Weird Era

Dedicated to asking authors the right questions.

About the show

Hosted by Sruti Islam and Alex Nierenhausen
Theme Songs by Gino Visconti and Michael Jaworski (@mikejaws)
Audio Production by Kyel Loadenthal

Weird Era on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 111: Weird Era feat. Adam Ross

    April 25th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  47 mins 48 secs
    #adamross, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #playworld, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Sruti talks to Adam Ross about publishing fiction set in a Reagan Era in the midst of a Trump era, what it means to come up with a language for your life, and why you should never marry the love of your life.

  • Episode 110: Weird Era feat. Amanda Leduc

    April 18th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  47 mins 23 secs
    #amandaleduc, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast, #widlife

    Alex is joined by Amanda Leduc to discuss her latest novel, Wild Life, disability in storytelling, the foundations of religion, listening for change, and how the animal kingdom can subvert our thoughts when we talk about gender.

  • Episode 109: Weird Era feat. Katie Kitamura

    April 11th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  28 mins 51 secs
    #audition, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #katiekitamura, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Sruti welcomes Katie Kitamura back to the pod to talk about Audition, "to be young and seen in the fulfillment of an older person’s desires," aging as a woman, and the cruelty we all enact as judges.

  • Episode 108: Weird Era feat. Kevin Nguyen

    April 4th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 45 secs
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #kevinnguyen, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #mydocuments, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Sruti talks to with Kevin Nguyen and dive into his novel My Documents, exploring themes of digitization, detainment, tech power, family dynamics, and the complexities of solidarity in today’s world.

  • Episode 107: Weird Era feat. Laurie Woolever

    March 28th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  46 mins 18 secs
    #anthonybourdain, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #careandfeeling, #lauriewoolever, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Alex sits down with Laurie Woolever to talk about how she deals with the imposing shadow of being the last assistant to the late Anthony Bourdain, her new memoir Care and Feeding, 90s food trends, excess, food cities, and much more.

  • Episode 106: Weird Era feat. Andrew Lipstein

    March 21st, 2025  |  Season 1  |  46 mins 50 secs
    #andrewlipstein, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #somethingrotten, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    This week, Alex is joined by Andrew Lipstein to discuss his latest novel, Something Rotten, models of masculinity, Danish VS American politics, whether or not truth is subjective, why shaving your head feels like an extreme act, and so much more

  • Episode 105: Weird Era feat. Haley Mlotek

    March 14th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 55 secs
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore, #haleymlotek, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #nofault, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Sruti talks to Haley Mlotek about her divorce memoir, the enduring appeal of marriage, the persistent social stigma of divorce, the relationship between glamour and divorced women, and even asks—would Haley get married again?

  • Episode 104: Weird Era feat. Torrey Peters

    March 7th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  55 mins 8 secs
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #newreleasetuesday, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #stagdance, #torreypeters, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Torrey Peters returns to the podcast to talk with Sruti about being, "too woke" vs being annoying, to interrogate a commitment to finite definitions of personhood, inner rivalry in a collectively oppressed tribe, and so much more.

  • Episode 103: Weird Era feat. Lauren Elkin

    December 6th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  47 mins 24 secs
    2024books, authors, bookclub, books, fiction, interviews, laurenelkin, literature, montreal, mtl, scaffolding, weirdera, weirderapod

    Sruti talks to Lauren Elkin about intimacy, the eternal haunting of physical spaces, psychoanalytic terms, how feminism can save men, and more.

  • Episode 101: Weird Era feat. Fawn Parker

    November 29th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 39 secs
    #alexnierenhausen, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #weirdera, #canadianlit, #canlit, #fawnparker, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #srutiislam, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Alex is joined by Fawn Parker to discuss her latest novel, Hi, It's Me, how grief and humour relate, writing poetry VS writing a novel, experiencing the natural world as a city kid, and why PHD students are not (always) sexy.

  • Episode 102: Weird Era feat. Sofia Ajram

    November 25th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  46 mins 10 secs
    #alexnierenhausen, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #weirdera, #canadianlit, #canlit, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #sofiaajram, #srutiislam, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    Alex sits down with author and artist Sofia Ajram this week to discuss their novella, Coup De Grâce, urban legends, queer tragedies, mental health struggles as body horror, and our favourite Montreal metro stations.

  • Episode 100: Weird Era 100th Episode!

    November 22nd, 2024  |  Season 1  |  57 mins 47 secs
    #100th, #alexnierenhausen, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #weirdera, #canadianlit, #canlit, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #srutiislam, #weirdera, #weirderapodcast

    In celebration of our 100th episode, Alex and Sruti reflect on just a few of their favourite conversations throughout the years.

  • Episode 99: Weird Era feat. Nora Lange

    November 15th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  39 mins 28 secs
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #weirdera, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #norajeanlange, #usfools, #weirderapodcast

    Sruti talks to Nora Lange about horny parents, how revenge is a desperate mode of imitation, mythology, bodies, femininity, and asks: where are the eyes?

  • Episode 98: Weird Era feat. Kevin Lambert

    November 8th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  51 mins 3 secs
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #weirdera, #kevinlambert, #lit, #literary, #mayourjoyendure, #montreallit, #weirderapodcast

    Sruti talks to Kevin Lambert about the montreal housing crisis, female ambition, how the shape of our spaces define our lived experiences, and writing from the perspective of the, "bad guys."

  • Episode 97: Weird Era feat. Kristen Felicetti

    November 1st, 2024  |  Season 1  |  46 mins 57 secs
    #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #weirdera, #kristenfelicetti, #lit, #literary, #livejournal, #logoff, #montreallit, #weirderapodcast

    Sruti talks to Kristen Felicetti about writers who started off as livejournal girlies, what it is about music that can evoke a feeling never really experienced, Fiona Apple, Queer culture in the 2000s, and much more.

  • Episode 96: Weird Era feat. Jeff VanderMeer

    October 25th, 2024  |  Season 1  |  40 mins 22 secs
    #absolution, #bookstagram #bookpodcast #authorinterview #books #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #podcast #goodreads #booksofinstagram #literarypodcast #weirdera #reading #igreads #bookcommunity #publishing #indiebookstore #weirdera, #jeffvandermeer, #lit, #literary, #montreallit, #weirderapodcast

    Alex chats with Jeff VanderMeer about Absolution, the surprise fourth volume in his Southern Reach series, how it feels to return to Area X ten years later, pushing his readers, environmentalism, and magic mushrooms!