This week, we bring you a live interview with Garth Greenwell, conducted in October 2024 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Garth talks about growing up in Kentucky assuming that he would die young, the teacher who gave him a path toward being an artist, and the doggedness with which he has pursued his aesthetic practices (in both music and literature) ever since. Mentioned: Garth's new novel, Small Rain (FSG 2024) Frank Bidart Benjamin Britten Così Fan Tutte The HIV/AIDS crisis Garth Greenwell...

We're revisiting our 2021 interview with the poet Jericho Brown, who this week was named a MacArthur Fellow-- one of the highest honors in the arts and humanities. He and Jordan talk about the great mystery of why we desire the things we desire; about oration and the poets he read and memorized as part of his own becoming; mitigating our impulses toward violence with tenderness, and more. Jericho Brown is author of the The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize....

This week, Jordan talks to the novelist Sigrid Nunez about her youthful preoccupation with mimicking the prose of Virginia Woolf, the step-by-step intuitive way she writes prose now, and the best way to make overnight oats. Sigrid Nunez has published nine novels, including A Feather on the Breath of God, The Last of Her Kind, The Friend, What Are You Going Through, and, most recently, The Vulnerables. Nunez is also the author of Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag. The Friend, a New York...

Jordan chats with Sofia Samatar (The Practice, The Horizon, and the Chain and Opacities) about having two books out this year, doing everything twice (once in non-fiction, once in fiction), and her growing sense of an ongoing overarching project to her work. MENTIONED: A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia SamatarMonster Portraits by Sofia Samatar and Del SamatarThe White Mosque by Sofia SamatarTender: Stories by Sofia SamatarTone by Sofia Samatar and Kate ZambrenoQuicksand by Nella LarsenSeasonal...

Jordan chats with Emma Copley Eisenberg (Housemates) about a ghostly encounter that led to her new novel, the opposing worldviews of Grace Paley and Ottessa Moshfegh, and the choice to make art in difficult times. MENTIONED: Jazz by Toni MorrisonFleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-AknerAmerican Pastoral by Philip RothTerrace Story by Hilary Leichter"Why I Write" by George Orwell Emma Copley Eisenberg is the author of the nationally bestselling novel Housemates and the narrative...

Shades on, sleeves up—it's summertime and we're back! This week, Jordan talks with Amy Lin, author of Here After, about grief, the sudden loss of her husband, miracles, and her family's history with thin places. Amy Lin lives in Calgary, Canada where there are two seasons: winter and road construction. She completed her MFA at Warren Wilson College and holds BAs in English Literature and Education. Her work has been published in places such as Ploughshares and she has been awarded...

This is a re-airing of our 2021 episode with the poet and bestselling essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil. We're celebrating the release of her new collection, BITE BY BITE: NOURISHMENTS AND JAMBOREES. Come for the new intro about pizza on the beach, stay for Aimee's reflections on everything from champion trees to 80s-era Madonna to what society tells us about who "gets to" be comfortable in nature. Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the New York Times best-selling illustrated collection of...

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 is a...

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 LAStill ProcessingKristy 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 Times...

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 BrownJules Feiffer’s Village Voice stripWomen’s Wear Daily Barbara Brandon-Croft was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island. After debuting her comic strip Where I’m...

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 BarryI May Destroy YouMichaela Coel's Emmy acceptance speech (video, transcript) Sarah Thankam Mathews grew up between Oman and India, immigrating to the...

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 InstituteThe Real HousewivesS.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 NolteApuCongresswoman Pramila JayapalHari's 'diamond' jokeRace by Paul MooneyStewart Lee Also, a big...

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 BaldwinJust Above My Head by James BaldwinJazz by Toni MorrisonTrick Mirror by Jia Tolentino Angie Cruz is a...

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)FreeFromtherapy 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, guiding...

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 KisnerMira in conversation with Saeed Jones and Kiese Laymon for Bookable Mira Jacob is a novelist, memoirist, illustrator, and...

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 SehgalToni Morrison's concept of rememoryFela 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 Columbia, South...

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: DungbeetleRiverbank State ParkJohn CheeverGalaxie 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...