Avsnitt
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TV writer Jamie Lynn Harris joins Joshua to reminisce over the last time someone read erotica written by a radio DJ to her on a beach in Spain. She and Joshua bond over their shared love of "Anna Karenina" and Paul Beatty's "The Sellout". She goes into lush detail about the sapphic novel of race and identity in the late 1920's "Passing" by Nella Larsen. And tells of how she is catching up on the canonical authors whose names she heard thrown around in grad school like Clarice Lispecter. Jamie also goes against the grain by speaking fondly over the books she had to read in high school and mourns how students these days are being required to read less and less. Josh also talks about a Rumi book specifically a poem about dogs being gateways into the eternal.
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Books Talked About Include
An Apprenticeship or the Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispecter
Passing by Nella Larsen
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Say I Am You by Rumi
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Comedian, writer and co-host of the Grifthorse Podcast, Megan Koester joins Joshua Turek to discuss her favorite books about magazines and how to harvest the California state flower into opium. The two frequent collaborators recount climbing around the Hollywood Hills a couple months into the pandemic with a fruit picker to gather neglected avocados off rich people's trees and while making a video about it. They get into self publishing zines and talk Josh's new self published poetry book which sold out of its first edition! Also included are two book recommendations from listeners!
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Netflix comedian Kimberly Clark gets deep into music with a memoir she's currently reading by jazz legend Thelonious Monk and a biography she loved about the late music producer J Dilla. She and Josh discuss morality and greatness and how to reconcile your admiration of deeply flawed artists. "Confederacy of Dunces" is another one of her picks, she likens the main character to Larry David and discusses how the book was given to her just before she began performing stand up comedy. She also brings Paul Mooney's memoir and discusses how the prolific comedy writer for acts like Richard Pryor and Dave Chapelle shaped her own approach and even encouraged her while she was working at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood. Kimberly and Joshua agree to disagree about David Sedaris and she also brings in the next book she wants to read. Thanks for listening!
Books Talked About Include:
Thelonious Monk memoir
Dilla Time biography by Dan Charnas
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Slumberland by Paul Beatty
Black is the New White memoir by Paul Mooney
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On this week's episode Joshua is joined by his first Gen Z guests, the comedy duo behind Content.Channel, Cam George and Peter Ditzler. Not only have these two been helping with the podcast, they've also been kindred readers with Joshua sharing similar tastes in books since they met. They get into their shared love of Mike Davis, particularly his book about the geology of Los Angeles and modern day conflicts with it in "Ecology of Fear". Eve Babitz is discussed as are some of the pivotal figures in the modern day city like Mulholland, D.W. Griffith, and Aimee Semple McPherson. But first Cam and Pete pitch Joshua hard on their love of e-readers and how to mimic the scrolling on their phones helps trick their brains into doing something productive on their Kindles. We also get into book recommendations from listeners!
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Actor and Sundance Festival Filmmaker, Bridey Elliott joins Joshua to discuss self help, the people who believe dolphins are aliens, NASA experiments gone wrong, and how Bridey throws away every journal she ever finishes. Their book conversation ranges from parasocial relationships, a lesbian psychosexual love affair in the novel “Big Swiss” to the short fiery life and memoir of author Cookie Mueller, all the way out to the spiritual watery depths of a dolphin lover named Joan Ocean who Bridey went and visited in Hawaii after reading a book featuring her. They also read listener book recommendations at the end! TW: Book plot description of Big Swiss briefly mentions SA
Books Talked About Include:
Five Personality Patterns byt Steven Kessler
Voices in the Ocean by Susan Casey
Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller Memoir
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Kinship with All of Life J. Allen Boone
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"Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" writer Jeff Loveness (Rick and Morty, Jimmy Kimmel Live) brings our biggest stack of books yet and talks with Joshua about everything from Anthony Bourdain books to the Teenage Bible. He and Joshua bring the same final novel of Tolstoy, "Resurrection" and joke about the time they bro'd out at the Alamo Theater and watched the emotionally heavy movie "Past Lives". Joshua also gives a sneak peek at his soon to be released poetry book "On the Outside Looking Up" and reads two book recommendations written in from listeners of the show!
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“Bananas Podcast” co-host and voice on BOB’S BURGERS, stand up comedian, Kurt Braunohler joins Joshua to talk about how his kids read more than him by virtue of them exhausting him. The two discuss their shared love of trees prompted by book “The Overstory” that Kurt says is one of his all time favorites even if he hasn’t finished it yet. Their conversation ranges from a book about dishwashing to imagining Raymond Carver’s stories as cartoonishly overwritten without his famed editor Gordon Lisch. They also discuss the stunted feelings of the cursed white male rugged individualists and CIA interference in U.S. art institutions and literature. Ultimately, it’s about reading what you love, no matter if it’s spiders in outer space science fiction or 70’s NYC musician junkie memoirs.
Books talked about include:
“What People Talk About When They Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver
“The Overstory” by Richard Powers
“Dishwasher” by Pete Jordan
“I Dreamed I was a Very Clean Tramp” by Richard Hell
“Children of Time” by Adrian Tchaikovsky
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“Family Guy” writer/producer Evan Waite joins Turek Books to talk about his time writing for “The Onion” and his new book “Life Wants You Dead”. Evan and Joshua bond over used book sales at libraries and avoiding social media witch hunts. Evan talks about how reading “48 Laws of Power” was the impetus to creating a writer’s group at the Strand Bookstore in New York City. He also discusses making the leap from teaching English in China to finding his way into comedy writing. And how he drew inspiration in penning his book about fear from a book about the inner workings of New York City.
Books talked about include:
THE WORKS: ANATOMY OF A CITY by Kate Ascher
LIFE WANTS YOU DEAD by Evan Waite
THE STENCH OF HONOLULU by Jack Handy
WATCHMEN by Alan Moore
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS by Hunter S. Thompson
AMERICA by Jon Stewart and team
IS THIS ANYTHING? by Jerry Seinfeld
48 LAWS OF POWER by Robert Greene
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Comedian Ali Macofsky joins Joshua to talk about both being child actors and Jeanette McCurdy’s bestselling book about that life “I’m Glad My Mom is Dead”. Longtime friends, they discuss growing up in Southern California and Steve Martin being a magician at Disneyland. Their conversation threads through subjects like public transportation, stand up comedy, old substance slang like “crank”, and reaching out to people you admire on Instagram.
Books Talked About Include:
“Born Standing Up” by Steve Martin
“I’m Glad My Mom is Dead” by Jeanette McCurdy
“The Maid” by Nita Prose
“Crank (Trilogy) by Ellen Hopkins
“Trees of Santa Monica” by George Hastings
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Emmy nominated writer and comedian Ellory Smith joins us to talk about being a George Saunders superfan and trying to identify the hypocrisy of the world as a means of illuminating a better one. She and Joshua get into conspiracy theories about hippies and PETA, Toni Morrison and Magic Bullet blenders. Their conversation ranges from nature reclaiming Chernobyl to the graffiti artists doing the same to the abandoned high rises in downtown LA. This conversation skips the small talk and goes right into grief, the world’s problems, and how literature gets us into reflecting on what’s right and wrong in our own lives.
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Joshua is joined by comedian and stoke activist JT Parr from Chad and JT Go Deep on Netflix, a comedic duo known for their amazing viral videos, often addressing city councils across America with urgent pleas for services like public yachts. Beneath his comedic characters, JT is lowkey well-read. He and Joshua discuss Elmore Leonard, life before social media, David Foster Wallace after cancellation, Mary Karr's devastating poem about DFW, JFK's legendary status, and learning to own our issues and apologize for past mistakes as bullies and the ones bullied. Joshua talks about a Terry Tempest Williams book that made him cry for 3-5 seconds the night before and a photo book about bros he bought his girlfriend for Christmas.
Books Discussed Include:
CUBA LIBRE by Elmore Leonard
THE GREAT MOVIES by Roger Ebert
JFK: COMING OF AGE IN THE AMERICAN CENTURY 1917-1956 by Fredrik Logevall
JOE COLLEGE by Tom Perrotta
EROSION by Terry Tempest Williams
AMERICAN BACHELORS by Michael Rababy
INFINITE JEST, A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I'll NEVER DO AGAIN, BROOM OF THE SYSTEM etc by David Foster Wallace
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Comedian, writer, and actor, Alyssa Limperis whose special “No Bad Days” is airing on Peacock, joins Joshua to tell him about her hang ups toward having to finish things in life and how it makes the commitment of choosing a book treacherous. Josh tells Alyssa about his emotional support books on his nightstand and how he reads multiple books like others surf tv channels. Alyssa shares her appreciation for Sally Rooney books and how they were all she read one year and this sparks lighthearted conversation about the recent Paul Mescal dating rumors. The guest and host also get into enduring a similar loss at the same time, grief and how it shapes our reading behaviors, and how Alyssa is mortified Joshua visits a student dentist, “A student hairdresser, maybe!” They also give each other books!
Books talked about include:
“Normal People” by Sally Rooney
“Three Women” by Lisa Taddeo,
“Them” by Jon Ronson
“Letters to a Young Poet” by Rilke
“The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig
“Of Walking In Ice” by Werner Herzog
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Stand up Comedian and Co-Creator and star of “This Fool” on Hulu, Chris Estrada brings in a stack of graphic novels and converts Joshua into a fan of the form. They get into their childhood shoplifting stories and Chris attempting to solve the Black Dahlia murder mystery after a particularly bad break-up in his 20’s. Books discussed include “Julio’s Day” by Gilbert Hernandez, “Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life” by Uli Lust, “Monica” By Daniel Clowes as well as the legendary L.A. skewering “City of Quartz” by Mike Davis and punk oral history “Our Band Could Be Your Life” by Michael Azerrad.
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Akilah Hughes is a writer, actor, author, and podcast host who joins Joshua to talk about how they both re-read “The Great Gatsby” after high school and enjoyed it a lot more when there wasn’t a test involved. They discuss her memoir “Obviously” and the evolution of her feelings toward it five years after its publishing and the tragic loss of her collaborator on it. Also covered are the impactful books of her adulthood, delving into everything including James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” to the Bojack Horseman creator’s book (Raphael Bob Waksberg) “Someone Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory” and David Graeber’s “Debt: The First Five Thousand Years” which made Joshua feel a lot better about his credit score!
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The multi-talented writer, comedian, and professor joins Joshua to talk about how authors like Joan Didion and Lorrie Moore helped open her eyes to the life experiences she could one day write about as a renowned short story author herself and soon to be published novelist. Books talked about include but are not limited to "Birds of America" by Lorrie Moore, "Play It As It Lays" by Joan Didion, "Sing To It" by Amy Hempel, "Why Did I Ever?" by Mary Robison "Willful Creatures" by Aimee Bender and "A Swim in a Pond in the Rain" and "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" by George Saunders because Turek Books will begin and won't ever stop with Saunders.
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Episodes coming soon!
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