Radio Free Mike

Michael Scott Moore
  • 4.7 (3)
  • Books
  • Updated Biweekly

Freedom and its Discontents, a politics and culture podcast with author & journalist Michael Scott Moore michaelscottmoore.substack.com

  1. 1d ago

    040 Isaac Fitzgerald: American Rambler

    Isaac Fitzgerald follows the path of Johnny Appleseed, or actually John Chapman, the real nineteenth-century pioneer from Massachusetts who traced Indian footpaths and planted apple trees as far west as Illinois. As we discuss in this episode, I have my own reasons for being fascinated by Johnny Appleseed, but from AMERICAN RAMBLER you’ll learn a lot about the man, as opposed to the myth, and a lot about the myth, and a lot about Midwestern history, and a lot about Fitzgerald’s own family and past. Upgrade to a paid subscription to Radio Free Mike. Platforms: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts Resources: American Rambler, by Isaac Fitzgerald Dirtbag, a memoir by Isaac Fitzgerald How to Be a Pirate, a children’s book by Isaac Fitzgerald Isaac’s website radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Aug 5

    039 Saumya Roy: Homelessness in America

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com Saumya Roy is a journalist and author of Castaway Mountain, about a garbage mountain in Mumbai and the people who earn their livelihoods from it. For a new anthology of essays she has a piece about the state of homelessness in San Francisco. The anthology is called How We See It: The World Looks at America in the Age of Trump, and I encourage you to pick up a copy, because it features twelve international writers responding to massive changes in America. Saumya once ran a micro-loan NGO in Mumbai to help homeless people (and others) — and she’s been on our podcast before. Upgrade to a paid subscription to Radio Free Mike. Platforms: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts Resources: How We See It: The World Looks at America in the Age of Trump, from editors of The Dial Castaway Mountain, by Saumya Roy The UK edition is called Mountain Tales Episode 015 of Radio Free Mike with Saumya Roy radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  3. Jul 22

    038 Scott Hulet: Flow Violento

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com Scott Hulet is the longtime, formative editor of The Surfer’s Journal, a magazine focused on the art and adventure of surfing rather than its klieg-lit industry. Flow Violento is a collection of his pieces from around Latin America, and the title derives from a phrase in Cuban slang that translates, roughly, to “amazing style.” We talk about surfing Ecuador, about “Shipwrecks” in northern Baja, about a remote island off the coast of Nayarit which has both surf and fish, and about the romance of Mexico in the mid-20th century, when The Night of the Iguana was written and filmed in Puerto Vallarta. Upgrade to a paid subscription to Radio Free Mike. Platforms: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts Resources: Flow Violento, by Scott Hulet Sweetness and Blood, Mike’s folk history of surfing “Flow Violento,” a rap song by Arcángel Other books featured on Radio Free Mike radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  4. Jul 9

    037 Diane Foley: American Mother

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com Diane Foley is the mother of Jim Foley, the American journalist who was kidnapped in 2012 by members of ISIS in Syria, and beheaded on camera in 2014. Diane has written a memoir called American Mother, with the help of Irish novelist Colum McCann, about the hostage ordeal and its long echo. The book describes her meeting with one of Jim’s captors, Alexanda Kotey, after Kotey pled guilty to charges regarding Jim and several other western hostages. He’s serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. Diane now runs the Foley Foundation in Washington, DC, which speaks up for hostages, and Colum is a co-founder of Narrative 4, a global storytelling nonprofit. This podcast comes in advance of a long-read essay about the trial in my own hostage case. We had some audio interference, so if we talk over each other it’s because we couldn’t hear each other as well during the live interview as you’ll be able to hear us now. Resources: American Mother, by Diane Foley and Colum McCann Foley Foundation website Colum McCann’s website Narrative 4, Colum’s nonprofit Twist, by Colum McCann, his latest novel Apeirogon, by Colum McCann, a novel about a friendship between an Israeli and a Palestinian Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann, a National Book Award-winning novel about the Twin Towers The new Radio Free Mike virtual bookshop features almost every book mentioned on the podcast, and I earn a small commission if you order from it. ALSO: If you’re in Southern California, please come out to “Pub Fiction” this Sunday, July 12, at Knoll’s in Aliso Viejo. I’ll read from a work-in-progress. No reservations necessary. 7pm, 29971 Alicia Pkwy, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  5. Jun 24

    036 Annabelle Gurwitch: How Not to Live With Cancer

    Annabelle Gurwitch is an actor and writer who was diagnosed in 2020 with Stage 4 lung cancer. The diagnosis came as a complete surprise, and her new book about the shock and its aftermath is called The End of My Life is Killing Me. It’s a collection of personal essays dealing with the clichés of cancer patient-hood, with juicing machines that did not help, Greek myths that did, and with her short career as a merch girl for a touring heavy-metal band. Upgrade to a paid subscription to Radio Free Mike. Platforms: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts Resources: The End of My Life is Killing Me, by Annabelle Gurwitch Annabelle’s website An extract from the book in the New York Times Featured books on Radio Free Mike (I earn a small commission!) radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Jun 9

    035 Meg Smaker: Captured in Colombia

    Meg Smaker is a filmmaker and journalist, director of Jihad Rehab (or The UnRedacted), which was the subject of an earlier Radio Free Mike episode. In 2003, Meg was held hostage with two other Americans in Colombia by an anti-FARC militia for about ten days. We talk about what it means to be held hostage; in fact this interview starts with Meg interviewing me. A little context: Jihad Rehab deals with former inmates of the American prison at Guantánamo who were sitting in a re-integration center in Yemen. Meg exlpains how her short kidnapping in Colombia led her, eventually, to the topic of her controversial film. Upgrade to a paid subscription to Radio Free Mike. Platforms: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts Resources: Meg Smaker filmography on IMDB Website for the film now called “Unredacted” radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jun 2

    034 Ed Park: An Oral History of Atlantis

    Ed Park is a novelist and journalist and the author, most recently, of An Oral History of Atlantis, a collection of stories full of wit and humor and strange invention. We talk about our shared enthusiasm for REM — which shouldn’t take any of my listeners by surprise — and by the end of the show we talk about his two upcoming books in a surprising amount of detail. So if you’re interested in that, stick around.Ed has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and his two upcoming books include a memoir “of sorts,” called Three Tenses: A Transmission from the Nineties (in August) and a long story called The Repairer of Reputations (in September). Ed tells me the long story is not unrelated to the stories we discuss on this episode. Platforms: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts Next week on June 10 I’ll be in conversation with Jeanne Carstensen — also a Radio Free Mike guest! — at Village Well Books in Culver City. Her book A Greek Tragedy tells one of the horrific stories from the migration push across the Mediterranean. It was a finalist this year for the PEN/Galbraith Award. Tickets available here, and the price can include a copy of the book. And I’m happy to sign copies of The Desert and the Sea at the store. Podcast Resources: An Oral History of Atlantis, by Ed Park Ed’s website Three Tenses preview Repairer of Reputations preview The new Radio Free Mike virtual bookshop features almost every book mentioned on the podcast, and I earn a small commission if you order from this page. radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com/subscribe

  8. May 19

    033 Daniela Gerson: The Wanderers

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelscottmoore.substack.com Today we’re talking to not one, but two guests — a journalist, Daniela Gerson (right), and her wife Talia Inlender, who’s an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles. Daniela’s the author of THE WANDERERS, a new book about their Jewish grandparents, who all escaped the Holocaust from eastern Poland by heading east — though not together, and the coincidence they discovered about their family histories will be worth the price of admission. We talk about World War II history, fleeing the Third Reich, and about how the past is not really past. This episode has a mild echo on Talia’s feed, which vanishes after a while. We’re on a budget around here. For that reason, please upgrade to a paid subscription to Radio Free Mike! Platforms: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts Resources: The Wanderers, by Daniela Gerson A review at the Wall Street Journal Daniela’s website Talia’s bio The new Radio Free Mike virtual bookshop, featuring almost every book mentioned on the podcast. (I earn a small commission if you order from this page.) radio free mike is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Freedom and its Discontents, a politics and culture podcast with author & journalist Michael Scott Moore michaelscottmoore.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Scott Moore
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Michael Scott Moore
  • Show Website
    Radio Free Mike

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