The Virtual Memories Show
Episodes
Episode 378 - Ruben Bolling
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Herblock Award-winning cartoonist Ruben Bolling joins the show to celebrate 30 years of his comic, Tom The Dancing Bug! We talk about his two new coll...
Episode 377 - Keith Henry Brown
19 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Designer, artist and writer Keith Henry Brown joins the show to talk about his new kids book, Birth of The Cool: How Miles Davis Found His Sound. We g...
Episode 376 - Calvin Reid
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Through his work at Publishers Weekly, editor Calvin Reid has been an important advocate for comics and graphic novel publishing for decades. We get i...
Episode 375 - Arthur Hoyle
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author Arthur Hoyle joins the show to talk about his new book, Mavericks, Mystics, and Misfits: Americans Against the Grain (Sunbury Press), in which ...
Episode 374 - Philip Boehm
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Translator and director Philip Boehm joins the show fresh off winning his second Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize. We talk about his prize-winnin...
COVID Check-In with Dylan Horrocks
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Dylan Horrocks checks in from Wellington, NZ. We celebrate his country's success at overcoming the pandemic, but get into the darker lesson...
COVID Check-In with Steve Prue
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Photographer Steve Prue checks in from Brooklyn. We talk about how he got started in (largely NSFW) photography and the origin of Teamrockstar Images,...
COVID Check-In with Stoya
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Writer, actress, publisher and adult performer Stoya checks in from Brooklyn. We talk about social change and protests against police violence, why no...
COVID Check-In with Liza Donnelly
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist, activist and live-drawing pioneer Liza Donnelly checks in from Rhinebeck, NY. We talk about the rhythm of her daily live-drawing video ses...
COVID Check-In with Kipp Friedman
05 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author & photographer Kipp Friedman checks in from Milwaukee, hours after the death of his father, the great writer Bruce Jay Friedman. We trade stori...
Bruce Jay Friedman Bonus Episode
04 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The first great author I ever recorded with, Bruce Jay Friedman, died on June 3, 2020, at the age of 90. His work means the world to me, so to celebra...
COVID Check-In with Steven Heller
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Design scholar, teacher, and author Steven Heller checks in from New York City. We talk about the anxiety & stress of pandemic life, and why he's thin...
COVID Check-In with David Small
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Caldecott Medal-winning author & illustrator David Small checks in from SW Michigan. We talk about the "what am I going to do next?" moment he's falle...
COVID Check-In with R Sikoryak
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist & illustrator Robert Sikoryak checks in from NYC. We talk about his just-completed new book, Constitution Illustrated (Drawn & Quarterly), ...
COVID Check-In with Eddie Campbell
29 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist & comics-historian Eddie Campbell checks in from Chicago. We talk Pandemic Hair, surviving with a pair of 2-month-old kittens (acquired by ...
COVID Check-In with Audrey Niffenegger
28 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author & artist Audrey Niffenegger checks in from Chicago. We talk about her decision to add a pair of 2-month-old kittens to her pandemic household, ...
COVID Check-In with Annie Koyama
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Publisher Annie Koyama checks in from Toronto. We talk about whether the pandemic has affected her plans to close down Koyama Press in 2021, and the b...
Episode 373 - Kathe Koja
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Writer, performer, director and producer Kathe Koja rejoins the show to talk about her new story collection, VELOCITIES (Meerkat Press). We talk how s...
COVID Check-In with Jonathan Hyman
22 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Documentary photographer Jonathan Hyman checks in from Bethel, NY. We talk about his travels from Maine to Maryland to photograph towns and "open the ...
COVID Check-In with Peter Trachtenberg
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author and professor Peter Trachtenberg checks in from the Catskills. We talk about his surprise at how well he's dealing with This Whole Situation, t...
COVID Check-In with David Leopold
20 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author, archivist and curator David Leopold checks in from Bucks County, PA. We talk about curating art in a quarantine and organizing the Socially Di...
COVID Check-In with Glynnis Fawkes
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist, illustrator, archeologist, and teacher Glynnis Fawkes checks in from Burlington, VT. We get into how her knowledge with Ancient Greece & a...
COVID Check-In with Gary Clark
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Musician, producer, and just-about-Broadway songwriter Gary Clark checks in from Scotland to talk about the musical of Sing Street (he wrote the songs...
COVID Check-In with Witold Rybczynski
16 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Architecture writer Witold Rybczynski checks in from Philadelphia. We talk about how his present circumstances — retired from teaching, helping his ...
COVID Check-In with Nathaniel Popkin
15 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author & activist Nathaniel Popkin checks in from Philadelphia. We talk about the potential for creative moments in the midst of self-isolation, the i...
Episode 372 - Tom Hart
14 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist and educator Tom Hart joins the show to talk about how the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW) is adapting to the pandemic era. We get into T...
COVID Check-In with Kate Maruyama
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author, teacher & activist Kate Maruyama checks in from LA. We talk about whether writers have a responsibility to write a positive future and how she...
COVID Check-In with Ron Hogan
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and editor Ron Hogan checks in from Queens (near Elmhurst Hospital). We talk about why you don't need to write King Lear while in quarantine (o...
COVID Check-In with Cassandra Khaw
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Supernatural horror author & game writer Cassandra Khaw checks in from Montreal. We talk about her life in transit and her dread at seeing borders clo...
COVID Check-In with Sato Moughalian
09 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Flutist and author Sato Moughalian was the last person with whom I recorded an in-person podcast, and the first guest of the show to turn up positive ...
COVID Check-In with Brett Martin
08 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
James Beard Award-winning writer Brett Martin checks in from New Orleans. We talk about his brand-new Best New Restaurants In America feature in GQ, h...
COVID Check-In with Karl Stevens
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Karl Stevens checks in from Boston, to talk about how his life hasn't changed all that much during the pandemic (outside of one COVID case ...
COVID Check-In with Shachar Pinsker
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Professor and author Shachar Pinsker checks in from Ann Arbor after a month-long walloping by COVID-19. We get into how his recent book, A Rich Brew: ...
COVID Check-In with Shachar Pinsker
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Professor and author Shachar Pinsker checks in from Ann Arbor after a month-long walloping by COVID-19. We get into how his recent book, A Rich Brew: ...
COVID Check-In with David Baerwald
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Let's check in with musician, songwriter, producer, inventor and now novelist David Baerwald! We talk about America conforming to the apocalyptic visi...
Episode 371 - Paul C Tumey
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nov Shmoz Ka Pop? Writer & artist Paul C. Tumey joins the show to talk about his fantastic new book, Screwball: The Cartoonists Who Made The Funnies F...
COVID Check-In with Keiler Roberts
02 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Keiler Roberts checks in from Chicago. Even though she was one of the people I was most worried about during the pandemic, it turns out she...
COVID Check-In with David M Carr
01 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Biblical scholar David M. Carr checks in from Putnam Valley, NY. We get into how his book, Holy Resilience: The Bible's Traumatic Origins, resonates w...
COVID Check-In with Michael Gerber
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Gerber, editor/publisher of The American Bystander, a.k.a., the last great humor magazine, checks in from Santa Monica, where he's busier than...
COVID Check-In with Scott Edelman
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author Scott Edelman checks in from West Virginia. We talk about how the pandemic has derailed his podcast, Eating the Fantastic, after 120 episodes, ...
COVID Check-In with Ken Krimstein
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Illustrator and cartoonist Ken Krimstein checks in from Chicago. We talk about how the process of finishing his next book helped him muscle through th...
COVID Check-In with Eddy Portnoy
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Yiddish historian Eddy Portnoy checks in from Harlem. We get into how he's managing the work/home setup now that his sofa has molded itself to his bod...
COVID Check-In with Maria Alexander
26 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author Maria Alexander checks in from Los Angeles, where we talk about finishing her Bloodlines of Yule trilogy with the upcoming Snowblind (and rewor...
COVID Check-In with Kriota Willberg
25 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Artist, teacher and graphic medicine practitioner Kriota Willberg checks in from Manhattan. We talk about the importance of building routines during h...
COVID Check-In with Sylvia Nickerson
24 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Wright Award-nominated cartoonist Sylvia Nickerson checks in from Hamilton, ON. We talk about her artist residency and how its postponement has l...
COVID Check-In with Summer Pierre
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist, illustrator & writer Summer Pierre checks in from Highland Falls, NY. We talk about the importance of work & parenting routines, keeping s...
COVID Check-In with Emily Flake
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
New Yorker cartoonist Emily Flake checks in from Brooklyn. We talk about the challenges of making gag comics in the COVID era (and finding jokes outsi...
COVID Check-In with Kyle Cassidy
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Photojournalist Kyle Cassidy checks in from Philadelphia. We talk about his new photo series, Between Us and Catastrophe (recently excerpted at Hidden...
Episode 370 - Alta L Price
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Translator Alta L. Price joins the show to talk about co-curating the 2020 (now 2021) edition of Festival Neue Literatur with Tess Lewis. We talk abou...
COVID Check-In with Eva Hagberg 2
19 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Last time Eva Hagberg checked in, she'd just gotten her positive COVID-19 test. Three weeks later, she fills us in on the most harrowing medical exper...
COVID Check-In with Jane Borden
18 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Essayist and journalist (and one of my very first pod-guests!) Jane Borden checks in from LA. We talk about memoir-metamorphosis, her recent Vanity Fa...
COVID Check-In with Whitney Matheson
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and critic Whitney Matheson checks in from Brooklyn, after a multi-week bout with COVID-19 (her doctor thinks she's past it, but still dealing ...
COVID Check-In with Dean Haspiel
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist and playwright Dean Haspiel checks in from Brooklyn (home of his superhero, The Red Hook!). We talk about making art (good, bad or ugly) du...
COVID Check-In with Christopher Brown
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author Christopher Brown checks in from the edgelands of East Austin, TX. We talk about the final edits of his upcoming novel, Failed State (which is ...
Episode 369 - Matt Ruff
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author Matt Ruff checks in from Seattle and we talk about his brand-new novel, 88 Names. We get into what gaming and the internet reveal about human c...
Episode 368 - Tess Lewis
12 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Translator Tess Lewis joins the show to talk about co-curating the 2020 (now postponed to 2021) edition of Festival Neue Literatur, why editing a bad ...
COVID Check-In with Ilana Myer
11 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fantasy author Ilana Myer checks in from eastern PA. We talk about cancelled travel plans, the virtual tour for her new book, The Poet King, what she ...
COVID Check-In with Jennifer Hayden
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Jennifer Hayden checks in from central NJ. We talk about the need to micro-vent during self-isolation with her family, the graphic memoir s...
COVID Check-In with Ben Model
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Silent-film accompanist Ben Model checks in from the Upper West Side of NYC. We talk about how the pandemic and self-isolation led him and his partner...
COVID Check-In with Michael Tisserand
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Author Michael Tisserand checks in from New Orleans. We talk about how his wife (a pediatrician) got through her recent bout with COVID-19, how the ci...
COVID Check-In with Henry Wessells
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Writer, editor and rare book dealer Henry Wessells checks in from Montclair, NJ. We talk about the books & authors he's bingeing on, the big project o...
COVID Check-In with James Sturm
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist James Sturm checks in from Hartland, VT. We talk about how COVID-19 has affected learning at the Center for Cartoon Studies (he's the found...
COVID Check-In with Richard Kadrey
05 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Urban fantasy horror writer Richard Kadrey checks in from San Francisco. We talk about how self-isolation impacts his writing, the history of urban pl...
COVID Check-In with Dmitry Samarov
04 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Artist & writer Dmitry Samarov checks in from Chicago to talk about self-isolating in a packed-up apartment (he's supposed to move in a month). We tal...
COVID Check-In with Boaz Roth
03 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From St. Louis, my brother Boaz Roth checks in to talk about how his role as a teacher has changed in the COVID-19 era. We get into how this whole exp...
COVID Check-In with Sven Birkerts
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From Arlington, MA, essayist and AGNI co-editor Sven Birkerts checks in to let us know what books and poems provide him some degree of solace during t...
COVID Check-In with Samuel R. Delany
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's legendary science fiction author Samuel R. Delany's birthday! Chip checks in from Philadelphia, where he's found himself working on a new piece o...
COVID Check-In with Ellen Datlow
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Horror fiction editor Ellen Datlow checks in from the West Village of NYC. She talks about the low-grade anxiety of day-to-day life, getting by when U...
COVID Check-In with Eva Hagberg
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On March 30, Eva Hagberg got the news that she tested positive for COVID-19. We talked that evening about her condition, her previous life-threatening...
COVID Check-In with Tom Tomorrow
29 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Sunday, March 29, cartoonist Tom Tomorrow (a.k.a. Dan Perkins) checked in to let us know how he's getting by in New York City during the pandemic. ...
COVID Check-In with Peter Kuper
28 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A few days ago, cartoonist Peter Kuper returned from Oaxaca, Mexico to the Upper West Side of New York City. He joins the show to talk about why he & ...
COVID Check-In with Jim Ottaviani
27 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Ottaviani, award-winning & best-selling author of graphic novels about scientists (think Hawking, Feynman, Fossey, Turing), checks in from Ann Arb...
COVID Check-In with Kate Lacour
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In our first Covid-Check-In podcast, artist Kate Lacour (Vivisectionary, Fantagraphics) calls in from New Orleans while her kids are asleep. We talk a...
Episode 367 - Whitney Matheson
22 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's the end of the world as we know it, and we feel fine! A few weeks before the COVID-19 lockdowns began, pop culture writer and REM maniac Whitney ...
Episode 366 - Sato Moughalian
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The phenomenal new book, Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian (SUP/Redwood Press), traces the history of an Armenian family from the ...
COVID-19 Bonus Mini-Episode
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Your host Gil Roth talks about how COVID-19 is impacting his work, his life, and this podcast, in a special bonus episode of The Virtual Memories Show...
Episode 365 - Ben Katchor
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The great cartoonist Ben Katchor rejoins the show to talk about his brand-new book, The Dairy Restaurant (Schocken), a 500-page illustrated history of...
Episode 364 - Stoya
03 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Writer, actress and adult performer & producer Stoya joins the show to talk about her upcoming NYC theater appearance in Dean Haspiel's new play, The ...
Episode 363 - Cassandra Khaw
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a murder hotel in Jersey City, author Cassandra Khaw joins the show to talk about her bad luck with AirBNBs, the root of her fixation on body horro...
Episode 362 - Richard Kadrey
15 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With his new novel, The Grand Dark (Harper Voyager), Richard Kadrey takes an artistic leap from his renowned Sandman Slim supernatural noir books. We ...
Episode 361 - Dmitry Samarov
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With his new memoir, Soviet Stamps, artist & writer Dmitry Samarov explores his experience of emigrating from the USSR as a child, finding his way thr...
Episode 360 - Otto Penzler
02 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The great publisher, editor, anthologizer, retailer and collector of crime fiction, Otto Penzler, joins the show to talk about his wonderful new book,...
Episode 359 - Joan Marans Dim & Antonio Masi
28 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a time where immigration is under attack, Joan Marans Dim and Antonio Masi demonstrate the history and importance of immigration in America with La...
Episode 358 - Daniel Mendelsohn
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
His wondrous new collection, Ecstasy and Terror: From the Greeks to Game of Thrones (NYRB), brings a dizzying array of Daniel Mendelsohn's critical-es...
Episode 357 - Walter Bernard
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary designer Walter Bernard joins the show to talk about Mag Men: Fifty Years of Making Magazines (Columbia University Press), the new book he c...
Episode 356 - Emily Flake
05 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With her new book That Was Awkward (Viking), cartoonist and humorist Emily Flake explores the world of awkward hugs. We get into how that book landed...
Episode 355 - The Guest List 2019
31 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for our annual Guest List episode! More than two dozen of the year's Virtual Memories Show guests tell us about the favorite books they read...
Tom Spurgeon Memorial Service - Dec. 14, 2019
21 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"I had an amazing life, and my love for my family is unsurpassed, followed nearly as much as the love for my closest friends. Be kind to yourselves, a...
Episode 354 - Peter Kuper
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Political artist/illustrator Peter Kuper rejoins the show to talk about his new graphic adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (WW Norton). W...
Tom Spurgeon Birthday Memorial Episode
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today (Dec. 16) would have been Tom Spurgeon's birthday. To honor my best friend after his untimely death, this mini-episode has my remarks from his m...
Episode 353 - Edie Nadelhaft
10 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Artist and avid motorcyclist Edie Nadelhaft joins the show on the eve of her new gallery exhibition, Evening In America (at the Lyons Wier Gallery in...
Episode 352 - Robb Armstrong
30 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
At Cartoon Crossroads Columbus - CXC, cartoonist Robb Armstrong joins the show to talk about celebrating 30 years of his nationally syndicated comic s...
Clive James Bonus Episode
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the greatest conversations I've ever recorded was with Clive James in 2015. On the occasion of his death on Nov. 24, 2019, and to celebrate his...
Episode 351 - Annie Koyama
24 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Small press comics publisher Annie Koyama joins the show to talk about her decision to shut down Koyama Press after 13 years, her thoughts on how arti...
Episode 350 - Ed Ward
19 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From the Sex Pistols' last show to the backseat of Elvis' gold Cadillac, Ed Ward has had a front-row seat to the history of rock & roll. He returns to...
Tom Spurgeon Bonus Episode
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Following the death of Tom Spurgeon, my best friend and an inveterate supporter of the show, I've re-posted our 2012 conversation, along with a new (a...
Episode 349 - Peter Bagge
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Third time's the charm! Cartoonist Pete Bagge returns to talk about his new comic biography of Rose Wilder Lane, Credo (Drawn & Quarterly), and we get...
Episode 348 - Steven Heller
03 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Nazi swastika is a symbol of evil, but what about the pre-Nazi version of that symbol? With the publication of The Swastika and Symbols of Hate: E...
Episode 347 - Kevin Huizenga
31 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Kevin Huizenga joins the show to talk about his new graphic novel, Glenn Ganges in The River At Night (Drawn & Quarterly)! We get into late...
Episode 346 - Ho Che Anderson
28 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Live from CXC - Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, it's my Spotlight Session with Ho Che Anderson, cartoonist behind KING, Godhead (Fantagraphics) and plent...