Best Stephen J Allen Podcasts (2024)

1
Patrick Hicks, "In the Shadow of Dora: A Novel of the Holocaust and the Apollo Program" (Stephen F. Austin UP, 2020) 1:21:06

1h ago1:21:06

1:21:06

In the Shadow of Dora: A Novel of the Holocaust and the Apollo Program (Stephen F. Austin UP, 2020) spans two very different decades from the Nazi concentration camp of Dora-Mittelbau to the coast of central Florida in the late 1960s; the book tells the story of the real life intersections between the horror of the Third Reich's V-2 rocket program …

1
Kevin Dean, "Patron Saints" The Common Magazine 43:17

16m ago43:17

43:17

Kevin Dean speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his story “Patron Saints,” which appears in The Common’s most recent issue. Kevin talks about the process of writing and revising this story, which follows a young American trying to find his place in Cairo, while the city roils with political uncertainty after the Arab Spring uprising. Kevin…

1
"Random Connections" w/ Wyna Liu [Best-Of Episode] 25:45

1d ago25:45

25:45

Puzzling with us today: crossword puzzle constructor and the mind behind The New York Times' daily "Connections" puzzle, Wyna Liu! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe …

1
"Bewilder Wilder" w/ Charlotte Wilder [Best-Of Episode] 9:19

2d ago9:19

9:19

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: sports reporter, writer, and podcast host, Charlotte Wilder! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new …

1
Christina Dodd, "A Daughter of Fair Verona" (John Scognamiglio, 2024) 38:19

20m ago38:19

38:19

It takes a certain gall to update one of William Shakespeare’s most enduring and most beloved tragedies. Anyone who has survived an English literature class at a US high school or college knows that neither Romeo nor Juliet lives to old age; and those few who have not read the play, for pleasure or under duress, have probably seen one of the screen…

1
"Core Competence" w/ Negin Farsad [Best-Of Episode] 11:30

3d ago11:30

11:30

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: comedian Negin Farsad, host of "Fake The Nation" Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old…

1
Paranormal Stories of a Navajo Ranger with Stanley Milford Jr. 55:40

4h ago55:40

55:40

We are back this week with episode 170! We are chatting with an amazing guest! You may recognize Stanley Milford Jr from "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch", Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries", or numerous other television and documentary appearances. He and his partner, Jonathan Dover, are known as The Paranormal Rangers. As Navajo Rangers they were task…

1
"Bayer vs. Bayer" w/ Vanessa and Jonah Bayer [Best-Of Episode] 12:41

4d ago12:41

12:41

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: hosts of "How Did We Get Weird?", Vanessa and Jonah Bayer! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new sp…

1
Sara Johnson Allen, "Down Here We Come Up" (Black Lawrence Press, 2023) 29:09

22m ago29:09

29:09

In Sara Johnson Allen's novel Down Here We Come Up (Black Lawrence Press 2023), Kate Jessup’s mother lures her back home to North Carolina. Jackie Jessup is a con-artist, always working a scheme, always taking what she wanted, and she taught Kate to do the same. Now she’s dying, and Kate is estranged and living far away in Boston. Kate, her mother,…

1
Ari Gautier, "Nocturne Pondicherry" (Hachette India, 2024) 1:01:54

22m ago1:01:54

1:01:54

A postman struggles to deliver the last letter on his last day of work. A prostitute elopes with the auto rickshaw driver who arranged clients for her. An inspector discovers the dead body of the boy he had an altercation with the previous evening. In Nocturne Pondicherry (Hachette India, 2024), Ari Gautier peels back the layers of human emotions u…

1
"Ohio My God" w/ Ophira Eisenberg [Best-Of Episode] 11:24

5d ago11:24

11:24

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us all this week: comedian and host of "Parenting is a Joke" Ophira Eisenberg! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way thro…

1
S J. Naudé, "Fathers and Fugitives" (Europa, 2024) 44:56

4d ago44:56

44:56

Daniel is a worldly and urbane journalist living in London. His relationships appear to be sexually fulfilling but sentimentally meager. A young gay man with no relationships outside of sexual ones, he can seem at once callow and, at times, cold to the point of cruel with his lovers. Emotionally distant from his elderly, senile father, Daniel nonet…

1
F. J. Watson, "Lies of the Flesh" (Polygon, 2024) 46:13

1h ago46:13

46:13

When evil stalks the land, who can you trust? Autumn 1314. In the aftermath of the Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn, the villagers of Warcop wait desperately for the return of loved ones. When brothers Wat and Rob Dickinson bring news of the death of their companion, Adam Fothergill, as they fled home, there is no one to mourn him. But…

1
Francis Stevens, "The Heads of Cerberus and Other Stories" (MIT Press, 2024) 40:43

1h ago40:43

40:43

When three people in Philadelphia inhale dust developed by a scientist who has discovered parallel universes, they are transported into an interdimensional no-man's-land that is populated by supernatural beings. From there, they go on to an alternate-future version of Philadelphia—a frightening dystopian nation-state in which citizens are numbered,…

1
"Name That Year And Tune" w/ Susie Banikarim 11:23

8d ago11:23

11:23

Puzzling with us today: journalist and co-host of the "In Retrospect" podcast, Susie Banikarim! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you…

1
"Piazza Pizza" w/ Jo Piazza [Best-Of Episode] 10:11

9d ago10:11

10:11

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: author of The Sicilian Inheritance and host of "Under the Influence," Jo Piazza! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–th…

1
Etherized: Anne Enright in a Novel Dialogue Conversation (Paige Reynolds, JP) 44:46

18m ago44:46

44:46

Anne Enright, writer, critic, Booker winner, kindly made time back in 2023 for Irish literature maven Paige Reynolds and for John Plotz in his role as host for our sister podcast, Novel Dialogue. In this conversation, she reads from The Wren, The Wren and says we don’t yet know if the web has become a space of exposure or of authority. We can be su…

1
"Get Ted Fed" w/ Ted Allen [Best-Of Episode] 12:02

10d ago12:02

12:02

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: host of Chopped on the Food Network, Ted Allen! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old …

1
"Ants in France" w/ Stephen J. Dubner [Best-Of Episode] 8:31

11d ago8:31

8:31

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: author, journalist, and podcaster Stephen J. Dubner of Freakonomics fame! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way…

1
Scott Nadelson, "Trust Me" (Forest Avenue Press, 2024) 20:36

1h ago20:36

20:36

Today I talked to Scott Nadelson's novel Trust Me (Forest Avenue Press, 2024). After his divorce, Lewis moves into the cabin he bought as a vacation home towards the end of his marriage. It’s in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, a forty-five-minute drive from his twelve-year-old daughter’s school and his tedious government job in Salem, Orego…

1
Rachel Kushner, "Creation Lake" (Scribner, 2024) 58:19

1h ago58:19

58:19

Creation Lake (Scribner, 2024) is a novel about a secret agent, a thirty-four-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics, bold opinions, and clean beauty, who is sent to do dirty work in France. "Sadie Smith" is how the narrator introduces herself to her lover, to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to the read…

1
"The Weird World of Sports" w/ Bomani Jones [Best-Of Episode] 9:12

12d ago9:12

9:12

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: sports journalist, analyst, commentator, and host of "The Right Time with Bomani Jones," Bomani Jones! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as th…

1
Nicholas Molbert, "Altars of Spine and Fraction" (Curbstone Press/Northwestern UP, 2024) 53:20

1h ago53:20

53:20

Nicholas Molbert's Altars of Spine and Fraction (Curbstone Press/Northwestern UP, 2024) follows its protagonist through the joys and dangers of childhood on the rural Gulf Coast, through familial loss, and into adulthood. Refusing to romanticize what has been lost, Molbert instead interrogates how nostalgia is most often enjoyed by those with the p…

1
"Inside Out" w/ Paula Poundstone 22:39

15d ago22:39

22:39

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: host of "Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone," Paula Poundstone! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast whe…

1
Marguerite Young, "Miss MacIntosh, My Darling" (Deep Vellum Publishing, 2024) 57:42

14d ago57:42

57:42

In this episode I'm joined by Dalkey Archive's editorial director, Chad W. Post. We discuss the republication of the late Marguerite Young's cult-classic work of fiction, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (Dalkey Archive Press, 2024). A colossal novel of over 1,000 pages, a kaleidoscopic cast of characters, permanent opium-induced hallucinations, a sprawl…

1
Peter Rose, "The Good War of Consul Reeves" (Blacksmith Books, 2024) 50:15

15d ago50:15

50:15

Macau was supposed to be a sleepy post for John Reeves, the British consul for the Portuguese colony on China’s southern coast. He arrived, alone, in June 1941, his wife and daughter left behind in China. Seven months later, Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, invaded Hong Kong, and made Reeves the last remaining British diplomat for hundreds of miles, …

1
"Prime Rhyme Time" w/ Paula Poundstone 8:35

16d ago8:35

8:35

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: host of "Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone," Paula Poundstone! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast whe…

1
Before and After the Book Deal 1:02:50

15d ago1:02:50

1:02:50

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about publishing but were too afraid to ask. Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer’s Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book (Catapult, 2020) by Courtney Maum is a funny, candid guide about breaking into the marketplace. Cutting through the noise, dispelling rumors and remain…

1
"Paula's Puzzle" w/ Paula Poundstone 12:54

17d ago12:54

12:54

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: host of "Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone," Paula Poundstone! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast whe…

1
Ayelet Tsabari, "Songs for the Brokenhearted: A Novel" (Random House, 2024) 26:34

15d ago26:34

26:34

Zohara flies from New York to Israel for her mother’s funeral. She’d already been through a tough year; a divorce from her American husband and trouble getting started on her doctoral dissertation at NYU. As she clears out the house where she grew up, Zohara finds tapes of her mother singing Yemenite songs in Arabic, and evidence of a secret romanc…

1
Madeline Martin, "The Booklover's Library" (Hanover Square Press, 2024) 35:28

16d ago35:28

35:28

The Booklover's Library (Hanover Square Press, 2024) has one of the most dramatic openings I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of novels. It’s 1931 in Nottingham, England, and seventeen-year-old Emma, ensconced in her father’s bookshop, is engrossed in her favorite novel, Jane Austen’s Emma, when she realizes the building around her has caught fire…

1
"Aptronyms" w/ A.J. & Greg 12:38

18d ago12:38

12:38

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: our very own Chief Puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska. Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get yo…

1
Mary Jones, "The Goodbye Process" (Zibby Books, 2024) 28:51

15d ago28:51

28:51

In her stunning debut short story collection, The Goodbye Process (Zibby Books, 2024), Mary Jones uses her distinctive voice to examine the painful and sometimes surreal ways we say goodbye. The stories--which range from tender and heartbreaking to unsettling and darkly funny--will push you out of your comfort zone and ignite intense emotions surro…

1
"Isograms" w/ A.J. & Greg 13:16

19d ago13:16

13:16

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: our very own Chief Puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska. Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get yo…

1
Kaliane Bradley, "The Ministry of Time" (Avid Reader Press, 2024) 52:25

7d ago52:25

52:25

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she'll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering "expats" from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible--for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time. She is tasked with working …

1
"Retronyms" w/ Stephen J. Dubner [Best-Of Episode] 11:15

22d ago11:15

11:15

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: author, journalist, and podcaster Stephen J. Dubner of Freakonomics fame! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–an…

1
"Bucket Lost" w/ Baratunde Thurston [Best-Of Episode] 10:41

23d ago10:41

10:41

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us all this week: writer and activist Baratunde Thurston, host of "How to Citizen" and America Outdoors. Join host A.J. Jacobs and his gue…

1
"One Tree Skill" w/ Bethany Joy Lenz [Best-Of Episode] 10:14

24d ago10:14

10:14

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: actor, singer-songwriter, and co-host of "Drama Queens", Bethany Joy Lenz! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–a…

1
Chelsea Bieker, "Madwoman" (Little, Brown, 2024) 35:21

18d ago35:21

35:21

Today I talked to Chelsea Biker about her novel Madwoman (Little, Brown, 2024). Clove has gone to extremes to keep her past a secret. Thanks to her lies, she's landed the life of her dreams, complete with a safe husband and two adoring children who will never know the terror that was routine in her own childhood. If her buried anxiety threatens to …

1
"Chopped Foods" w/ Ted Allen [Best-Of Episode] 13:42

25d ago13:42

13:42

The Puzzler team is taking a short summer break, and in the meantime we're bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We'll be back with brand new episodes soon! Puzzling with us today: host of Chopped on the Food Network, Ted Allen! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old …

1
Weekend Favorites: "Ask ChatGPT" w/ Kevin Roose 11:35

28d ago11:35

11:35

From time to time on the weekends, we’ll be bringing you some of our recent favorite episodes. Enjoy your weekend, and we’ll be back with a brand new puzzle on Monday! Hello, Puzzlers! AJ has a new book out! You can order "The Year of Living Constitutionally" right now! Puzzling with us today: tech journalist and host of "Hard Fork," Kevin Roose! J…

1
Jake Lamar, "Viper's Dream" (Crooked Lane Books, 2023) 50:18

29d ago50:18

50:18

Jake Lamar's novel Viper's Dream (Crooked Lane Books, 2023) is a gritty, daring look at the vibrant jazz scene of mid-century Harlem, and one man’s dreams of making it big and finding love in a world that wants to keep him down. Harlem, 1936. Clyde “The Viper” Morton boards a train from Alabama to Harlem to chase his dreams of being a jazz musician…

1
C. Michelle Lindley, "The Nude" (Atria Books, 2024) 39:46

29d ago39:46

39:46

1999: An island off the southern coast of Greece. Art historian Elizabeth Clarke arrives with the intent to acquire a rare female sculpture. But what begins as a quest for a highly valued cultural artifact evolves into a trip that will force Elizabeth to contend with her career, her ambition, and her troubling history. Disoriented by jet lag, debil…

1
Maria de Caldas Antão, "My Freedom," The Common Magazine 38:20

29d ago38:20

38:20

Maria de Caldas Antão speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her poem “ My Freedom,” which appears in The Common’s most recent issue. Maria talks about how a casual comment inspired this poem, which explores the idea of freedom, and what it might mean to be free: personally, politically, physically, philosophically. Maria also discusses how…

1
"Eye-Rhymes" w/ Peter Gordon 13:31

29d ago13:31

13:31

Puzzling with us today: crossword constructor Peter Gordon! You can subscribe to Peter Gordon's A-to-Z puzzles here. Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler…

1
"Black's Back" w/ Michael Ian Black 11:53

1M ago11:53

11:53

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: comedian, actor, and author Michael Ian Black. Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get you…

1
Marga Ortigas, "God's Ashes: Apocrypha" (Penguin, 2024) 37:10

1M ago37:10

37:10

Climate change. The refugee crisis. The rise of social media. These big social questions—and others—inspired journalist Marga Ortigas in the creation of her new novel God’s Ashes (Penguin Southeast Asia, 2024) , a piece of speculative fiction set in a very different 2023. A transnational crime unites the book’s characters, rich and poor, on a journ…

1
"Tragic Comedies" w/ Michael Ian Black 12:33

1M ago12:33

12:33

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: comedian, actor, and author Michael Ian Black. Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get you…

1
Terena Elizabeth Bell, "Tell Me What You See" (Whiskey Tit, 2022) 49:13

1M ago49:13

49:13

Terena Elizabeth Bell's Tell Me What You See (Whisk(e)y Tit, 2022), is a collection of ten experimental short stories about coronavirus quarantines, climate change, the January 6th invasion on the US Capitol, and other events from 2020-2021. Written in both word and image, pieces from the collection have been called "inventive and topical and fre…

1
"False Colors" w/ Michael Ian Black 13:18

1M ago13:18

13:18

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: comedian, actor, and author Michael Ian Black. Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get you…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Stephen J Allen Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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