Best Plotz Podcasts (2025)

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9.3 Planetary Boundaries are Non-Negotiable: Kim Stanley Robinson and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (JP) 50:52

2d ago50:52

50:52

In Season 9, Novel Dialogue set out to find the Venn diagram intersection of tech and fiction—only to realize that Kim Stanley Robinson had staked his claim on the territory decades ago. With influential series on California, on the terraforming of Mars, and on human civilization as reshaped by rising tides, KSR has established a conceptual space a…

1
9.2 Monstrous Dreaming: Lauren Beukes and Andrew Pepper 49:01

18d ago49:01

49:01

What work can genre do today? And can the genre system become more than a method of reductive containment and market segmentation—can it be a generative source of imaginative chaos? Few are as qualified to address these questions as Lauren Beukes, whose simultaneous embrace of genres from science fiction to crime to horror and refusal to abide with…

1
9.1 Novels are Like Elephants: Ken Liu and Rose Casey (SW) 48:25

1M ago48:25

48:25

It’s a bit surprising to hear a writer known for building worlds that incorporate deep historical research and elaborate technological details extol the virtues of play, but Ken Liu tells critic Rose Casey and host Sarah Wasserman that if “your idea of heaven doesn’t include play, then I’m not sure it’s a heaven people want to go to.” It turns out …

1
9 Trailer Writing Against the System 34:10

1M ago34:10

34:10

We kick off Season 9: TECH by talking with our very own Aarthi Vadde, the E. Blake Byrne Associate Professor of English at Duke University. Hosts and co-producers Chris Holmes and Emily Hyde ask Aarthi about the role of the novel in relation to the mass writing platforms that dominate our digital lives. Aarthi is at work on a book called We the Pla…

1
Supercommunicators | 1. How to Talk to Anyone 32:22

1M ago32:22

32:22

Why are some people able to talk with just about anyone—about almost anything? One answer may lie in the questions we ask—and how deeply we ask them. Stick with us here… In this episode, host Charles Duhigg examines why deep questions are so powerful and how to ask them in everyday life. He talks to Nick Epley, psychology professor at the Universit…

1
Supercommunicators | 2. How to Communicate Without Words 28:37

1M ago28:37

28:37

Why is it that we can tell someone “I’m totally fine!” and they instantly know we’re not? Gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, and other subtle nonverbal cues play a huge role in how we connect with one another. In this episode, host Charles Duhigg explores how we communicate without words, including a deep dive into the visual and tonal cu…

1
8.6 “I love a dialectical reader, and best is a dialectical reader who cries” 52:16

4M ago52:16

52:16

Eighteenth century prison break artist and folk hero Jack Sheppard is among history’s most frequently adapted rogues: his exploits have inspired Daniel Defoe, John Gay, Bertolt Brecht, and most recently, Jordy Rosenberg, whose first novel, Confessions of the Fox (2018), rewrites Sheppard as a trans man and Sheppard’s partner Bess as a South Asian l…

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8.5 And Soon: Lydia Millet and Emily Hyde 53:24

5M ago53:24

53:24

During a desert thunderstorm outside Tucson, Lydia Millet joined the Novel Dialogue conversation with hosts John Plotz and Emily Hyde, with Emily playing the role of critic. Lydia—author more than a dozen novels and story collections and recently the nonfictional We Loved it All (Norton, 2024)—also works at the Center for Biological Diversity. Wild…

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8.4 All of Our Stories Were War Stories: Jamil Jan Kochai and Kalyan Nadiminti (AV) 44:25

5M ago44:25

44:25

Imagine growing up between Sacramento, California and Logar, Afghanistan; you hear stories about war, watch coverage of the United States’ War on Terror on television, and then visit your family in the very places that the U.S. army invaded and occupied. These experiences shape the work of novelist Jamil Jan Kochai, author of 99 Nights in Logar and…

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8.3 Aspire to Magic but End Up With Madness: Adam Ehrlich Sachs speaks with Sunny Yudkoff (JP) 30:20

6M ago30:20

30:20

What happens when a novelist wants “nonsense and joy” but his characters are destined for a Central European sanatorium? How does the abecedarian form (i.e. organized not chronologically or sequentially but alphabetically) insist on order, yet also embrace absurdity? Here to ponder such questions with host John Plotz are University of Wisconsin–Mad…

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8.2 To Gallop Again and Again into Failure: Kaveh Akbar and Pardis Dabashi (SW) 48:11

6M ago48:11

48:11

An unforgettable horse gallops through the pages of Kaveh Akbar’s best-selling novel Martyr! (2024), but it is a figurative hastening toward failure and the limitations of language that Akbar discusses with critic Pardis Dabashi. In their conversation, Kaveh considers writing both as an escape from the confines of the self and as a vehicle for expr…

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8.1 Dirt Bag Novels: Lydia Kiesling in Conversation with Megan Ward (CH) 48:18

7M ago48:18

48:18

What does it mean for a novel to think globally? And can a global novel concerned with the macro movements of capital and labor still exist in the form of a bildungsroman? This conversation between Lydia Kiesling and Megan Ward takes up questions of form and political consciousness in the novel, globality and rootedness, capitalism and the yearning…

1
A Working Farewell and What We’ve Learned 48:09

8M ago48:09

48:09

This week, hosts June Thomas, Isaac Butler, and Ronald Young Jr. reflect on the best tips, tools, and words of wisdom from the past four years of Working. They bid farewell to the show, to the listeners, and discuss the lessons that stuck with them and changed the way they work. They also save time at the end to reply to some heartwarming listener …

1
Working Overtime: Saying Goodbye 21:35

8M ago21:35

21:35

On this, the final episode of Working Overtime, hosts Ronald Young Jr. and June Thomas share some last bits of advice on how best to leave a job! Ronald has been let go, quit jobs, and switched gears in every possible way. June has moved across countries and allowed turning points in her life to be catalysts for moving on from certain work. Both of…

1
An Artist’s Guide to ADHD and Getting Stuff Done 51:36

8M ago51:36

51:36

This week, host Ronald Young Jr. talks to Andy J. Pizza, an illustrator and creator of children’s books who’s also the host of the Creative Pep Talk podcast. In the interview, Andy explains what it’s like to be a working artist with ADHD, and he shares some strategies that have helped him channel his attention, accomplish tasks, and evolve in his c…

1
How a Big Band Leader and Composer Wrangles All the Moving Parts 54:02

8M ago54:02

54:02

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue, who fronts the 18-piece big band jazz group Secret Society. In the interview, Darcy talks about the thought processes that go into his compositions, like how his interest in mathematician Alan Turning inspired a track on the group’s most recent album Dynamic Maximum Te…

1
Working Overtime: Transitioning From One Project to the Next 25:22

8M ago25:22

25:22

On this week's episode of Working Overtime, hosts Ronald Young Jr. and June Thomas get into the weeds on in-between time and pivoting from one job to the next. June is at the tail end of the promotional tour of her book, while Ronald is gearing up for a new season of his podcast Weight For It. How do you take the final steps of wrapping up one proj…

1
The Founder of a Life-Changing Writers’ Retreat 42:49

8M ago42:49

42:49

This week, host June Thomas talks to author and poet Judith Barrington about her knack for memoir writing and about a retreat called Flight of the Mind that she ran with her partner for 17 years. In the interview, they discuss what makes good memoir writing, what Flight of the Mind meant to women writers, and how to get the most out of writing retr…

1
Smart Money Podcast: How to Navigate Income Swings in a Creative Career 31:05

9M ago31:05

31:05

It's an off-week for Working Overtime, so we're presenting a special bonus episode from the Smart Money podcast! Smart Money features real-world advice to help people make better decisions about their money. In today's episode, a jazz saxophonist talks about navigating the financial ups and downs of a career in the arts. If you like this episode, a…

1
How a TV Writer Keeps the Ideas Coming 48:07

9M ago48:07

48:07

This week, host Ronald Young Jr. talks to Mike Gauyo, a TV writer and creator whose credits include the beloved series Insecure and Ginny and Georgia. In the interview, Mike shares his process for thinking of new ideas for shows, refining those ideas over time, and pitching them to industry gatekeepers. He also talks about being from an immigrant f…

1
Working Overtime: Surviving the Book Release Process 33:40

9M ago33:40

33:40

June Thomas recently published her book A Place of Our Own: Six Places That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture, and on this episode of Working Overtime co-host Isaac Butler asks her what went into the release and its promo-campaign. The weeks leading up to a release can be long and exhaustive, with questionnaires, blurb requests, and audiobook recordings…

1
How a Stand Up Comedian’s Sense of Humor Evolves 52:41

9M ago52:41

52:41

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Dina Hashem, a stand-up comedian and writer for The Daily Show whose recent special is called Dark Little Whispers. In the interview, Dina discusses her reliance on inspiration rather than a formal writing process, her experiences in comedy roast battles, and the fact that her standards for good comedy keep get…

1
Writing the Two-Author Novel 52:27

9M ago52:27

52:27

Host June Thomas speaks with authors Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling about their new novel, The Memo and their collaborative writing process. The pandemic took its toll on everyone, but for Mechling and Dodes, it became a time to collaborate via a Google Doc. They spewed ideas and paragraphs onto the same page, editing each other’s output in real …

1
Working Overtime: Revisiting Your Resolutions 28:05

9M ago28:05

28:05

It's halfway through the year, and hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler are putting themselves back under the microscope to see which of their New Year's resolutions they’ve stuck with and which they’ve let peter out. June still wants to work more sustainably, and Isaac comes clean about his lapsed French studies. They get into routines that have tru…

1
A Newspaper Comic That Shows a Changing America 52:29

9M ago52:29

52:29

This week, host Ronald Young Jr. talks to Darrin Bell, creator of the syndicated newspaper comic strip Candorville. In the interview, Darrin explains how hard it was to get Candorville picked up for syndication and how all newspaper comics artists face an up-hill battle to get published. He also talks about his routine for creating new strips every…

1
An Author’s Mission to Make Her Readers Belly Laugh 54:33

10M ago54:33

54:33

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Sally Franson, the author of two novels: A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out and the brand new release Big in Sweden, which was inspired by her real-life experience as a contestant on a Swedish reality competition show. In the interview, Sally digs into the challenges of writing her second novel and the realizations …

1
Working Overtime: How to Ease Back into Work After Losing a Loved One 22:21

10M ago22:21

22:21

Hosts Ronald Young Jr. and Isaac Butler delve into coping with emotional trauma and the challenge of returning to work afterward. Following a death in his family, Ronald grapples with his grief while feeling overwhelmed by the backlog of work. Isaac, having faced his own unexpected personal struggles, explains that part of the return process is acc…

1
How to Photograph a Hardcore Punk Show 48:31

10M ago48:31

48:31

This week, host June Thomas talks to Jim Saah, a photographer who documented D.C.’s legendary hardcore punk scene in the 1980’s and 90’s. In the interview, Jim explains how he fell in love with punk music in high school and soon started photographing bands like Minor Threat and Fugazi. He also discusses the chaotic environments he had to work in, a…

1
How One of the Best Podcast Sound Designers Executes a Vision 50:16

10M ago50:16

50:16

This week, host Ronald Young Jr. talks to John DeLore, a podcast editor and sound designer who’s been in the industry since its heyday. He’s produced hugely popular shows for companies like Gimlet and Stitcher, and now he runs his own production company, Starlight Diner Studio. In the interview, John breaks down his sound design process, shares tip…

1
Working Overtime: How to Get Back into Books 26:31

10M ago26:31

26:31

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts Ronald Young Jr and Isaac Butler are joined by writer Elisa Gabbert for a discussion of reading and rediscovering a love of books. Gabbert is the author of Any Person is the Only Self, a new collection of essays on art, culture, and reading habits. Gabbert delves into some of her reading practices …

1
A New Kind of “Live Documentary” Honors the Temporary 56:41

10M ago56:41

56:41

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Sam Green, a documentary filmmaker who has pioneered a new kind of performance called “live documentary,” which involves presenting ideas and images on-stage, accompanied by live music. In the interview, Sam explains why he started designing his films this way and why the temporary nature of these performances …

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7.6 Escape Velocity: Sarah Manguso in Conversation with Tess McNulty (EH) 50:01

10M ago50:01

50:01

What’s the truth and what’s a lie? What’s a memoir, what’s a novel, and what if both are just a series of “prose blocks”? This conversation between Sarah Manguso and Tess McNulty takes up questions of writing and veracity, trauma and memory. Sarah Manguso is the author of nine books, including three memoirs. Her first novel, Very Cold People, was n…

1
How a Colonial Williamsburg Actor Humanizes History 50:00

11M ago50:00

50:00

This week, guest-host Kristen Meinzer talks to Stephen Seals, an actor and historical interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. In the interview, Stephen breaks down his process for researching and portraying Revolutionary War double-agent James Lafayette, a notable Black American whose story is seldom told. Stephen explains what it’s like …

1
Working Overtime: Storing and Revisiting Your Old Ideas 23:34

11M ago23:34

23:34

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Ronald Young Jr dive into the work of PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) and the different means of gathering one's thoughts. June, a PKM evangelist, breaks down some of the many apps and processes for collating one’s notes into an organized web of insights and connections. She als…

1
A Master Class in Character Description 49:42

11M ago49:42

49:42

This week, host Ronald Young Jr. talks to writer Emma Copley Eisenberg about her new novel Housemates, which features a burgeoning friendship between two artists who decide to road trip across Pennsylvania together. In the interview, Emma explains how her nonfiction writing and her interest in history influenced this new work of fiction. She also t…

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7.5 Machine, System, Code: Masande Ntshanga and Magalí Armillas-Tiseyra (EH) 50:15

11M ago50:15

50:15

Building parallels between technology and the human imagination, Masande Ntshanga’s conversation with Magalí Armillas-Tiseyra explains how cities are like machines and how South African history resembles some of the most sinister versions of techno-futurism. Masande is the author of two novels: The Reactive, winner of a Betty Trask Award in 2018, a…

1
Working Overtime: Money Advice for Freelancers 36:57

11M ago36:57

36:57

This week on Working Overtime, host Isaac Butler talks to AJ Ayers, a personal finance expert who specializes in helping creative people manage their money better. In the interview, AJ offers tips on everything from retirement accounts and taxes to homeownership and family planning. Do you have questions or advice of your own about the creative pro…

1
A Broadway Hit That Defies Genre 51:54

11M ago51:54

51:54

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Justin Peck, a dancer and choreographer who helped create the hit Broadway show Illinoise, which is based on a classic album with a similar name by Sufjan Stevens. In the interview, Justin breaks down how he adapted Sufjan’s album into a narrative dance piece, with clear characters and storylines. He also talks…

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