Malarkey Public Radio

Malarkey Books

5.0 (2)
Fiction

Malarkey Public Radio features interviews and discussions with indie writers.

Oct 1

Imaginary Worlds

In which LJ talks with Suzy Eynon about her new book Terrestrial, aliens, loneliness, wanting a bigger world/bigger life, those weird live action movies that Disney made in the mid 20th century, having a separate writing life from your regular life, and so much more!
Aug 24

As Long as a Dog's Tail

In which LJ Pemberton speaks with Joshua Trent Brown about his new novel, The Walls Are Closing in On Us, genealogy as inspiration, how to write a novel if you’ve only ever written short fiction, the perfect length of any story, why would a random guy have a fake name?, the importance of research, writing until 2am, LJ’s constant astonishment at Trent’s habits, how editing makes Trent want to throw up, the importance of the woodshed, publishing as hell, how folks who downplay how good their work is are usually actually great writers, Trent as Theater-Kid, Alan Good as a genius editor, and more!
Jul 16

Strange Objects

LJ talks with Ben Niespodziany about how he came up with his personal brand neonpajamas and the name of Pizama Press, what he learned the first year, how that changed things this year, and all about Pizama’s 2026 slate of poetry and experimental prose books. Ben also confesses he has no idea what he’s doing and LJ misnames Garielle Lutz as Gabrielle Lutz, but we’ll forgive her. Plus anecdotes about meeting Diane Williams, how a consistent body of short work eventually accumulates into a longer oeuvre, Gwendolyn Brooks, how some short stories might take years to finish, writing poetry on post-it notes, how there are so many great manuscripts out there just looking for a home, books as strange objects, how Pizama is looking for books in translation (!), how Ben is trying to track down the translator Brian Mendoza, and more! Find more of Ben’s work at https://www.neonpajamas.com/. Find more of LJ’s work at https://ljpemberton.com/. LJ’s debut novel is Still Alive.
10/25/2025

My Ardent Love for Vi Khi Nao

Wherein we discuss respecting readers, the superiority of short works, the sapphic eroticism of the pencil, favorite pencils, the work of Joyce, Beckett and Virginia Woolf, and so much more!
10/25/2025

In the Belly of the Beast

On Boxcutters and Feast of the Pale Leviathan, on all the places we’ve both lived, on Kurt Vonnegut and finding your people, on working at Powell’s, on scraping by, on mixing genres, Presidents, Polish darkness, anti-fascist postures towards creativity, anger as a generative force, and so much more!
10/25/2025

Maybe You Can Have Fun With It

LJ one-on-one with Adrian Sobol, author of The Life of the Party Is Harder to Find Until You’re the Last One Around and Hair Shirt.
10/25/2025

Faith

LJ talks with Itoro Bassey about her book, Faith, and what writers she returns to again and again, and how she balances journalism, and what they’re inspired by, and why Malarkey is great, and being first-gen, and generational trauma, and ancestors, and more!
10/25/2025

Just Death

LJ Pemberton is the author of the novel Still Alive, as well as the host of the revamped Malarkey Public Radio. Her stories have been published in The Baffler, Exacting Clam, Los Angeles Review, to name only a few. Laura Paul is the author of Film Elegy. Her writing has been published in The Brooklyn Rail, Los Angeles Review of Books, Tarpaulin Sky Magazine, Pangyrus, minor literature[s], Dream Pop Journal, and other outlets. As an artist, her work has been exhibited at the Armory Center for the Arts, Other Places Art Fair, L.A. Zine Fest, West Hollywood Book Fair, and included at the Omnidawn Poetry Conference, the Community of Writers Poetry Program, and the New Orleans Poetry Festival. Lauren Bolger is the author of the novel Kill Radio. Her second novel, The Barre Incidents, comes out in October 2025. Her short fiction has been published in numerous litmags and anthologies.

5

out of 5

2 Ratings

Malarkey Public Radio features interviews and discussions with indie writers.

Creator

Malarkey Books
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

13
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

©2025 Malarkey Books
Show Website

Malarkey Public Radio