Explore every episode of the podcast Talking Writing

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews drummer and composer Jay Mumford from New York City. He is half of the funk duo the Du-Rites and author of the out-of-print autobiography Root for the Villain, which pokes fun at the classic musician’s story of rising to fame and fortune. The book offers a different and more realistic perspective of a creative career.

In this week’s episode, TW publisher and founder Martha Nichols interviews author Sean Michaels. Sean is an internationally bestselling novelist and critic from Montreal. He is the author of the new novel Do You Remember Being Born?, a book about family, poetry, work, and artificial intelligence (AI). During their conversation, Martha inquires about his thoughts on the intersection of AI and writing.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Minaa B, author of Owning Our Struggles, which is available for purchase now on our Bookshop page. Her work focuses on taking responsibility for one’s self in order to enjoy the benefits of healing, including taking a look at one’s own personal development, one’s community, and the social justice issues that one may have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. In this week’s episode, Neva and Minaa dive into what Mina means by healing trauma through community care and how her readers can implement her ideas in their everyday lives.

In this week’s episode, the TW staff get together to share their current technological obsessions. We discuss everything from software to hardware and everything in between. We share the tools that make our daily lives so much easier and complain about the planned obsolescence that seems to be ingrained in every new piece of tech we buy today.

TW Copyeditor Jess Barnett interviews Jonathan Kravetz, author of How We Were Before, which will be released Running Wild Press this month. His short stories and plays have appeared in various journals, including The Iris Literary Journal, The Rappahannock Review, The Furious Gazelle, The Opiate Magazine, Narrative Northeast, and others. He also teaches a creative writing class online.

This week’s conversation focuses on his writing process, experience in publishing, and career as a full-time writer.

TW founder and publisher Martha Nichols talks AI with linguist and professor Naomi Baron. Mostly centering around Baron's recent book, Who Wrote This? How AI and the Lure of Efficiency Threaten Human Writing (Stanford University Press, 2023), their discussion ranges from the effects of AI on writing and teaching, what makes good writing, and the importance of thinking for oneself in an AI world.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Russell Baker, the creator of the sustainability platform A Modern Remedy (AMR), a company helping purpose-led organizations deliver value for people and the planet. On his website, Russell writes long-form essays about various topics and their role in sustainability, including artificial intelligence, social media, fashion, and weather, among other subjects.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone. In this episode, the two discuss the idea of the American dream, how it is used to control the working class, and how it affects working artists and their ability to live off their work.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Alan King, a poet and author of the book, Point Blank. In this interview, which John collected as part of his Perfect Recognition project on intense aesthetic experiences, the two discuss his connection to music and poetry, as well as his development as a poet.

TW’s Podcast Production Manager Sarah Tulloch interviews Angie Elita Newell, a trained historian, and author of the novel All I See Is Violence. The two discuss how Angie sought to make Native American history more accessible by writing a historical fiction novel as well as the lasting impact of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and how the results of the battle still affect us to this day.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Saundra Gilliard, a professional storyteller, a playwright, and a personal transformation leader. The two discuss the importance of prioritizing feminine storytelling from the perspective of feminine people. Much of mainstream media prioritizes the misogynistic idea of a feminine woman rather than the stories written by women for women. Saundra emphasizes the connection that is lost within this misrepresentation and how it can be found in women’s writing. 

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Bekka Palmer, Matt Buccelli, and Toya Gavin. Each guest is a respected artist in their field and creates art while raising their kids. In this week’s episode, the group discusses how they juggle their creative careers and parenting.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews musician and author Adam Gnade, who just released I Wish to Say Lovely Things. The two discuss the realities of life as an artist—including the idea of the starving artist, avoiding lifestyle creep, and making the world a better place.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones, author of The Hurricane Book: A Lyric History. In this episode, Neva and Claudia discuss the process of writing a memoir from the perspective of people who have experienced ecological and colonial trauma. 

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Nifemi Aluko, author of Toffy’s Divide. In this episode, Neva and Nifemi discuss the rise of Web3 options in publishing and his use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to maintain ownership over his work.

TW Creative Director John Vogel interviews Amy Belfi, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Science exploring the intersection of music, psychology, and neuroscience. In this week’s episode, they discuss intense aesthetic experiences, the role of art in people's personal lives and society as a whole, and Amy’s journey to the science of music.

In this week’s episode, the TW staff get together to share their current artistic obsessions. We discussed everything from community building, ink making, book reviewing, and a thorough analysis of Beverly Hills, 90210. This discussion allowed us to take a break from making art to pay the bills and discuss our processes of making art for art’s sake.

In this week’s episode, the TW staff get together to share their current artistic obsessions. We discussed everything from community building, ink making, book reviewing, and a thorough analysis of Beverly Hills, 90210. This discussion allowed us to take a break from making art to pay the bills and discuss our processes of making art for art’s sake.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Athena Dixon, the author of The Loneliness Files. In this episode, Neva and Athena discuss the weight of loneliness that came about during the lockdown of 2020 and how it affected our daily lives even after being lifted.

TW Managing Editor Neva Talladen interviews Tuan Phan, author of Remembering Water: A Memoir of Departure and Return (Hidden River Press). Tuan juxtaposes his childhood memories of Vietnam and his family’s exile to the US with his parents’ recollection of the same events, finding connections and resonance in spite of the discrepancies. The memoir explores the complex questions around identity and home through the story of Tuan’s leaving and eventual return to his birthplace, where he reconnects with his father and old friends. Remembering Water is a winner of the 2018 Panther Creek Nonfiction Book Award.

John Vogel, our creative director, interviews artist and short story writer Christian McCulloch, also known as WART. WART's art has been featured on the Talking Writing website before so it’s only natural that we invite him to speak on the podcast. WART is a prolific short-story writer with a background in fine art. He’s been an international teacher in the British West Indies, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. He also worked for 10 years in special needs in the United Kingdom. After 30 years of teaching, he returned to the United Kingdom and now lives and creates in London.

Sarah Tulloch, Talking Writing’s podcast production manager, interviewed JoeAnn Hart. JoeAnn is the author of Highwire Act and Other Tales of Survival. Highwire Act is a collection of previously published short stories that highlight the conflicts that climate change will bring to the forefront of human civilization. The characters are confronted with the consequences of dying ecosystems, illnesses, political tension, and new norms within human communities in order to survive the global change.

In the wake of this summer’s Canadian wildfires, protesters are descending on Climate Week NYC, which includes today’s United Nations Climate Ambition Summit. Although the spotlight on climate change has gotten a lot brighter in the past several months, the issue has been going on for decades. Three works have come out recently that were all conceived before this summer’s alarming weather but seem even more relevant now. All three artists have some connection to Talking Writing, and I decided that making a collage of their works and interviewing them would be a great way to explore these themes through the lens of aesthetics. JoeAnn Hart has just released a book of short stories set in the near future called Highwire Act and Other Tales of Survival, which won the 2022 Hudson Prize. In April 2023, Alice Major put out Knife on Snow, a collection of poems that weaves together emotional considerations of climate change with science, mythology, space exploration, and daily life. And in March, 2023 John Atkinson released his solo album Energy Fields, created from field recordings of coal mines, turbines, refineries, and animals from his residency at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming in 2019.

Performing live and recording music are very different acts, and the skill sets don't necessarily cross over. Some musicians are prone to creating things in the studio and then face the challenge of making something live out of it. Others write and experiment in the live setting and then go into the studio to try and translate what they've been doing live. Both approaches come with unique challenges, and this episode asks the question: "What do you get psychologically out of each process, playing live and recording?"

Most artists tend to have many different projects occurring simultaneously or over the course of their artistic lives. Here the artists interviewed tell how they tend to move from one project to another and what their various projects provide them.

This episode explores the way that ideas come up and how they move through the process into becoming a piece of art. The path from vague idea to finished product is never straightforward. One thing that becomes clear during these conversations is how messy and random the progression can be.

The first episode of the Weird Music podcast series focuses on an idea put forth by Stephen King in On Writing: that art depends on telepathy. While discussing the telepathic elements of art, the conversation veers into the area of whether or not the artist's intention translates through the work.

John Vogel, Talking Writing's art director, interviews author Brad Schreiber on his latest book, Music is Power, and the influences that shaped his writing. Brad is an author, screenwriter, producer, literary consultant, journalist, playwright, teacher, and performer. Music Is Power: Popular Songs, Social Justice, and the Will to Change tells fascinating stories about the origins and impact of dozens of world-changing songs while revealing political context and the personal challenges of legendary artists from Bob Dylan to Bob Marley.

Neva Talladen, managing editor of Talking Writing, interviews the self-published author Dana Humphrey. The two discuss creating such a vulnerable piece of work while still keeping your real-life relationships intact. Dana is a life coach, an author, a life coach, a death doula, and a hot yoga instructor. May All Beings Be Fed is an incredibly vulnerable memoir of Dana’s life written in the third person. Through Yaya, Dana is able to explore her upbringing, her experience acquiring a mental health diagnosis, and her experience with drugs at a healthy distance.

Talking Writing founder and publisher Martha Nichols talks to David Santos Donaldson about his novel Greenland, published by Amistad Press in 2022 and out now in paperback, which has garnered wide critical acclaim. In this interview, Martha and David discuss the personal background of the novel, the struggle of racial and sexual identity in the face of the white heterosexual default, and the cultural background of magical realism.

TW's publisher, Martha Nichols, talks with novelist Richard Zimler. Their conversation focuses on Richard's latest novel, The Incandescent Threads, which was selected as a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Martha delves into the personal stories behind the book's themes as well as Richard's thoughts on the invisible threads that connect the past with the future – and all of us.

John Vogel, TW’s art director, talks with director for the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics Anjan Chatterjee about his paths in science and photography, the brain’s role in deriving pleasure from art, and the funding of the science of art. Anjan has practiced neurology for the past thirty years and produced two books on the subject of neuroaesthetics.

In this closing episode for the year, the Talking Writing team discusses how they mix their creative lives with everything else. Publisher Martha Nichols, Art Director John Vogel, Managing Editor Neva Talladen, and Nonfiction Editor Gabrielle (Gabi) Coloma talk about their successes, hesitations, failures, and determination to stay creatively sparked. Happy Holidays! The TW podcast will be on hiatus for the rest of 2022, returning early next year.

As the HarperCollins strike continues, we're running a fuller edit of TW managing editor Neva Talladen's interview with HarperCollins associate editor Rachel Kambury. This version focuses on Rachel's personal story entering into the publishing world, as well as specifics about the causes and conditions of the strike.

This episode focuses on the financial sustainability of art and publishing. It features an interview by managing editor Neva Talladen about the current HarperCollins strike with Rachel Kambury, an associate editor at HarperCollins, and a reading by Rebecca Steinitz of her essay "On Writing Another Novel."

In this spotlight episode about politics and art, we bring together readings from poets, interview comments, and excerpts from the essay "Is History Wasted on Everyone?" by Martha Nichols.

John Vogel, TW's art director, talks with Philadelphia musician Jamey Robinson about creativity, criticism, and intense aesthetic experiences. Robinson is the former keyboard player for Need New Body and Man Man as well as composer for his solo project, Buffalo Stance.

All music in this episode is © Jamey Robinson and used with his permission.

In this inaugural episode, TW founder and publisher Martha Nichols talks to Sarah Fay, author of Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses, about writing and diagnosing mental health conditions.