fiction/non/fiction

fiction/non/fiction
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fiction/non/fiction

Hosted by Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan, fiction/non/fiction interprets current events through the lens of literature, and features conversations with writers of all stripes, from novelists and poets to journalists and essayists.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Jeff Sharlet on ‘Sanewashing’ and Fascism

    Nonfiction writer Jeff Sharlet joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how mainstream media outlets sanitize Donald Trump’s rhetoric in their reporting rather than straightforwardly describing his words and behavior, an approach recently dubbed “sanewashing” by The New Republic’s Parker Molloy. Sharlet analyzes the term’s usefulness and also its limitations; talks about the need to describe fascism using the word itself; and reflects on who is now at the center of political discourse and who is at the fringe. He also considers whether popular new media influencers like the MeidasTouch Network and YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen are really filling the need to describe Trump as he is. He reads from his book, The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Jeff Sharlet The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers Sweet Heaven When I Die C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power Others: "This genius website captures Trump’s weirdest debate quotes," by Grace Snelling | Fast Company Lenny Bruce The White Album by Joan Didion The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton Rick Perlstein Brian Tyler Cohen MeidasTouch Network Jeffrey Ruoff Susan Faludi Lane Kirkland Dietrich Bonhoeffer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    54 min

  2. OCT 3

    Lola Milholland on the Housing Crisis and Communal Living

    As the housing crisis worsens and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris makes lowering housing prices a key part of her agenda, nonfiction writer Lola Milholland joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her experience with communal living. With traditional single-family homes economically out of reach for many Americans, Milholland talks about the social and financial benefits of living with others, including shared cooking and meals. She cautions that living with roommates will not solve the housing crisis and talks about the need for widespread and systemic change. She reads from her book, Group Living and Other Recipes. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Lola Milholland Group Living and Other Recipes Umi Organic Living With Roommates Is Sorely Underrated |TIME Can a $9 Lunch Cure Loneliness? | Oprah Daily Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 33: “Brandy Jensen on the Mainstreaming of Polyamory” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 29: “Jen Silverman on Generational Divides in American Politics” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7, Episode 52: “Myriam J.A. Chancy on Haitian American Communities” Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard  Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard: “Home Prices Far Outpace Incomes” The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World by Lewis Hyde Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    48 min

  3. SEP 26

    Myriam J.A. Chancy on Haitian American Communities

    Following Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s racist smears against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, author Myriam J.A. Chancy joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about Haitian history and independence; imperialism in Haiti; immigration to and from Haiti; the positive and negative impacts social media has on Haitian communities; and how the current discourse obscures both Haitian past and present. Chancy reflects on the importance of translating Haitian literature into English, recommends the work of several other writers, and discusses the Expo of ’49, which brought people from around the world to Haiti. She reads a related scene from Village Weavers.  To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Myriam J.A. Chancy  Village Weavers  What Storm, What Thunder  Spirit of Haiti Harvesting Haiti Others: Cléanthe Desgraves Valcin  Yanick Lahens Marie-Célie Agnant Valérie Bah Lyonel Trouillot Gary Victor     Mackenzy Orcel  Kettly Mars    “'It just exploded': Springfield woman claims she never meant to spark false rumors about Haitians” by Alicia Victoria Lozano | NBC News “Opinion | Trump Knows What He’s Doing in Springfield. So Does Vance.” by Jamelle Bouie| The New York Times “Marianne Williamson Defends Donald Trump’s Bizarre Haitian Pet-Eating Conspiracy” by Liam Archacki| Daily Beast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    49 min

  4. SEP 19

    Ellen Emerson White on the First Woman President, Real and Imagined

    As Vice President Kamala Harris's historic campaign for the presidency enters its final weeks, writer Ellen Emerson White joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her prescient 1984 novel The President's Daughter, which imagines the first woman president’s campaign and early days in the White House from the point of view of her teenage daughter. White reminisces about beginning the YA book when she was still a teenager herself and notes the uncanny similarities between a fictional presidential debate that appears in the book and the recent Trump-Harris showdown. White reflects on the qualities her character Katharine Powers shares with Kamala White—notably, a “likable, elegant swagger”—as well as how Powers’s cool bearing contrasts with Harris’s reputation for warmth. She talks about hitting pause on her current writing project following Harris’s entrance into the race, and reads from The President’s Daughter. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Ellen Emerson White “The President’s Daughter” series A Season of Daring Greatly Webster: Tale of an Outlaw “The Echo Company” series Others: Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7 Episode 50: “Thomas Frank on How the Harris-Walz Ticket Can Win Red State Voters”  The Apprentice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    53 min

  5. SEP 12

    Thomas Frank on How the Harris-Walz Ticket Can Win Red State Voters

    Political and cultural critic Thomas Frank joins host Whitney Terrell to discuss how Democrats and Republicans courted voters from the Midwest and South at their respective conventions. Frank gives reports from the floors of both the Republican and Democratic national conventions, which he attended. He analyzes the efforts that the Trump-Vance and Harris-Walz tickets have made to attract union and working class, “red state” votes. He also reads a passage from his famed 2004 book What’s the Matter with Kansas on the origin of the terms “red state” and “blue state” and discusses the surprising staying power, and fundamental absurdity, of these categories. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Thomas Frank The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-populism What’s the Matter With Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism Others: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 3, episode 22: “The Unpopular Tale of Populism: Thomas Frank on the Real History of an American Mass Movement” Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 5, episode 31: “What Do Dems Do Now? Thomas Frank on How the Left Can Counter a Rogue Supreme Court” David Brooks John Podhoretz Blake Hurst Hulk Hogan Kid Rock Ted Cruz Tucker Carlson “Acid, amnesty - and abortion: 1972 and all that” by Michael Cross | Law Society Gazette | May 4, 2022  George McGovern George Wallace The New Deal Robert Reich Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    53 min

  6. SEP 5

    Alissa Quart on J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy and the Dangerous Lie of American Bootstrap Narratives

    Nonfiction writer Alissa Quart joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss how the American obsession with “bootstrap narratives” led to the publishing industry championing Hillbilly Elegy, the bestselling and problematic memoir by J.D. Vance, who was subsequently elected to the Senate and is now the Republican vice presidential nominee. Quart talks about Vance’s failure to credit those who have contributed to his success and reflects on both the fetishization of poverty and the importance of authentic representation. She also explains the long tradition of self-made man narratives and their underlying queer romantic elements, and compares Vance’s work to that of writers like Laura Ingalls Wilder and Horatio Alger. She critiques Vance’s recent remarks about childless and professional women and suggests the need for a more nuanced and expansive understanding of community. Quart talks about the nonprofit she leads, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and reads from her book, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Alissa Quart Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream Thoughts and Prayers  Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America  Monetized  Republic of Outsiders: The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers, and Rebels  Economic Hardship Reporting Project   "JD Vance is the Toxic Byproduct of America’s Obsession with Bootstrap Narratives" | Literary Hub Others: Laura Ingalls Wilder Horatio Alger Barbara Ehrenreich Dorothy Allison Elizabeth Catte Alex Miller Bobbi Dempsey Ann Larson Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 32: “The East Palestine Train Derailment and Your Health: Kerri Arsenault on the Pervasive and Ongoing Risks of Dioxin”  “‘Dangerous and un-American’: new recording of JD Vance’s dark vision of women and immigration” by Jason Wilson | The Guardian Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Going for Broke with Ray Suarez | The Nation Going for Broke | NPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    45 min

  7. AUG 29

    Joshua Kaplan on AP3 and the Future of American Militias

    ProPublica reporter Joshua Kaplan joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his recent article on militia group American Patriots Three Percent, or AP3. Kaplan talks about group founder Scot Seddon, a former Army reservist, and how he created a movement whose members number gun control and the “LGBTQ agenda” among their grievances. Kaplan also reflects on AP3’s ties to law enforcement, the military, and elected officials, as well as their calculated attempts to brand themselves. He considers the recent history of militias in the U.S., including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and explains how that led to a loss of momentum for the movement, the subsequent rise of recruiting via Facebook, and the environment that allowed for the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Finally, he reflects on how Donald Trump fans the flames of extremist groups like AP3. Kaplan reads from his article. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Joshua Kaplan "Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia" Others: Oklahoma City Bombing “Trump to Host ‘The J6 Awards Gala’ at His Bedminster Golf Club” by Owen Lavine | The Daily Beast BlacKkKlansman Mad Max Keith Kidwell Oath Keepers Southern Poverty Law Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    45 min

  8. AUG 22

    Iris Jamahl Dunkle and Kelly McMasters on Biographical Ethics

    Following Elon Musk’s estranged daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson’s accusations of unethical behavior on the part of Musk’s authorized biographer, memoirist Kelly McMasters and biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle join co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to talk about the ethics of biography. Dunkle, the author of Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb, talks about using archives to restore the history of Babb, the writer whose notes John Steinbeck used to research The Grapes of Wrath, and how women’s lives are often wrongly or incompletely depicted. McMasters, a memoirist whose recent book The Leaving Season: A Memoir portrays many people close to her, talks about the impossibility of writing honestly about her life without including her children, the two people with whom she spends the most time. Dunkle and McMasters discuss Wilson’s accusations against Walter Isaacson, whom she says did not directly contact her for comment for his recent book about her father, although much of his book refers to her life. The group also discusses recent revelations that Alice Munro failed to act when she learned that her second husband had abused her daughter, and how authorized biographies often omit full accounts of the truth. Dunkle and McMasters read from their work. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Iris Jamahl Dunkle  Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb  West: Fire: Archive Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer Finding Lost Voices | Substack Kelly McMasters The Leaving Season: A Memoir Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir From and Atomic Town This Is the Place: Women Writing About Home “The Ethics of Writing Hard Things in Family Memoir,” Literary Hub Others: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson “Musk’s Daughter Flames Dad’s Biographer: ‘You Threw Me to the Wolves’” by Dan Ladden-Hall | Daily Beast J.D. Salinger The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck “What do we Know about Alice Munro Now?” by Contance Grady | Vox La Belle Noiseuse The Hyacinth Girl: T.S. Eliot’s Hidden Muse by Lyndall Gordon Loving Sylvia Plath: A Reclamation by Emily Van Duyne Jackson Pollock “What Virginia Woolf’s ‘Dreadnought Hoax’ Tells Us About Ourselves” by Danell Jones | January 25, 2024 | Literary Hub Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 19: “The Lives of the Wives: Carmela Ciuraru on Marriage, Writing, and Equity” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    53 min
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4.9
out of 5
76 Ratings

About

Hosted by Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan, fiction/non/fiction interprets current events through the lens of literature, and features conversations with writers of all stripes, from novelists and poets to journalists and essayists.

Information

  • Creator
    fiction/non/fiction
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2024
  • Episodes
    260
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Whitney Terrell, V.V. Ganeshananthan, 980309
  • Show Website
    fiction/non/fiction

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