Episodios

  • Vauhini Vara, author of SEARCHES: SELFHOOD IN THE DIGITAL AGE

    Vauhini Vara, author of SEARCHES: SELFHOOD IN THE DIGITAL AGE
    May 6 2025
    Vauhini Vara grew up alongside internet startup companies. She was in middle school when AOL sent those first floppy discs to our homes, inviting us to dial up to the world wide web. A graduate of Stanford and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she became a tech writer for The Wall Street Journal and a business reporter for The Atlantic, The New Yorker and other publications. In 2017, Vara profiled Sam Altman, a cofounder of OpenAI, and gained early access to ChatGPT. She used the program to write about a topic that had long eluded her — the grief she experienced over the death of her sister. “Ghosts” came out in The Believer in the summer of 2021 and quickly went viral (as evidenced by its adaptation on This American Life). That piece, and several others, are part of Vara’s latest book, Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age. Vara’s 2022 novel, The Immortal King Rao — also steeped in the tech industry — was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and her story collection, This is Salvaged, came out the following year. She joins Marrie Stone to talk about how these technologies, including ChatGPT and other A.I. models are impacting writers and where she sees things going. Her insights are both hopeful and terrifying. She also talks about writing in different genres as a journalist, a novelist, a writer of creative nonfiction and short stories. She shares her insights about playing with different structures and how to release yourself from conventional forms of storytelling. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on April 29, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
    Más Menos
    55 m
  • Jennifer Haigh, author of RABBIT MOON

    Jennifer Haigh, author of RABBIT MOON
    May 1 2025
    Jennifer Haigh’s first novel, Mrs. Kimble, won the PEN Hemingway Award for debut fiction. Mercy Street, was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker and won the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. Her short stories have been published widely, in the Atlantic, Granta, The Best American Short Stories, and many other places. Published in eighteen languages, her work has been recognized by the Guggenheim Foundation, the Michener Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Boston. Her new novel, Rabbit Moon, is the focus of our talk today. Jennifer joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. They talk about her time in Shanghai and how being there inspired the novel, why she wrote a novel about sisters, writing multiple points of view, writing minor characters, what she reads when she’s writing fiction, how much she knows going in, why she doesn’t plot, and more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on April 4, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
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    53 m
  • Andrew Porter, author of THE IMAGINED LIFE

    Andrew Porter, author of THE IMAGINED LIFE
    Apr 21 2025
    Andrew Porter is the author of two story collections, The Disappeared and The Theory of Light and Matter. He’s also the author of the novel In Between Days. His latest, out this month, is The Imagined Life and it treads on some familiar territory as the others. Andrew joins Marrie Stone to talk about it. His work has been compared to Richard Yates and John Cheever. He talks about those influences and his hyper-focus on the domestic realm. He also talks about the impacts his former professor, Marilynne Robinson, has on his work. They talk about writerly choices — point of view, structure, revision, and character development. And they discuss larger themes of men, boys, marriage, and sexuality in today’s culture and how literature reflects those struggles. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You’ll help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on April 16, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
    Más Menos
    55 m
  • Tova Mirvis, author of WE WOULD NEVER

    Tova Mirvis, author of WE WOULD NEVER
    Apr 15 2025
    Tova Mirvis is the author of the memoir The Book of Separation as well as three novels, Visible City, The Outside World and The Ladies Auxiliary, a national bestseller. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe Magazine and Real Simple, and her fiction has been broadcast on NPR. She lives in Newton, MA with her family. Her most recent novel is We Would Never. Tova joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about how the idea for her new book came from a case she followed in the media, the challenges of writing her first thriller, turning real people into fictional characters, writing multiple point of views, pacing, at what point she thinks about the reader, and more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You’ll help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on February 28, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
    Más Menos
    1 h y 4 m
  • Brian Selznick, author and illustrator of RUN AWAY WITH ME

    Brian Selznick, author and illustrator of RUN AWAY WITH ME
    Apr 7 2025
    In 2007, with his Caldecott-winning masterpiece The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick invented a new way of storytelling. The book became the basis for the 2011 Oscar-winning movie Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese. Brian is the author and illustrator of many other books for children, including Wonderstruck (also a movie), The Marvels, Kaleidoscope, and Big Tree, which was named one of the Best Children's books of 2023 by the New York Times and the audio book, narrated by Meryl Streep, was nominated for a Grammy. His latest book, Run Away With Me, is his first YA novel. Brian joins Marrie Stone to talk about his inventive approach to storytelling, playing with its form and structure, tapping into your own passions and curiosities to ignite passion and curiosity in your reader, building attention in our youth in the digital age, Brian’s insane love of research, the utterly unique origin story behind Run Away With Me, and so much more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You’ll help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on April 4, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
    Más Menos
    1 h y 10 m
  • Colum McCann, author of TWIST

    Colum McCann, author of TWIST
    Mar 31 2025
    Colum McCann first came on the podcast in 2010 to talk about his National Book Award winning novel, Let the Great World Spin. He most recently returned in 2020 with his New York Times bestseller Apeirogon. He’s back this month with a stunning new novel, Twist. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about the book and his inspiration. They also discuss the need for stories in this current historical moment, why Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a book for our times, the things currently giving him hope, and how he manages to make profound statements about the world without sounding pedological. Colum also shares some of his writerly moves distinct to his style, including his weave of arcane and interesting information into his novels, his effective use of lists, his emphasis on the sound of language and sentence structure, and more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You’ll help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on March 28, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
    Más Menos
    1 h y 1 m
  • Scott Turow, author of PRESUMED GUILTY

    Scott Turow, author of PRESUMED GUILTY
    Mar 24 2025
    Scott Turow is a writer and former practicing lawyer and the author of 13 bestselling works of fiction, including Presumed Innocent. Scott has also published two nonfiction books, including One L, about his experience as a law student. His books have been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into movies and television projects. He frequently contributes essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, and the Atlantic. His most recent novel is Presumed Guilty. Scott joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about his path to writing fiction, loving literary fiction and also loving plot, writing in the first person present tense, writing outside your culture and race, the importance of setting, and his revision process. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You’ll help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on March 18, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
    Más Menos
    1 h
  • Charlotte McConaghy, author of WILD DARK SHORE

    Charlotte McConaghy, author of WILD DARK SHORE
    Mar 17 2025
    Charlotte McConaghy is an Australian author living in Sydney with her partner and two children. She has a Masters Degree in Screenwriting from the Australian Film Television and Radio School, and a number of published SFF works in Australia. Her novel Migrations was her first foray into adult literary fiction, published in North America by Flatiron Books, and by Penguin Random House in Australia and the UK. It is being translated into over 25 languages and adapted to film. Once There Were Wolves, the New York Times Bestseller, is a romantic mystery about a biologist charged with reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands in order to rewild the landscape and bring a forest back to life. Wild Dark Shore, the focus of today’s show, continues her love of romantic thrillers set in beautiful, remote places, and explores not only what it takes to raise children in a collapsing world, but the impossible choices we make to protect those we love. Charlotte joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about whether she comes up with the story first or the setting, what her research entails, why she chose multiple point of view narrators for Wild Dark Shore, how she knows when a novel is finished, revision, and more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You’ll help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on February 14, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
    Más Menos
    50 m
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