Jordan chats with Dorothea Lasky (The Shining) about interpreting a horror classic in her latest poetry collection, her love for horror, and why playfulness and horror aren't incompatible—and might in fact be inextricably connected. MENTIONED: The Shining by Stephen KingThe Shining (1980)Bernadette Mayer's "Memory" project Dorothea Lasky is the author, most recently, of The Shining  (October 2023), and Animal, published in 2019 in the Bagley Wright Lecture Series. She is also the author...

Jordan talks with Vinson Cunningham (Great Expectations) about finding himself in the midst of history, discovering ways to hang onto moments, and why he turned to his real life for his debut novel. MENTIONED: The Vanity Fair Diaries by Tina BrownAnswered Prayers by Truman Capote"How Auto is Auto-fiction" by Christian Lorentzen"American Boy" by EstelleThe Idiot by Elif BatumanShadow and Act by Ralph Ellison Vinson Cunningham is a staff writer and a theatre critic at The New Yorker. His...

Jordan chats with Meghan O'Rourke (The Invisible Kingdom) about hiding from herself, the death of her father, and the challenges of writing a book without knowing where it will go. MENTIONED: The Riddles of the Sphinx by Anna ShechtmanWalking and Talking (1996, written & directed by Nicole Holofcener)"The Teens Have Made Nirvana Preppy" by Sarah Stankorb Meghan O’Rourke is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness and The Long Goodbye,...

Jordan talks with Rumaan Alam (Leave the World Behind) about money, freedom, his recent period of creative fecundity, and the enduring power of art. MENTIONED: The Golden Bowl by Henry JamesAppropriate by Branden Jacobs-JenkinsFamily Meal by Bryan WashingtonZero K by Don DeLilloAgnes Martin Rumaan Alam is the author of three novels: Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and Leave the World Behind. Other writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Bookforum, The New...

Jordan talks with artist and writer Maira Kalman about the death of her husband Tibor Kalman, the process of grief, and her irrepressible creative spirit. MENTIONED: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid LindgrenSarah Berman's ClosetThe Diaries of Franz Kakfa by Franz Kafka, tr. by Ross Benjamin"Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin, sung by Fred Astaire Maira Kalman was born in Tel Aviv and moved to New York City with her family at the age of four. She has written/illustrated over 30 books for adults and...

Thresholds is back! To open a new season, Jordan sits down with McKenzie Wark live at PioneerWorks in Red Hook, Brooklyn, for a conversation about raving, gender transition, and the radical work of "playing" with form. MENTIONED: Leonora CarringtonKenneth GoldsmithAudre Lorde’s ZamiZoo, Or Letters Not About Love McKenzie Wark is the author of Love & Money, Sex & Death; Raving; Capital Is Dead; Reverse Cowgirl, and The Beach Beneath the Street, among other books. She is a Professor of...

For her last guest as guest-host, Mira chats with former mentee Gina Chung about her debut novel Sea Change, writing about the honest messy stuff, and about learning to take better care of yourself (mind, body, and spirit) for the long-haul creative practice. MENTIONED: The bats under Congress Bridge in Austin, TX “The Love Song of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat” by Gina Chung (at F(r)iction) The Daniels accepting the Oscar for Best Picture for Everything Everywhere All At Once Gina Chung...

J Wortham joins Mira to talk about the power of changes -- changing location, changing names, changing pronouns -- and the space that can open up as a result of them. Plus, some love for benevolent conspiracies! MENTIONED: Alejandro's Run in LA Still Processing Kristy from The Babysitter's Club J Wortham (they/them) is a sound healer,, reiki practitioner, herbalist, and community care worker oriented towards healing justice and liberation. J is also a staff writer for The New York...

Legendary cartoonist Barbara Brandon-Croft (Where I’m Coming From) joins Mira to talk about building a life out of odd jobs, the double-edged sword of being ‘the first,’ and how being a cartoonist was never on her mind until it happened. MENTIONED: Brumsic Brandon, Jr. (Barbara’s father, creator of the comic Luther)  Marie Brown Jules Feiffer’s Village Voice strip Women’s Wear Daily Barbara Brandon-Croft was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island. After debuting her comic strip...

Writer and organizer Sarah Thankam Mathews (All This Could Be Different) joins Mira to discuss a brush with mortality in a rip-tide off the California coast, discovering “the sourdough starter of ego death,” and the problems of being an artist under capitalism. MENTIONED: Big Sur, California "How to Escape a Rip Current" What It Is by Lynda Barry I May Destroy You Michaela Coel's Emmy acceptance speech (video, transcript) Sarah Thankam Mathews grew up between Oman and India,...

Poet Layli Long Soldier joins Mira to talk about her transformation during pregnancy, learning to open up to the possibilities of the world, and how she makes a space for ease in order to make a space for creativity. MENTIONED: The Indigenous Language Institute The Real Housewives S.J. Res 14 (111th Congress) Layli Long Soldier earned a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and an MFA with honors from Bard College. She is the author of the chapbook Chromosomory (2010) and the...

Comedian Hari Kondabolu joins Mira to talk about seeing space for himself on the screen, discovering an answer to the question of how to be in the world, the first joke he was really proud of, and the power that comes from alienating an audience on purpose. There's a lot of laughter in this one, y'all -- as you might expect. MENTIONED: People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1992: Nick Nolte Apu Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Hari's 'diamond' joke Race by Paul Mooney Stewart Lee Also,...

Mira chats with novelist Angie Cruz (How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water) about figuring out who you want to be, Angie's semi-secret history in fashion design and painting, the arrival of her character Cara Romero in her life, and questioning the truths of America in these most trying of times. MENTIONED: FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin Just Above My Head by James Baldwin Jazz by Toni Morrison Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino Angie...

Guest-host Mira Jacob talks with astrologer and author Chani Nicholas about being the child at the party, how Chani found her voice, and the question of who heals the healers? MENTIONED: Morning Pages (from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way) FreeFrom therapy CHANI NICHOLAS is a Los Angeles–based New York Times bestselling author of You Were Born For This and astrologer with a community of over one million monthly readers. She has been a counseling astrologer for more than twenty years,...

Big News: novelist/memoirist/wonderful human Mira Jacob will be stepping into the host chair this spring! This week, she and Jordan sit down for a pass-the-baton chat -- kicking off with a flashback to the very first Thresholds episode (and interview) from February 2020. MENTIONED: Mira's Thresholds interview "What You Might Not Know About 'Getting Roofied'" by Jordan Kisner Mira in conversation with Saeed Jones and Kiese Laymon for Bookable Mira Jacob is a novelist, memoirist,...

Hafizah Geter (The Black Period) joins Jordan to discuss her family's influence on her work, the power of memory, being in conversation with the writers you love, and how all of us live in a mix of genres. MENTIONED: Goya's Black Paintings "Fighting Erasure" by Parul Sehgal Toni Morrison's concept of rememory Fela Kuti, Yussef Lateef, Otis Redding Hafizah Augustus Geter is a Nigerian American writer, poet, and literary agent born in Zaria, Nigeria, and raised in Akron, Ohio, and...

Sam Lipsyte (No One Left to Come Looking For You) joins Jordan to talk about giving up on punk rock, rediscovering a passion for writing, and the revelation that if you realize nobody cares, then you can do the thing that makes you happy. MENTIONED: Dungbeetle Riverbank State Park John Cheever Galaxie 500 Sam Lipsyte's latest novel is No One Left to Come Looking For You. He is the author of the story collections Venus Drive and The Fun Parts and four novels: Hark, The Ask (a New York...

Heather Radke joins Jordan to talk about Butts: A Backstory, the playful invitation of the book's title, the general unruliness of bodies, and the joys of a JSTOR deep-dive. MENTIONED: Jodie Foster's Coppertone ad "Baby Got Back," Sir Mix-a-lot Elizabeth Alexander's "The Venus Hottentot" The Normman & Norma Statues Heather Radke is an essayist, journalist, and contributing editor and reporter at Radiolab, the Peabody Award­–winning program from WNYC. She has written for...

Thresholds reaches its centenary episode with equal parts celebration and consideration. We reached out to old friends to leave us some voicemails, Jordan wrote a musing on this particular milestone, and we're doing a little giveaway to celebrate all of you who've helped bring us this far along the path. Mentioned: "Notebook, 1981," by Eileen Myles The Isolation Journals by Suleika Jaouad Thanks to all of our guests, to our team, and to you listeners! Here's to many more, in 2023 and...

It's the end of our last full capsule for 2022 -- and what a joyful, life-affirming batch of conversations it was! First up, we've got Saeed Jones offering some writing advice (and an exercise, of sorts) -- then some alumni news and a call to pre-order several 2023 releases -- and finally, Chloé Cooper Jones and Jordan get into talking about revision and the life-affirming process of writing. MENTIONED: The Best American Essays 2022, edited by Alexander Chee Biography of X by Catherine...

Alyssa Songsiridej (Little Rabbit) chats with Jordan about moving to a new city, the scary-freeing experience of being away from one's community, and how letting a book out into the world is a process of letting go. MENTIONED: Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel how cold winters get in Boston Alyssa Songsiridej is an editor at Electric Literature. Her fiction has appeared in StoryQuarterly, The Indiana...

Jordan talks with Asali Solomon about The Days of Afrekete, the unexpected discovery that she’s a funny writer, and trying to impart wisdom to students while she’s still learning too.  MENTIONED: Get a Life (1990-1992) The Simple Stories by Langston Hughes The Book of Night Women by Marlon James An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken Asali Solomon’s first novel, Disgruntled, was named a best book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Denver Post....

Poet Saeed Jones joins Jordan to talk about the long-term experience of grief, the intensity of writing from the point of view of another person, and the unexpected trilogy of his first three books. MENTIONED: Paul Mooney Diahann Carroll Whitney Houston Toni Morrison Saeed Jones is the author of the memoir HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES, winner of the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the poetry collection PRELUDE TO BRUISE, winner for the 2015 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry. His...

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich (The Fact of a Body) joins Jordan to talk about a particularly life-altering haircut, the power of a sequined tuxedo, and what it means for a culture to put a narrative onto a person. MENTIONED: South Pacific Ghostly Matters by Avery Gordon My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland Joseph Lobdell Alex Marzano-Lesnevich is the author of THE FACT OF A BODY: A Murder and a Memoir, which received a Lambda Literary Award, the Chautauqua Prize, the Grand...