One of the things I find most fascinating about Thomas Frank's work is that he is required, by virtue of his interest in our political system and its foibles, to be a keen observer of language as it is used and misused. In our discussion based on his latest column for Harper's, it all comes down to a single word — infidel.
Of course, given that this is America in the 21st century, that word first piqued Frank's interest when he saw it on a T-Shirt — and from there, a thoroughly engrossing essay has grown. From the original Crusades until now, the word infidel has taken on new meanings and been used in way in which those who originated the term simp could not recognize.
Of course, Frank approaches all of his work with a nicely off-kilter sense of humor that veers away from polemic. He is, after all, outside the box with which the Washington, DC opinion machine would like to surround him. I can see that T-shirt now. You can hear him talk about the T-shirt that inspired him at Harper's and the history of the word infidel by following this link to the MP3 Audio file.
01-03-12 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 25: Jonathan Lethem, 'The Ecstasy of Influence'
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Here's the twenty-fifth episode of my new series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format. If you want to run them on your show or podcast, let me know.
My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.
01-02-12:A 2011 Interview with Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
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"... he was such a voracious reader ..."
—Steven Naifeh
We think of Vincent Van Gogh, and reading is not the first thing to come to our minds — but it should be. In 'Van Gogh: The Life,' Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith have re-created Van Gogh for readers, and it is indeed a remarkable book, immersive and intense. My interview with them mirrored my experience of the book, and it's my hope that readers and potential readers will find this conversation nearly as compelling as the authors' prologue to the book.
The set up for the interview was pretty amazing. We were allowed to film the authors in the conference room for the Los Angeles Country Museum of Modern Art, and our thanks go out to the hard-working staff who made this possible. It was an amazing (if rather boomy) room with furniture that belonged on the set of Mad Men, or in a museum; which, in a sense it was. We got audio and video of the interview; we're editing the video as I write this.
Not surprising, given the revelations in this biography, Naifeh and Smith had talked to a lot of people; I watched them on 60 Minutes in a segment that got them to Van Gogh's grave. But I was fortunate enough to have to have actually read the book, so I was able to get a grip on what they had actually accomplished. The resulting conversation was truly gratifying, as we explored what they wrote and how it came to be.
02-14-12: Commentary : Archive Reviews: Jeffrey E. Barlough Awakens 'Dark Sleeper' and 'The House in the High Wood' :Bold, Unique, Horrific, Enchanting
02-08-12: Commentary : Thrity Umrigar Reveals 'The World We Found' : Slow-Burning Loss of Control
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Thrity Umrigar : "...I walked away from that meeting in 2008 with an old friend of mine and literally saw at least the outline of the book in front of my eyes..."
02-06-12: Commentary : Eric Weiner Posts 'Man Seeks God' : Religious Pilgrimmage and Mordant Wit
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Eric Weiner : "...by the end, given all the amazing people I met out there, I've changed my views about that."
02-01-12: Commentary : Stan Lee Splashes 'Stan Lee's How to Write Comics' and 'Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics' : Lessons in the Form, From the Master
01-23-12: Commentary : Sara Paretsky Nails 'Breakdown' : The Machine Stops
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Interview with Sara Paretsky : "Everything in a courtroom is a story; it's not justice, it's combating narratives."
01-18-12: Commentary : Téa Obreht Conjures 'The Tiger's Wife' : The Grammar of Vision
01-13-12: Commentary : Hard Case Subterranean Block : Not from Bob's Basement Tapes
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Lisa Randall : "...there seems to be some evidence, especially from one of the experiments."
01-10-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Terry D'Auray Catches Lawrence Block and 'The Burglar on the Prowl' : "A show well worth the price of a ticket."
12-15-11:Agony Column Podcast News Report : The Agony Column Live with Lisa Goldstein and Ayize Jama-Everett, and music by Fenyang Smith, December 10, 2011 : "... let's look at what happens if people have abilities that other people don't have ..."
11-28-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Scott Wallace : "Within months of first contact, these groups experience a huge die-off."
11-22-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Charles Frazier, Part Two : "It's not me telling you, there's this storyteller voice."
11-21-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Charles Frazier : "If we're going in the wrong direction, we could turn around and go back."
11-17-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Gianni Mola : "The only way you can learn, I told them, is to watch me cook it."
11-11-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Karl Marlantes : "...the way I "think" about things, with quotes around think, is I tend to write them down..."
10-31-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Colson Whitehead : "In the Apocalypse, somebody's gonna have to do the grunt work..."
10-17-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Russell Banks : "They are in a sense, permanently marked and thrown into this darkness..."
