The Virtual Memories Show
Episodes
Episode 247 - Vanda Krefft
03 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Quick: Who is the "Fox" in 20th Century Fox? You'd know if you read Vanda Krefft's fantastic new book, The Man Who Made The Movies: The Meteoric Rise ...
Episode 246 - Eddy Portnoy
27 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Yiddish scholar and raconteur Eddy Portnoy joins the show to talk about his new book, Bad Rabbi: And Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish P...
Episode 245 - Eshkol Nevo & Paul Gravett
21 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Israeli author Eshkol Nevo joins the show to talk about his new novel Three Floors Up (Other Press) and how he explained it to passport control on his...
Episode 244 - Nicholas Delbanco
13 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
He's been blackening the blank page for more than 50 years, and now Nicholas Delbanco joins The Virtual Memories Show to talk about writing, teaching,...
Episode 243 - Martin Rowson
07 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"It can always get worse," says Martin Rowson, who's made a career out of highlighting the idiocy of politicians in his editorial cartoons. We talk ab...
Episode 242 - George Lois
30 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary ad-man George Lois joins the show to talk about 50+ years of shaping American culture and to give us some Damn Good Advice. We start out wit...
Episode 241 - Barry Blitt
22 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Why is award-winning illustrator Barry Blitt so uncomfortable with the flap copy praise of his new decades-spanning compendium, Blitt (just out from R...
Episode 240 - John Crowley and Michael Meyer
17 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
One of my favorite authors, John Crowley, returns to the show to talk about his "final dress novel," the wonderful Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr ...
Episode 239 - Pete Bagge and Mimi Pond
10 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
First Pete Bagge rejoins the show for a live Spotlight session at CXC - Cartoon Crossroads Columbus. We talk about FIRE!!, his new cartoon biography o...
Episode 238 - Shannon Wheeler
02 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's late-night podcast-action with cartoonist Shannon Wheeler! We get into the history of his Too Much Coffee Man comics and his new book, Sh*t My Pr...
Episode 237 - Ann Telnaes and Matt Wuerker
25 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's a double-Pulitzer-winner episode! First, the great editorial cartoonist, animator and essayist Ann Telnaes joins the show to talk about the role ...
Episode 236 - Mimi Pond
19 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist and humorist Mimi Pond makes her third appearance on the show, this time to celebrate publication of The Customer is Always Wrong (Drawn & ...
Episode 235 - Liz Hand and John Clute
11 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's another Readercon episode! First, Liz Hand rejoins the show for a little conversation about what she's been reading lately (it's some creepy stuf...
Episode 234 - Kathy Bidus
04 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Poet/muse/amanuensis Kathy Bidus joins the show to talk about her contribution to the new collection SisterWriterEaters (Griffith Moon). Along the way...
Episode 233 - Ellen Datlow
29 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary (as in mega-award-winning) horror, science fiction and fantasy editor Ellen Datlow joins the show to talk about her career. We get into defi...
Episode 232 - Gordon Van Gelder
22 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Editor/publisher Gordon Van Gelder joins the show to talk about his career in the science fiction and fantasy fields. We get into publishing F&SF Maga...
Episode 231 - Sven Birkerts
15 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the '90s, Sven Birkerts cautioned us about the impact of technology on reading with The Gutenberg Elegies. In 2017, we mute our iPhones to talk abo...
Episode 230 - Patty Farmer
07 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How did Patty Farmer go from businesswoman to historian of the Playboy empire? "I don't do well when I'm bored," she tells me, as we talk about her ne...
Episode 229 - Matt Ruff
31 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Novelist Matt Ruff joins the show to talk about how his fantastic novel Lovecraft Country began as a TV pitch 10 years ago, and is now on its way to b...
Episode 228 - Ellen Forney
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The great Seattle cartoonist Ellen Forney joins the show to talk about comics, art, being bipolar, and the challenges of maintaining! We talk about he...
Episode 227 - Ben Schwartz
17 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Comedy writer, journalist and screenwriter Ben Schwartz joins the show to talk serious laughs. We discuss his work on American humor between the wars,...
Episode 226 - Joyce Farmer
11 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"I'm not interested in doing something if it isn't groundbreaking." Joyce Farmer joins the show to talk about her transition from housewife to undergr...
Episode 225 - Howard Chaykin
04 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Comics legend Howard Chaykin joins the show to talk about his career, the early assignment he'll never live down, getting clean and being boringly sob...
Episode 224 - Graham Chaffee
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Master tattooist and comics artist Graham Chaffee joins the show to talk about his new graphic noir, To Have & To Hold (Fantagraphics)! We get into th...
Episode 223 - Joe Ciardiello
19 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning illustrator Joe Ciardiello reflects on 43 years as a freelancer, the jazz portraits that turned his career around, his drumming and how ...
Episode 222 - Arnie Levin
12 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cartooning, illustration and animation legend Arnie Levin joins the show to recount his epic career and life. We talk about Beatnik-era New York, his ...
Episode 221 - Kyle Cassidy
06 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Photojournalist (or "artist who sometimes uses a camera") Kyle Cassidy returns to talk about his new book, This Is What A Librarian Looks Like! Along ...
Episode 220 - Seth
30 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Seth returns to the show to talk about Palookaville, making a living, his changing relationship to comics and cartoonists, his retrospection on the '9...
Episode 219 - Keiler Roberts
22 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Keiler Roberts joins the show to talk about her new book, Sunburning (Koyama Press). Oh, and parenthood, bipolar disorder, the avoidance of...
Episode 218 - RO Blechman
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary cartoonist, illustrator, animator, ad-man, artist RO Blechman joins the show to talk about his work and life. We get into the importance of ...
Episode 217 - Vanessa Sinclair
09 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Make psychoanalysis subversive again! Vanessa Sinclair joins the show to talk about her new book, Switching Mirrors. We get into psychoanalysis, art a...
Episode 216 - George Prochnik
01 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"Scholem teaches us that the Jewish tradition is so capacious it could embrace its own subversion." George Prochnik returns to The Virtual Memories Sh...
Episode 215 - Charif Majdalani
24 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Charif Majdalani has been called the Lebanese Proust, thanks to his series of novels chronicling the modern history of his home country. He joins the ...
Episode 214 - Wallis Wilde-Menozzi
18 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Poet, novelist and essayist Wallis Wilde-Menozzi returns to the show to talk about her novel, Toscanelli's Ray, the ways Italy has changed in her four...
Episode 213 - Sarah Williams Goldhagen
10 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Why are our buildings crushing our quality of life? Sarah Williams Goldhagen joins the show to talk about her new book, Welcome To Your World (Harper)...
Episode 212 - Samuel R. Delany
04 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary author (and longtime pal) Samuel R. Delany joins the show to talk about the sex lives of older gay men, how he's taken to Facebook, how losi...
Episode 211 - John Cuneo
27 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning illustrator John Cuneo joins the show to talk about his new work, Not Waving But Drawing (Fantagraphics Underground), the arc of 40 year...
Episode 210 - Tony Tulathimutte
20 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I get over my insecurity about younger authors and talk with Tony Tulathmiutte about his debut novel, Private Citizens! We discuss his critique of the...
Episode 209 - Jeff Nunokawa
13 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For more than a decade, Princeton literature professor Jeff Nunokawa has posted beautiful daily essays using Facebook Notes. We talk about how he disc...
Episode 208 - Barbara Epler
07 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
New Directions publisher Barbara Epler joins the show to talk about her accidental career, the pros and cons of New Directions' size, the Moneyball as...
Episode 207 - Garth Greenwell
27 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Garth Greenwell joins the show to talk about the poetics of cruising (and cruising's great leveling potential) in his life and in his debut novel What...
Episode 206 - Jessa Crispin
21 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Bookslut founder Jessa Crispin rejoins the show (here's her 2014 episode) to talk about her new book, Why I Am Not A Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto (M...
Episode 205 - Patrick McDonnell
13 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Mutts creator Patrick McDonnell joins the show to talk about getting a late start on his career as a daily strip cartoonist, how Mutts has changed in ...
Episode 204 - Phillip Lopate
06 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Is wisdom possible? One of my favorite writers, Phillip Lopate, returns to The Virtual Memories Show to talk about his new book, A Mother's Tale, wher...
Episode 203 - Ben Yagoda
31 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Author Ben Yagoda joins the show to talk about teaching journalism, his 40 years (!) of writing language columns, the influence of Harry Potter own hi...
Episode 202 - Karen Green
22 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Karen Green, Curator of the Comics and Cartoons collection at Columbia University, joins the show to talk about her secret origin! How did she go from...
Episode 201 - Brad Gooch
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Brad Gooch returns to the show to talk about his new book, Rumi's Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love (Harper). We dive right into Brad's Orient...
Episode 200 - Thomas Dolby
09 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
My guest for this special anniversary show is musician, tech entrepreneur, professor and now memoirist Thomas Dolby! We talk about his new book, The S...
Episode 199 - Michael Tisserand
02 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Tisserand joins the show to talk about his fantastic new book, Krazy: George Herriman, a Life in Black and White (Harper). We discuss Krazy Ka...
Episode 198 - Ed Ward
19 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Lifelong rock & roll journalist Ed Ward joins the show to talk about his new book, The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 1: 1920-1963 (Flatiron Books). W...
Episode 197 - The Guest List 2016
12 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
More than 30 of the year's Virtual Memories Show guests tell us about the favorite books they read in 2016 and the books they hope to get to in 2017! ...
Episode 196 - Myke Cole
29 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Myke Cole joins the show to talk about military fantasy, his fantasies about the military, his journey from IT to CIA to merc to Coast Guard to fantas...
Episode 195 - Thanksgiving 2016 Special
22 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
For Thanksgiving 2016, more than two dozen past Virtual Memories Show guests chime in on what they're thankful for, including Glen Baxter, Roz Chast, ...
Episode 194 - Bob Eckstein
12 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Artist, writer, humorist and cartoonist Bob Eckstein joins the show to talk about his wonderful new book, Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstor...
Episode 193 - Ed Koren
07 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Koren's cartoons and covers have graced The New Yorker for more than 50 years, so it was honor to record with him during CXC about his career, his ...
Episode 192 - Jim Woodring
31 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The great Jim Woodring rejoins the show to talk art, comics and the Unifactor! During a break at SPX 2016, we sat down to discuss the importance of Fa...
Episode 191 - Ben Katchor
26 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Katchor rejoins the show to talk about the 25th anniversary edition of Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay (Drawn & Quarterly)! We talk ...
Episode 190 - Liza Donnelly
18 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
New Yorker cartoonist and women's rights activist Liza Donnelly joins the show to talk about becoming a live-drawing legend (among other things). We g...
Episode 189 - Glen Baxter
10 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Artist Glen Baxter joins the show for a conversation about his new collection, Almost Completely Baxter: New and Selected Blurtings (New York Review ...
Episode 188 - Hayley Campbell
02 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and Twitter provocateur Hayley Campbell joins the show for a conversation about her inability to describe her job (don't call her a "content pr...
Episode 187 - Tom Gauld
26 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist & illustrator Tom Gauld joins the show to talk about his new book, Mooncop (Drawn & Quarterly), and the post-optimistic view of the future...
Episode 186 - Michael Maslin
20 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Maslin joins the show to talk about his new book, Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist (Regan Arts). We tal...
Episode 185- Willard Spiegelman
13 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Willard Spiegelman returns to the show to talk about his new book, Senior Moments: Looking Back, Looking Ahead (FSG). We get into the process of deac...
Episode 184 - David M. Carr
06 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Biblical scholar David M. Carr joins the show to talk about his book, Holy Resilience: The Bible's Traumatic Origin. We get into how the Hebrew and Ch...
Episode 183 - Jeff Gomez
30 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Transmedia producer Jeff Gomez (also @Jeff_Gomez) joins the show to talk about the evolution of storytelling. We get into how the internet is driving ...
Episode 182 - Virginia Heffernan
22 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"It's very, very weird to do something along with three billion other people." Cultural critic Virginia Heffernan joins the show to talk about her new...
Episode 181 - Chris Rose
16 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Rose wrote the definitive book of life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, 1 Dead in Attic. I caught up with him for his Magical Musical My...
Episode 180 - Leslie Stein
09 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoonist Leslie Stein joins the show to talk about her new book, Time Clock (Fantagraphics)! We get into her diary comics (recently collected in B...
Episode 179 - Andrea Tsurumi
02 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rising comics star -- don't blame me, that's what Publishers Weekly just called her -- Andrea Tsurumi joins the show to talk about her new collection,...
Episode 178 - Arthur Lubow
24 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Arthur Lubow's fantastic new book, Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer (Ecco), explores the life and death of a key figure in the history of phot...
Episode 177 - MK Brown
18 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary cartoonist MK Brown joins the show to talk about her lifetime in comics and art, her years with B. Kliban, the ups and downs of The National...
Episode 176 - Malcolm Margolin
10 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
After a remarkable 40-year career, publisher Malcolm Margolin is retiring from Heyday Books in Berkeley. He joins the show to talk about the liberatio...
Episode 175 - Paul Mavrides
04 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary artist and cartoonist Paul Mavrides joins the show to talk about Underground Comix, the Church of the SubGenius, the Zapruder film, black m...
Episode 174 - Ann Patty
27 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Why did former publisher and book editor Ann Patty start studying Latin at age 58? Find out in our conversation about her book, Living with a Dead La...
Episode 173 - Christopher Nelson
20 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
My two-year term at St. John's College's Graduate Institute was the most important part of my life. During my recent trip back to Annapolis, I sat dow...
Episode 172 - Glynnis Fawkes
13 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Glynnis Fawkes joins the show to talk about archeology, comics, dig romances, Homer and more! We celebrate her award-winning new comic, Alle Ego, figu...
Episode 171 - Jim Ottaviani
07 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Ottaviani joins the show to talk about his new graphic biography, The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded, drawn by Leland Purvis (Abrams ComicAr...
NJPoet_Episode_1_-_My_Twitter_Life.mp3
31 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In the inaugural episode of #NJPoet's Corner, Chuck Bivona (aka #NJPoet) talks about his evolution on Twitter with Virtual Memories Show host Gil Roth
Episode 170 - Chester Brown, Nina Bunjevac & #NJPoet's Corner
30 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Paying For It Players return! Chester Brown and Nina Bunjevac rejoin the show to perform a chapter from Chester's amazing new book, Mary Wept Ove...
Episode 169 - David Mikics
22 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
David Mikics joins the show to talk about his new book, Bellow's People: How Saul Bellow Made Life Into Art (Norton). We talk about Bellow's legacy, ...
Episode 168 - Harry Katz
17 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Harry Katz, former head curator of prints and photographs for the Library of Congress, joins the show to talk about his new project on David Levine, h...
Episode 167 - John Holl
08 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
John Holl joins the show to talk about his new book, Dishing Up New Jersey: 150 Recipes from the Garden State (with photos by my wife)! We also get i...
Episode 166 - Ben Model
02 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
BenModel joins the show to talk about his career as a silent-filmaccompanist. It's a fascinating conversation about music, audience,cinema, mentorship...
Episode 165 - Fred Kaplan w/#NJPoet's Corner
24 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Fred Kaplan rejoins the show to talk about his new book, Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War (Simon & Schuster). (We last talked in 2013)...
Episode 164 - Kliph Nesteroff (& Liz Hand)
17 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Kliph Nesteroff joins the show to talk about his new book, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy (Grove Pres...
Episode 163 - David Leopold
11 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
David Leopold, author of The Hirschfeld Century: Portrait of an Artist and His Age (Knopf), joins the show to talk about his work with the great arti...
Episode 162 - Phoebe Gloeckner
04 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Phoebe Gloeckner, the author of The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures joins the podcast on way too little sleep to talk about...
Episode 161 - Dan Perkins/Tom Tomorrow & #NJPoet's Corner
27 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Perkins (aka Tom Tomorrow) celebrates the publication of 25 Years of Tomorrow with The Virtual Memories Show at his book launch party at Mark Tw...
Episode 160 - Bob Stein & Ashton Applewhite
22 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Digital media visionary Bob Stein joins the show to talk about the future of media creation and consumption, the synthesis of Marx & McLuhan, his hope...
Episode 159 - Burton Pike
14 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
"When you translate, you are digging into not so much the psyche of the author but the psyche of the author's use of language." Translator and emeritu...
Episode 158 - Glenn Head
07 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In his new comix memoir, Chicago (Fantagraphics), Glenn Head follows Orwell's maxim, "Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something di...
Episode 157 - Dan Cafaro
29 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Cafaro, publisher of Atticus Books and the Atticus Review Online, joins the show to talk about indy publishing, building a writers' community, the...
Episode 156 - Ross Benjamin
22 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Translator Ross Benjamin joins the show to talk about curating Festival Neue Literatur 2016, which is being held Feb. 25-28, 2016! Along the way, we t...
Episode 155 - Christopher Kloeble
15 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Christopher Kloeble joins the show to talk about his first US publication, Almost Everything Very Fast (Graywolf Press)! We discuss the perils of tran...
Episode 154 - Kriota Willberg
09 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Kriota Willberg joins the show to talk about her work teaching anatomy, pathology, drawing, and massage, and how she keeps cartoonists from suffering ...
Episode 153 - Rachel Hadas
01 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Poet Rachel Hadas returns to the show to talk about her new books, Talking To The Dead, and Questions in the Vestibule. It's been two years since we t...
Episode 152 - Carol Tyler
25 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Carol Tyler spent 10 years making Soldier's Heart: The Campaign to Understand My WWII Veteran Father: A Daughter's Memoir (Fantagraphics). We sat down...
Episode 151 - Harold Bloom
19 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The great literary critic and professor Harold Bloom joins the show to talk about his new book, The Daemon Knows, and how it captures his lifetime of ...
Episode 150 - Molly Crabapple
10 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Artist Molly Crabapple joins the show to talk about writing her new memoir, Drawing Blood (Harper), making illustrated journalism from Syria, Guantana...
Episode 149 - Keith Knight
05 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Gentleman cartoonist Keith Knight joins the show to talk about comics, race, how he would fix the Star Wars prequels, his career as a Michael Jackson ...