The Chills at Will Podcast chillsatwillpodcast

Episode 174 Notes and Links to Allegra Hyde’s Work
 
    On Episode 174 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes  Allegra Hyde, and the two discuss, among other things, her lifelong love of reading and love for librarians (like her mom!) and libraries, her varied reading and writing genres, inspirations for her dazzling and inventive worldbuilding, dark humor, the main throughline of her story collection, ideas of climate change, “global weirding,” action and inaction, encroaching technology, misogyny and patriarch with regard to climate issues, and why she has hope for our world.
 
   Allegra Hyde is the author of ELEUTHERIA, which was named a "Best Book of 2022" by The New Yorker. She is also the author of the story collection, OF THIS NEW WORLD, which won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Her second story collection, THE LAST CATASTROPHE, is out in the world as of today, March 28, published by Vintage.
   A recipient of three Pushcart Prizes, Hyde's writing has also been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. Her stories, essays, and humor pieces have appeared in The New Yorker, American Short Fiction, BOMB, and many other venues.
   Hyde has received fellowships and grants from the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, The Elizabeth George Foundation, the Lucas Artist Residency Program, the Jentel Foundation, the U.S. Fulbright Commission, and elsewhere.
   She currently teaches at Oberlin College.
 
 
Buy The Last Catastrophe
 
Allegra Hyde's Webpage
 
Our Culture Mag Profile of Allegra Hyde and The Last Catastrophe
 
 
At about 7:10, Pete compliments The Last Catastrophe, referring to Allegra’s work as “prophet[ic],” and Allegra talks about her mindset with her book now entering the world
 
At about 9:15, Allegra talks about her childhood relationships with the library, reading, and writing; she shouts out her love for The Chronicles of Narnia and audiobooks in general
 
At about 10:45, Pete wonders about any childhood experiences that may have steered Allegra to particular types of reading 
 
At about 12:10, Pete highlights a particular story from the collection that is indicative of Allegra’s skill with worldbuilding; she explains her approach to worldbuilding
 
At about 14:10, Allegra describes the “privilege” in doing authorial research and she and Pete shout out librarians and decry the recent spate of book banning
 
At about 15:40, Pete asks Allegra about who/what she is reading these days; she highlights Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon and Thornton Wilder
 
At about 17:15, Pete references the book’s blurb as “dazzling and inventive” (Alexandra Kleeman) and Allegra describes her approach in writing one of those “dazzling” stories
 
At about 18:55, Allegra defines “retrofuturism,” and she describes how it was guiding her in these stories; she points out her story “Democracy in América” as an example
 
At about 20:15, Allegra characterizes the throughline of her short story connection, defining and expounding upon the term “Global Weirding”
 
At about 23:05, Pete cites an important and evocative opening line of the collection and asks Allegra about the line’s larger meaning and if it served as a catalyst
 
At about 24:45, Pete and Allegra discuss the plot and significance of the story “Mobilization”
 
At about 27:55, Pete references a joke from Marc Maron and inaction on climate change/global weirdness; Allegra highlights the need to approach the crisis from a communal lens
 
At about 29:20, Pete refers to grass and drought issues and its connection to wealth and 
 
At about 30:05, Pete quotes from the book and he and Allegra discuss ideas of optimism and pessimism regarding the future, particularly with regard to climate change/global weirdness
 
At about 32:35, Pete references the story “Zoo Suicides” and Allegra speaks to the story’s intent and how i

Episode 173 Notes and Links to Rachel Heng’s Work
 
    On Episode 173 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes  Rachel Heng, and the two discuss, among other things, her love of reading and her early relationships with the written word and multilingualism, her research and the family stories concerning Singapore’s transformation and its history of ethnic diversity and kampong culture, the book’s “complications” concerning the ways in which “The Great Reclamation” played in on micro- and macro levels for the people of Singapore, her beautiful portrayals of change, grief, and guilt, and her inspirations for writing the book.
 
Rachel Heng is the author of the novels The Great Reclamation (Riverhead, 2023) and Suicide Club (Henry Holt, 2018), which has been translated into ten languages worldwide and won the Gladstone Library Writer-In-Residence Award. Rachel's short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney's Quarterly, One Story, Kenyon Review, and has been recognized by anthologies including Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions and Best New Singaporean Short Stories. She was recently longlisted for the 2021 Sunday Times Short Story Award, “the world’s richest and most prestigious prize for a single short story.” Her non-fiction has been listed among Best American Essays’ Notable Essays and published in Al Jazeera, Guernica, BOMB Magazine, The Rumpus and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Sewanee Writers' Conference, Fine Arts Work Center and the National Arts Council of Singapore. Rachel received her MFA in Fiction and Playwriting from the Michener Center for Writers, UT Austin, and her BA in Comparative Literature & Society from Columbia University.
 
 
Buy The Great Reclamation
 
Rachel Heng's Webpage
 
Rachel Speaks about The Great Reclamation on NPR’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon
 
Oprah Daily Cover Reveal and Article about The Great Reclamation
 
 
At about 7:50, Rachel discusses her mindset and emotions as her book tour begins with a March 28 event with Kirstin Chen and the book is published on March 28 
 
At about 8:55, Pete asks about Rachel’s early relationship with the written word and multilingualism; Rachel talks about a heavy diet of British writers in school in Singapore and her route to becoming a writer
 
At about 12:40, Rachel discusses seeds for the book and research done for the book, including how the book came from a “curiosity to revisit that time” often referenced by older family members
 
At about 14:35, Rachel speaks to the ethnic makeup of Singapore, and how British colonialism affected Singapore’s ethnic history
 
At about 16:40, Pete reads the book’s epigraph and Rachel explains its connection to themes from the book, including Singapore’s look to the future
 
At about 19:10, The two characterize the Lee family 
 
At about 20:25, Pete cites the wonderful opening line of the book and asks Rachel about the meanings and personal significance of the kampong 
 
At about 23:55, Rachel expands upon ideas of the “kampong spirit” and the communal “national fabric” of Singapore for the duration of the book and now
 
At about 25:40, Pete wonders if there any connection between recent pushes toward MAGA and her book’s subject matter
 
At about 26:50, Pete and Rachel discuss Uncle’s character and sympathies for him
 
At about 27:25, The two lay out early events in the book with Ah Boon and family locating ethereal islands and Rachel gives background on how POV and a key throughline inspired the beginning of the book
 
At about 30:00, Pete talks about the slow inevitability of change in the book and asks Rachel about Pa’s parenting style
 
At about 31:40, Rachel gives background on Siok Mei, her family life, and what draws her and Ah Boon to each other
 
At about 33:55, Pete highlights the powerful and beautiful fl

Episode 172 Notes and Links to Robert Lopez’s Work
 
    On Episode 172 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes  Robert Lopez, and the two discuss, among other things, growing up on Long Island, his renewed vigor for, and focus on, reading and writing in his early 20s, his inspirations in writers like Hemingway and Carver, John D’Agata, Eula Biss, ideas of erasure and assimilation that populate the book, his Puerto Rican heritage, his love of tennis as a sport and as metaphor, the idea of "dispatches" and how they inform his book, and his writing style of understatement and braided narrative.
 
   Robert Lopez is the author of three novels, Part of the World, Kamby Bolongo Mean River —named one of 25 important books of the decade by HTML Giant, All Back Full, and two story collections, Asunder and Good People. A new novel-in-stories, A Better Class Of People, was published by Dzanc Books in April, 2022. Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere, his first nonfiction book, was published by Two Dollar Radio on March 14 of this year. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry has appeared in dozens of publications, including Bomb, The Threepenny Review, Vice Magazine, New England Review, The Sun, and the Norton Anthology of Sudden Fiction – Latino. He teaches at Stony Brook University and has previously taught at Columbia University, The New School, Pratt Institute, and Syracuse University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 
Buy Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere
 
Robert Lopez's Webpage
 
Sara Lippman Reviews Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere for Chicago Review of Books
 
 
At about 7:15, Robert describes the experience of having a book recently out in the world
 
At about 8:20, Robert discusses his adolescent reading habits 
 
At about 9:50, Robert gives background on how a TV production class senior year of college inspired him to become an ardent reader and writer
 
At about 11:20, Robert responds to Pete’s questions about Long Island and its cultural norms
 
At about 14:15, Pete asks Robert about writers and writing that inspired him to become a writer himself; Robert points out a few, especially Raymond Carver and Ernest Hemingway
 
At about 16:25, The two talk about their shared preference for Hemingway’s stories over his novels
 
At about 17:00, Pete shouts out Robert’s paean to Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”
 
At about 18:05, Robert speaks to the book’s background and seeds for the book in response to Pete’s questions about what it was like to write nonfiction/memoir
 
At about 21:20, Pete cites a blurb by Eula Biss that trumpets the book’s universality and specificity, leading Robert to define “Puerto Nowhere”
 
At about 23:20, Pete and Robert connects a quote from the book to Robert’s comment that the book is more in search of questions than answers/conclusions 
 
At about 26:05, Pete posits Sigrid Nunez’s work as an analogue to Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere
 
At about 27:15, Vivían Gornick, Maggie Nelson, Eula Biss, Ander Monson, John D’Agata are referenced as writers whose work is “in conversation” with Robert’s
 
At about 28:35, Pete asks about the structure/placing of the dispatches, and Robert describes how the book was put together with some sage advice from Eric Obenauf at Two Dollar Radio
 
At about 30:50, Pete aska bout Robert’s understanding of “dispatches” and what it was like to write in first-person/personally
 
At about 32:25, Pete references two important lines from the book-the book’s opening line and its connection to forgetting, and an important quote and its misquote from Milosz, which Robert breaks down
 
At about 36:00, Pete and Robert highlight and analyze key quotes from the book dealing with Spanish language loss and forced and subtle assimilation and connections to cultural erasure
 
At about 40:40, Robert discusses the parallel storyline from the book that deals with his grandfather, about whose journey to the States

Episode 171 Notes and Links to Danielle Prescod’s Work
 
    On Episode 171 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes  Danielle Prescod, and the two discuss, among other things, Danielle’s voracious reading as an adolescent and beyond, issues of body image in school and in the fashion world, her work in the fashion publishing world and how her personal experiences as recounted in her enthralling and enlightening Token Black Girl can be seen as microcosmic in relation to larger societal issues of racism, fatphobia, and misogyny.
 
     Danielle Prescod is an author, content creator, and journalist. She is also a fifteen-year veteran of the beauty and fashion industry and a graduate of NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. A lifelong fashion obsessive, she was most recently the style director of BET.com. Her book, Token Black Girl, is part memoir, part narrative nonfiction and an exploration of the ways that modern media can influence one’s self-esteem.

Buy Token Black Girl
 
Danielle Prescod's Website
 
From Marie Claire: #Read with MC Review of Token Black Girl

At about 7:00, Danielle talks about her prodigious reading and love of reading as a kid. 
 
At about 8:50, Danielle describes the feeling of seeing her book out in the world
 
At about 10:00, Danielle charts some of that early reading-a lot of YA-Judy Blume, Pascal, V.C. Andrews, etc.
 
At about 11:30, Pete asks Danielle about how she sees her childhood reading in hindsight, and she talks about ideas of representation and references a powerful quote from Tracee Ellis Ross
 
At about 13:25, Danielle highlights Marley Dias and her incredibly impressive #1000blackgirlbooks project
 
At about 16:20, Danielle talks about 2020 and the high amount of anti-racism books that came to prominence and how the white mainstream as an audience 
 
At about 17:55, Danielle speaks to the seeds for her career in fashion, and her love of writing and magazines
 
At about 19:35, Pete lays out the book’s introduction and he and Pete and Danielle discuss her focus on a 2003 magazine cover that was emblematic of ideas of erasure of women of color
 
At about 21:20, The definitions and explanations of a “token white girl” are explained; Danielle speaks to assimilation and indoctrination as described in the book; Danielle talks about the “limiting” binary of racism
 
At about 23:40, Danielle explains a “pretty naive concept” she had as a younger person 
 
At about 25:25, Danielle talks about racism when falsely viewed through a “nice/mean” dichotomy and the injurious effects of this mindset
 
At about 28:40, Pete cites moving examples of racism experienced by Danielle’s grandfather and asks her about how his experiences and her parents’ experiences led to the ways she and her sister were raised and taught
 
At about 30:10, Danielle responds to Pete’s questions about racism and the ostensibly liberal environments she grew up in
 
At about 33:45, Pete highlights Danielle’s poetic language with a few examples regarding white supremacy and a fitting citing of Dubois; Danielle speaks to ideas of pressures in “representing” Black people
 
At about 35:10, The two discuss Danielle’s early environment at NYLON-and the greater societal environment- and how it affected her
 
At about 38:00, Danielle speaks to allure of fashion and its attendant issues 
 
At about 40:00, Danielle gives an standout explanation of “fashion theory” and connects it to human history 
 
At about 43:20, Danielle and Pete discuss a pivotal scene from the book that deals with discussions on body image in a college class of hers
 
At about 44:50, Danielle responds to Pete’s questions about connections between problematic societal body image issues and features and media coverage and ideas of stakeholders 
 
At about 48:00, Pete compliments Danielle’s depictions and personal story
 
At about 49:10, Pete refers to a particularly egregious

Episode 170 Notes and Links to Richard T. Rodriguez’s Work
 
    On Episode 170 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes  Richard T. Rodriguez, and the two discuss, among other things, Richard’s childhood full of voracious reading and master wordsmiths in his family, books and media and music that spoke to him and speaks to him, evolving ideas of Chicanismo, masters of Chicanx literature and music and cultural studies, and the seven songs/chapters that constitute his stellar book and build upon ideas of “touch” and a “kiss across the ocean.”
 
   Richard T. Rodríguez is Professor of Media and Cultural Studies and English at the University of California, Riverside. He specializes in Latina/o/x literary and cultural studies, film and visual culture, and gender and sexuality studies, and holds additional interests in transnational cultural studies, popular music studies, and comparative ethnic studies.
The author of Next of Kin: The Family in Chicano/a Cultural Politics (Duke University Press, 2009), which won the 2011 National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Book Award, and A Kiss across the Ocean: Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk and U.S. Latinidad (Duke University Press, 2022), he is currently completing Undocumented Desires: Fantasies of Latino Male Sexuality.
The 2019 recipient of the Richard A. Yarborough Mentoring Award, granted by the Minority Scholars' Committee of the American Studies Association, he is the co-principal investigator on a University of California MRPI grant titled "The Global Latinidades Project: Globalizing Latinx Studies for the Next Millennium." His show, "Dr. Ricky on the Radio," can be heard weekly on KUCR. 

Buy A Kiss Across the Ocean: 
Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk and U.S. Latinidad
 
Richard T. Rodriguez's University of California at Riverside Page
 
Razorcake Review and Summary of A Kiss Across the Ocean
 
 
At about 8:00, Richard talks about growing up and his relationship with language and the written word, including the impacts from his parents, who were “wordsmiths” and bilingual 
 
At about 9:45, Richard shouts out Phuc Tran’s Sigh, Gone in describing his own reading and childhood experiences
 
At about 10:45, Richard discusses his college years at Cal Berkeley, and the huge impact June Jordan and Yusef  Komunyaaka had on him
 
At about 13:00, Richard responds to Pete’s question about ideas of representation in what Richard read growing up-he points out Victor Villaseñor and Alfred Arteaga, among others
 
At about 14:40, Pete and Richard discuss the power of Villarreal’s Pocho
 
At about 16:20, Pete asks Richard about evolving ideas/definitions for “Chicano”
 
At about 18:35, Richard responds to Pete asking about any “ ‘Eureka’ moments” and how James Clifford in grad school helped him with a “reassessment of language”
 
At about 20:25, Richard talks about who and what he’s teaching as a college professor, including work by Alex Espinoza, Phuc Tran, and James Spooner 
 
At about 24:05, Pete lays out some of the power of the beginning of the book and asks Richard about how he “saw the world anew” through Boy George and other musicians; he mentions how the music informed his reading and art intake
 
At about 27:10, Richard describes what spoke to him about Johnny Rotten’s quote about hanging out with Chicanos in SoCal
 
At about 28:30, Francesca Royster and Carl Stanley and others are referenced as Richard describes what was going on in the world and in his life as impetus for writing the book
 
At about 30:45, the two discuss teenage years and why they are such “prime” years for music celebration and exploration 
 
At about 33:20, Melissa Mora Hidalgo, with Mozlandia, and Gustavo Arellano are shouted out as models for Richard’s work
 
At about 35:50, Richard explains “post-punk” and “new-wave” and how he wanted to “reclaim ‘post-punk’ ”
 
At a

Episode 169 Notes and Links to Justin Tinsley’s Work
 
    On Episode 169 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes  Justin Tinsley, and the two discuss, among other things, Justin’s formative and transformative experiences with reading powerful works like The Autobiography of Malcolm X and by masters who combined sports and culture/politics, his wonderful experiences at Hampton University, his learned love of storytelling from his beloved grandmother, the Blog and Kazaa (!) eras, working on a wide variety of stories for Andscape and ESPN, his life-changing experiences with standout mentors and colleagues like Danyel Smith and Tony Reali, the surreal experiences associated with being a panelist on Around the Horn, and Christopher Wallace and The Notorious B.I.G. and the macro and micro that affected his life and legacy and were affected by his life and legacy.
 
   Justin Tinsley is the author of It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him, and Host of ESPN’s 30 For 30 Nipsey Hussle original podcast, The King of Crenshaw. He is Sports and Culture Senior Reporter at Disney’s Andscape and weekly guest on ESPN’s Around the Horn.
Buy It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World that Made Him
 
Justin Tinsley's Website
 
Listen to The King of Crenshaw Podcast Series on Nipsey Hussle

At about 1:50, Justin responds to Pete’s questions about his familial and writerly inspirations, and Justin 
 
At about 5:20, Justin shares an interesting story about his unforgettable and generative conversations with the “phenomenal” Craig Hodges, and Pete and Justin discuss the power of The Jordan Rules 
 
At about 9:40, Justin discusses some of the most formative writers and writing in his life, including the “important” The Autobiography of Malcolm X and work by Ralph Wiley, Danyel Smith and Elliott Wilson
 
At about 13:25, Justin shouts out his friend and contemporary David Dennis, Jr., and his powerful book and writing
 
At about 14:15, Justin speaks to the powerful ways in which Hampton University and Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) have influenced him and enhanced his life, including the “most important class [he] ever took at Hampton”
 
At about 17:00, Justin talks about his days in the “Kazaa Era” and his work in curating music for friends and followers 
 
At about 19:25, Justin discusses his time at ESPN, starting in 2015, being hired by Jason Whitlock, and his work with The Undefeated (which later became Andscape)
 
At about 21:50, Justin talks about an incredible story regarding Marvin Gaye’s Detroit Lions’ tryout
 
At about 24:55, Justin gives a moving backstory regarding drives with his grandmother and what he means by the tagline on his website: “Drawing sophisticated parallels between culture and sport”
 
At about 28:40, Justin gives background on his beginnings on Around the Horn and how he balances being in awe of the show that has been a lifelong favorite and his own performance on the show
 
At about 30:50, Justin describes the greatness of Tony Reali and gives background on how Tony helped Justin start with the show, and the talent from Here for It, including Monica McNutt
 
At about 35:40, Justin and Pete discuss more of what makes the show great, including the lack of points that come with the serious topics
 
At about 38:45, Pete notes how Justin has gotten some life-changing emails and phone calls, which Justin uses to give backstory on seeds for his book on The Notorious B.I.G.
 
At about 42:25, Justin relates how the pandemic affected the research for his book on Biggie
 
At about 43:50, Justin recounts some writing advice that helped him broaden his subject matter for the book
 
At about 46:45, Pete shares the profound line that Christopher Wallace said in his last recorded interview that informed Justin’s writing and is described in the book’s Introduction 
 
At about 48:45, Justin and Pete reflect on the extreme youth of Biggie and T