LA Review of Books

Despina Stratigakos, author of "Hitler at Home", joins Laurie, and co-host Boris Drayluk, for a wide-ranging discussion about how tasteful interior design operated as propaganda in the Third Reich, the powerful woman at the heart of that effort, Gerdy Troost, and the lessons learned for our own celebrity-saturated politics. Also, Nicholson Baker, author of Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids, returns to explain his mysterious relationship to classic Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov's "Speak, Memory".

Celebrated costume designer and author, Tracy Tynan, joins Tom and Laurie to talk about her new memoir, "Wear and Tear: The Threads of My Life". The daughter of a legendary couple from London during the Swinging '60s - famed theater critic and playwright Kenneth Tynan ("Oh! Calcutta!") and actress turned author Elaine Dundy ("The Dud Avocado") - Tynan spins tales of a daringly dysfunctional, but beautifully dressed, nuclear family. LARB editor (and new father) Evan Kindley drops by to recommend "Child, the Family and the Outside World" by British Developmental Psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott, a pioneer in "object relations theory". Produced by Alan Minsky

Novelist Nicholson Baker joins Tom, Laurie, and Evan Kindley to discuss his new book, "Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids," the story of Baker's time as a substitute teacher in the Maine public school system. This morphs into a fascinating discussion of pedagogy in light of the everyday realities of contemporary American public schooling and the issues modern schoolteachers confront to teach children.

Ron Arias, author of the acclaimed novel The Road to Tamazunchale, joins Tom and Laurie to discuss his new collection The Wetback and Other Stories; as well as his career in journalism and his encounters with Jorge Luis Borges and Ernest Hemingway. Also, Janice Littlejohn returns to recommend Monica Coleman's Bipolar Faith: A Black Woman's Journey with Depression and Faith.

This week Tom and Laurie talk with Lesley MM Blume about her new book 'Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises.' Laura Albert is back on the show after last week's brilliant interview to recommend Annie Proulx’s 'Barkskins.' Plus, Janet Fitch’s reading from her novel 'Paint it Black.'

Hosts Laurie Winer and Tom Lutz talk with Laura Albert on the eve of the cinematic debut of the documentary film about her, "Author: The JT Leroy Story." The conversation covers the story of the Albert's bestselling books, which she wrote under the pseudonym - or rather, through her avatar - "JT Leroy." It's one of the most fascinating, and controversial, tales in recent American letters.

LARB's Senior Editors Janice Littlejohn and Evan Kindley join Tom and Laurie for a pair of wide ranging conversations. First, Janice discusses the documentary film she is producing on women horn players; and then two recent articles she wrote: one about representation of people of color in Hollywood films (with a focus on a project in development about the Persian poet Rumi with Leonardo DiCaprio slated to play the muslim scholar); the second about the relationship of people of mixed race to Black American political and cultural discourse. Then, Evan Kindley discusses his book, Questionairre, a delightful study of the history of the form from its origins to its most popular contemporary incarnation - as irresistible click bait.

Political Journalist Walter Shapiro joins Seth and Tom to discuss his new book Hustling Hitler: The Jewish Vaudvillian Who Fooled thew Fuhrer; it's about Walter's Great Uncle Freeman Bernstein - one of the legendary grifters of his time. Then David Ulin discusses the satirical novel he co-authored with Paul Kolsby in the 1990s, Ear to the Ground. Recently published in book form for the first time; Ear to the Ground originally appeared in weekly serial installments in the LA Reader.

Author and Slate Editor Jessica Winter joins Seth and Laurie to discuss her novel Brake In Case Of Emergency; and all the delicious subjects that arise from writing a scathing, yet loving, satire of an all women's workplace. Plus, Jessica's reflections on Election 2016.

Laurie, Seth, and Tom talk with LA Times reporter Jill leovy about her fascinating and best-selling book on a murder case in South Los Angeles, Ghettocide. The conversation goes in-depth into some of the hottest political issues of 2016: race, policing, and our society's unequal distribution of resources. Also, Seth and Laurie address another source of political trauma, Donald Trump, in the wake of both major party conventions

Radio Hour: DNC, Kid's Corner, and Meghan Daum by LA Review of Books

This week's episode features Margaret Wappler who joins the show to talk about her new novel 'Neon Green.' Plus, your hosts discuss the Hulk Hogan lawsuit against Gawker and Peter Thiel's role in it.

This week, Seth, Laurie and Tom talk about one of Seth’s favorite topics: bullshit. The conversation ranges across a few recent newsmakers, including Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump and owner of the New York Observer; Gay Talese, acclaimed journalist and author of the debatably non-fiction book 'The Voyeur’s Motel'; and Jonah Lehrer, former writer for The New Yorker at the center of several plagiarism scandals.

Claire Hoffman joins Seth, Laurie, and Tom to discuss her new book Greetings From Utopia Park: Surviving a Transcendent Childhood; and Sandra Tsing Loh returns to recommend a book by Buddhist monk Pema Chodron

This week, our hosts talk with novelist Julia Claiborne Johnson about her debut work 'Be Frank With Me.' Plus, actor Lauren Weedman recommends everybody read Carl Jung's 'The Undiscovered Self.'