Let book podcasts ease your travel anxiety

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving has traditionally been the busiest travel day of the year. If you're heading out, you might want to gird yourself for long lines, jostling, traffic or whiny children. The best defense, in all of these circumstances, may be your iPod/MP3 player. Just put on your headphones and imagine you're in a better, more literary place.

(Warning: if the whiny kids are yours, ignoring them while wearing headphones may be frowned upon.)

Two literary podcasts I adore are Michael Silverblatt's Bookworm and Edward Champion's The Bat Segundo Show; both focus on author interviews. That's really the only thing the two share.

Bookworm has been a radio show on public radio station KCRW for many years; while years of shows can be heard online, the podcast archives go back to June 2006. Silverblatt's delivery is arresting: He. Speaks. Slowly. As. If. Each. Word. Were. Quite. Important. While his style may take some getting used to, it is just like his reading -- careful, measured, precise. He's a tremendously insightful reader, one who brings a microscopic -- yet gentle and generous -- attention to the work at hand. Recent Michael Silverblatt interviews include Grégoire Bouillier ("The Mystery Guest") and two other French authors; Diane Johnson ("Lulu in Marrakech"), Francine Prose ("Golden Grove") and James Wood ("How Fiction Works").

The Bat Segundo Show is run independently by Edward Champion, a New York litblogger and freelance writer who has contributed to our book section. Most shows include an introduction from the louche Bat Segundo, a down-on-his heels radio host lifted from the pages of a David Mitchell novel. Then Ed takes over to do the interview; his persona is decidedly more caffeinated than Silverblatt's. Bubbling over with questions, sometimes interrupting his guests, Champion is a high-octane host driven by a passion for literature. Recent Bat Segundo shows feature actor Christopher Plummer (his memoir "In Spite of Myself" was released this month), Alison Bechdel ("The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For"), Porochista Khakpour ("Sons and Other Flammable Objects") and David Rees ("Get Your War On"). All of The Bat Segundo Show archives are online; he's got an interview with Francine Prose, too.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo of Christopher Plummer. Credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[James]

Funny, those are the two book podcasts I like the least. Unfortunately, I only came to the Bat Segundo show after seeing how mean spirited Champion's blog is. I could never get that guy's fundamental unpleasantness out of my head. Not good. Bookworm is definitely a lot of fun, but I look forward to The Washington Post Book World and The NY Times podcasts even more. Leonard Lopate is frequently literary, as is the great To The Best of Our Knowledge. Terry Gross is still doing some of the best book coverage out there on Fresh Air, which is a great show and podcast.

[Carolyn Kellogg]

Thanks for your recommendations, James. I wish Leonard Lopate could be bookish all the time.

[ed]

Leonard Lopate and Terry Gross are perfect choices for those who approach literature as if it's a trip to Target Greatland: the same trusted stock you'll get just about anywhere else, the same boilerplate questions, the same watered down nonsense that Curtis White rightfully condemned in "The Middle Mind." Lopate has his staff read his books. Gross merely skims the books. Mr. Silverblatt and I may have our eccentricities (often misconstrued as "mean-spiritedness"), but you can at least count on us to read the books and pursue lines of inquiry you're simply not going to find anywhere else. Thank you, Carolyn, for the kind shoutout and for nailing the essence of both these programs (including our respective faults).

[Mark Traken]

No, James is right. Ed has always been sort of an insecure fellow. "Mean-spirited" is definitely the right term for a lot (though not all) of what he does. And I happen to like Terry Gross, if I'm not a huge fan of Lopate. I've never gotten into Ed's interviews, though I did just check in to see if his newest is any good. Asking Christopher Plummer which character gets him the best table in a restaurant doesn't exactly qualify as deep literary content. Terry, though relatively mainstream, does it better for my taste. Same for most of my bookish friends.

[Joe Cottonwood]

Instead of podcasts talking about books, you could listen to podcasts of authors reading their books. There are hundreds out there, all free for downloading. As with all books, some of the podcast novels are dreadful, some are astonishing and delightful. Take a chance.

[Carolyn]

joecot - the authors I think of who record their own work -- Toni Morrison, Sarah Vowell -- do so as audiobooks, and there's usually a fee for download. Where do you go to find the free downloads you like?

[Joe Cottonwood]

There are free downloads from podiobooks.com (including - ahem - mine), though most people use the iTunes store to download them because it's easier that way. Also, libsyn has hundreds of free downloads of out-of-copyright classics read by volunteer readers (some of the volunteer readers are good, some not). The podiobooks titles are usually read by the author, often with verve and a sense of fun. They are mostly new unpublished writers you've never heard of, and one old published writer (me) who you've never heard of, which is why you should approach them with a sense of adventure - and be quick to bail if it doesn't please you.

[ed]

Because heaven forfend that there be a bit of fun along with detailed questions on Arch Oboler, Shakespeare, and Geoffrey Unsworth. Three of the five interviews recently posted could not be categorized at all as mean-spirited, unless you're as insecure and tone-deaf as "Mr. Traken" is. But, hey, if you like to Super Size your literary meal, then it's certainly your right. Some people like McDonald's and the Olive Garden. Others like something better. And there's plenty of room out there for all sorts of literary conversations.