tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55593292012-01-15T15:45:04.246-06:00It's a Schopenhauer quote, 'cause I'm pretentious like that.Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-23277440711368737652011-07-02T12:01:00.004-05:002011-07-02T12:17:09.563-05:00

My full interview with Vanderbilt faculty members Robert Talisse and Scott Aikin about their book, Reasonable Atheism.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-20823475275954326502008-09-28T11:27:00.004-05:002008-09-28T11:35:57.367-05:00

Listen to us dance around all the twists in Karin Slaughter's newest book, Fractured. One, two, three; turn, one, two, three...KARIN SLAUGHTER - BOOK TALK WYPL.mp3

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-79537822287512877762008-09-26T07:25:00.002-05:002008-09-26T07:30:53.892-05:00

I spoke with Delaune' Michel this summer about her book The Safety of Secrets. We had a nice time.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-65873498280216197912008-08-19T20:49:00.005-05:002008-08-19T21:04:32.300-05:00

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is definitely the best-written book that I've read this year. And this is probably the best author interview I've ever done. David Wroblewski is articulate and thoughtful, and I thought we had a wonderful time talking about his book. I am damn proud of myself. No joke.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-91134556595589311032008-08-16T20:49:00.003-05:002008-08-16T20:58:26.689-05:00

Howard Bahr is known for his several excellent Civil War novels, but Pelican Road is about a train collision in Misssissppi in 1940. So very excellently written, Pelican Road is a novel for grown ups. People who know regret, loss, cruelty but manage to get up every day anyway. Our fates are all sealed, but dammit, you have to fight aganst it.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-51685421007217559222008-07-28T06:55:00.002-05:002008-07-28T08:21:46.867-05:00

John Perkins is the author of the best sellers Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and Secret History of the American Empire. The books have made a big splash, and I really wanted to like them, but I found Perkins's tone to be self-aggrandizing, and he really only got out of the biz when the checks stopped coming in. I really think he over eggs the pudding, much as Simon Winchester did in The

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-63716263952671927482008-07-13T15:01:00.003-05:002008-07-13T15:09:50.294-05:00

He said, "Where is the romance in sustainability? It is the drive that makes us human. Burn through every resource, burn every field and bridge. Forward ever forward. Advance or perish. Death and oblivion are at your back. Innovate. Expand. If the universe has taught us anything, it is expansion. When expansion ends, contraction begins. Yes, indulge yourself in petty romances of bucolic

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-45297667857627381752008-06-23T17:14:00.001-05:002008-12-09T06:55:23.823-06:00

My interview with Jeffrey Buckner Ford is now available for download. Mr. Ford's book, River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved, is a memoir of his family during the time of his father's, Tennessee Ernie Ford, tremendous fame as one of America's greatest entertainers in the 1950s and 1960s. He will also be signing his book at Davis Kidd in Memphis on Tuesday June 24th at 6

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-88228401842859970942008-06-17T19:54:00.003-05:002008-12-09T06:55:24.138-06:00

This interview is four years old, but I am interviewing Judge Clark again in four weeks. His first two books, The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living and Plain Heathen Mischief, are pretty awesome. His newest one, The Legal, Limit comes out on July 11, and I'll interview him on July 14. Be there, or be held in contempt.Abandon all hope, ye who clicketh here:http://www.mediafire.com/?dbz221wj9w9

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-26184736317057564862008-06-14T09:51:00.004-05:002008-06-14T10:31:30.868-05:00

M. Night S's (If he hasn't the time to spell out his first name, I haven't the time to spell out his last.) movies are no longer getting steadily worse. There is no way any movie could be as bad as Lady in the Water. (I rented that one at the behest of an ex-girlfriend. I could be clever and say that was the reason that led to our break up; however, that would be giving Mr. MNS too much credit.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-14851340338877541702008-06-09T19:35:00.003-05:002008-12-09T06:55:24.257-06:00

In 2007, I interviewed Kevin Sessums. He's a big shot celebrity journalist. I am not. He is homosexual. I am not. He is bald. I am not. Could we find common ground? Well, we both read his memoir called Mississippi Sissy, so we talked about that. Everything works out if you give it enough time.Click here if you are secure in your masculinity:http://www.mediafire.com/?wg2j44xxw91

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-68140534882742187392008-06-03T16:32:00.003-05:002008-12-09T06:55:24.527-06:00

A couple of years ago I interviewed Dennis Lehane. Things got off to a rocky start when I called him Tim Lehaye. (The Left Behind dude) I edited that bit out, and we talked about his collection of short stories and play called Coronado. You peeps know him for writing Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and Shutter Island. You peeps know me for botching interviews.We went out for ribs and beer after the

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-44594968964102694202008-05-23T20:32:00.004-05:002008-12-09T06:55:24.791-06:00

OK, it's been busy around here lately, so I'll dig into the vault for an interview I did in 2007 with Daniel Wallace. He's best known for writing Big Fish. We talked about his novel, Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician, which isn't as racist as it sounds. We did this one for a local cable show, so the sound quality kinda stinks. Sorry.click here for the download:http://www.mediafire.com/?

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-12634567332747696932008-05-14T06:04:00.002-05:002008-06-01T12:23:06.454-05:00

I talked with Kevin Brockmeier in late April 2008 about his latest collection of short stories, The View from the Seventh Layer. He handles SF and the fantastical with a very literary fiction-oriented approach. We also talked about comics. (I had to bluff my way through part of that, my comics knowledge is all second hand from friends. Thanks to Gabe Vaughn, Cold Eth, and the late Rick Driskill

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-91938322627738131412008-05-06T06:18:00.000-05:002008-05-06T08:19:58.658-05:00

I got a chance to talk to Patrick McGrath a few weeks ago. He has written many great psychological thrillers like, Spider, The Grotesque, and Asylum. His newest novel is Trauma. He was a great interview; I was my typical mediocre self.Click here for the download.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-30973981099674646162008-05-05T06:03:00.002-05:002008-12-09T06:55:25.111-06:00

Last Last Chance is probably the best book that I have read so far this year, but don't get cocky, Ms. Maazel. I have an advance copy of Martin Clark's The Legal Limit in mah grubby mitts, and I am about to pass out waiting for Glen Davis Gold's Sunnyside.That bit of ego-checking aside, Ms. Maazel has written an incredibly open-hearted and often hilarious novel of addicts, reincarnation, kosher

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-87234627300049750682008-05-02T08:06:00.000-05:002008-05-02T13:26:55.753-05:00

Am I just old, or was I just a grumpy kid? Speed Racer sucked when I was a crumbgrabber, and I have no desire to see the new movie version. The Wachowskis (If that is indeed how their name is spelled, not that I give one whit enough to do even a perfunctory Wikipedia search.) have made progressively worse movies starting with the vastly over-rated and mostly icky, Bound. It is written; I have

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-83253913757340744092008-04-21T20:16:00.004-05:002008-12-09T06:55:25.286-06:00

Tony D'Souza got a lot of great press for his first novel, Whiteman, and is getting good notices for his newest one, The Konkans. We had a chat about the latter, had some misunderstandings, and I made him late for a signing.click here for the download

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-49953839728100817652008-04-04T18:51:00.001-05:002008-12-09T06:55:25.536-06:00

I just got to shake Harry Belafonte, Jr.'s hand. He came to the station to do a program with US Rep. Steve Cohen. Everyone is in Memphis for the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. (Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CSPAN, etc.) Here's a crummy phonecam pic that you can't tell is Mr. Belafonte and Congressman Cohen, but ...

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-32146517443852159032008-04-02T19:11:00.001-05:002008-12-09T06:55:25.754-06:00

Novelist Jacqueline Winspear dropped by the studios a few weeks ago to talk about her new novel, An Incomplete Revenge, the fifth in the Maisie Dobbs series. We talked of the Great War, hops picking in rural England and the Romany people, and even about her former career as a life coach. She is also one of the contributors for the great group blog, nakedauthors.com. (Don't worry, it's SFW.) A

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-40991923345431727572008-03-31T21:52:00.004-05:002008-12-09T06:55:26.111-06:00

Vanderbilt University in Nashville was host for a regional for Winter Guard International, which is some kind of competitive color guard drill team thingamajig. The costumes for some of the groups were fruit loopier than Toucan Sam's tummy after a well-balanced breakfast. Enjoy, my retinas still haven't forgiven me.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-66513823622986684482008-03-25T08:57:00.000-05:002008-03-25T12:04:42.645-05:00

What happens to a werewolf astronaut on the moon?

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-42358359851499952282008-03-24T09:20:00.004-05:002008-12-09T06:55:26.225-06:00

Douglas Preston is perhaps best known for his Pendergast series he writes with Lincoln Child. I had a chance to talk to him in January of 2008 about his solo novel Blasphemy. It's a story of a particle accelerator and the love triangle it's involved in. OK, maybe not quite, but a particle accelerator starts talking and science and religion are headed for their own collision course.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-45958804955778856522008-03-17T20:57:00.002-05:002008-12-09T06:55:26.405-06:00

Man, talking with Chuck Thompson was mighty fun. Not only is he an engaging guy with a sense of humor, but he was also a member of Mood Paint which was a precursor to one of my favorite bands, Pond. He also co-wrote one of my favorite Pond songs, Young Splendor. His book is a travel memoir called Smile When You are Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer. He dishes some dirt, but he also

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-42411238594760381932008-03-12T08:17:00.007-05:002008-12-09T06:55:26.504-06:00

On February 21, 2008 Lauren Groff stopped by the WYPL studios to have a chat about her debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton. This was her first in-person radio interview, so a decided shift from the ueber-recognizable Neil deGrasse Tyson from last week. Click here for the interview goodness.

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-3988500113051131412008-03-04T13:33:00.007-06:002008-06-18T09:09:16.722-05:00

INTERVIEW WITH DR. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSONOK, sometimes stuff just falls in one's lap. Last week I got to interview Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of NOVA science NOW, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and all-around smart guy. He was in Memphis for a lecture and I had called his people two weeks prior to see if I could get him to come on to the radio program I produce for WYPL Radio called Book

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-29104433564798384412007-11-08T18:59:00.000-06:002007-11-08T19:11:39.031-06:00

I've been living with my Palm Centro for a few weeks now, and I have to say that I love the little bugger. Touch screen action is sweet. Great contacts listing. The battery life is a drag. I can't wait till an aftermarket one pops up. I'd recommend this phone to just about anyone. Thumbs up!

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-8016772824715201972007-10-13T16:17:00.000-05:002007-10-13T16:27:59.221-05:00

Just got in my Sanyo Eneloop batteries! My new digital camera hates old rechargeable batteries. While they work well, they seem to output 0.9 volts after the first few snaps, and the camera shuts down when the voltage drops under 1.1v. The Eneloops are supposed to sustain 1.17v, and the biggest thing is that they come pre-charged and lose their charge much more slowly than traditional NiMH

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-14580819693120802922007-10-13T06:18:00.000-05:002007-10-13T16:55:26.630-05:00

The Impossibility of All Possible WorldsOkay, so this post comes partially from a dream that I had this morning. The dream itself is unimportant, and my thoughts can probably be refuted by any person who has had beyond two weeks in junior high physics, but here we go...When I hear people talk about about how all possible universes exist simultaneously, they usually say something along the lines

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-86026878889153013772007-10-12T20:08:00.000-05:002007-10-12T21:22:25.370-05:00

I'm the fancy new Book Talk producer, and I've already booked myself an awesome interview, Haven Kimmel, author of A Girl Named Zippy and She Got up off the Couch. I interviewed her a few years ago for her last novel Something Rising (Light and Swift), and we are going to talk about her new one, The Used World. The interview will be at 11 a.m. Friday October 19, 2007 at the Benjamin L Hooks

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559329.post-47709103323275921872007-10-07T17:24:00.000-05:002007-10-13T16:35:14.535-05:00

Hey my fellow VPers, I'm getting this blog rolling for all y'all.Thanks for scaring me in Detroit, Bethany.So, I figured out two major holes in my story this morning and wrote 2000 words. Oh sorry, I put the decimal point in the wrong place, 20.00 words. (Using decimals makes e'rthing seem more official, or not. The plot hole thing is for realsies, though.)I never thought I would have sung Bob

Stephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09150753397239847891noreply@blogger.com2