracking Wearable - Heart Rate - Fitness Tracker Amazon.com: Waterpik Sonic-Fusion 2.0 Professional Flossing Toothbrush, Electric Toothbrush and Water Flosser Combo In One, White SF-04, Packaging May Vary Amazon.com: Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite Dpl FaceWare Pro: Smooths Full Face Fine Lines and Wrinkles, Firms Skin, Prevents Acne Flare-Ups, and Reduces Redness and Irritation (White) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Would you rip up your current life and reinvent yourself if you had the chance? Do you have desires you'd want to explore? Maybe there are hidden parts of yourself you've never had the chance to get to know? Which societal rules would you want to ignore? Author Miranda July asks all these questions in October's Happy Place Book Club novel: All Fours. She picks apart how we can fall into the monotony of every day routine instead of acknowledging the wild emotions and longings inside us. In this chat, Fearne and Miranda talk about fluctuating hormones, pressures of motherhood, sexual fantasies (some of which may or may not involve tampons), and menopause as an incredibly exciting and sacred transitional period. Fearne asks Miranda to help her be even more painfully unfiltered in her own writing, while Miranda exclusively reveals how she originally intended the novel to end. Plus, what about this book made Fearne say it was the ‘one of the hottest, sexiest things' she'd ever read...?Thank you to Canongate Books for the use of All Fours audiobook, read by Miranda July. Listen to Book Club Meets: Gillian Anderson Listen to Book Club Meets: Patric Gagne Listen to Book Club Meets: Holly Gramazio Listen to Book Club Meets: Sofie Hagen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In celebration of our backlist fall, we're dedicating this episode to sharing our recommendations for what to read if you want to capture the energy of a popular book!    Romance If you liked The Idea of You by Robinne Lee, you may like Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff and Seven Days in June by Tia Williams If you like Emily Henry's books, you may like You Again by Kate Goldbeck and books by Mhairi McFarlane! If you like Talking at Night by Claire Daverley, you may like Shark Heart by Emily Habeck and Normal People by Sally Rooney If you liked The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan, you may like Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman, How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilde, Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins, and Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings    Thriller/Mystery If you liked The Push by Ashley Audrain, you may like Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra, Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker, and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Rusell  If you liked The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon, you may like Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka If you liked Yellowface by R. F. Kuang, you may like The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz If you liked The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, you may like Happiness Falls by Angie Kim   Book Club If you liked Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, you may like All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, you may like The Measure by Nikki Erlick, The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, and This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub If you like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer   Fantasy If you liked The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, you may like Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow, The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg, and Caraval by Stephanie Garber If you like Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros or A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, you may like From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Lynn Armentrout, and Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti   Lit Fic  If you liked The Wedding People by Alison Espach, you may like We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman and I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue If you liked Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, you may like The Husbands by Holly Gramazio If you liked All Fours by Miranda July, you may like We Were The Universe by Kimberly King Parsons If you liked Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, you may like Fellowship Point by Alice Elliot Dark   Obsessions Becca: Microstitch tool Olivia: The Burnt Toast Substack by Virginia Sole-Smith   What we read this week Olivia: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall, You Know What You Did by KT Nguyen Becca: Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London   This Month's Book Club Pick - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)   Sponsors Prose - Take your free consultation with 50% off at prose.com/bop. Better Help - Visit BetterHelp.com/BADONPAPER to get 10% off your first month   Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!  Buy our Merch! Join our Geneva! Order Olivia's Book, Such a Bad Influence! Subscribe to Olivia's Newsletter! Order Becca's Book, The Christmas Orphans Club! Subscribe to Becca's Newsletter!  Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.  

  It's the moment we've been waiting for, our All Fours by Miranda July Book Club! There's been a lot of discussion about the book in our Facebook and Geneva groups, and we're so pumped to dive in!   We shared our expectations for the book before we read it, why we thought it was so polarizing, the themes of aging and menopause, how we related to the main character, and what we thought about how the story wrapped up.    Obsessions Becca: Everlane Box Cut Tee Olivia: Lizzie McAlpine's cover of A Little Bit of Everything   What we read this week Olivia: All Fours by Miranda July, All The Colors of The Dark by Chris Whitaker Becca: All Fours by Miranda July, Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein, Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors   This Month's Book Club Pick - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)   Sponsors MacMillan - listen to Somewhere Beyond The Sea wherever you listen to audiobooks! Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!  Buy our Merch! Join our Geneva! Order Olivia's Book, Such a Bad Influence! Subscribe to Olivia's Newsletter! Order Becca's Book, The Christmas Orphans Club! Subscribe to Becca's Newsletter!  Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week, Esther is in a borrowed bedroom in Los Angeles, the perfect place to talk about desire and the novel on every bedside table, All Fours. The writer, director, and artist, Miranda July, joins Esther to examine the erotic and to explore how love and desire relate and how they conflict in modern relationships. They discuss the tension between the domestic and erotic through the lens of Esther's new desire course, which Miranda had a sneak peek at. For more details on Miranda July's book, All Fours, visit https://mirandajuly.com/all-fours/ If you are interested in Bringing Back Desire or Playing With Desire in your relationships, then click the link below for more on Esther's course The Desire Bundle: https://www.estherperel.com/course-bundles/the-desire-bundle Want to learn more? Receive monthly insights, musings, and recommendations to improve your relational intelligence via email from Esther: https://www.estherperel.com/newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we're chatting with the founders of 831 Stories (and hosts of the fantastic A Thing or Two podcast) Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo! They share what drew them to the romance genre, why they started a romance entertainment company, and what makes a good sex scene. They also give us the scoop on 831's first novella, Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff, and the universe around it.   Obsessions Becca: The Perfect Couple on Netflix Olivia: Journaling    What we read this week Olivia: One of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall Becca:  All Fours by Miranda July   This Month's Book Club Pick: All Fours by Miranda July (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)   Sponsors Cozy Earth - Go to cozyearth.com/badonpaper to enjoy 40% off using the code BOP Prose - get 50% off your first haircare subscription order at prose.com/bop   Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!  Buy our Merch! Join our Geneva! Order Olivia's Book, Such a Bad Influence! Subscribe to Olivia's Newsletter! Order Becca's Book, The Christmas Orphans Club! Subscribe to Becca's Newsletter!  Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week we're joined by a person The New Yorker has called “The Adele of Audiobooks!” You guessed it, we're exploring the ins and outs of audiobooks with none other than novelist, screenwriter, actor, and iconic audiobook narrator, Julia Whelan. She gives us a behind the scenes peek at the the recording process, what makes a standout audiobook production, how she cares for her voice, and how she writes, edits, and records her own books!    Her books Thank You for Listening, My Oxford Year, and Casanova LLC are out now. She also recommends the audiobook for Bluff by Michael Kardos (which she narrates).   Obsessions Becca: Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Olivia: Industry   What we read this week Olivia: The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan  Becca: Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney   This Month's Book Club Pick: All Fours by Miranda July (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)   Sponsors Book of the Month - get your first book on BOTM for $5 CARDIGAN at bookofthemonth.com. After enrolling, select Bad on Paper in the survey so the brand can know how you heard about the deal! Farmacy - Visit farmacybeauty.com and use code BADONPAPER for 20% off your order.   Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!  Buy our Merch! Join our Geneva! Order Olivia's Book, Such a Bad Influence! Subscribe to Olivia's Newsletter! Order Becca's Book, The Christmas Orphans Club! Subscribe to Becca's Newsletter!  Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.  

It's back-to-school season! We don't have a school to go back to, but that won't stop us from stocking up on new office supplies for a little refresh. We talk about our love for back-to-school shopping, wrapping books vs book socks, finding the perfect bookbag, statement pens, Lisa Frank, and the “school supplies” we use in our adult lives. Olivia also treats us with some journal entries from her back-to-school era.   Becca's adult school supplies are Legal Pads (both from Erin Condron and Amazon), her 5-year journal, lined sticky notes, Zeyar highlighters, Semikolon sticky tabs, her time timer, and her home printer. Sharpie fine-tip pens, Papermate Flairs, Pigma Microns, and a le pen for her 5-year journal.   Olivia's adult school supplies include a spiral college-ruled notebook, 5-year journal, writing journal, TWSBI fountain pen, customized stationery from Papier, golden scissors from ban.do, Rifle Paper Co. grocery list/magnet.   Obsessions Becca: Industry Season 3   What we read this week Olivia: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio  Becca: Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff (out 9/10)   This Month's Book Club Pick: All Fours by Miranda July (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)   Sponsors Babbel - Get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription at Babbel.com/BOP.  Rifle Paper Co - go to riflepaperco.com/badonpaper and use code BOP25 for 25% off through December 31, 2024.   Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!  Buy our Merch! Join our Geneva! Order Olivia's Book, Such a Bad Influence! Subscribe to Olivia's Newsletter! Order Becca's Book, The Christmas Orphans Club! Subscribe to Becca's Newsletter!  Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.  

Happy August Book Club Day! We're diving into our thoughts on One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin. (Spoiler: we adored it!) We talk about the balance of the romance versus friendship plotlines, the relatability of the debut novelist interior monologue, and how the pandemic was incorporated into the plot. Also, the author calls in to answer a listener question!   Obsessions Becca: Target Women's High-Rise Modern Gauze Wide Leg Pull-On Pants Olivia:  Lil Jon at the 2024 Democratic National Convention   What we read this week Olivia: Bear by Julia Phillips, One Star Romance by Laura Hankin Becca: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, Real Americans by Rachel Khong   This Month's Book Club Pick: All Fours by Miranda July (have thoughts about this book you want to share? Call in at 843-405-3157 or email us a voice memo at badonpaperpodcast@gmail.com)   Sponsors Marc Fisher - go to marcfisherfootwear.com and use code BOP to receive 20% off your purchase.   Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!  Buy our Merch! Join our Geneva! Order Olivia's Book, Such a Bad Influence! Subscribe to Olivia's Newsletter! Order Becca's Book, The Christmas Orphans Club! Subscribe to Becca's Newsletter!  Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.  

When Miranda July entered her early forties, she noticed a grim feeling emerge. “It wasn't coming from me,” she said, “I guess it came from this lack of imagery, or stories, or even just basic medical information about what was going to happen next with my body.” The dearth of information and near absence of cultural mythology about perimenopause and menopause became the catalyst for her novel All Fours, which came out in May and quickly became a New York Times bestseller.  In this episode, Miranda talks about the unease that inspired the book and speculates about what the future could look like if more people openly discussed this crucial chapter of life. We also hear from listeners who share their experiences with perimenopause and menopause.  The interview with Miranda was recorded live in San Francisco for City Arts & Lectures. You can check out a great profile of Miranda, which is referenced in the episode, here:  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/20/miranda-july-profile   Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. And if you're new to the show, welcome. We're so glad you're here. Find us and follow us on Instagram, and you can find Anna's newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, or critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A selection of short flights of fact and fancy performed live on stage.Usually we tell true stories at this show, but earlier this spring we were invited to guest host a live show called Selected Shorts, a New York City institution that presents short fiction performed on stage by great actors (you'll often find Tony, Emmy and Oscars winners on their stage). We treated the evening a bit like a Radiolab episode, selecting a theme, and choosing several stories related to that theme. The stories we picked were all about “flight” in one way or another, and came from great writers like Brian Doyle, Miranda July, Don Shea and Margaret Atwood. As we traveled from the flight of a hummingbird, to an airplane seat beside a celebrity, to the mind of a bat, we found these stories pushing us past the edge of what we thought we could know, in the way that all truly great writing does.Special thanks to Abubakr Ali, Becca Blackwell, Molly Bernard, Zach Grenier, Drew Richardson, Jennifer Brennan and the whole team at Selected Shorts and Symphony Space.EPISODE CREDITS: Produced by - Maria Paz GutierrezFact-checking by - Natalie Middletonand Edited by  - Pat WaltersOur newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab's science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.