Best Annie Zhang Podcasts (2024)

1
Writing Against Normality, with Samanta Schweblin 1:02:53

12m ago1:02:53

1:02:53

The seven stories in Samanta Schweblin’s Seven Empty Houses are not just about houses—how they contain us, how they constrain us—but are also about the families compressed in them, the objects stored in them, the neighbours that circle them…and the trauma that has soaked into their walls over years past, and that is now seeping slowly out, poisonin…

1
Parenting in the age of AI, with Helen Phillips 52:34

3h ago52:34

52:34

So much has been written about the imminent transformation that Artificial Intelligence will bring to our world. But it is often hard to get much of a sense of what that will mean on a personal level—for our work, for our leisure and, perhaps most importantly of all, for our families. What improvements will result? What new tensions will arise? Wha…

1
Creating Life from Art, with Catherine Lacey 58:12

12d ago58:12

58:12

We recently welcomed Catherine Lacey to the bookshop to discuss her vertiginous latest novel Biography of X. Ostensibly the quest of a journalist, C.M. Lucca, to discover more about the life of her late wife—an artist who went by many names, but who she knew only as X—it quickly becomes clear that, in Biography of X, it’s not just one life being ca…

1
Paul Murray on The Bee Sting 1:05:31

2h ago1:05:31

1:05:31

Set in small-town, post-crash Ireland, The Bee Sting follows the Barnes family—Dickie, Imelda, Cass and PJ—as the fabric of their lives first frays at the edges, then begins to unravel completely. The Barnes’ are endearing, and complex, and funny, and infuriating… In short, one of the most realistic and memorable portrayals of a family you’ll find …

1
Claire Kilroy on Parenting under the Patriarchy 54:57

1M ago54:57

54:57

A woman tells her son about his early life. About the months and years that he will by now have forgotten. When he was a baby, then a toddler, and when she was going into battle every day. For him first, and only then for herself. It’s a battle fought on many fronts. Against exhaustion, against time, against the loss of selfhood, against an increas…

1
Rachel Cusk on Art, Violence and Freedom through Destruction 1:00:16

1M ago1:00:16

1:00:16

The biographies of several artists, all named G, form a kind of exoskeleton to Rachel Cusk’s latest novel Parade, encasing the book’s other captivating strands—the story of an unprovoked attack on a Parisian street, the story of a couple on a remote island, the story of a suicide at a museum, the story of the death of a mother. Elements which thems…

1
When Radical Art meets Obscene Wealth, with Hari Kunzru 56:55

2M ago56:55

56:55

Last week we were joined in the bookshop by Hari Kunzru, whose new novel Blue Ruin is a deeply unsettling, and intensely thought provoking reflection on the impact capital has on people, but also on art, and those who create it. It is the perfect final instalment—alongside White Tears and Red Pill—in Hari Kunzru’s own trois couleurs —a loose trilog…

1
Sheila Heti on Alphabetical Diaries 50:07

3M ago50:07

50:07

Last week we were joined by the wonderful Sheila Heti to celebrate the launch of her Alphabetical Diaries. In taking a decade of her journals, sorting the sentences alphabetically, then paring them down to about a tenth of their original length, Sheila Heti has freed a slice of her life from the shackles of time and in doing so has extracted some o…

1
BONUS: Celebrating Dylan Thomas with Cerys Matthews…with exclusive live music from Flora Hibberd! 57:26

3M ago57:26

57:26

To celebrate Dylan Thomas Day 2024 we’re delighted to share this recording of our recent event with award-winning songwriter, author and broadcaster Cerys Matthews. The evening also featured live music from Flora Hibberd and her band, including a brand new song composed for this evening. Enjoy! More from Cerys Matthews: Out of Chaos Comes Bliss: ht…

1
Viet Thanh Nguyen on Memory, Migration and Model Minorities 1:03:03

2M ago1:03:03

1:03:03

A few weeks ago, we welcomed Pulitzer Prizewinner Viet Thanh Nguyen to Shakespeare and Company to discuss his engrossing new work A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial, a book about family, and memory, and storytelling, and history, on all the levels that it impacts upon a life. Buy A Man of Two Faces here: https://www.shakespeareandc…

1
Ottessa Moshfegh on bringing Eileen to the screen 1:02:16

3M ago1:02:16

1:02:16

A few weeks ago we welcomed Ottessa Moshfegh to Shakespeare and Company. That night we’re headed almost back to where it all began by revisiting Moshfegh’s second book Eileen, the small town noir that propelled this experimental writer into the bestseller charts and onto the Booker shortlist. Eileen has just been adapted into a Hollywood film—direc…

1
Percival Everett on James, his subversive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn 34:56

3M ago34:56

34:56

James—the new novel by Percival Everett—retells, reframes, and reimagines Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the black man whose flight from slavery quickly entangles with the journey of Huck, on the run after faking his own death to escape his violent father. James gives us the events of Twain’s picaresque…

1
On Allen Ginsberg: His life, his work and his archives, with Pat Thomas and Peter Hale 40:13

4M ago40:13

40:13

We were joined by countercultural historian Pat Thomas, and Peter Hale, manager of the Ginsberg estate, and discover their new collaboration Material Wealth Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg. * A prolific poet, raconteur, activist, and thinker, Allen Ginsberg was also a prolific collector, meticulously saving letters, postcards, draft n…

1
Bidding adieu to Freeman’s literary journal, with Jakuta Alikavazovic, Deborah Landau, Juan Gabriel Vazquez, and John Freeman 54:16

5M ago54:16

54:16

On this very special January night, editor extraordinaire John Freeman was joined by three of his star contributors, Jakuta Alikavazovic, Juan Gabriel Vasquez and Deborah Landau to bid farewell to his literary journal. Buy Freeman’s Conclusions: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/freemans-conclusions * Jakuta Alikavazovic (b.1979) is a Fre…

1
On Friendship, with Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen 57:08

5M ago57:08

57:08

In early February, we hosted a riotous, tender, enchanting and uplifting evening of poetry and prose with the irrepressible Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen. After their readings they sat down with Adam Biles for a chat about friendship, a theme that unites their work. Buy Hollie McNish’s Lobster here: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/…

1
Love in the Time of Creative-Writing Classes, with Brandon Taylor 51:11

6M ago51:11

51:11

Our guest this week is Brandon Taylor, whose new book The Late Americans is a stark retooling of the campus novel for the 21st century. Taking a university town in Iowa as his canvas, Taylor depicts the lives of a loose group of friends and associates: Seamus, Fyodor, Ivan, Noah and Fatima—students of writing and dance—as time barrels them towards …

1
Annabelle Hirsch, A History of Women in 101 Objects 52:30

6M ago52:30

52:30

Last week, we were joined in the bookshop by Annabelle Hirsch whose new book A History of Women in 101 Objects not only gives us an untold and innovative history of the world— a history takes us from the dawn of civilisation to the present day, through ancient Egypt, medieval Venice, revolutionary France and the roaring twenties—but also launches a…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Annie Zhang Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
CIS 133

Kevin Zhang

1
The Shakespeare and Company Interview

Shakespeare and Company

1
Texas Mandarin (Focus on pronunciation training)

Rita Zhang

1
Hello Metaverse

Annie Zhang

1
The Learner Lab

Trevor Ragan - The Learner Lab

1
Writing Against Normality, with Samanta Schweblin 1:02:53

1
Parenting in the age of AI, with Helen Phillips 52:34

1
Creating Life from Art, with Catherine Lacey 58:12

1
Paul Murray on The Bee Sting 1:05:31

1
Claire Kilroy on Parenting under the Patriarchy 54:57

1
Rachel Cusk on Art, Violence and Freedom through Destruction 1:00:16

1
When Radical Art meets Obscene Wealth, with Hari Kunzru 56:55

1
Sheila Heti on Alphabetical Diaries 50:07

1
BONUS: Celebrating Dylan Thomas with Cerys Matthews…with exclusive live music from Flora Hibberd! 57:26

1
Viet Thanh Nguyen on Memory, Migration and Model Minorities 1:03:03

1
Ottessa Moshfegh on bringing Eileen to the screen 1:02:16

1
Percival Everett on James, his subversive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn 34:56

1
On Allen Ginsberg: His life, his work and his archives, with Pat Thomas and Peter Hale 40:13

1
Bidding adieu to Freeman’s literary journal, with Jakuta Alikavazovic, Deborah Landau, Juan Gabriel Vazquez, and John Freeman 54:16

1
On Friendship, with Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen 57:08

1
Love in the Time of Creative-Writing Classes, with Brandon Taylor 51:11

1
Annabelle Hirsch, A History of Women in 101 Objects 52:30

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