“I'm interested in how deceptions can make you feel more of yourself or can unlock something in you that you didn't know you had.” Eleanor Catton, Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, is back with Birnam Wood — part eco-thriller, part social and political satire, wholly insightful. This propulsive novel is prescient, timely, and all-too relatable in our present day. Catton joins us in conversation about creating her characters, Shakespeare’s use of prophecy and power, how the story was influenced by Jane Austen’s Emma and more with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Madyson.     Featured Books (Episode):  Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton  The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton  Macbeth by William Shakespeare  We are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins  Emma by Jane Austen   Memento Mori by Muriel Spark   On Writing by Stephen King    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  The Appeal by Janice Hallett  Wilder Girls by Rory Power    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays)

“How do you spot a ‘we should not be friends’ friendship? It's when someone shows you who they are, and you like it.” Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club, tells us how an unexpected friendship with a polar-opposite grew into a lifelong journey through love, losses and triumphs. Schwalbe and Chris Maxey, former Navy SEAL and founder of the Island School, join us to talk about Schwalbe's new book, We Should Not Be Friends: A Story of a Friendship, meeting through a Yale secret society, the importance of vulnerability, what they learned about themselves and each other through telling this story and more live at Barnes & Noble Union Square with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer.     Featured Books (episode):  We Should Not Be Friends by Will Schwalbe  The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe  The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone  The Rediscovery of North America by Barry Lopez    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

"Each time I wrote a story that belonged in this book… It held some pain. It held some love. It held some hope, some longing..."  Eloghosa Osunde’s debut novel Vagabonds! is an inventive, mythic whirlwind through the city of Lagos, Nigeria. Told through interconnected short stories, this raw, painful, and ultimately hopeful work sheds light on an often-unseen world and its diverse inhabitants. Osunde talks with us about the significance and spark of inspiration behind the title, writing a novel in an uncommon format, the feelings she wants to leave her readers with and more with Poured Over guest host, Jenna Seery.    Featured Books (Episode):  Vagabonds! By Eloghosa Osunde  The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy  The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi   A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):   Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi  The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I feel like we're in a real golden age of fantasy that's exploring diversity from lots of different perspectives, and telling lots of stories that need to be heard at the moment — I feel really honored to be working within that space.” A Day of Fallen Night has what readers want in high fantasy: strong women, masterful worldbuilding and, of course, dragons. Samantha Shannon’s prequel to her highly acclaimed The Priory of the Orange Tree, is a welcome return to the lands and skies of this mystical world. Shannon joins us to talk about reframing myths, equality in the fantasy genre, how her books get their stunning covers, authors she recommends and more with Poured Over guest host, Kat Sarfas.  Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Madyson.    Featured Books (Episode): A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri The Unbroken by C.L. Clark Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao Eragon by Christopher Paolini   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays)

“When you've been disappointed for that long in your life — what kind of people are you? What do you become?” A Country You Can Leave, the debut novel from author Asale Angel-Ajani, is an unconventional family story following a Russian mother and Black, biracial daughter as they navigate class, trauma and relationships in California’s desert. Angel-Ajani joins us in conversation about discovering her characters, the portrayal of motherhood, her literary influences, and more with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Madyson.     Featured Books (Episode):  A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-Ajani  Strange Trade by Asale Angel-Ajani  The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector  The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker  Another Country by James Baldwin    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart  On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I'm one of those writers that … I think I know the story I want to write when I'm going in with a novel … but by the time I get into the middle of it, it's like I've discovered a totally different story.” Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s A Spell of Good Things explores class, love, and family ties with interwoven narratives of struggle, heartbreak and hope in Nigeria. She joins us to talk about her cast of unforgettable characters, how misogyny permeates life and literature, what surprised her while writing this novel, her literary influences and more with Poured Over host, Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Jamie.     Featured Books (Episode):  A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ  Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ  Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta  Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout  Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri  What It Means when a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah  Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer  Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré  Black Sunday by Tola Rotimi Abraham     Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays here and on your favorite podcast app.     

“It's a literary, feminist, boarding school murder mystery — everyone's favorite genre.”  I Have Some Questions for You is the thrilling and inventive new novel from Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Part murder mystery, part timely take on issues that readers will connect with, this novel will keep you intrigued from cover to cover. Makkai joins us to talk about unreliable narrators, living on a boarding school campus, what keeps a reader turning the pages and more with host Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Jamie.     Featured Books (Episode):  I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai  The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai   The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin  Trust by Hernan Diaz  The Keep by Jennifer Egan  The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka  The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka   Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  Vladimir by Julia May Jonas   Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“No one in this cast believes that they have a home — they have houses, but they don't have homes. They were born into this country, they were born into these places, but they don't feel like their homes.” Within the rich setting of 1940s Trinidad, Kevin Jared Hosein’s sweeping novel Hungry Ghosts brings readers into the world of two families connected by class, power and mystery. A distinctive new voice in Caribbean literature, Hosein has crafted a story that is gothic, propulsive and will resonate with readers from the first page. He speaks with us on learning the true history of Trinidad firsthand, how the title came to be, his literary influences and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. Listen after the episode for a TBR Topoff from Marc and Jamie.    Featured Books (Episode):  Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein  Miguel Street by V.S. Naipaul  A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul  No Pain Like This Body by Harold Sonny Ladoo  The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki  The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin  Silent Spring by Rachel Carson  Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell   Sula by Toni Morrison     Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays here and on your favorite podcast app.    

“I wouldn't have written the book if I were not hopeful. I mean, the act of writing this book was a prayer for our country — it's making the case that there's another way of looking more deeply under the surface of our country, a way of seeing it that can enlighten us…”    From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson, Caste combines history, social commentary and individual narratives into a work that is wholly original, stunningly written and impressively researched. Wilkerson joins us to talk about arriving at the concept of caste in America, The Warmth of Other Suns, the personal stories that connect readers to Caste, her hope for the future and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. Stick around after the interview for TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.    Featured Books (Episode):   Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson  The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson  Caste (Adapted for Young Adults) by Isabel Wilkerson    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):    Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert  Let’s Talk About Hard Things by Anna Sale    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays.

“Maureen’s journey is about going to the dark — and when you go right into the dark, you then find the light and the kind of renewal — and of all of them, this book felt to me a book about rebirth, which felt the right place to end.” Following The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, Rachel Joyce’s Maureen completes her series of novels revolving around a cast of characters that you can’t help but connect with. Whether you’ve read them all or are ready to meet Maureen for the first time, you’ll find something to love. Joyce talks with us about the evolution of the world of her incredibly popular series, her writing process, the authors who have shaped her, what she’s working on next and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. We end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.    Featured Books (Episode):  Maureen by Rachel Joyce  The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce  The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce  Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman  The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick    This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. New episodes of Poured Over land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and wherever you listen to podcasts. 

“For us, horror stories are a long, dark, scary tunnel. You hear sounds you don't want to hear; you see things that are going to stick in your head. But if you keep putting one foot after the other, that speck of light at the end is going to grow a little bit bigger and a little bit bigger and one day you step out into daylight.”   Stephen Graham Jones’ second installment in the Indian Lake Trilogy, Don’t Fear the Reaper, is a big-hearted, blood-soaked romp that rivals the very best slasher films. Jones joins us to talk about creating his fierce and funny characters, the importance of setting, Native American authors in horror, his favorite scary movies and frightening books and more with Poured Over guest host, Jenna Seery.    Featured Books (Episode):  Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones  My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones  The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones  The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle  The Shining by Stephen King  Books of Blood by Clive Barker  Experimental Film by Gemma Files  Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven  A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay  My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix  Road of Bones by Christopher Golden  Maeve Fly by CJ Leede    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  Carrie by Stephen King   Bad Cree by Jessica Johns    This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Jenna Seery and mixed by Harry Liang. New episodes of Poured Over land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and wherever you listen to podcasts.   

“That was only three years ago, where I read a protagonist I could relate to on a deeper level, for the first time. Subconsciously, it gave me the idea of, oh, maybe you can write how you want to write… it was kind of that seed of — there is space for stories like this, I can use my own voice to tell a story.”  Jessica George’s debut novel Maame is a coming-of-age story that reminds us that where there is sadness and loss we can find laughter, growth and love. Readers will go on a journey of discovery alongside a main character that is warm, full of heart and surprisingly relatable. George joins us for a sentimental and laughter-filled conversation on how she found her character’s voice, processing grief, what she’s working on next and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.    Featured Books (Episode):  Maame by Jessica George  Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  Writers and Lovers by Lily King  If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery    This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).  

These two novels explore the gulf between expectation and reality, ambition and opportunity, and what happens when life veers off from your carefully planned path. Kashana Cauley and Matthew Salesses each give us indelible casts of characters to follow as they face career upheaval, challenges to their identities and find new love in unexpected ways. Listen to this Double Shot episode with both authors in conversation separately with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.    Matthew Salesses combines professional basketball, K-dramas, and young love in his novel The Sense of Wonder. Salesses joins us to talk about the effect of Jeremy Lin, the structure of a novel vs. a K-drama, his teaching career and what he’s reading now.     In Kashana Cauley’s The Survivalists, a young Black lawyer meets a man who thoroughly changes her life through love, coffee and doomsday prepping. Cauley talks with us about how she developed her characters, social class and real estate in New York City, the authors who influenced her and more.     Featured Books (Episode):  The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses  The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley  Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston  No-No Boy by John Okada  American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang  Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart     Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu   The Sellout by Paul Beatty    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays.  

“I love finishing reading a book and thinking, I feel privileged to have read that, I feel dignified. I feel like that book sort of thought of me as sacred… I want to write the kind of books that I most love to read.”  From Paul Harding, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Tinkers, comes This Other Eden — an intricate novel inspired by the fascinating true story of Malaga, an island in Maine that held one of the first integrated communities after the Civil War. Harding joins us to talk about his vibrant cast of characters, studying with Marilynne Robinson, the authors who have influenced him and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.   Featured Books (Episode):  This Other Eden by Paul Harding  Tinkers by Paul Harding  Enon by Paul Harding  The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett  Moby Dick by Herman Melville  The Tempest by William Shakespeare    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn  Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).  

“At any given time, there's a choir of ideas and nagging voices in my head — chatter that I had to contend with I guess — in the end it ends up with this model of working and living in which everything is happening simultaneously.”   Aleksandar Hemon, author of National Book Award Finalist The Lazarus Project, has no shortage of accomplishments, including screenwriting credits on Sense8 and The Matrix: Revolutions. He’s back with The World and All That it Holds, an epic love story spanning decades, countries, and political boundaries. Hemon joins us to talk about his multitudinous (and simultaneous) projects, his music career as Cielo Hemon, being a romantic (or not) and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.   Featured Books:  The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon  The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):   The Passion by Jeanette Winterson  This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays.  

This Double Shot episode features two authors, one familiar and one who soon will be, each tackling similar themes. Through fiction and essays these authors explore social politics and sexual freedom — listen in as both talk separately with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson. A Guest at the Feast is a collection of essays by Colm Tóibín on topics ranging from his own cancer diagnosis, how reading the diaries of Thomas Mann led to the creation of The Magician (out in paperback now), the works of Marilynne Robinson and more. Tóibín joins us to talk about making private stories public, the lives of Popes and what he’s working on next.   Tom Crewe’s debut novel, The New Life, shows us two marriages and two affairs that buck tradition and showcases the struggles of lives deemed unconventional in 19th century London. Crewe talks with us about the reality of being gay in the 1800s, social class in Victorian England and the authors that have influenced him.     Featured Books (Episode):  A Guest at the Feast by Colm Tóibín  The Magician by Colm Tóibín   Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín  Washington Square by Henry James  Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann  The New Life by Tom Crewe    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):   Homo Irrealis by André Aciman   The Collected Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde    Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays. 

“I wanted to spend time with a family and haunted house books are always about families.” Grady Hendrix’s bone-chilling novels The Final Girl Support Group and Horrorstör will have fans knocking at the door for his newest book, How to Sell a Haunted House. This new take on a classic horror story forces readers to confront one of the most frightening things there is: family. Hendrix joins us to talk about what makes a home into a haunted house, the horrifying history of puppets and dolls, the differences in writing a novel and writing for the screen, what he’s been reading lately and more with Poured Over guest host, Kat Sarfas. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.   Featured Books:  How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix  The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix  Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix  When Darkness Loves Us by Elizabeth Engstrom  The Elementals by Michael McDowell    Featured Books (TBR Topoff):  The Grip of It by Jac Jemc  The Rook by Daniel O’Malley   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

Two witty novels, two funny women, and two engaging interviews await you in this Double Shot episode of Poured Over. This pair of authors and their stories of relationships and what happens when they end fit so well together - if you’re a fan of one, you’re sure to love the other. Listen in as both authors talk separately with host Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Jamie and Madyson. Schitt’s Creek writer Monica Heisey’s debut novel REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY gets at the heart of the Millennial struggle as one twenty-something puts her life together again after divorce. Heisey joins us to talk about how we cope when relationships end, what happens when characters spend their lives online, how to find a voice as a comedic writer and more.   SMALL WORLD by Laura Zigman is a different kind of post-divorce novel that focuses on family in the wake of change. Zigman talks about how we get to know our families as adults, the many manifestations of grief, how to work through writer’s block and what she’s reading now.     Featured Books (Episode): Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey Small World by Laura Zigman Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman The Idiot by Elif Batuman Bunny by Mona Awad   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays.  

“That's one of those epiphanies - I realized if I wanted to be taken seriously, I needed representation. And who better than to do it than a man who doesn't exist, who's really me? Yeah, it was the perfect decoy.”    You’ve heard her plucking guitar strings & heartstrings – now Margo Price sits down with guest host Allyson Gavaletz to talk about her new album Strays, songcraft, exorcising demons, trading jokes with Willie Nelson and being honest with herself on this episode of Poured Over.    Featured Media    Strays [B&N Exclusive, Baby Pink Vinyl]  Maybe We’ll Make It: A Memoir    This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Allyson Gavaletz and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays. 

“I remember being in an English class in high school (12th grade actually). We were reading The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, and I announced to the teacher that I could have written a better ending … And I remember the look of shock on the teacher's face because she probably thought I was so arrogant and presumptuous. I don't know how I would have ended it. But I remember thinking that I could have I could have come up with a better ending.”  Who among us hasn’t been tempted to rewrite a classic? The very funny and smart debut novelist Oindrila Mukherjee joins us on the show to talk about The Dream Builders, the looming influence of American pop culture in India, building a fictional city from scratch, tossing out her entire first draft and starting over, her unconventional path to publication via an open submission call from her publisher Tin House, her writing advice, her love of literature in translation and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Featured Book: The Dream Builders by Oindrila Mukherjee   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“And I always tend to start a book with a very popcorn sensibility, like, oh, well, this’ll be fun, we're gonna have a little romp. And then to tell the story, honestly, you tend — especially when you're talking about things like institutional power and social influence and economic influence — you're going to bump up against some pretty heavy themes. And that certainly happened with Ninth House and again with Hell Bent.” No one does magic and mayhem and unforgettable characters like Leigh Bardugo. She takes readers behind the scenes of Hell Bent, her latest novel and the long-awaited follow-up to Ninth House, riffing on setting the series at Yale University, what she learned from writing movie trailers, the advice Holly Black gave her about screen adaptations, reading The Princess Bride, magic as a metaphor for power (and what happens to the metaphor when the power is real), how Louise Erdrich shifted the way Leigh felt about fiction, writing morally gray characters, vampires, what she’s been reading, what’s next for her (hint: character-driven standalone) and much more in a laughter-filled conversation with guest host Kat Sarfas.   Featured Books: Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo The Princess Bride by William Goldman That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“But now, with the rise of new money, it's like there's this moment in India, when new money was eclipsing old money. And that's the moment that I basically find really interesting because I happen to be right there observing, and just talking to people and listening and picking up stories.” You might have missed Deepti Kapoor’s debut, A Bad Character, in 2014; you absolutely do not want to miss Age of Vice, her fast-paced, epic novel of crime and corruption (and the first of three volumes in a series featuring a cast of characters you won’t be able to shake). Deepti joins us on the show to talk about the inspiration behind her pulse-pounding new novel, the trio of characters at its center, the transformation of Delhi, her writing process, her literary influences (ranging from Dostoyevsky to Patricia Highsmith), and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Featured Books: Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor A Bad Character by Deepti Kapoor 2666 by Roberto Bolaño   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays. 

Our January Discover and B&N Book Club picks have lots in common: both are debut novels with indelible characters and an unforgettable story, both are graduates of UT’s Michener Center for Writers — think of this episode as an audio boxed set, as both authors sit down separately with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Tracey Rose Peyton knew she was taking on a major challenge with a narrative about enslaved women in 1850’s Texas — and even tossed an entire early draft — but she knew she had what she needed when she landed on the hypnotic first person plural voice for our January Discover pick, Night Wherever We Go. Tracey talks about her literary influences (including Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, Julie Otsuka and Alice Walker), love of short novels, making sure to include moments of real joy in terrible times, and more.   Our January B&N Book Club pick, The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff, is a dark comedy set in modern-day India that started as a short story — one that she put in a drawer for ten or so years. Parini talks about how she got from a short story to her novel about second chances and women breaking free of society’s constraints, her favorite writers (including Zadie Smith and James McBride), the real-life inspiration behind her book’s title, writing women’s friendships, and more. (Join us for the B&N Book Club event in February if you’re looking for spoilers on this one.)   Featured Books (Tracey Rose Peyton): Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka The Color Purple by Alice Walker   Featured Books (Parini Shroff): Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff White Teeth by Zadie Smith   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays. 

We're closing out 2022 with something new: A Poured Over Double Shot with host Miwa Messer.  Cormac McCarthy doesn’t really do interviews — If you want to know about the work, it’s on the page, he says. Jenny Jackson and Chip Kidd are part of the team that publish McCarthy; Jenny’s been his editor for the last eight years, and Chip has designed McCarthy’s hardcover jackets from 1992’s All the Pretty Horses all the way up to this fall’s The Passenger and Stella Maris, along with the recent reissues of McCarthy’s backlist including Suttree, Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men. They join us to talk about McCarthy’s surprising new books — his first since Pulitzer Prize winner The Road (2006), getting the jackets right and more in the first half of this Poured Over Double Shot episode. When a pal asked Cheryl Strayed to take over writing the “Dear Sugar” column in The Rumpus, her first thought was, “Who am I to give people advice? I'd never taken a class in psychology or gone to therapy or any of that stuff. But also, I was afraid specifically to write an advice column on the internet, because it was the age of snark…” Cheryl's open-hearted, non-judgmental letters to readers redefined the medium — and inspired two podcasts, Dear Sugars and Sugar Calling. Some of that work is collected in Tiny Beautiful Things, which was adapted into an acclaimed stage play by Nia Vardalos and is coming to Hulu next year as a series starring Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision). Cheryl joins us to talk about trust and empathy, finding freedom by writing letters to strangers, what she’s working on now and more in the second half of this episode. Featured Books: The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy Torch by Cheryl Strayed Wild by Cheryl Strayed Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition) by Cheryl Strayed   Poured Over is Produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. We’re taking a break until 1/3/23, but we’ll be back with new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) then.

“They have traveled for most of the day using what little daylight the season offers leaving Ferrara Dawn and riding out to what he had told her was a hunting lodge, far in the northwest of the province. 'But this is no hunting lodge' is what Lucrezia had wanted to say when they reach their destination, a high walled edifice of dark stone flanked on one side by dense forest and on the other by a twisting meander of the Po River. She would have liked to turn in her saddle and ask, 'Why have you brought me here?'”  That’s Maggie O’Farrell, reading from her brilliant new novel The Marriage Portrait, a finalist for our 2022 Book of the Year. In front of a live audience at the Barnes & Noble in Eastchester, New York, Maggie takes us to Renaissance Florence and behind the scenes of her page-turning historical novel and its untamable heroine, the writers who inspired her (from Robert Browning and Wilkie Collins to Daphne DuMaurier and Patricia Highsmith), her writing process (including Post-It notes and pinboards), what’s next for her and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Featured Books: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker Matrix by Lauren Groff   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“It is an amazing, amazing translation experience….But it took a long time to get to the point where the language started moving because you have to start out sort of in English laying down a rock, rocks, and then a rock and a rock, building a wall. It doesn't move, and it's just right, right next to the ground. And because you can't obviously start translating in full sentences really. My whole idea was this to just stick absolutely close to the earth of her syntax and build up. And you build and you build and you build and finally something starts to move. And then you can gain some of the movement that you — but in English — that you have sensed and been thrilled by in reading the French.” Alison L. Strayer has been reading Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux’s books for 30 years, and has translated the last few, including The Years, nominated for the International Man Booker Prize. Alison and Dan Simon of Seven Stories Press, Annie’s longtime American publisher, join us on the show to talk about working with the iconic French author, the joys of literature in translation, capturing Ernaux’s voice and sensibilities and the emotional truth of her genre-bending prose for English-speaking audiences and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Featured Books: The Years by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer A Girl’s Story by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer Getting Lost by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“One of my favorite places to take a little walk around is the public cemetery, which is on a little hill that overlooks the bay. And you know, if you ever wanted to be buried somewhere, that's the place to be buried. And right across the street from it, and a little ways down the road is this beautiful canyon you can walk up. The trees are covered with Spanish moss, and there's fog. And so it's perfect place — if you believe in ghosts — to see one.”   A murder mystery set in 1850’s Monterey, California, Jane Smiley’s latest novel, A Dangerous Business, is a bit of a departure for the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. She joins us on the show to take readers behind the scenes of her new book (as well as some of her earlier work) and talk about the books and writers who’ve inspired her along the way (including what she learned from reading Charles Dickens), what she loves about novels and more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.   Featured Books (Episode): A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley Moo by Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley The Hundred Years Trilogy (Some Luck, Early Warning and Golden Age) by Jane Smiley The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley The Transylvanian Trilogy by Miklos Banffy (Vol 1) and (Vol 2 + 3) The Kellys and the O’Kelleys: Or, Landlords and Tenants by Anthony Trollope   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): The Collective by Alison Gaylin News of the World by Paulette Jiles   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“Storytelling can just be you understanding yourself, but it turns into something else when it's a shared piece — so much of anything in life is practice, and just pure showing up…I think that's just important to remember, you're not always going to feel inspired or inspirational, or you're not going to feel you've done your best. And you just have to ignore that voice and keep going.” Lauren Graham (Talking as Fast as I Can) is an absolute delight on the page and on the screen (Gilmore Girls and Parenthood) and she joins us on the show to talk about her new book, Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember, along with Old Lady Jackson, marmalade, rereading and rewatching, her writing process, what’s next for her and more with guest host Marie Cummings. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Marie Cummings and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I loved it more than everybody. And afterwards, I thought for the first time, whatever I do, I've got to get as close to that as I can. Not the noise or the music or being a rock star, but the creativity of it and the energy of it and the way that you affect people, and I knew that my life wouldn't be the same. And it's kind of always been like that.” Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, Fever Pitch, About a Boy and Juliet, Naked, among others) returns with Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius — a very funny, very "Nick Hornby" look at music, books, fandom and creativity. Nick joins us on the show to talk about how a newly issued deluxe edition of Sign ‘O’ the Times jumpstarted his latest book, why perfectionism is terrible, how an early Springsteen show put Hornby on his path, why Dickens shouldn’t be taught before the age of 18, why test screenings are a good thing and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc, Jamie and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby High Fidelity by Nick Hornby David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin   Featured Album (Episode): Sign ‘O’ the Times [Super Deluxe] by Prince   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Bowie’s Bookshelf by John O’Connell The Lyrics by Paul McCartney The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays.

“I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood. And you know, nobody was expected to be a novelist — that was not a thing, that was not a choice in my neighborhood. And when I made that choice, it was very strange to people. And it was a really hard thing for people to accept and my father and my grandfather did not understand that at all. And they discouraged me. But then once I succeeded, they really claimed that, and my grandfather would tell everyone…” Matthew Quick (The Silver Linings Playbook) joins guest host Allyson Gavaletz to talk about his new novel, We Are the Light, along with breaking cycles, writer’s block, connecting with people, collective trauma, running, Jungian analysis, the books and writers he loves to teach, his literary influences, what’s next for him and more. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): We Are the Light by Matthew Quick The Ferryman by Justin Cronin Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Siddhartha by Herman Hesse   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Allyson Gavaletz and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

"One of the ways you can get into my cast of characters is by leaving a very detailed written record. Because that's what we historians have to work from, you're not allowed to make stuff up like a novelist can… And, of course, it skews, to some extent, the way history is written. Because the rich leave more records than the poor, men leave more records than women, white people leave more records than Black and so on.” Adam Hochschild (King Leopold’s Ghost) joins us on the show to talk about his latest book, American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis. Hochschild connects the dots between our America and an all-too familiar America of a century ago, riffing on power and deception, Woodrow Wilson’s legacy, undercover agents, labor organizers, the Espionage Act of 1917, what’s next for him and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. Featured Books: American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis by Adam Hochschild Rebel Cinderella by Adam Hochschild King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

"When I was a kid, I was super, super geeky, it was so nerdy. And all I read was dragon books, or ghost books, or elf books…someone tried to give me a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, and I just remember thinking, Where are the dragons? And when I went to do my doctorate in creative writing and literature —especially at the time, and even now, they kind of steamroll that out of you, they sort of train you to think that there are two things called literary and genre… if you're a good writer, and smart, you write literary (later on, I came to understand, that just meant realism). And that literary was a series of conventions that had nothing to do with genre. And then I just missed — I really desperately missed [genre] — especially horror, because it's something that's able to marry the darker, more realistic, gritty parts of fiction that I love so much, with kind of the nerdy stuff like ghosts and monsters." An urban Native of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent, writer Erika T. Wurth joins guest host Allyson Gavaletz to take readers behind the scenes of her fabulous new novel, White Horse, and to talk about her own family’s story, clairvoyance, nostalgia, heavy metal music, finding comfort in reading horror, her favorite contemporary horror writers and much more. We end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): White Horse by Erika T. Wurth Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction by Benjamin Percy Damn Fine Story: Mastering the Tools of a Powerful Narrative by Chuck Wendig Mastering Suspense, Structure and Plot by Jane K. Cleland   Featured Books (TBR Topoff) My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Allyson Gavaletz and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“They're rooted in our culture as well. And because of all that, I think they feel a little bit more real, even though they are fantastical magical realms…and there's also this timeless quality in a way as well….I do think also there is a lot of room for imagination to grow in these stories.” Sue Lynn Tan joins guest host Kat Sarfas on the show to take readers behind the scenes of her latest epic, Heart of the Sun Warrior, the stunning sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess, from world-building, favorite characters, resilience, to celebrating the mid-Autumn festival, what’s next and much more. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson. Featured Books (Episode) Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan Featured Books (TBR Topoff) Beneath the Moon by Yoshi Yoshitani The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“We are writing our stories to the world, as opposed to just reading the old stories. And somehow, some way accidentally, intentionally, desperately on the case and caught off guard, Art is Life captures this huge sweep and ends about where we are now in the present—which is an epic place as well.” Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jerry Saltz (How to Be An Artist) is consistently one of the smartest, freshest and liveliest voices in art criticism and he joins us on the show to talk about his new book, Art is Life, and his finger-on-the-pulse perspectives of the art world, including: how art history is being rewritten, the problematic intricacies of the art market, the absolute need for museums and galleries to adapt to the current social climate, the evolution of art critique in social media and much more with guest host Allie Ludlow. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.   Featured Book (episode): Art is Life by Jerry Saltz   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): The Secret Lives of Color by Karissa St. Clair Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Allie Ludlow and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I'm really driven by poetry. I'm really driven by language. But also, I'm driven by a desire to connect with the people. So I could have been a teacher. I could have been a politician. I could have been anyone that communicates with people verbally because I liked that. I wound up a performer, but it was all rooted in poetry. And as a book person, I have loved books since I was a toddler.” Writer, performer, National Book Award Winner (Just Kids), Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Patti Smith joins us on the show to take us behind the scenes of A Book of Days, connecting with readers, taking the pictures she wants to take (and leaving the rest to others), her love of mathematics, paying attention to marginalia in books, Arianna Grande and Harry Styles, Keanu Reeves (and the John Wick movies), dancing to pop music and much more with Poured Over’s host Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and guest bookseller, Grace. Featured Books (Episode)
: A Book of Days by Patti Smith
 Woolgathering by Patti Smith
 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
 2666 by Roberto Bolaño Featured Books (TBR Topoff)
 This Searing Light, The Sun, and Everything Else by Jon Savage
 Morning Glory on the Vine by Joni Mitchell Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“It's hard to be funny, you can't really plan on — you don't know what will land with people…. absurdity just exists constantly in the world that we live in. And to my mind, the humor comes from the way different people traverse absurdity, how they try to normalize it, or how they freak out because they want to build their own weirdness on top of it. And so for me, that's where I get a lot of the humor, just the different ways that people respond to the absurdity around them.” Kevin Wilson (Nothing to See Here and The Family Fang) is one of our very favorite writers and he joins us on the show to riff on Now is Not the Time to Panic, his new novel about family, friendship and art, plus rural spaces, pre-internet life, rewriting, balancing fatherhood and career, his literary influences and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff Book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart Looking for Alaska by John Green   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I had never known what it was like to feel full. And I know that sounds like really odd, but because most people can — I would be with friends and a friend would stop eating. She's like, I'm full. And I'm like, What's wrong with me that I don't know what it feels like to feel full? And I don't know what the answer to that question is, to this day. I don't know if it's a psychological or emotional thing, or if it was an actual physical thing that like my tummy was bottomless. But this feeling of fullness makes me feel like, it's my body, like I'm actually finally having a conversation with my body.” Attorney, advocate, podcaster, and bestselling author (Adnan’s Story) Rabia Chaudry shares her charming, often funny — and always deeply personal story — of her relationship with food in her new memoir with recipes, Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family. She joins us on the show to talk about food and family, body image, changing behaviors and a solution that works for her, finding universal truths in a story’s details, her newest podcast (Rabia & Ellen Solve the Case), why pulao beats biriyani and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Featured Books (Episode): Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family by Rabia Chaudry Adnan’s Story by Rabia Chaudry   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samrin Nostrat Brain on Fire by Susanna Cahalan Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I always feel like as a reader, I always want to go in ready to be changed, ready to be transformed by what I'm reading, ready to be expanded. And that's what I love about books, they work on you kind of like magic.” Madeline Miller’s novels, The Song of Achilles and Circe, keep working their magic on readers everywhere. She joins us on the show to take listeners behind the scenes of her new novella, Galatea, in a very fun conversation that covers voice, subverting stories, Troilus & Cressida, the books and writers Madeline loves (and some she’s added to her TBR pile), and plenty of shared fangirling over Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc, Kelly and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): Galatea by Madeline Miller The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Circe by Madeline Miller The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid Babel by R.F. Kuang Trust by Hernan Diaz   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): The Silence of the Girls by Park Barker The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“More people than we realize are works in progress, are trying to figure out a way to think about the world… As Beyoncé said in her new album, they're contradicted. They're internally contradicted more than we think. We can make the kind of change we seek, we deserve in this country, if we allow the idea that more of us are contradicted, more of us need help sorting through the world, and we have the patience — we can muster that kind of patience and love to help people sort through how they see the world.” Bestselling author Anand Giridharadas (Winners Take All) joins us on the show to talk about his urgent new book, The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy, psychological transitions and cognitive dissonance, not giving up and bringing people into community, doing the work that works for you, how writing this book changed him and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer.   Featured Books: The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“…The idea just kind of spun itself into existence in my head, the world started to form almost immediately — when my creative brain kind of immediately kicks in like that, I've learned to listen to it, because usually, that means something, something good is trying to come out.” N.K. Jemisin — winner of three consecutive Hugo Awards for Best Novel (each of the Broken Earth books) and now a fourth for Best Graphic Story or Comic (Far Sector), and MacArthur “genius grant” recipient — is one of our favorite writers, and we’ll follow her anywhere. She joins us on the show to talk about closing out her Great Cities duology with The World We Make, adapting the Broken Earth series for the screen, the challenges of writing about a city massively in flux, NY pizza, Ozymandias the cat, her literary inspirations, what’s she’s reading and more with guest host Kat Sarfas. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin Monstress by Sana Takeda and Marjorie Liu Witch King by Martha Wells   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jean Anders Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“…It was at the end of an exhibition called The Art of The Troubles. And that had been a little controversial (as these things very often are in post-conflict societies). Some people felt it had gone too far. Other people felt that it hadn't gone far enough. It just made me think about how maybe art could be used to say things that are really unsayable in a place where people are obsessed with language and obsessed with identity and where languages are so problematic.” Louise Kennedy joins us on the show to talk about her US debut, Trespasses, a story about love, loss and identity that’s so unforgettable, it’s our newest Discover pick. Listen in as Louise riffs on the layers of her debut: coming of age, class, searching for safety, rewriting matinee idols, transgression, mothers and daughters, her literary influences and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book reviews from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Book (Episode): Trespasses by Louise Kennedy   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan Wolf Den by Elodi Harper   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

"We don't know our parents, I mean, we think we do; you know, all of us have a practice of dealing with contained worlds. And that practice begins with our families, it begins with our parents, because these are individuals that we don't fully understand, but we are completely dependent on for our survival... And so it creates this really interesting situation where, you know, we take them for granted in a certain way, we think we understand them, but we don't. I want to see if I could get that crossed in some small way, by showing these alternate realities…" Marjorie Liu joins Poured Over guest host Kat Sarfas to talk about her latest graphic novel, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night, the first volume in a new series, along with their shared love of comics and graphic novels, how the story evolved for Marjorie, family, inherited trauma, the importance of play, sibling relationships, Dungeons & Dragons, creepy dolls and much more.   Featured Books (Episode): The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda The Monstress series of graphic novels by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Neil Gaiman’s Snow, Glass, Apples by Colleen Doran and Neil Gaiman Bunny by Mona Awad   This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“I was always writing, and I think it goes back to that Charlotte's Web thing when I had that experience of something taking me out of this world. It was mysterious, and transcendent, and glorious. And I'm still searching for that every day — if I can find a story that will do that to me and just kind of mystify me and leave me a slightly different person than I was before.” Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi Picoult joined us on stage at our flagship store on Union Square in New York City to talk about their bestselling novel, Mad Honey, along with keeping bees (and secrets), what they learned from their collaboration, why they write, their literary inspirations and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. Featured Books (Episode): Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi Picoult Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult I’m Looking Through You: A Memoir of Growing Up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White Liberation Day by George Saunders Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“People write medical histories, people write personal case histories, I didn't want to do either. People write memoirs; I wanted to do all of them in the same book. And I wanted to do that without blurring the boundaries between any and all of those… I consider those parts of living history.” Siddhartha Mukherjee is an oncologist, a professor, a bestselling author and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his first book, Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. He joins us on the show to talk about his latest book, The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human, along with gene therapies, balancing the future of science with current patient care, the excitement that comes with scientific discovery, his literary influences and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. Featured Books (Episode): The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder The Facemaker by Lindsey Fitzharris Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“We were doing all of this for people we did not know and could not imagine. And as is the case, too, like, when you're planting trees, you hope that they're gonna outlive you. And the trees that were planted have outlived some of the people who are deeply involved in that project. Which is, you know…it's both this sorrow and it's a gratitude. We were addressing our needs. And our needs were actually to care for one another, and to join each other, and to love each other and to come to love to love each other, by making this thing for people who we did not know who may or may not be us.” So many of us have found pleasure and solace — and joy — in The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. He’s back with a new variation on that riff, Inciting Joy, and he joins us on the show to talk about variations on gardening, the connection between sorrow and joy, cover songs, football and footnotes, community, the pleasures of not doing anything, what’s he’s been reading and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): Inciting Joy by Ross Gay Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay The Bluest Nude by Ama Codjoe Or, On Being the Other Woman by Simone White Under the Sign of Saturn by Susan Sontag Notes on Sontag by Philip Lopate War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): How to Love the World by James Crews Film for Her by Orion Carloto   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“When I came back, I was thinking about how to tell the story. And I wanted to meet people who, in one way or another, resembled the young people who I'd known as a kid and I was talking to various people, and I had some ideas. And then I got a call from a lawyer, whose name is Ken. And he called up and he said, You know, I've heard about what you're doing. And I have a client whose experience, I think, speaks to what you're trying to do…” Writer Nicholas Dawidoff (The Catcher was a Spy) spent eight years immersed in the story at the heart of his new book, The Other Side of Prospect: A Story of Violence, Injustice and the American City, and he joins us on the show to talk about the evolution of New Haven (and if it’s possible to go home again), inequality and the American Dream, racism and generational poverty, class, justice, his friendship with acclaimed poet Reginald Dwayne Betts and more with Poured Over's host Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson. Featured Books (Episode): The Other Side of Prospect by Nicholas Dawidoff Felon by Reginald Dwayne Betts Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude MacKay   Featured Books (TBR Topoff) The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton Monster by Walter Dean Myers   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays with occasional Saturdays.

“By making a certain voice, then I'm going to force myself to do new things in that story. The voice is for me, very measured and realistic and regular, regular. But it's almost like DNA. Once you do that, then you're committed to continuing to do it, which means you're committed to finding some kind of power, even in that somewhat limited mode, which is great fun.” The only thing better than reading a short story by George Saunders is listening to him talk about how — and why — he does it. Liberation Day is his first collection of stories since The Tenth of December (a finalist for the National Book Award), and George joins us on the show to talk about his love of the short story form, how writing A Swim in a Pond in the Rain changed his work, learning to be comfortable with uncertainty, voice as ethos, keeping his readers from of mind as he writes (and rewrites), what’s next and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff Book Recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Books (Episode): Liberation Day by George Saunders The Tenth of December by George Saunders Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Boys, Beasts, and Men by Sam J. Miller The Cabinet by Kim Un-Su   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

“There's kind of an aspect of melancholy that I love as a reader… But I can't write a book that I wouldn't want to read… Although I am interested in just sadness and like a certain beautiful quality…I can't write books that I don't want to live in, and I don't really want to live in just a depressed book. I don't want to just live in a depressed world, there has to be more fire than that.” Lydia Millet — finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize (Love in Infant Monkeys) and the National Book Award (A Children’s Bible) — joins us on the show to talk about her latest, Dinosaurs: A Novel, including how the story morphed while she was writing, illusions of normalcy, literal and figurative dinosaurs, how we talk to each other through books, and much more with Poured Over’s host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.   Featured Book (Episode): Dinosaurs: A Novel by Lydia Millet   Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy   Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).