The Naming of the Birds by Paraic O’Donnell takes readers back to dark and gloomy Victorian London with a relentless killer on the loose. O’Donnell joins us to talk about continuing a series, balancing tone with humor, his writing process and more with guest host Chris Gillespie. We end this episode with TBR Top Off book recommendations from Donald and Marc. 

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Chris Gillespie and mixed by Harry Liang.                     

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app. 

Featured Books (Episode): 

The Naming of the Birds by Paraic O’Donnell 

The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell  

Featured Books (TBR Top Off): 

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd 

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson 

Good Girl by Aria Aber is a coming-of-age novel featuring the daughter of Afghan immigrants set against the backdrop of Berlin’s creative scene.  Aber joins us to talk about themes of identity and exile, speaking and reading in multiple languages, her literary influences in prose and poetry and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

Featured Books (Episode):

Good Girl by Aria Aber

Hard Damage by Aria Aber

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Luster by Raven Leilani

The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

The Girls by Emma Cline

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is a novel about what it means to be a storyteller, told in an ingenious blend of sci-fi and literary fiction. Okorafor joins us to talk about what freedom means, technology and authenticity, the personal nature of this story and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over. 

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                     

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app.  

Featured Books (Episode): 

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor 

The Note by Alafair Burke is a page-turning thriller that springs into action when one small decision leads a group of friends to question what they know about each other and the secrets we keep from those around us. Burke joins us to talk about the themes in the novel, writing a character driven story, her real-life connections to her stories and more with cohost Jenna Seery.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

Featured Books (Episode):

The Note by Alafair Burke

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

Find Me by Alafair Burke

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Kat’s Cradle by Karen Kijewski

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is sharp, tragic, heartbreaking and terrifying, taking readers back in time to an all-boys school in the 1950s American South. Due joins us to talk about her personal connection to the novel, entertainment in horror storytelling, creating memorable characters and more with cohost Jenna Seery.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

Featured Books (Episode):

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

The Good House by Tananarive Due

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias

The Shining by Stephen King

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight is a sharp coming-of-age journey set in a glamorous world of high academia, old money and one eccentric upper-class family. Knight joins us to talk about how she crafts her characters, themes of friendship and motherhood, her literary favorites and more with guest host, Allyson Gavaletz.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Allyson Gavaletz and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight

Orbital by Samatha Harvey

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan                            

A.O. Scott, critic at The New York Times Book Review joins us to talk about what he looks for in literature, why we read the things we do, his path to a career in journalism and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

Featured Books (Episode):

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Middlemarch by George Eliot

James by Percival Everett

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Studies in Classic American Literature by D.H. Lawrence

Better Living Through Criticism by A.O. Scott

The Magician by Colm Tóibín

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

Long Island by Colm Tóibín

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones

The Work of Art is a series of in-depth conversations from artists, poets, musicians and more on how they make their art and what goes on inside their heads with Adam Moss, former editor of New York magazine. Moss joins us to talk about his time as a painter, how he decided the composition of the book, changing how we appreciate art over time and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

Featured Books (Episode):

The Work of Art by Adam Moss

How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti

Angels in America by Tony Kushner

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Lili Anolik’s Didion and Babitz takes a look at the fraught relationship between two iconic women of literature. Anolik joins us to talk about how she decided to tell this story, the literary landscape of LA, her influences and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

Featured Books (Episode):

Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik

Hollywood’s Eve by Lili Anolik

Eve’s Hollywood by Eve Babitz

Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz

I Lost it at the Movies by Pauline Kael

The White Album by Joan Didion

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Run River by Joan Didion

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Frank Sinatra Has a Cold by Gay Talese

The Destroyers by Christopher Bollen

Howard’s End by E.M. Forster

The Western Coast by Paula Fox

The Lives of the Saints by Nancy Lemann

Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson is the fifth book in the best-selling Stormlight Archive — a story of honor, battles won and lost and a race to save Roshar.  Sanderson joins us to talk about writing this crucial book in the series, why he loves fantasy, the connections between his work and more with cohost, Jenna Seery. We end this episode with TBR Top Off book recommendations from Marc and Erin.

Featured Books (Episode):

Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly

Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Watchmen by Alan Moore

Featured Books (TBR Top Off):

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin

The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski

Author James Everett and director Cord Jefferson sat down live to discuss Book of the Year, James. Everett and Jefferson join us to talk about adapting novels for film, finding humanity in serious stories, the power of art and storytelling and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.                    

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app

Featured Books (Episode):

James by Percival Everett

Erasure by Percival Everett

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

God’s Country by Percival Everett