The Lives of Flies
9 July 2021 - 44 minsThe subtitle of Jonathan Balcombe’s new book, “Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World’s Most Successful Insects” leads to the first question on this week’s podcast. Why “successful”?
“Their diversity, for one,” Balcombe says. “There’s over 160,000 described species — and it’s important to add that qualifier, ‘described,’ because it’s estimated there may be about five times that many that are undescribed. Insects make up 80 percent of all animal species on the planet, so that says something right there about how incredibly successful they are, and flies are arguably the most species-rich subset of insects. It’s estimated there’s about 20 million flies on earth at any moment for every h...
Series Episodes
Nicholas Boggs on Writing a James Baldwin Biography
Nicholas Boggs’s “Baldwin: A Love Story,” is many things at once. It’s a comprehensive biography of James Baldwin. It’s a nimble excavation of Baldwin’s work. And, most pressingly, it’s an argument for a new critical framework to understand Baldwin through the lens of love. Boggs joins MJ Franklin on this week's episode to talk about his new book.
36 mins
14 November Finished
The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 50 Years Later
On Nov. 10, 1975, during a calamitous storm, the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk below the waves of Lake Superior. All 29 men aboard went down with the vessel. Just in time for the disaster's fiftieth anniversary, John U. Bacon has written a new account of the story, “The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald." In this week’s episode of the Book Review podcast, Bacon spoke with Gilbert Cruz about his new book.
39 mins
7 November Finished
Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Buffalo Hunter Hunter'
“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” by Stephen Graham Jones, is a searching historical novel that examines America’s past sins and also a gory horror thriller. In this Halloween episode of the Book Review Book Club, the host MJ Franklin discusses the novel with Gilbert Cruz and Joumana Khatib.
45 mins
31 October Finished
Joe Hill's Scary Book Recs and Victor LaValle on "The Haunting of Hill House" (Rerun)
May October never end! As Halloween approaches, we present you with two conversations from years past with great horror authors: Joe Hill ("King Sorrow") and Victor LaValle ("Lone Women").
47 mins
24 October Finished
Stephen King Isn't Always Scary (with Sean Fennessey)
It's October, which means it's time for scary books and scary movies. There's one person who is well known for both: Stephen King. While he's known as a master of horror, some of the more popular films based on his work are drawn from non-horror material. On this week's episode, Sean Fennessey, co-host of the Ringer podcast "The Big Picture," joins Gilbert Cruz to talk about "Stand By Me," "The Shawshank Redemption" and more.
53 mins
17 October Finished
Brandon Taylor On His New Novel, 'Minor Black Figures'
Brandon Taylor's debut novel, “Real Life,” was a finalist for the Booker Prize in 2020, and he quickly followed that up with the story collection “Filthy Animals” and another novel, “The Late Americans." On this week's episode, MJ Franklin speaks with Taylor about his latest work, “Minor Black Figures.”
40 mins
10 October Finished
