I have a feeling that Robert Evans, my guest this week and author of A Brief History of Vice: How Bad Behavior Built Civilization, was that guy in high school. His book describes not only the history of vice but his personal experiences with it and how he’s introduced his friends to taking various preparations of “vice.” Join us for a discussion of how drunken monkeys may have led the path to society as we know it.
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Patty Larkin is renowned for her guitar skills, songwriting and singing prowess. She’s been a staple of the folk-urban scene, with 13 albums to her credit. She’ll be in Columbus with Six String concerts on September 17.
Listen in for our discussion of what she’s been doing lately, how many hours a day it takes to have her skill on guitar, and what part of her life is “miraculous” and “enlightening.”
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Looking for a good read this autumn? Check out new books from Amanda Flower, who works in a variety of genres: Amish, children’s, magical, and contemporary.
With over two dozen books, including the New York Times bestseller The Obituary Writer and The Knitting Circle, to her credit, Ann Hood, knows books. In her most recent novel, The Book That Matters Most, she asks readers to consider what book has been most important to them. Listen in to hear what book matters most to Ann Hood and what were the most common choices were from the people she asked. Surprisingly, I was the first person she’s met whose book was The Time-Life Treasury of Home Repair.
Also, invite Ann Hood to your book club!
Ann Hood will be in Columbus with the Thurber House on Tuesday, September 6.
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Comedian Tim Northern is a featured performer for the 2016 Arch City Comedy Festival and he recently talked to Craft humor correspondent Samantha Tucker about his life, his comedy, and the best city for humor. Catch him here and then at the Arch City Festival.
And yes, his picture is winking only at you.
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Most of us have done something we’d like to forget: that time you had a few too many and sang Karaoke or that time you demonstrated a dance move and split your pants.
Columbus, Ohio, blogger and journalist Andrew Miller’s book If Only the Names Were Changed takes bad behavior several steps further.
A veteran of flash fiction, reviews, articles, and poetry, Miller shares with readers his checkered background with a jaundiced eye towards his own choices.
The book starts with this Author’s Note: “I’m an alcoholic. I’m manic-depressive. I say this only to alert the reader that I am, in fact, not willing to suggest that what you are about to read is always the factual truth; or even always what an unbiased judge might refer to as fair and balanced.”
Listen in for my talk with Andrew Miller and then attend his book launch on August 18.
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Noah Adams will bring his 30+ years of radio experience to Fort Hayes on July 26 for “An Evening with Noah Adams,” a benefit for WCBE, 90.5 FM.
I talked with Adams about how he got his start in NPR, how he learned to edit, and what unusual skill sets his generation apart from today’s NPR reporters and producers. Hint: it’s partly a facility with razor blades.
Ticket information for the event is available at the WCBE website.
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“Who is Donald Trump?”
Mark Singer unsuccessfully (he says) sought the answer to this question in 1997 when assigned to write a profile for The New Yorker. His conclusion, that Trump “had aspired to and achieved the ultimate luxury, an existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul” started a two-decade long feud with Trump and ultimately led to the publication of Singer’s latest book, Trump and Me.
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“Weird Al” Yankovic’s Mandatory World Tour will tear the roof off the Palace Theater in Columbus on July 6. I got a chance to talk to the man behind “Eat It,” “White and Nerdy,” and tons of other songs that have impacted my twisted sense of humor since high school. And here’s the strangest thing: Over the phone, Al Yankovic sounds like Jeff Goldblum. Don’t believe me: listen in.
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Guest interviewer Sam Tucker sits down with Pulitzer finalist Lee Martin and gets the scoop about Late One Night,his latest novel. Listen in for an in-depth look at how this novelist works, and what voice he’s always ready to deploy.
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