One of the things I find most fascinating about Thomas Frank's work is that he is required, by virtue of his interest in our political system and its foibles, to be a keen observer of language as it is used and misused. In our discussion based on his latest column for Harper's, it all comes down to a single word — infidel.
Of course, given that this is America in the 21st century, that word first piqued Frank's interest when he saw it on a T-Shirt — and from there, a thoroughly engrossing essay has grown. From the original Crusades until now, the word infidel has taken on new meanings and been used in way in which those who originated the term simp could not recognize.
Of course, Frank approaches all of his work with a nicely off-kilter sense of humor that veers away from polemic. He is, after all, outside the box with which the Washington, DC opinion machine would like to surround him. I can see that T-shirt now. You can hear him talk about the T-shirt that inspired him at Harper's and the history of the word infidel by following this link to the MP3 Audio file.
01-03-12 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read, Episode 25: Jonathan Lethem, 'The Ecstasy of Influence'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the twenty-fifth episode of my new series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. 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.
01-02-12:A 2011 Interview with Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
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"... he was such a voracious reader ..."
—Steven Naifeh
We think of Vincent Van Gogh, and reading is not the first thing to come to our minds — but it should be. In 'Van Gogh: The Life,' Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith have re-created Van Gogh for readers, and it is indeed a remarkable book, immersive and intense. My interview with them mirrored my experience of the book, and it's my hope that readers and potential readers will find this conversation nearly as compelling as the authors' prologue to the book.
The set up for the interview was pretty amazing. We were allowed to film the authors in the conference room for the Los Angeles Country Museum of Modern Art, and our thanks go out to the hard-working staff who made this possible. It was an amazing (if rather boomy) room with furniture that belonged on the set of Mad Men, or in a museum; which, in a sense it was. We got audio and video of the interview; we're editing the video as I write this.
Not surprising, given the revelations in this biography, Naifeh and Smith had talked to a lot of people; I watched them on 60 Minutes in a segment that got them to Van Gogh's grave. But I was fortunate enough to have to have actually read the book, so I was able to get a grip on what they had actually accomplished. The resulting conversation was truly gratifying, as we explored what they wrote and how it came to be.
05-16-12: Commentary : Mark Sundeen Pays Out 'The Man Who Quit Money' : Over the Edges
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Interview with Mark Sundeen and Daniel Suelo : "What would happen if we actually practiced this stuff?"-Daniel Suelo
05-15-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War' : Impure Life
05-08-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Clive Barker 'Abarat' : Reading in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Mark Sundeen : "...over the years, I had heard through my friends that he had stopped using money and was living in a cave..."
04-30-12: Commentary : Christopher Moore Follows 'Sacré Bleu' : A Story in Color
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Christopher Moore : "...it often isn't efficient to tell a story in chronological order..."
04-27-12: Commentary : Lisa Lutz on 'Trail of the Spellmans' : Meta-Fiction is Fun
Agony Column Podcast News Report: SF in SF from February 11, 2012 : Panel Discussion Moderated by Terry Bisson and Interviews with Rudy Rucker, K. W. Jeter, and Jay Lake
04-26-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Emmanuel Carrere 'The Adversary' : The Enemy Within
04-23-12: Commentary : T. M. Luhrman Listens 'When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God' : Science and the Supernaturaly
04-18-12: Commentary : Gregg Jones Stirs Through 'Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dreams' : A Dream Of Today From Yesterday
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Gregg Jones : "The Philippinos would welcome us with open arms and greet us as liberators."
04-17-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Caleb Carr 'The Alienist' : Subterranean History
04-16-12: Commentary : Richard Zacks Visits 'Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York' :The Wild, Wild East
Agony Column Podcast News Report: A 2012 Interview with Richard Zacks : "Roosevelt and Riis were out looking, and if they did find a cop, he was talking to a streetwalker."
