Monthly Audio Newsletter, Mostly About Nothing

Let Gertrude Stein read to you. Gertrude Stein, who died in 1946, was a legendary American novelist, poet, playwright, expatriate, and art collector. Some of the archival audio in this episode was enhanced and digitally restored. Stein remains one of the greatest experimental American writers ever.

This episode is mostly about the writer John Updike. We hear Updike read from several of his short stories, the foreword to The Early Stories, and we hear him speak with Charlie Rose on two different occasions. Updike was an accomplished novelist, poet, critic, artist, and family man. But what can he tell us about the need for art in life?

In this episode, we hear Nabokov read from a variety of his works, including Lolita, Pale Fire, The Ballad of Longwood Glen, and other poems and translations. Nabokov holds forth on a variety of subjects including his own personal beliefs and habits. One small thing we learn is that Nabokov had a unique way of saying “tiaras” in English. The man faces many questions about Lolita, starting with “Why?”

Soft-spoken Randall Jarrell was a poet and writer who served in the position we now call "Poet Laureate of the United States." He died in 1965. In his life he published 15 books, including children's literature and literary criticism. Reading his biography on Wikipedia gives you some sense of his life but it does not fully capture the tenor of his voice. This episode includes snippets of interviews he conducted with Richard Wilbur and Robert Frost.

What do we know about Anne Sexton? What happened to her reputation in the 1980s and 90s? Is it possible to imagine her alive and writing? What is dingo-sweet?