Eavesdropping


Comedian Nick Kroll Atones for an Epic Oktoberfest

Actor and comic Nick Kroll is best known for playing defense attorney Rodney Ruxin on FX’s “The League.” This Wednesday his new sketch comedy show “Kroll Show” premieres on Comedy Central; it features bits with signature Kroll characters like Bobby Bottlservice (one of the ‘Ed Hardy boys’) and flamboyant caterer Fabrice Fabrice. Today he tells us about the time when he got run out of Munich on a rail.


Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky’s Runaway Fingers

Book critic Liesl Schillinger reads a darkly comic excerpt from a newly-published short story collection by early-20th century Russian author Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky.


A Lucky Long-Distance Call to ‘The Fifth Beatle’

The newest production from award-winning Broadway producer Vivek Tiwary is a graphic novel about the man who helped discover and promote The Beatles. Vivek tells us a tale of the phone conversation that changed the course of rock history… and which almost never happened.


Blasphemy and Protest

For over twenty years, Sherman Alexie has been one of the country’s finest (and funniest) storytellers. Today we overhear Sherman reading from his new collection “Blasphemy.”


Karen Russell Gets Right to the Juicy Bits

Karen Russell’s debut novel “Swamplandia!” was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer prize. Her new book - the entrancing, Gothic-tinged story collection “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” - has been receiving similarly rapturous reviews.


Sherill Tippins

The Utopian Experiment of the Chelsea Hotel

"Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York's Legendary Chelsea Hotel" investigates the Manhattan landmark, its famous residents from Dylan Thomas to Dee Dee Ramone, and what may happen next for this historic property. Author Sherill Tippins tells us about a few particularly high points in its history.


Eddie Huang Learns to Eat, American-Style

Eddie Huang is the restaurateur behind New York's popular bun shop BaoHaus. He also hosts the Vice TV series "Fresh Off the Boat," an irreverent take on food and assimilation which shares a title with his recent memoir. In the excerpt from his book he shared with us, Eddie takes us back to his first ‘All-American’ dinner.


Better Living Through Zsuzsi

Canadian writer Zsuzsi Gartner is known for her dark comic skewering of modern life. Her story collection “Better Living Through Plastic Explosives” was shortlisted for the Giller Prize - Canada’s highest for fiction. Today we overhear her read an artful passage.