The Passage

Isaac Fitzgerald | American Rambler | Memoir | Ep. 20

Isaac Fitzgerald reads from American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed, his memoir about following in the footsteps of one of America’s great folk heroes. In

Scott Hawkins | Blacktail | Fantasy | Ep. 19

Scott Hawkins reads from Blacktail, a dark fantasy in which a wolf seeks revenge on humanity for the death of his house dog mate. In this episode, we unpack a passage fro

Bathsheba Demuth | Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait | History | Ep. 18

Bathsheba Demuth reads from Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait, billed as the first comprehensive history of Beringia, the Arctic lands and wat

Joshua Kendall | Trudeau & Doonesbury | Biography | Ep. 17

Joshua Kendall reads from Trudeau & Doonesbury, his new biography of Garry Trudeau, the famously press-shy Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist. In this episode, we discuss

Rich Larson | "In the Hours Preceding the Fall of Tau-Sants" | Science Fiction | Ep. 16

Rich Larson reads the opening passage of “In the Hours Preceding the Fall of Tau-Sants,” a cyberpunk-flavored short story published by the online magazine Reactor and ava

Dan Fesperman | Pariah | Spy Fiction | Ep. 15

Bestselling spy novelist Dan Fesperman joins Cory and Jon to discuss Pariah, a satirical thriller about a disgraced comedian recruited by the CIA to spy on an authoritari

Oana Aristide | Astronaut! | Fiction | Ep. 14

Oana Aristide reads the opening pages of Astronaut!, her recently-released novel set in late-80s communist Romania. Astronaut! follows two main characters: an eight-year-

M Lin | "The Memory Museum" | Fiction | Ep. 13

Author M Lin joins us to discuss her fantastic debut collection, The Memory Museum, a series of stories that move between contemporary China and imagined futures to explo

Sonya Walger | Wifehouse | Fiction | Ep. 12

Award-winning author and actor Sonya Walger (Lost, For All Mankind) joins us to discuss her latest novel, Wifehouse—the story of a woman who has always defined herself as

John Keene - "Gloss" (Counternarratives) | Fiction | Ep. 11

John Keene reads from "Gloss on a History of Roman Catholics in the Early American Republic, 1790–1825; or The Strange History of Our Lady of the Sorrows," a novella at t

Sam Shelstad | The Cobra and the Key | Fiction | Ep. 10

Sam Shelstad reads three short chapters from his (very funny) novel, The Cobra and the Key, a fictional creative writing guide penned by an aspiring literary genius who i

’Pemi Aguda | One Leg on Earth | Fiction | Ep. 9

Nigerian short story writer and novelist ’Pemi Aguda reads a passage from her latest work, One Leg on Earth, and discusses the challenges–and rewards–of short vs. longfor

Jan Swafford | Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph | Biography | Ep. 8

Musician, writer, and biographer Jan Swafford reads not one but two passages! The first from the opening of his biography of the American composer Charles Ives and the se

Nathan Ballingrud | "The Butcher's Table" (Wounds/The Atlas of Hell) | Horror | Ep. 7

Horror and dark fantasy writer Nathan Ballingrud reads a passage from his novella, The Butcher’s Table, originally published in the short fiction collection Wounds (The A

Michael Katz | The Brothers Karamozov | Russian Translation | Ep. 6

The great Russian translator Michael Katz reads a passage from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and discusses the painstaking process, many challenges, and hard limita

Tom Toner / Caspar Geon | The Immeasurable Heaven | Science Fiction | Ep. 5

Science fiction writer Tom Toner reads a passage from his latest novel, The Immeasurable Heaven, published under the pen name Caspar Geon. He talks to Jon and Cory about

Anya Von Bremzen | National Dish | Food | Ep. 4

Food writer and memoirist Anya Von Bremzen, author of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking, reads from the epilogue of her latest bestseller, National Dish, and discusses

Gabby Squailia | Dead Boys | Fantasy | Ep. 3

Author Gabby Squailia reads a passage from her debut fantasy novel Dead Boys, a macabre, rollicking story set in the afterlife. She takes us through the unconventional ro

Daniel Magariel | Walk the Darkness Down | Fiction | Ep. 2

Writer Daniel Magariel reads a passage from his remarkable second novel, Walk the Darkness Down, and delves into how he creates his characters, his research methods, and

Rolf Potts | "Storming 'The Beach'" (Marco Polo Didn't Go There) | Travel | Ep. 1

Rolf Potts -- godfather of travel writing in the digital age and bestselling author of Vagabonding, Marco Polo Didn't Go There, and The Vagabond's Way -- reads from his b