Laila Lalami swings by the Paperhaus to talk about her new book Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. Is it a short story collection? Is it a novel? Why aren’t the Arabic words in the book italicized? The answers are all in the podcast.

Laila, aka moorishgirl, has gotten lots of terrific reviews of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, her first book, including one in People Magazine (!). My favorite, though, is Junot Diaz’s bookjacket blurb: A dream of a debut, by turns troubling and glorious, angry and wise.
With her spare elegant prose Lalami has constructed a world remarkable
for its resilience, its vibrancy, its motion, and yes, its hope.

Andrea Seigel begins this podcast telling a tale of high school love gone wrong. What brings it back to her is Bruce Hornsby. Who knew that any high schooler ever listened to Bruce Hornsby? Well here you get proof.

Andrea is the author of Like the Red Panda, a dark not-quite-YA book about a high school senior as she heads toward graduation and the day of her suicide. Doesn’t sound like much fun, but it is. Maybe Andrea’s blog will help convince you.

Up next from Andrea is To Feel Stuff which she talked about in her visit. If you don’t find it in the podcast, check out part 2 of her show in the library to get a preview; it’s not due out until Aug 2006.

Melissa Bell is writing about hot scientists for The Science Creative Quarterly, will be in the Decemeber maisonneuve, has been found in The God Particle and has, more than once, cracked the nut of McSweeney’s.

Today she tells all — actually, a third of all — on Pinky’s Paperhaus. This podcast is only the beginning of Ms. Bell’s candid tales of Canada. The rest will come later, perhaps before next week is upon us. Download, why dontcha, and check out the playlist.

Lisa Glatt and David Hernandez were the last guests to visit Pinky’s Paperhaus at the old, grimy studios. Despite the squalid surroundings, they play indie rock tunes with much good humor. Lisa talks a little about how one story in her new collection The Apple’s Bruise met with raised eyebrows, and she and Dave reveal who has to make dinner when they’re both hard at work in their breathtakingly stylish home in Long Beach. I suggest streaming the show in three parts from the library, because the podcast just won’t be enough.

Samantha Marlowe pulls back the curtain on editing a literary magazine in this podcast. She’s executive editor of Swink, which in its second print issue features Neil LaBute, Dylan Landis, Lisa Glatt, Sam Lipsyte, Ben Ehrenreich and many more. She says discovering new writers is one of her favorite things, and she never calls their stack of unsolicited manuscripts a slush pile. Maybe she’s the nicest editor ever. She certainly has a peerless record (vinyl!) collection. Download the podcast to go (need help?), or stay put and stream the entire show from the library.

Hear Daniel explain how to pronounce his last name in the Daniel Olivas podcast [for my Odeo Channel (odeo/67a743d5015a724c)]. The author of the short story collection Devil Talk, Daniel talks about what web stuff he finds superfly, the importance of heritage, and defines "pocho" for Pinky.

Daniel has also recently published the children’s book Benjamin and the Word, which is in both English and Spanish; he writes for La Bloga, does book reviews for Moorishgirl and The Elegant Variation. Whew! His many activites can be followed on his own site, danielolivas.com.
 

You may just find yourself saying Yo, Tod! just like the publisher of his first short story did, because Tod Goldberg is pretty darn funny. In the podcast, he talks about writerly unsuccess and gets serious about his books Living Dead Girl, Fake Liar Cheat and the upcoming Simplify.

There are snippets of the music in the podcast, but to get the full effect stream the 90-minute show from the past guests section or the library here on the site. If you’re trepidatious what kind of music Tod might be listening to, check out his playlist.

Listening to the complete show may be the only way find out which
Jane’s Addiction video he appears in ? that is, if he is really in it.
Tod, where’s that evidentiary screen grab?

Podcasting has been keeping me up nights. Literally.

My new favorite podcast is Little Gray Book, from the NY reading series. First of all, they have little wraparound bits that are clever and are so well recorded that I could kiss their engineer. Then they cut to long readings, which are often in front of a drunk and rowdy crowd at Williamsburg’s Galapagos. One even includes LA wookie (Yeti?) expert Josh Bearman. And then there are the songs: miss the one from President’s Day and be sorry.

You can subscribe to the Little Gray Book podcast with iTunes.

Cecil came to Pinky’s Paperhaus a few months ago and she’s back ? at least in podcast form. Her debut, Boy Proof, is a young adult novel that includes science fiction fandom, boys, and AP history. It’s out on Candlewick Press.

There are new podcasts coming up ?  Tod Goldberg, Samantha Marlowe, Daniel Olivas ? catch ‘em by subscribing with iTunes. And stream the complete version of any of the shows on Pinky’s Paperhaus in the library. Each show is different: Jim Ruland likes punk rock, Meghan Daum is inclined toward folk, and Kevin Smokler indulged in both Arcade Fire and Poison. Kind of like a Whitman’s sampler, but better for your teeth.

This week iTunes launched its podcast service, and I’m proud to say Pinky’s Paperhaus is included. As are 2,999 other fabulous straight-to-you talk and music shows. All for free.

If you’ve been hearing about this podcast thing but not quite sure how to get one for yourself, iTunes just made it easier.

First, install the latest issue of iTunes, 4.9.
Open iTunes and go to the music store.
Click on the big graphic that says podcasts. It’s purple.
You’ll know you’re in the right spot if the whole page is purple.
Scroll down a bit to the "Categories" section in the left column.
Click on "Arts & Entertainment," the first category.
There are three columns of text across the top. In the right column, click on "Books."
Aha, Pinky’s Paperhaus!
Don’t see it? It’s right after KCRW’s Bookworm, artist Michael Silverblatt.
To subscribe to Pinky’s podcast (or Michael’s), click on the "subscribe" button at the right.

Now new shows will be delivered right into your iTunes music folder when you open iTunes (apple has the whole story). I make sure my podcasts are nice little 10-15 minute excerpts of the 90-minute shows, so they don’t take forever to download.

The next Pinky’s Paperhaus podcast will be Tod Goldberg, followed by Swink’s Samantha Marlow. You just missed Meghan Daum (damn!). Oh, don’t worry, all the old shows are here.