52 episodes
The Last We Fake Alan Rifkin
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- Fiction
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5.0 • 13 Ratings
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An LA novel-in-stories each season, along with selected short fiction from exceptional authors, both new and established, whose works take place at the shifting borders of the American Dream. Each season, the podcast debuts an original novel in serialized episodes. Separately, the episodes stand alone, but together they comprise a novel-length journey, with a cast of recurring characters.
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S3 E11 - Natalie Goss Reads and Discusses "The Playwright"
Send us a Text Message.This week's episode: "The Playwright,” a remarkable new short story by first-year talent Natalie Goss, about the subdued heart of a young Los Angeles theater reviewer-turned-dramatist who's losing the script. Goss is a Child Development and Family Studies major now contemplating a minor or possible double major in English. She dreams of publishing a collection of both fiction and nonfiction, enjoys painting when not reading or writing, and hopes to become a ...
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S3 E10 - The Celebrity by Catherine Hein: Episode 10, What If She Was Wrong About Everything?
Send us a Text Message.It's production as usual in Hotchkiss's office, despite the fact Sparks has landed in Good Samaritan, Wally Cleaver is sneaking cigarettes in fear of his dad, and Wanda's fixations lurch from suicide by graham crackers to the long-ago memory of a then-dark-haired actor at Sardi's (so she HAD slept with Chase McSteve!) to the sweaty three-way inside June's wardrobe trailer that Wanda badly doesn't want until she badly does.In what one listener describes as "Once Upon a T...
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S3 E9 - The Celebrity by Catherine Hein: Episode 9, Hotch's Hideaway
Send us a Text Message.Somehow surviving an equestrian gauntlet of obstacles capped by an AWOL 14-year-old Wally Cleaver (“Will you go out with me when I get my license?”), Wanda has finally managed to dial out and hear the terrifying news about her grandmother. But her stage presence is nearly shot when the rotund, legendary fright maestro who directed The Crows and 57 Stairs finds her sitting in his office chair.In what one listener describes as "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" if it were wr...
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S3 E8 - The Celebrity by Catherine Hein: Episode 8, Making the Beast with Six Legs
Send us a Text Message.This was nothing like being a lamp ray glued to the back of Chase McSteve. Still, the weird-looking horse seems safe, until an explosion on the set of Abilene sends both Wanda and panicked beast off course--close enough to the home of television's Cleaver family that she could practically raid the fridge, while no closer to a word from grandmother than when she threw a jealous tantrum at Howard that same morning. In what one listener describes as "Once Upon a Time in Ho...
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S3 E7 - The Celebrity by Catherine Hein: Episode 7, Man, Woman, Food, Bird, Insanity
Send us a Text Message."In a couple days, either this would all prove to be a huge comedy of errors, or nothing would ever be the same...."It's existential overload for Wanda, as sex life, pet care, family catastrophe and unanswered phones collide with an all-powerful tub of vanilla ice cream.In what one listener describes as "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" if it were written by a woman, Catherine Hein's historical novel traces the journey of Wanda Fleming, the tenacious, calamity-prone...
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S3 E6 - The Celebrity by Catherine Hein: Episode 6, "You're a Celebrity, Somebody Will Come Rescue You"
Send us a Text Message.[UPDATE TO LISTENERS: Recordings for Catherine Hein's The Celebrity are on pause for a few weeks while she gets through some health procedures and related tsuris. Wanda will be back! Correspondence and well wishes may be sent via info@alanrifkin.com. Thanks for your understanding.] This week: Some people are the type to jump on a message marked "Urgent." For Wanda, it's complicated.In what one listener describes as "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" if it were written by a...
Customer Reviews
Enjoying this podcast
What a cool project. I love hearing the writers read their own stories, I love their voices—I know that awesome writers aren’t always the awesomest readers, but the thing is, like at a poetry reading, it adds something special to hear the words in their own voice. The interviews between Rifkin and our local writers are very special, too. I particularly love the episode with Rafael Zepeda, but I am working on catching up on all the episodes.
THE LAST WE FAKE IS GREAT!
I was looking for fiction in podcasts and luckily came across The Last We Fake, a format that is so well-done and easy to navigate, and content that I want to hear, read by its creator, Alan Rifkin. I like his work, his voice, and his format so very much and recommend it to everyone in LA and anywhere people strive to write, and strive to love children, and strive to be a good person. It is all here. And he publishes other writers and his students work, which I am looking forward to hearing. More stars!!!!
Transcendent evocation of LA in the late ‘80s and 90s
Beautifully written account of a journalist’s struggles in the Los Angeles of the late ‘80s and ‘90s. The writing is superb and brings you instantly into the city at that time — the strange characters, the landscape, the odd synchronicity of life. Highly recommend.