Concavity Show

Matt Bucher & Dave Laird

A podcast about literary fiction and the world of books, with hosts Matt Bucher and Dave Laird. [Logo by Chris Ayers]

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Top 10 Concavity Show Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Concavity Show episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Concavity Show for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Concavity Show episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Episode 20: Discussing David Foster Wallace with John Mango

Concavity Show

10/28/16 • 78 min

In this episode we talk with John Mango. John is a teacher and a scholar but in this episode we talk a lot about recovery, AA membership, depression, and alcoholism--perennial DFW subjects all around.

01:07 - Twenty episodes in a year

02:02 - Introducing John Mango

04:01 - John Grisham paperbacks

05:05 - Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy

06:30 - A comforting loss and depression

08:30 - Terry Eagleton & the role of literature

11:22 - Discovering Wallace after death

13:15 - We feel like we know him

14:14 - Can you even talk about AA?

15:25 - Hiding stuff all the time

16:29 - Humility

17:30 - Separating the biography from the writing?

18:20 - Alcohol & Poetry, John Berryman

19:48 - Sharing and honesty and irony

21:11 - The Big Book is IJ

22:14 - William James, Religious Experience

25:39 - AA and agnosticism

26:02 - G.O.D. = Group of Drunks

26:25 - It all comes down to pragmatism

27:15 - Gately saving Randy Lenz, a program of action

29:04 - The gift of desperation

31:30 - St. Anselm

33:00 - Gately enjoys riding with the crocodiles

37:31 - Big Craig

38:10 - Interview with Deb Larson-Venable, the real Pat Montesian

39:43 - How John came in

41:09 - Gratitude? Seriously?

44:58 - A giant love letter to AA

48:44 - It sounds like a cliche

51:20 - A favorite part of Infinite Jest

54:05 - Fleeting mention of Trump, sorry

54:44 - Fake cliche motto

57:40 - Burlington, Vermont & Hebron, Connecticut

59:01 - Norwalk virus

1:00:11 - The Joke in Infinite Jest

1:02:13 - Vocabulary of emotional literacy

1:03:56 - The problem of solipsism

1:07:07 - @callmejohnmango, Facebook, The Blog - https://hazardsofthecourse.wordpress.com/

1:10:23 - Destigmatizing the disease

1:11:13 - Android Netrunner

Episode 30 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Grace Chipperfield

Concavity Show

07/21/17 • 89 min

In this episode we are joined by Australian Wallace scholar Grace Chipperfield of Flinders University, whose recent work on Wallace deals with the concepts of protracted adolescence and political landscape in Wallace's writing. The recent DFW17 conference and her experience there is also discussed, as is the possible vampireness of Australian politicians (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmqKSKDfSSQ).

Episode 19 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Rachel Laird & Amy Pelletier

Concavity Show

09/29/16 • 77 min

In this episode, Dave and Matt start by catching up about the recent photo caption contest winner and entries, Dairy Queen, Flannery O'Connor conferences, and the distinguished list of famous writers Matt has met. Then, our guests Amy and Rachel talk to Dave about their recent experiences reading Infinite Jest for the first time.

Episode 82 - Lauren Elkin, author of Scaffolding

Concavity Show

12/30/24 • 48 min

In this episode, Matt speaks with Lauren Elkin about her new novel, Scaffolding. They discuss Lacan, marriage, and why Paris is so damn literary, among other things.

Lauren Elkin is a French and American writer and translator, most recently the author of the novel Scaffolding (FSG), a New York Times Editor's Choice which the Observer called both "erudite" and "horny."

Previous books include Art Monsters: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art, No. 91/92: Notes on a Parisian Commute, and Flâneuse: Women Walk the City, which was a finalist for the 2018 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and a Notable Books of 2017, a Radio 4 Book of the Week, and a best book of 2016 by the Guardian, the Financial Times, the New Statesman, and the Observer. Her writings on books, art, and culture have appeared in a variety of publications including the London Review of Books, the New York Times, Granta, Harper’s, Le Monde, the Times Literary Supplement, Les Inrockuptibles, and Frieze, and her essay "This is the Beginning of Writing," published in the Sewanee Review, was awarded notable distinction in the Best American Essays of 2019, edited by Rebecca Solnit.

Her website is: https://www.laurenelkin.com/

You can find her on BlueSky here: https://bsky.app/profile/laurenelkin.bsky.social

The Spotify playlist she created for the novel is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3saYDj2BSKyCFWGXsUhCTZ?si=f7a471a0e77e45bc

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - [email protected]

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

Episode 40 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Greg Carlisle

Concavity Show

08/25/18 • 101 min

In Episode 40, we welcome Greg Carlisle, author of the Infinite Jest commentary, Elegant Complexity, and Nature's Nightmare, an analysis of Wallace's Oblivion collection.

Greg's books here: http://www.sideshowmediagroup.com/books/

Contact Greg: [email protected]

Episode 29 - Live from the ISU David Foster Wallace Conference, featuring Charlie Harris and Jim Plath

Concavity Show

06/13/17 • 59 min

On our first live episode (recorded in front of conference attendees at the fourth annual DFW conference at Illinois State University) we talk to Charlie Harris and Jim Plath about the life and legacy of Wallace, give some prizes away, and feature live music for the very first time on the show.

You can also watch the Facebook live video stream, which is archived for posterity, at the top of the page here: https://www.facebook.com/concavityshow/

Episode 1 - Discussing David Foster Wallace

Concavity Show

10/09/15 • 40 min

The Great Concavity is inspired by the debate in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
In this initial episode, we introduce ourselves and talk a little about what a DFW podcast might entail.
Artwork courtesy of Robyn O'Neil.
Intro song courtesy of Parquet Courts.
UPDATE: Below are show notes courtesy of Jordan Tibbett. A transcript of episode 1, also by Jordan is available here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/286341051/Great-Concavity-podcast-Ep-1-Show-Notes-Transcript
Show Notes

(00:00) - Intro

(01:08) - Matt’s Background

(01:10) - wallace-l (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon)

(01:55) - Howling Fantods (http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/dfw/)

(02:50) - Thomas Pynchon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon)

(05:04) - Sideshow Media Group (http://sideshowmediagroup.com)

(05:12) - Elegant Complexity (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1655890.Elegant_Complexity)

(05:12) - Nature’s Nightmare (http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Nightmare-Analyzing-Wallaces-Oblivion/dp/098893051X/)

(13:02) - Academic Papers

(14:21) - Dave’s Background

(14:55) - The Ogopogo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogopogo)

(15:10) - Infinite Jest/Molly Notkin/Joelle van Dyne

(17.30) - Roberto Bolano (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Bolaño)

(18:51) - Don DeLillo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo)

(20:00) - Chris Adrian/McSweeney’s (http://www.mcsweeneys.net)

(21:45) - Cormac McCarthy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy)

(24:00) - The Pale King/ Chris Fogel

(26:48) - Jonathan Lethem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lethem)

(29:34) - First Annual DFW conference

(36:48) - Special Thanks

People Mentioned

David Foster Wallace (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foster_Wallace)

Nick Maniatis (https://twitter.com/nick_maniatis)

Thomas Pynchon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon)

John Bucher (http://johnbucher.org/)

Greg Carlisle (http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Nightmare-Analyzing-Wallaces-Oblivion/dp/098893051X/)

David Hering (http://www.amazon.com/Consider-David-Foster-Wallace-Critical/dp/0976146576/)

Cormac Mcarthy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy)

Don DeLillo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo)

Roberto Bolano (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Bolaño)

Jonathan Franzen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Franzen)

George Saunders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Saunders)

Jeffrey Eugenides (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Eugenides)

William T. Vollmann (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T._Vollmann)

Rick Moody (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Moody)

Chris Adrian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Adrian)

Adam Levin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Levin)

Beth Nugent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Nugent)

Larry McCaffery (

Episode 71 - Year in Review 2022 with Evan Stephens Hall of Pinegrove

Concavity Show

01/23/23 • 110 min

In this episode, we talk with prolific reader and accomplished musician Evan Stephens Hall from the band Pinegrove. We discuss his top books of the year and go through a few of our own favorite reading experiences from 2022.

Here is the David Foster Wallace & Richard Powers Q&A we mention.

And here is the reading poriton of that event that begins with DFW talking about the “brick” in his pocket.

The Pinegrove songs featured in this episode are Alaska and Habitat.

Thank you to Rough Trade Records, Pinegrove and Evan Stephens Hall for permission.

Here are our Concavity Show Best Songs of 2022 playlists:

iTunes: https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/best-of-2022/pl.u-EdAVv5dCaMJB7j

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1BwuTDJq2LoU8ZzdSDXSK5?si=052f5d25ed514b43

Evan, top books mentioned:

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines (Gaines stamp!)

Morality Play by Barry Unsworth

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Public Library by Ali Smith (and Autumn!)

Breaking and Entering by Joy WIlliams

Leave Society by Tao Lin

Dave, top books mentioned:

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyaasi

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

The Overstory by Richard Powers

Autoportrait by Jesse Ball

Liberation Day by George Saunders

Matt, top books read this year:

Robert Crews by Thomas Berger

Literary Alchemist by Steve Paul

We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper

Airport Music by Mark Tardi

Zol by REYoung

Evan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evanstephenshall/

Pinegrove website: https://pinegroveband.com/

Contact Dave & Matt:

Email - [email protected]

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ConcavityShow

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/concavityshow/

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/concavityshow

Threadless Merch Store - https://concavityshow.threadless.com/

Episode 23 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Andrew Savage of Parquet Courts

Concavity Show

01/05/17 • 88 min

In this episode we speak with the multi-talented writer and musician Andrew Savage of the band Parquet Courts. Their song “Instant Disassembly” opens and closes each episode of our podcast, but more importantly, Andrew is a super-literate dude who is capable of expounding on almost any topic.

Here is the video that Dave mentions of George Saunders’ appearance on The Charlie Rose show: https://charlierose.com/videos/23703 (DFW discussion starts at 40:54).

Check out Parquet Courts on Spotify or Apple Music or YouTube or just shout their name out the nearest window.

Their official website is https://parquetcourts.wordpress.com/

_____________

Show notes

01:54 - Why Dave chose “Instant Disassembly” as our intro song

01:55 - Thematic relation between DFW’s writing and “Instant Disassembly”

01:56 - There’s ennui but it’s also a really bitchin’ song

02:45 - Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”

03:46 - Bookworm’s theme song

08:35 - Growing up in Denton, Texas

09:53 - Austin Brown

13:30 - The Marked Men

14:40 - The Parking Lot set in Charlottesville

16:53 - Where did we play in Vancouver

18:49 - Parquet courts in The Garden and basketball

20:08 - Influenced by fiction

22:14 - Coming to Wallace, an intro thereto

23:52 - IJ/DFW influences everything

25:31 - The anxiety of influence, nah

29:56 - What to hold back

32:12 - Trump is a germaphobe

33:23 - The labor issues of being a musician

36:08 - New Sincerity discussion

39:13 - Parquet Courts and the Irony of Blah Blah Blah

43:45 - What makes a good performance

44:41 - Smaller venues

46:13 - Dealing with cynicism

48:12 - Favorite Wallace stuff

51:30 - The Depressed Person: parody or not?

55:30 - The existential angst of the modern condition

57:03 - We’ve all got holes to fill

58:40 - In search of lost time

1:02:00 - Listening to music the way we read

1:03:49 - The Big Ship on repeat

1:05:00 - Cate Le Bon

1:06:01 - Opposite Sex from New Zealand & Hamlet

1:07:40 - Glasgow has a grid system

1:08:56 - Favorite books & movies - Knausgaard

1:10:43 - Eva Hesse’s diaries

1:13:01 - A movie discussion ensues

1:14:19 - The song North Dakota

1:17:23 - How to finish things

1:28:30 - Easter egg

Episode 3 - Discussing David Foster Wallace with Robyn O'Neil

Concavity Show

11/05/15 • 63 min

In this episode we talk with artist Robyn O'Neil. Her artwork titled These final hours embrace at last; this is our ending, this is our past is the logo for our podcast.
See more of her work at http://robynoneil.com/ or listen to her reading stuff on her own podcast called "Me Reading Stuff" - http://robynoneil.com/me-reading-stuff/ She's @Robyn_ONeil on Twitter.Our podcast is @ConcavityShow on Twitter.

Show Notes

(00:00) - Intro

(00:39) - Guest Robyn O’neil

(02:00) - Robyn’s Image For the Podcast (http://www.themodern.org/programs/Past/Robyn-ONeil/1464)

(02:40) - Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

(04:38) - The Believer Interview with Wallace (http://www.believermag.com/issues/200311/?read=interview_wallace)

(04:38) - The Believer Interview with Robyn (http://www.believermag.com/issues/200811/?read=interview_oneil)

(05:05) - Robyn’s Style of Work

(07:50) - An Obsession with Oprah

(11:08) - Robyn’s Background with Wallace

(11:25) - Reluctance to Read Contemporary Literature

(14:28) - Vladimir Nabokov and A Passion for Writers