May 15, 2019
Namwali Serpell joins me to discuss her debut novel 'The Old Drift.'
1904. On the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles from the majestic Victoria Falls, there is a colonial settlement called The Old Drift. In a smoky room at the hotel across the river, an Old Drifter named Percy M. Clark, foggy with fever, makes a...
Apr 3, 2019
Nathan Englander joins me to discuss his new novel 'Kaddish.com.'
Larry is the secular son in a family of Orthodox Brooklyn Jews. When his father dies, it’s his responsibility to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for eleven months. To the horror and dismay of his sister,...
Mar 12, 2019
Sam Lipsyte joins Stephen to discuss his new novel 'Hark.'
In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental collapse, and spiritual confusion, many folks are searching for peace, salvation, and—perhaps most immediately—just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, an unwitting guru whose...
Feb 26, 2019
Lauren Wilkinson joins Stephen to discuss her debut novel 'American Spy'.
It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She's brilliant, but she's also a young black woman working in an old boys' club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every...
Feb 12, 2019
Garth Greenwell joins Stephen to discuss his debut novel 'What Belongs to You.
'What Belongs to You' follows an American teacher who enters a public bathroom in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he meets the charismatic young hustler Mitko, and pays him for sex. He returns to Mitko again and again over the next few months, drawn...