Back in the early summer of 2020, the writer Kathryn Scanlan joined Josie Mitchell to talk about her story collection, The Dominant Animal. They discussed her precarious worlds, the drama of the sentence and working with the writer and editor Diane Williams.  ‘Fable’, a story taken from The Dominant Animal , is available to read here. 

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Kathryn Scanlan, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 100

Joanna Kavenna joins Josie Mitchell to discuss Zed – a sci-fi dystopia exploring our fears about the psychological cost of surveillance capitalism. Early in 2020, newly under lockdown, they discussed the psychic threat posed by today’s tech companies, the blurring of citizen and consumer, and the early optimism of cyberspace. You can read an excerpt from the novel on our website for free, and subscribers can also read ‘The Perfect Companion’, an AI short story that journeys further into the world of Zed. 

Joanna Kavenna, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 99

Caleb Klaces joins Josie Mitchell to talk about about his debut novel, Fatherhood – his poet’s account of becoming a father.Back at the beginning of the UK lockdown, they discussed parenting your kids at home, and talked about the expectations placed on fathers and the sense of community on offer to them.You can find poetry and short fiction by Caleb on our website.

Caleb Klaces, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 98

Sophie Mackintosh speaks to editor Josie Mitchell about her new novel, Blue Ticket. They talk about what it means to be pregnancy-adjacent, the bloodthirsty aspects of motherhood, and letting the body have what it wants. You can find more fiction by Sophie Mackintosh on Granta.com, including ‘The Last Rite of My Body’ and ‘The Weak Spot’.

Sophie Mackintosh, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 97

Ottessa Moshfegh joined Josie Mitchell to talk about about her novel, Death in Her Name.They discuss the ‘perfect storm’ trapping us inside with our Zoom-ready devices, the propaganda in the air, and the psychological effects of isolation on the elderly narrator of her novel.You can read an excerpt from Death In Her Name here. As well as more fiction from Ottessa on our website and in print.

Ottessa Moshfegh, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 96

Carmen Maria Machado discusses her new memoir, In the Dream House, with Josie Mitchell. They discuss memory as architecture, formal experimentation, and making space for queer narrative. Carmen is the author of Her Body and Other Parties. You can read more of her work, including the new story ‘The Lost Performance of the High Priestess of the Temple of Horror’, from our Winter 2020 issue, here. 

Carmen Maria Machado, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 95

Josie Mitchell talks to Momtaza Mehri about her pamphlet, Doing the Most with the Least, out with Goldsmiths Shorts. They discuss the value of self-interrogation, the significance of the Black Arts Movement and the limits to checking your privilege. You can read Momtaza’s poetry and essays on our website: https://granta.com/contributor/momtaza-mehri/And her recent essay in the Guardian, ‘Anti-racism requires so much more than checking your privilege’: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/07/anti-racism-checking-privilege-anti-blackness

Momtaza Mehri, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 94

Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation, talks to editor Josie Mitchell about her new novel, Weather. They discuss pre-apocalypse warnings, the doomers among us and the draws of prepper culture in a world gone mad. You can read an interview between Jenny and Mark O’Connell, author of Notes from an Apocalypse, on our website: https://granta.com/in-conversation-oconnell-offill/ 

Jenny Offill, The Granta Podcast, Ep. 93

Sandra Newman is the author of the novels The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done, Cake, The Country of Ice Cream Star and four non-fiction books including the memoir Changeling. Her most recent novel The Heavens is published by Granta Books. She spoke to Lucy Diver about friendship, love, hope and how to write like an Elizabethan.

Sandra Newman: The Granta Podcast Ep. 92

Lavinia Greenlaw: The Granta Podcast, Episode 24 by Granta Magazine

Lavinia Greenlaw: The Granta Podcast, Episode 24

Maureen N. McLane reads from her book My Poets. My Poets begins its first chapter ‘proem, in the form of a Q&A’, which is what you hear at the beginning of the recording. The second part of the recording is from ‘My Elizabeth Bishop / My Gertrude Stein’, the fourth chapter in the book,

Maureen N. McLane: The Granta Podcast, Ep. 91

Kamila Shamsie is the author of seven novels and one book of non-fiction. Among many other accolades, Kamila is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2013 was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelist. She joined us in the Granta offices for an interview about her new novel Home Fire, published by Bloomsbury. Home Fire was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.

Kamila Shamsie: The Granta Podcast, Ep. 90

In this episode of the Granta podcast, Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers reads ‘False Blood’ by Will Self. Diagnosed with a rare blood condition, Self attends weekly ‘venesections’ (the modern-day equivalent of bloodletting) which inspire morbid thoughts on addiction and disease. The story can be found in full on our website: https://granta.com/false-blood/ Will Self is the author of numerous novels, most recently Phone. In 1993 he was named as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. Max Porter is the author of Grief is the Thing With Feathers, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Guardian First Book Award and the 2015 Goldsmiths Prize, and won the 2016 International Dylan Thomas Prize.

Max Porter reads Will Self: The Granta Podcast, Ep. 89

In this episode of the Granta podcast, Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland, reads Kathleen Collins’s short story, ‘The Uncle’, taken from the collection Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? Kathleen Collins was a pioneer African-American playwright, film-maker, civil rights activist and educator. You can read more work by Kathleen Collins on our website: granta.com/whatever-happened-to-interracial-love/

Margo Jefferson reads Kathleen Collins: The Granta Podcast, Ep. 88

In this episode of the Granta podcast, Josie Mitchell speaks with Andrea Stuart about her essay ‘Travels in Pornland’. They discuss the value of feminist porn, the importance of counter narratives and the challenges faced by feminist pornographers. The essay was first published in August 2016. You can read the essay in full on our website: https://granta.com/travels-in-pornland/

Andrea Stuart: The Granta Podcast, Ep. 87

From Nobel laureates to debut novelists, international translations to investigative journalism, each themed issue of Granta turns the attention of the world’s best writers on to one aspect of the way we live now. Granta does not have a political or literary manifesto, but it does have a belief in the power and urgency of the story and its supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real. Our podcasts bring you readings & in depth discussions with highly acclaimed authors & rising stars from the quarterly magazine of new writing.

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