Literary Disco

Episode 107: Three Day Road

20 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Three Day Road is an award-winning Canadian novel centered on First Nation characters. It’s been heralded for celebrating forgotten heroes: natives ...

Episode 106: Norse Mythology

22 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Forget what you think you know about Thor and Loki, and join the Disco trio to talk about Neil Gaiman’s latest: a retelling of Norse Mythology. To...

Episode 105: Brat Pack America

08 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

After some technical difficulties (uh, Tod) we now have another Lost Episode. Goodbye, 104, we barely knew ya. So we’re jumping right to 105, in whi...

Episode 103: 1984

14 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You read it in high school. Or college. It was that “important” book about the dangers of authoritarianism. An interesting, alternative future....

Episode 102: Kindred (The Graphic Novel)

14 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Just like you, we’re on an Octavia Butler kick since reading Dawn. This episode, we check out the brand-new graphic novel adaptation of Butler’s m...

Episode 101: Q&A

26 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Tod, Julia and Rider answer questions from listeners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 100!

24 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Back from a long absence, we explain where we were, what we were doing, and what you should have been reading all along. Learn more about your ad choi...

Episode 99: Summer Reading 2016

27 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It’s that time again. Tod and Julia discuss summer reading…and introduce a contest for Episode 100. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

Episode 98: Games Games Games

20 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Back by popular demand — games! As we near the big 100, we take some time to play a few Literary Disco classics. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Episode 97: Dawn

25 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This episode, we enter the compelling world of Octavia E. Butler’s Dawn, the first in her Xenogenesis series. That’s right, we’re going full sci...

Episode 96: Why We Write About Ourselves

07 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

For the first time on the Disco, we discuss a book on the craft of writing. We delve into a new collection of essays by some of the world’s great me...

Episode 95: Pictures from a Revolution

21 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This month we read a nonfiction classic about the movies that changed Hollywood– hear us battle it out between Dr. Dolittle and Bonnie & Clyde. Osca...

Episode 94: The Real Muslims of Irving, Texas

27 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This episode we discuss an essay by Colby Buzzell appearing in the March Issue of Esquire, available here. Buzzell offers a look at the life of Americ...

Episode 93: Best of 2015

03 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Just in time for the end of the year… Oh, wait. Super late, we have our annual “best of” conversation for 2015! We cover our favorite books, and...

Episode 92: A Christmas Romance (Novel)

22 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Happy holidays! For this winter season, we got you an extra episode (to make up for our many delays this year– we blame Rider’s cute baby and Juli...

Episode 91: George & Lumberjanes

17 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our discussion with New York Public librarian Gwen, who recommended two books for us to read and discuss. Both are aimed at a younger audi...

Episode 90: New York Public Library

04 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In this first half of two-part special (we’re crazy like that), we meet someone with the coolest job in the world: a recommendations editor at the N...

Episode 88: Justine

10 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Justine, the first book of the legendary Alexandria Quartet, gets the disco treatment. This novel was published in 1957 and has attracted devotees eve...

Episode 87: Revisitish

21 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We catch up from a long break. Some books, some travel, some major humiliation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 86: A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin

05 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

This posthumous collection is getting so much praise lately– does it live up to the hype? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

Episode 84: Judge a Book By Its Cover

21 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

A long-lost episode finally appears! Rider tries to trick Tod & Julia with a classic game of ours. You should be able to guess at least one of these: ...

Episode 85: Live from the Last Bookstore

26 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

After a brief hiatus, we’re back and we’re live! This episode has it all: nudity, cursing, Ayn Rand. Have fun and laugh along like you were there....

Episode 83: Animorphs: The Invasion

23 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

You asked for it. We don’t know why, but you did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 82: Summer Reading

07 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Vacation is upon us and our book lists are piling up! As Rider enjoys his vacation, what will Julia & Tod be reading next? Learn more about your ad c...

Episode 81: Tigerman

26 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

It’s officially summer, which means we too are officially given over to Marvel and DC madness. Now that our lives are all superheroes all the time (...

Episode 80: The Empathy Exams

03 Jun 2015

Contributed by Lukas

After a long and beautiful vacation, we’re back! And we’re busy discussing one of the year’s breakout nonfiction books, The Empathy Exams by Les...

Episode 79: Shackleton’s Journey

04 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

This week we read William Grill’s Shackleton’s Journey, an illustrated book for children that covers a famous expedition to Antarctica that began ...

Episode 78: Nancy Drew

20 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We finally take on the young detective Nancy Drew with her first adventure, The Secret of the Old Clock Much like our Hardy Boys episode, there is som...

Episode 77: Jill Alexander Essbaum & Interrobang

06 Apr 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined this week by rising superstar Jill Alexander Essbaum (author of New York Times bestseller “Hausfrau”). Just in time for Easter, we d...

Episode 76: Story Songs 2 (The Reckoning)

25 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Here we go again. No genre, subject, or style is as hotly debated as Story Songs. At least there’s no baseball this time. Learn more about your ad c...

Episode 75: Wolf in White Van

10 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

An incident with a gun. A disfigured game designer. His play-by-mail roleplaying game. A death. A lawsuit. That’s all we’ll give away in an attemp...

Episode 74: My Dad, the Pornographer

24 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We couldn’t resist discussing an incredible essay by Chris Offutt that appeared in The New York Times Magazine. It’s entitled My Dad, The Pornogra...

Episode 73: Galapagos

13 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Today we examine whether or not every work by a master is a masterpiece. There may be some yelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

Episode 72: Reeling Through Life

27 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How do movies affect us? How can we best write about them? Do we think in movie narratives now? What are the best books about movies? The gang tackles...

Episode 71: Dept. Of Speculation

12 Jan 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We start off the year with a book that was hailed as one of the best of 2014: Jenny Offill’s The Department of Speculation. What’s the line betwee...

Best of 2014

29 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

2014 is coming to a close, and we take a moment to answer life’s big questions: what was the best thing we read for the podcast this year? What was ...

Episode 69: Neil Patrick Harris’ Choose Your Own Autobiography

17 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

You will probably be given this book for Christmas, so let us pre-judge it for you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 68: Truman Capote’s Holiday Stories

02 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Can the man who wrote “In Cold Blood” deliver a warm-blooded holiday tale? What are Julia, Tod, and Rider thankful for this year? Is it possible t...

Episode 67: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

17 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

This week, at your request, dear listeners, we take on one of the silliest, most lovable books in the known universe. We discuss the difference betwee...

Episode 66: Gabriel

03 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Get out the tissues. This episode, we head straight for emotional jugular, as we read Edward Hirsch’s devastating poem about the life and death of h...

Episode 65: The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum & Special Guest Stephen Graham Jones!

22 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

What’s really scary? Zombies, ghosts, vampires– or bizarre novels about torture based on true events? For this year’s Halloween episode, we we...

Episode 64: Excavation

09 Oct 2014

Contributed by Lukas

When she was 13, Wendy C. Ortiz started “dating” her 28 year-old English teacher. In her new memoir, Excavation, she returns to the years she spen...

Episode 63: Tinkers

22 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

A Pulitzer Prize winner none of us had read, Tinkers is a short, innovative, and compelling novel, first released in 2009. Join us as we discuss deat...

Episode 62: Summer Special Aboard the Charles W. Morgan

11 Sep 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Ahoy! For this very special episode, Tod & Julia talk about her trip aboard the Charles W. Morgan, Moby-Dick, and the difference between boats and shi...

Episode 61: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

24 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Summer’s over and it’s time to get serious– grab a raft and float down a river while listening to us take on the Mark Twain classic, Adventures ...

Episode 60: Twice Upon a Time

05 Aug 2014

Contributed by Lukas

This week the Disco Trio heads to their tablets and phones. The Atavist publishes digital essays, articles and books. One of their latest, most experi...

Episode 59: Pancakes!

24 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Breece D’J Pancake died in 1979 at the age of 26, but not before writing some legendary short stories. In this episode, we read his collected work a...

Episode 58: Submergence

08 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

This week we take on a smart book. Maybe too smart. Rider first stumbled upon Submergence by JM Ledgard when it was given as an example of complex gro...

Episode 57: Cathedral of Nervous Horses

25 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for more poetry. And much to Tod’s chagrin, the words “Mother” and “Father” appear a lot in this collection. Undeniably, howeve...

Episode 56: Shirley Jackson

10 Jun 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Before there was the Hunger Games, there was the Lottery. And not the fun kind. This week, we take on a newly published Shirley Jackson story and mix ...

Episode 55: The Stranger

20 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

It’s back to school for the Disco, when writer and real life high school English teacher Heather Partington joins us. We asked Heather to treat us ...

Episode 54: The Free

06 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

This week we discuss the novel “The Free” by Willy Vlautin. Plus, we do a good old-fashioned “what are you reading right now” revisit. A class...

Episode 53: Choose Your Own Adventure!

16 Apr 2014

Contributed by Lukas

You are on the web, trying find something to listen to. You see a link to the latest Literary Disco episode, a podcast you love. You click on it. Now ...

Episode 52: Black Hole

02 Apr 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Beautiful women with tails, peeling out of your own skin, bad acid trips, cat-faced kids…we must be discussing the graphic novel Black Hole by Charl...

Episode 51: Five Days at Memorial

18 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, the Disco goes back in time to 2005 for a harrowing glimpse at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with Sheri Fink’s Five Days at M...

Episode 50: Q&A

04 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

After some scheduling and vomiting drama (we’ll explain), we offer up this special 50th episode of wall to wall listener questions. In two weeks, we...

Episode 49: Olympic Fever!

19 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Place your hand over your heart and jump onto a podium because we’ve got Olympic fever over here. We take on the two most important sports in Americ...

Episode 48: Anything That Moves

04 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Food, glorious food! This episode takes on Dana Goodyear’s examination of the wild and crazy world of foodies and the things they eat, cook, buy, an...

Episode 47: Mistborn

21 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Today we welcome the first appearance of the disco’s official Fantasy Correspondent, Will Friedle. As a voracious reader of the genre, the trio aske...

Episode 46: Best American Short Stories 2013

07 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Tod selects three short stories from the latest Best American collection. First up is Alice Munro’s “Trains,” a poignant and su...

Episode 45: Best of 2013

23 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

In this delightful, coffee-fueled episode, we each choose a book for the hall of fame and name our favorite books we read this year. Plus, Klassics Ko...

Episode 44: Robert Frost’s New Hampshire

10 Dec 2013

Contributed by Lukas

For the first time ever, the Disco takes on a dead poet. And not just any one, but perhaps the most celebrated and popular of American poets, Robert F...

Episode 43: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

26 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Football and the Iraq war come together in Ben Fountain’s novel, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, a portrait of fictional war heroes during a “v...

Episode 42: When Animals Attack

11 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On this “animal rage” episode, the trio reads articles about animal attacks. From Slate, A Death in Yellowstone by Jessica Grose From Outside Maga...

Episode 41: Dr. Sleep

31 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

In this Halloween spooktacular, we talk about Stephen King’s latest novel, Dr. Sleep. It’s a sequel to his genre-defining classic, The Shining. ...

Episode 40: Things Fall Apart

14 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Chinua Achebe’s classic novel of a Nigerian colonial encounter gets the Disco treatment. An in-depth look at Things Fall Apart leads to discussion ...

Episode 39: The Penis Play

01 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This week the trio takes on a dirtily-titled play that’s…actually not that dirty. “Cock” by Mike Bartlett is a strange combination of minimali...

Episode 38: Summer Vacation Essays

17 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the Disco trio reflects on the end of summer with two classic essays Julia selected. First up, E.B. White’s short and moving trip back to...

Episode 37: Hot for Teacher, LIVE!

03 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Our first live episode, recorded in front of an amazing audience on August 22nd at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove in Los Angeles, California. We’re...

Episode 36: The Woman Chaser

20 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Guest author Jim Gavin joins us for the strange journey that is Charles Willeford’s novel, The Woman Chaser, a book that confounds as much as it ent...

Episode 35: A River Runs Through It

06 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we catch a big fish: the classic novella “A River Runs Through It,” and — movie bonus — we rant and rave about how it translated. A...

Episode 34: Thunderbird

23 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we return to contemporary poetry– but not before revisiting JK Rowling’s pen-name revelation, Middlesex, and the profound number of son...

Episode 33: Graphic Novels

09 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, the disco trio finally takes on graphic novels. Goliath by Tom Gauld and My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf, both empathetic takes on ...

Episode 32: Seating Arrangements

25 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This week, it’s wedding time. The gang reads Maggie Shipstead’s novel Seating Arrangements, which takes place over three days of nuptials on an ex...

Episode 31: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

10 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Today we go to the one genre where our tastes truly collide: the crime novel. Rider, Tod, & Julia discuss Edgar-Award-Winning Tom Franklin’s latest ...

Episode 30: Flowers in the Attic

28 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time to take on the book that you all read, under your covers, late at night, freaking out about the nature of puberty, poisoned donuts, and in...

Episode 29: The Fault in Our Stars

14 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

What is the difference between drama and melodrama? Should books be written differently with teenage readers in mind? What is Romeo and Juliet actuall...

Episode 28: Two Essays about Iowa

30 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Today is all about duality. Is a tragic event better written about as a personal essay, or as straight reportage? Should visitors to LA check out the ...

Episode 27: Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles

16 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Tod, Rider, and Julia take on Ron Currie Jr.’s new novel, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles. One of the podcast’s most intense discu...

Episode 26: The Birthday Episode

01 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Happy birthday to us! For our birthday, we happen to all touch on stories about us sobbing uncontrollably. What says “birthday” like dredging up c...

Episode 25: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

19 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

This week on Literary Disco, full of sound and fury, we debate the meaning of the mysterious tetractus. Bookshelf roulette also leads us to a castle w...

Episode 24: When My Brother Was an Aztec & Smith Blue (The Poetry Episode)

05 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Tonight we take on a huge subject: how we should read poetry. The discussion centers on Natalie Diaz’s collection “When My Brother Was an Aztec”...

Episode 23: Pulphead

19 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

What do Michael Jackson, Christian Rock, and nearly-electrocuted high schoolers have in common? They’ve been written about by John Jeremiah Sullivan...

Episode 22: The Hardy Boys

05 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, we head to Bayport to take on the brothers Hardy, those teen sleuths you thought you knew… We discuss Books One and Two of The...

Episode 21: We The Animals (with guest Elizabeth Crane)

21 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve tackled tigers and rubber ducks on the show before, but have we ever turned our eyes to the animal spirits of three young brothers? Justin Tor...

Episode 20: The Best of 2012

07 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Well, OUR best of 2012. Join us as Tod, Julia, and Rider go through the Top 5 books they read this year. Which of the books from previous episodes did...

Episode 19: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

27 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Ho ho ho! For the holiday season, the Literary Disco team reads a book Julia got for Christmas several years ago but hadn’t yet read. “Midnight in...

Episode 18: The Paris Review’s “Object Lessons”

04 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

The short story: what is it for? Who does it best? What’s a “Paris Review” short story, vs. just a regular short story? Listen to us duke it out...

Bonus Episode! Life of Pi: The Movie

28 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

You knew we’d have an opinion. Tod, Rider, and Julia discuss whether or not the film adaptation of “Life of Pi” lives up to the book– and whet...

Episode 17: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

20 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

You, a lifeboat, a tiger. Would you make it? Would Tod? Would Julia? Would Rider? (We have our bets.) Join our hosts as they discuss this bestselling ...

Episode 16: Pillars of the Earth

05 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Long ago, in a land far away, three friends decided to take on an inconceivable project. One would read a book. One would listen to the audiobook of t...

Episode 15: The Libertine

23 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we discuss autographs, first editions, mermaids, and more. Then, we read the Libertine by Stephen Jeffreys– a play! Do we make it t...

Episode 14: Mixtape

02 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Playlist, schmaylist. We’re calling this a mixtape: one poem, one short story, and one essay get dissected in this episode. Mary Karr’s “Suicide...

Episode 13: Moby Duck

17 Sep 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Rubber Ducky, you’re the one– you make bathtime lots of fun– until you disintegrate into the ocean and kill the very nature you purport to stand...

Episode 12: Story Songs!

04 Sep 2012

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time to get back to school and, because we’re grown-ups now, we assigned ourselves some easy homework. Tod attempts to convince Julia & Rider...

Episode 11: Winnie the Pooh & The House on Pooh Corner

20 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Deep in the hundred acre woods, three writers argue over the particular pathetic nature of Eeyore. Join us this week as we welcome friend and Barnes &...

Episode 10: When You Reach Me

07 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

This week we are joined by Youth Services Librarian, Erika Jelinek. Erika’s here to address Rider’s concerns (expressed oh-so-mildly in Episode 5)...

Episode 9: Tiny Beautiful Things

23 Jul 2012

Contributed by Lukas

So you think you don’t cry. Well, we challenge you to listen to our discussion of the Beat Generation, how the media reports school shootings, how a...

Episode 8: Train Dreams

10 Jul 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 8: We begin with a Bookshelf Revisit, in which Tod discovers a pulp gem, Julia goes Sherlock crazy, and Rider is hyperbolic as usual. Then we ...

Episode 7: A Separate Peace

19 Jun 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Somehow, Rider has never read this classic. We correct that. We also discuss the various terrors of boarding school, books from our shelves, and which...