Episodes
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For our Season 4 finale, we watched the new Nicholas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Elena’s idea) and talked about it for more than two hours. Also: acting methods, Michael Syrah, Bob Dylan, email signatures, Goodreads, bad date movies, David’s recent experience on a TV set, the Nic Cage of sports, knuckleballs, Nick Cave, Elena sings some hits, Dracula, Elena’s going on tour, Justin drops his laptop near the end, Elvis hair, and (lots) more!
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This week, weâre talking about revision. We discuss a chapter of Stephen Kochâs The Modern Library Writerâs Workshop thatâs one of the better nuts-and-bolts revision guides, common drafting issues, the role of feedback and workshops, why revision is often taught poorly or not at all, and what our processes look like. Also: our recent appearance on a more professional podcast, some sports talk, Mary Karr, Ecco Homo, Van Halen, and more!
Some things we mention:
Book Fight! â https://bookfightpod.com
Justinâs interview with Tim States for Words & Sports: https://www.wasquarterly.com/offseason/tailgating-with-justin-st-germain#
Stephen Kochâs The Modern Library Writerâs Workshop (we read Chapter 7: Working and Reworking): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/94583/the-modern-library-writers-workshop-by-stephen-koch/
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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Missing episodes?
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This week weâre checking in with March Faxness again, now that the field has narrowed to four songs/essays (including Davidâs!). We discuss the recent games, preview the semifinals, and make our picks for whoâs going to win. Also: Elena takes up a new instrument, weâve met a lot of Xness writers since our last episodeâone of whom, Tim States, we include a mini-interview withâsome AWP Philadelphia/Tucson Book Fest talk, a long tangent about the worst movies weâve ever seen, Davidâs day on the Indigo Girls tour bus, Neil Gaimanâs wardrobe, and more!
Some things we mention:
All March Faxness essays are available on the site: http://marchxness.com
Follow March Xness on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marchxness
Follow David on Twitter: https://twitter.com/elturk7
Follow Tim States on Twitter: https://twitter.com/epmornsesh
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week weâre talking about possibly the best essay-related week of the year: March Faxness round 1, in which 64 essays about cover songs faced off in a tournament. We try to touch on our favoritesâalthough we probably missed someâand discuss the bracket and upcoming games. Also: Elvis Costello gets spicy on Twitter, we all get spicy about the Mountain Goats, dork rodeos, community college bowl, Denryâs back(!), Drakeâs reading list, Kamp Kilmer, Justin tries to understand NFTs, Elena explains the Chicken Van, some country music talk, is the shopping cart a dance?, roof-raising techniques, and Elena does mini-covers of Evan Dando, Snowâs âInformer,â and Tom Jonesâ âSex Bomb.â
Some things we mention:
All March Faxness essays are available on the site: http://marchxness.com
Follow March Xness on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marchxness
March Faxness Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3rNwexRZ9dmA0nvssrPlDK
Denryâs March Fadness essay on Snowâs âInformerâ: http://marchxness.com/snowvsedwinmccain
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week weâre talking about the real reason this podcast exists: the annual March Xness essay/song tournament, which is about cover songs this year.
Some things we mention:
March Faxness (and the previous tournaments): http://marchxness.com
Follow March Xness on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marchxness
March Faxness Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3rNwexRZ9dmA0nvssrPlDK
Joan Jettâs âCrimson & Cloverâ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXFra7gjElw
Tiffanyâs âI Think Weâre Alone Nowâ video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Q3mHyzn78
The Cover Me episode about âI Think Weâre Alone Nowâ: https://covermepodcast.podbean.com/e/i-think-were-alone-now-tommy-james-and-the-shondells/
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week weâre talking about essays that arenât in the first person. Elena picked one example, Eliot Weinbergerâs âThe Rhinoceros,â and Justin picked another, an excerpt from Claudia Rankineâs Citizen. Also: the new Macbeth, the acting role Elena was recently offered, Elena recites some Lady Macbeth, some Arnold Palmer talk, and a mini-spelling bee.
Some things we mention:
Eliot Weinbergerâs âThe Rhinocerosâ: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/120/1206206707.pdf
Claudia Rankineâs Citizen: https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/citizen
Brian Doyleâs âJoyas Voladorasâ:https://theamericanscholar.org/joyas-volardores/
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week weâre talking about this yearâs edition of the Pushcart Prize anthology. We compare it to Best American, discuss the important differences, and focus on a few selections from the anthology. Also: Build-A-Bears, Paint & Wine, Burt Reynolds, male pattern baldness, egg donation, BoJack Horseman, some March Faxness warmup talk, and more!
Some things we mention:
The Pushcart Prize:http://www.pushcartprize.com
March Faxness:http://marchxness.com
Kathryn Schulzâs essay on The Great Gatsby (suggested in a listener email): https://www.vulture.com/2013/05/schulz-on-the-great-gatsby.html
âOpen Houseâ by Jeremiah Moss:https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-36/essays/open-house/
âGuttedâ by Cathryn Klusmeier:https://agnionline.bu.edu/essay/gutted
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week weâre talking about this yearâs edition of Best American Essays. We compare it to previous years (spoiler: this one is a bummer), discuss the new subgenre of pandemic essays, and focus on a few selections from the anthology. Also: David makes us a pandemic cocktail, Justinâs dog makes a few barky cameos, we (well, one of us) question the entire Best American Essays enterprise, and we do a year-end lightning news/round. See you next year!
(Note: we donât mention Joan Didionâs death because it occurred the morning after we recorded, but if youâd like to hear some of our previous thoughts on Didion, we did an episode about her latest book earlier this year: http://www.essaypodcast.com/s3-e2-didion-on-writing/)
Some things we mention:
Best American Essays 2021:https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/the-best-american-essays-2021/9780358381754
Assayâs interview with Robert Atwan, the series editor of Best American Essays:https://www.assayjournal.com/interview-with-robert-atwan-31.html
Alexander Cheeâs link to BAE 2022 submission guidelines:https://twitter.com/alexanderchee/status/1473391913784983553
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week we discuss our first listener pick, Sophie Calleâs âThe Address Book,â which was suggested by Will Howard. Also: lots of âSuccessionâ talk (including a couple of potential spoilers), John McPheeâs inscrutable diagrams, more Chekhov, the kidsâ music these days, whether weâd want to be address-booked, what weâd say about each other if it happened, Elena makes up a song about the 1985 Chicago Bears, and more! (Also, send us your favorite essays of 2021 for Pushcart nominations.)
Some things we mention:
Sophie Calleâs The Address Book:http://sigliopress.com/book/the-address-book/
David Searcyâs book of essays, Shame and Wonder: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/221652/shame-and-wonder-by-david-searcy/
The Jeremy Strong profile from the New Yorker:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/13/on-succession-jeremy-strong-doesnt-get-the-joke
JM Tyreeâs The Counterforce:https://www.fictionadvocate.com/product/the-counterforce/
The sad and strange case of the Wanda Tinasky letters, which apparently were not written by Pynchon:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_Tinasky
The âClaw of Shameâ episode of Nathan for You:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRxAkNvnxhI
John Vaillantâs book The Tiger:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/182226/the-tiger-by-john-vaillant/
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week we discuss our feelings, how to write about feelings, our feelings some more, and two essays about feelings: Jerald Walkerâs âBreathe,â and Chris Offuttâs âTrash Food.â (Sorry about the audio qualityâwe had some tech issues this week.)
Jerald Walkerâs âBreatheâ in New England Review:
https://www.nereview.com/vol-40-no-3-2019/breathe/
Chris Offuttâs âTrash Foodâ in Oxford American:
https://main.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/550-trash-food
Allen Geeâs âOld School,â the other essay about James Alan Macpherson that we mention. (Excerpt only):
https://blog.pshares.org/index.php/old-school-by-allen-gee/
Stephanie Soileauâs book of short stories, Last One Out Shut Off the Lights:
https://stephaniesoileau.com/last-one-out-shut-off-the-lights-2
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week we discuss the biggest news in the entire world since our last episodeâElena's appearance last week on Jeopardy!
Elenaâs episode (until it gets taken down): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExlEesN4Sl8
Elenaâs J-Archive.com contestant page: https://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=14301
âThe Jeopardy! Essayâ by Mike Garabedian:https://www.academia.edu/44462679/The_Jeopardy_Essay
A clip from Mikeâs appearance on Jeopardy!:https://www.facebook.com/WhittierCollege/videos/how-smart-are-our-librarians-theyre-jeopardy-smart-heres-a-flashback-to-collecti/1056618957686460/
Elenaâs Twitter thread about being on Jeopardy!:https://twitter.com/elenavox/status/1458131831308500993
River City News article re: wrong question: https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2021/11/10/jeopardy-contestant-fail-clue-about-roebling-bridge
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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In our Season 4 premiere, we discuss what we've been up to since last season, a reader email, Big People Fashion, AI voice prints, and the recent Anthony Bourdain & Val Kilmer documentaries. Also: Elena does her best Christopher Walken impression, and we tackle the eternal question: is Val Kilmer a good actor?
Links:
Roadrunner: https://www.amazon.com/Roadrunner-Film-About-Anthony-Bourdain/dp/B09BB55XXX
The Vanity Fair article on Bourdain and Argento: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/07/anthony-bourdain-asia-argento-roadrunner
Helen Rosner's New Yorker piece: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-ethics-of-a-deepfake-anthony-bourdain-voice
Val: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14731254/
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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In our season 3 finale, we discuss documentary/nonfiction theater. Elena explains the subgenre, and David joins us to discuss âThe Laramie Project,â a nonfiction play. Also: a stapler anthology update, a stapler anthology cocktail, some true crime talk, a theater-themed lightning round, our worst performances, and more! Thanks for listening, and weâll see you next season.
âThe Laramie Project,â full text: http://www.harringtonartsalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/The-Laramie-Project-Script.pdf
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week, weâre re-recording the lost episode from two weeks ago, about Eula Bissâ 2020 book Having and Being Had. We discuss its main topicsâcapitalism and classâas well as whether itâs a book-length essay and why or why not. Also: other books weâre reading, a creaky chair, the hottest day in Oregon history, how much money weâd cut our thumbs off for, and more!
Links: The upcoming (7/5) Essay Daily Salon with Justin and Jana Larson: http://www.essaydaily.org/p/the-essay-daily-salon-series.html
Janaâs book, Reel Bay:https://coffeehousepress.org/products/reel-bay-a-cinematic-essay
Stacey Swannâs novel, Olympus, TX:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608671/olympus-texas-by-stacey-swann/
Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest & Relaxation:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/561517/my-year-of-rest-and-relaxation-by-ottessa-moshfegh/
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week, our special guest, longtime friend, and fellow nonfiction professor Dave Madden joins us to discuss two essays about fucking: Samuel Delaneyâs âAsh Wednesday,â and Kristen Dombekâs âLetter from Williamsburg.â Also: Fatherâs Day presents, workshop models, a debate about sentences, Sizzler essays, and more!
Links:
Daveâs website: https://www.davemadden.org
Daveâs web designer, Beth Sullivan: https://bethsullivan.com
Samuel Delaneyâs âAsh Wednesdayâ: http://bostonreview.net/arts-society/samuel-r-delany-ash-wednesday
Kristin Dombekâs âLetter from Williamsburgâ (subscription required for full essay): https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/6236/letter-from-williamsburg-kristin-dombek
The audio version of âLetter from Williamsburgâ: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/07/26/kristin-dombeks-letter-from-williamsburg/
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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Our episode for this week failed to record (thanks, Zoom!), so we're going back to the archives. More than a year ago, back when the pandemic was still young, we recorded an episode about Val Kilmer's memoir I'm Your Huckleberry. It has the fewest downloads of any of our episodes, for some mysterious reason, so we decided to dig it out and re-post it to hold you over until we can get our shit together and finish Season 3. Also: other parts of the Kilmer corpus, including his poetry, art, and music; the movie Tombstone and related trivia; David's Old Western cocktail; Frank Stallone; fake memoirs; and much, much more.
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week, we discuss the 1993 Canadian/French Canadian film âThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould,â which we think is essayistic in many ways. Also: breath mints found in orifices, the thesis circle of life, writing too-long essays, apocalyptic media, Hamlet 2, âCanadian stakes,â lyric vs. narrative, accessibility, Graham Gano, and more!
Links:The full movie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv7nPiZHKy4
Gouldâs radio documentary âThe Idea of Northâ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szgnGV4hOKU
Justinâs essay from Territory: http://themapisnot.com/issue-iii-justin-st-germain
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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In this week's episode, we discuss two "The Art of ..." interviews from the Paris Review: one on the essay with Hilton Als, and another with Geoff Dyer about nonfiction in general. Also: our mutual love of Mrs. Dalloway, Elenaâs study abroad experience, our rocky resumption of vaccinated socializing, Val Kilmer has a documentary, a couple of weird bird stories, one sad cat story, a lightning round about celebrities, lots of interviewing talk, and more!
Links:
âThe Art of the Essayâ with Hilton Als (subscription required):https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/7178/the-art-of-the-essay-no-3-hilton-als
âThe Art of Nonfictionâ with Geoff Dyer (same):https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6282/the-art-of-nonfiction-no-6-geoff-dyer
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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In this week's episode, we're talking about our generations. After Justin's mini-generation was dubbed Geriatric Millennials, we decided to read two examples from Donald Hall's book Essays After Eighty. Also: a Uhaul story, teaching 9/11 essays to Gen Z, a little baseball talk about the "yips," times we biffed it in public, an old-themed lightning round, and lots & lots of old-person complaining about the kids these days.
Essays After Eighty: https://bookshop.org/books/essays-after-eighty/9780544570313
âOut the Windowâ isnât available in full online, but hereâs a brief excerpt from the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/23/out-the-window
âDr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr.â (account required): https://www.narrativemagazine.com/issues/stories-week-2014-2015/story-week/dr-dr-dr-dr-dr-dr-dr-dr-dr-dr-donald-hall A Fresh Air interview with Hall about âOut the Windowâ: https://freshairarchive.org/segments/donald-hall-poets-view-out-window
Rick Ankiel getting the yips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDZX525CSvw
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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This week, we discuss the Texas Review's All-Essay Issue from late 2020, including two specific essays by Wendy C. Ortiz and Vincent James. Also: a virgin fake-gin cocktail, Godzilla vs. Kong, terrible jobs we've had, times we've gotten fired, an alarming amount of Will Smith content, and more!
Links:
Texas Review All-Essay Issue: http://www.thetexasreview.org/issues/
Seedlip non-alcoholic gin: https://www.seedlipdrinks.com/en-us/shop/?gclid=CjwKCAjwqIiFBhAHEiwANg9szlLXeKgBYIgMBhVevVOy1k5ZvO7TBpKnn4q-54ihA48uesXAxa7L5hoCMlYQAvD_BwE
Godzilla vs. Kong: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5034838/
Will Smith's 5-minute story on becoming the Fresh Prince: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_WoOYybCro
Find out more at http://essaypodcast.com
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