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05-12-13 UPDATE: Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 97: Mary Roach, 'Gulp'

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Here's the ninety-seventh episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the one-year mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning.

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.

The ninety-seventh episode is a look at Mary Roach and 'Gulp..'

Here's a link to the MP3 audio file of Time to Read, Episode 96: Mary Roach, 'Gulp.'




05-08-13: Mary Robinette Kowal Reads "Evil Robot Monkey" at SF in SF on April 20, 2013

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"...not that there's anything remotely Regency about evil robot monkeys..."

—Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal is best known for her "Regency, With Magic" novels; 'Shades of Milk and Honey,' 'Glamour in the Glass,' and her latest, 'Without a Summer.' They're rather spectacularly successful incarnations of exactly what Kowal intends; novels in the style and set in the time of Jane Austen, with the addition of magic.

This is a very tough style to pull off, but Kowal does it so well that she even reads with an excellent British accent for events. But it's not just the accent; all the aspects of the novels live up to her aspirations. They're amazingly fun and equally intelligent.

They are, in fact, so successful, that it is easy to forget just how a smart writer like Kowal can transcend that style and write something completely different. But here is the proof, a 962-word Hugo nominated story, "Evil Robot Monkey," that she read at the last SF in SF.
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Kowal read quite a bit from her other work at this event, but this story is so perfect all by itself, that I decided to present it here by itself. You can hear her, and some introduction, by following this link to the MP3 audio file.




05-06-13: A 2013 Interview with Glennon Doyle Melton

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"Ironically, confession is a little bit addictive."

— Glennon Doyle Melton

When I sit down to talk with Glennon Doyle Melton about her book 'Carry On, Warrior,' I feel just a bit out of place. I'm not quite in the expected audience for Momastery, her blog, but books are a different matter. And 'Carry On, Warrior' is wise, well-written and fun to read. That puts me right where I am, talking to the author about how and why the book came to be.

Glennon is hot off The Today Show when we sit down to speak, already well beyond the confines of my literary domain. As far as that goes, she always was, what with a blog post that went viral (my closest brushes with viral tend to involve viruses you need a microscope to see), and her dedicated followers that hang on her every word. (My readers tend to hang on the words of the writers I interview, and I try very hard to stay out of their way.)

But Glennon Doyle Melton has written an excellent book, one I can hold in my hands, and indeed, did hold in my hands as I read it and filled it up with stickies. So once we get the studio set up in her hotel room — her associate is there to keep us on time — conversation unfolds at a rather startling pace and I have to run my tiny brain just as fast as I can to stay in place.

The big fun part of this is that Glennon managed to be as spontaneous in person to the xhundredth interviewer to ask her about her blog as she is in her blog for her umpty-ump readers. She's a great speaker, quite straightforward and without any hesitation. The girl you meet in the blog, the girl you meet on the pages, is the girl you meet in person. We talked about as much as we could until the clock ran out. You can hear just how much ground we covered (a lot!) in 51 minutes by following this link to the MP3 audio file.



New to the Agony Column

09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."

09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 213: Susan Casey : Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins

08-24-15: Commentary : Felicia Day Knows 'You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)' : Transformative Technology

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Felicia Day : "I think you have to be attention curators for audience in every way."

08-22-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 212: Felicia Day : You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]

Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]

08-10-15:Agony Column Podcast News Report : In Memory of Alan Cheuse : Thank you Alan, and Your Family, for Everything

07-11-15: Commentary : Robert Repino Morphs 'Mort(e)' : Housecat to Harbinger of the Apocalypse

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Robert Repino : "...an even bigger threat. which is us, the humans..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Robert Repino : Mort(e)

07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 208: Michael Gazzaniga : Tales from Both Sides of the Brain: A Life in Neuroscience

06-26-15: Commentary : Neal Stephenson Crafts an Eden for 'Seveneves' : Blow It Up and Start All Over Again

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Neal Stephenson : "...and know that you're never going to se a tree again..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 207: Neal Stephenson : Seveneves

06-03-15: Commentary : Dan Simmons Opens 'The Fifth Heart' : Having it Every Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Dan Simmons : "...yes, they really did bring those bombs..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 206: Dan Simmons : The Fifth Heart

05-23-15: Commentary : John Waters Gets 'Carsick' : Going His Way

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with John Waters : "...you change how you would be in real life...”

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 205: John Waters : Carsick

05-09-15: Commentary : Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD and 'Shrinks' : A Most Fashionable Take on the Human Mind

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : "..its influence to be as hegemonic as it was..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 204: Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD : Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry

04-29-15: Commentary : Barney Frank is 'Frank' : Interpersonally Ours

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Barney Frank : "...while you're trying to change it, don't ignore it..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 203: Barney Frank : Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage

04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 202: Kazuo Ishiguro : The Buried Giant

04-17-15: Commentary : Erik Larson Follows a 'Dead Wake' : Countdown to Destiny

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Erik Larson : "...said to have been found in the arms of a dead German sailor..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 201: Erik Larson : Dead Wake

04-15-15: Commentary : Peter Bell Reflects 'A Certain Slant of Light' : Strange Stories of Modern Scholars

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Peter Bell : "...I looked up some of the old books..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 200: Peter Bell : Strange Epiphanies and A Certain Slant of Light

03-14-15: Commentary : Marc Goodman Foresees 'Future Crimes' : Exponential Potential

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It

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