The 100th episode of Brad Listi’s Other People Podcast is here, and it’s with George Saunders, and they talk about Ayn Rand, grad school, and a lot of other things too.
You down with OPP 100?
You Can’t Go Home Again
“When I go back to Bogotá, I like to share my knowledge of the car bombs that went off in the city in the ’80s and ’90s. I helpfully point out the gory details to cab drivers and friends. I press my finger on the window and point at corners, ‘That’s the spot where an ATM blew up, seven dead.’” From Bogatá to Tel Aviv — here are ten writers on the places they immigrated from, returned to, remember, and call home.
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Sasha’s Favorite Albums
Sasha Frere-Jones, who you may know from his work at The New Yorker, has listed his favorite albums of 2011, and even put together a Spotify playlist of some of his favorite singles. Isn’t that nice of him?
Sandman is Back
Neil Gaiman is famous for a lot of reasons, but perhaps the number one reason is Sandman, the graphic novel series that won the author nineteen Eisner and six Harvey awards. Now, twenty-five years after publishing the first issue, Gaiman has written a prequel, named Overture.
Occupy Writers
Scores of authors have banded behind the Occupy movements via the (intermittently overloaded) site OccupyWriters.com. Among them is Lemony Snicket, who’s penned thirteen observations about the protestors (kindly mirrored by Neil Gaiman).
Morgan Spurlock’s Guide to Comic-Con
Supersize Me director and star Morgan Spurlock’s latest project has released its first trailer. Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope profiles the atmosphere and attendees (including Seth Rogen and Kevin Smith) of San Diego Comic Con. It will release this April. (via)
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Burrito Lit
“What’s the kindest thing you almost did?” You’ll find this sentence by Jonathan Safran Foer on a Chipotle cup next time you eat a burrito there. The fast food restaurant will feature the short stories five authors, including Foer, Malcolm Gladwell, Toni Morrison, George Saunders, and Michael Lewis, on its cups, and unlike guacamole, they won’t cost extra. Unsurprisingly, Cormac McCarthy didn’t make a cup.
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Tuesday New Release Day
Milan Kundera’s new collection of essays, Encounter, is now out. And for those still trying to figure out Inception, the shooting script has been published.
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